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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To have called the police after my son just crashed his car into a field

104 replies

lonelylou09 · 15/08/2021 02:44

Worried I've done the wrong thing by doing the right thing...
My son is 22 been driving for almost 2 years. He's called me tonight to say he had crashed his car on the way home from work and is in a field somewhere.
He says he's fine but has no idea where he is.
Myself and my partner go looking for him and drive past him twice as he's literally come down a hill too fast and hit a tree which has spun his car up and over a hedge into a field facing the wrong way.
Can't see anyway to get to him over the hedge so go to find the gateway and tell my partner to go home for torches and his phone. I'm in a huge panic and call the police.
Manage to roll under a gate and get in the field to my son who is fine but in shock. The car is a write off and God only knows how he survived hitting a tree at speed and jumping a hedge.
Partner comes back so I get my son to sit down and wait for police. They turn up and do a breathalyser which is zero.
They check the car and give my son a talking too about how lucky he is and tell us to let the insurance know.
Finally got home and he's fine but very shaken up although freely admitting he was driving too fast downhill in the rain and fog and just lost the road.
I let the farmer know and he pops along to see if he can help.
So does anyone know if I've done the right thing? Worried how it will impact my son now with the insurance ect?
Also not sure what happens next. Obviously have to inform insurance company but we wouldn't be claiming in it as it's his fault.
To top it all off my partner then got his van stuck in a ditch next to the crash site so we had to get his elderly dad out of bed to come and tow us out.
Did I also mention it was raining the whole time?
Soaked and stressed! But so thankful my son is OK.. Not a mark on him

OP posts:

MushMonster · 15/08/2021 09:27

I do not think anything wrong will happen for calling the police.
Did he get a checked up by the doctors though?
In your post there is no mention of any visit to the doctors, but as you describe it, the accident sounds quite serious?

Summerbreeze4 · 15/08/2021 09:27

Why wouldn’t you claim in insurance it doesn5 matter whose fault an accident.

Twitchynose · 15/08/2021 09:29

By contacting the police they’re aware the car is there so if someone else spots the car they won’t need to send anyone else out the check there’s no one trapped inside or whether it’s stolen.
Hope your son is okay today.

ExpressDelivery · 15/08/2021 09:32

Yes, all good in terms of your actions, but you can/should still claim on insurance even though it was his fault. That's what it's for. You have to declare the accident for future premiums, whether you claim or not. Calling the police won't have made any difference to that.

Hellocatshome · 15/08/2021 09:37

Obviously have to inform insurance company but we wouldn't be claiming in it as it's his fault.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Its up to the insurance company to decide on fault and it wasn't the trees fault

Acis · 15/08/2021 09:41

If your mum was watching over him, you'd have to wonder why she didn't slow him down in the first place.

Killahangilion · 15/08/2021 10:07

Your son is likely to wake up with whiplash which is extremely painful.
You might need to get him checked over by a doctor, depending on how severe it is.

After I had an accident (car hit me), I had no broken bones so thought I was fine but when I woke up the next morning I couldn’t lift my head of the pillow for the pain.

NotAntiVax · 15/08/2021 10:10

This happened to me and my partner. He was driving along country roads that he knew but admittedly, took a tight (blind) bend a touch too fast. We hit a tree at about 40mph and then ended up upside down in a field. The car was a write off, insurance paid out.

The farmer that owned the field gave us a lift and then recovered the vehicle. He told us we were the 3rd car this had happened to in the space of a few months, the bend isn’t signposted correctly so people kept ending up on his land.

We were home about half an hour when the police chapped the door. Someone had seen the car upside down and called them. They just spoke to my partner, asked what happened and then went on their way.

NotAntiVax · 15/08/2021 10:20

Oh, and I ended up with quite severe seatbelt injuries that didn’t make themselves known until a day or 2 later (along with extensive brushing). I had to go to A&E and get X-rays. All was fine and I was sent away with Ibuprofen but by god it was sore. You might want to keep an eye out for that.

spongedod · 15/08/2021 10:21

@LunaLula83

Calls people 'so thick' whilst not knowing the law themselves

I probably would have called an ambulance and I surprised the police didn't at the very least suggest you take him to hospital to be checked over. Sending him home seems a bit careless.

MilduraS · 15/08/2021 10:48

If nothing else, it's a good thing they were there and did a breathalyser so his insurers know for certain he wasn't drinking.

GladAllOver · 15/08/2021 10:53

The insurance company will decide whether and how much to pay. His future premiums will be pushed up due to the accident, regardless of the payment.

liveforsummer · 15/08/2021 11:44

It wasn't a legal requirement to call the police as no one else was involved and no one injured, plus you notified the landowner and it doesn't sound like there was any damage done but you also did no harm in doing so. It won't affect anything and you have reassurance now rather than worrying about what else you should have done. Glad your son is ok and he will have learned from this.

HelgaDownUnder · 15/08/2021 12:11

Having the police breath test him at zero was a good idea.
I'm not sure about the UK, but where I live it's a legal requirement to call the police for an accident involving significant property damage or an injury. The insurance could query the claim if there was no police report.
I'm glad he's ok.

AubergineParmigiana · 15/08/2021 12:33

You did the right thing, even if was only to make the police aware there was a car in a field - if other drivers/walkers had seen it, they might have thought there was someone still inside and called the emergency services anyway

wordsareveryunnecessary · 15/08/2021 12:50

For future use. Install What 3 Words App

Original poster

lonelylou09 · 15/08/2021 16:39

Thanks everyone for your comments and for those who say I should of called an ambulance or taken him to A and E yes I would of done if he had any sort of Injuries or felt unwell in anyway.
The police checked him over and said if he was to feel unwell in anyway to take him to hospital.
As mentioned we live out in the sticks. Our nearest hospital is almost an hours drive away and A and E and ambulances services are totally over run at the best of times.
He got up this morning totally fine. No bruising. No stiffness and feeling very lucky to be alive.

OP posts:

Original poster

lonelylou09 · 15/08/2021 16:45

We've been up and the farmer has helped us remove the car from the field and wasn't fussed at all. Tried contacting the insurance company to inform them and get advice but so far have waited all day for a call back.
He's obviously come down the hill at speed, on to the grass verge and doesn't seem to have braked as I think it all happened so quick and he froze.
He's hit a smaller tree on the passenger side and the impact has lifted and spun the car over the hedge.
On reflection regardless of the insurance going forward I've done the best thing. He needed to be accountable for his actions and someone else could easily have seen the car and reported it and it would of looked like we were hiding something (like drink driving).
I'm so Incredibly relieved he's ok and it's just been an expensive lesson learned instead of a tragic accident

OP posts:

Original poster

lonelylou09 · 15/08/2021 16:47

The car this morning

To have called the police after my son just crashed his car into a field

OP posts:

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 15/08/2021 17:33

I rather suspect that car is a goner now. He IS very lucky. Glad he's ok and not sore.

MrsAvocet · 15/08/2021 17:42

@dunkaccino

What 3 words is great in towns/built up areas where it works, but often it can be many miles wrong in rural areas with a poor signal - rather ironically the very areas that it is aimed at. Don't rely on it unless you do actually know where you are.

Yes, the local mountain rescue team where I live has recently warned against relying on what 3 words in our area for this reason. It certainly isn't infallible.

bumblingbovine49 · 15/08/2021 18:08

I'm afraid I definitely would not have called the police if my son was unhurt and noone else was involved. I know someone who was prosecuted for careless driving in similar circumstances where noone else was involved and no drink driving . I'd not want that for my son so no I would not have called the police. I would have called an ambulance/ taken him to hospital if he seemed hurt which might have ended up with police involvement I suppose but I'd not have called them Obviously if someone else was involved then of course I'd have called the police.

Original poster

lonelylou09 · 15/08/2021 20:17

@bumblingbovine49 yes afterwards I thought I'd maybe made a mistake by doing that but at the time my brain couldn't comprehend where the car was and I couldn't physically get to him.
Maybe it will be a mistake as he will end up paying for it in the long run with increased insurance but I'm also not one for running away if you mess up.
As I said it's likely the police would of been called anyway and then it would of looked like we'd had something to hide.

OP posts:

NumberTheory · 16/08/2021 06:04

As I said it's likely the police would of been called anyway and then it would of looked like we'd had something to hide.

You've said a couple of times about it "looking like you're hiding something" if you hadn't called the police, but this really isn't important. The insurance and the police are just doing their jobs. They'll look at the evidence in front of them and act on that. Even if they had a suspicion your DS had been drink driving they would need some sort of evidence of it to act on it, which they wouldn't have had, so it really wouldn't have made any difference.

MimiSunshine · 16/08/2021 06:48

@bumblingbovine49

But it sounds like the person you know (and OPs son) was careless driving so the police in the situation you mentioned were right to charge that person.

Being held to account for your actions when you do stupid and dangerous things.

OP you did the right thing, I’m glad your son is ok and sounds like he was very lucky

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