I did something stupid

[Moorlandheather]

I did something really stupid this morning. I clipped someone’s wing mirror (the car I hit was stationary). I didn’t realise what had happened until I was further on.
Then realised the casing around my wing mirror had come off. The mirror itself is in tact, but the casing has come off and the underneath is exposed.

When I realised I drove back up but I didn’t know which car it was that I’d hit, couldn’t see any debris in the road from my car.

I have no idea what to do now. I couldn’t leave a note as I didn’t know which car it was!

Can anyone advise? I’m really shaken up.

You’re legally required to so do it.

OK, I work for the police. This is the kind of job we'd get in and just shut as we can do nothing with it. If you had the VRM of the other car, we could contact the other driver and let them know you'd reported it but with the info you have, there is nothing for the police to progress.

I know you are trying to do the right thing but even if the other driver has footage and reports it, it's unlikely the 2 x incidents would be linked up so there is no benefit to you to reporting it. If the police do come round, just admit liability and offer to pay/go through insurance - they won't be interested in charging you with anything/submitting a crime report.

I’ve done similar and did an online police chat thing to report it as was so worried. The thing about clipping and not being sure about if you’ve done it, is I think a fight or flight response where your brain goes into panic mode and the details become muddled.
I thought I had clipped a cars bumper when leaving a parking spot, a lot of cars were waiting so I got panicked to be quick and leave, afterwards I convinced myself that I might have done damage and I felt such an idiot that I hadn’t done the right thing and stopped and checked. I reported it to the car park venue as well in case anyone complained there but nothing ever came of it. I had major anxiety for about two weeks!

@Moorlandheather
You've had many comments and much advice as to what you should/shouldn't do.
I don't know the answer, but what I do really want to say is well done for wanting to do the right thing and caring about the person whose wing mirror you have clipped.
Wish there were more people like you!

@TempName247 I did something similar after a JOB INTERVIEW of all things in the workplace car park. I had to do about a 13 point turn out of the space because someone had parked across the way where there wasn’t a space. I think because it was an interview I didn’t want to be the one to cause a fuss so I attempted this awful manoeuvre.

I honestly couldn’t tell whether I had hit another car or just breaker sharply but when I drove off I noticed that one of their alloys was dented although logically there is no way I would have it it hard enough for that.

I drove all the way home when I found the visitor pass they had given me which I took as a sign to return to the scene of the crime. Wrote an embarrassing note on the car saying I honestly wasn’t sure if I had hit them but I noticed their dented alloy. They text me later saying they had curbed their wheel a few weeks ago but I felt better and seeing as I got the job, prevented myself from a potentially awkward situation with a future colleague!

Surely if you damaged your mirror at that point the debris would be on the road within a cars length of whatever you hit.

Given you didn't find it then it's unlikely you actually hit anything and much more likely your cover fell off somewhere else.

Do nothing - and certainly don't report to insurer - in the vanishingly unlikely event of this coming up you just say you'd returned to look for any damage, couldn't find any so chalked it up to a bump in the road - depending on the costs it'd be more likely you settle this without involving the insurer anyway.

(btw - Dashcams don't tend to record everything - just don't have the available storage - are often triggered by a bump/jog - unlikely that a scuff on a wing mirror would trigger anything.)

Thanks for all the replies.

I’m still trying to decide whether to report to 101 online. Still hovering over the submit button.

I don’t think I’ll report to the insurance though at present.

Glad you’re feeling a bit calmer about it and hopefully this thread is relieving you if a fear someone is about to knock on your door and say you’re in big trouble. It’s really not going to happen.

The truth is that you don’t exactly know what happened. You went to look to find out and couldn’t see anything. Really there’s nothing to report. As the person working for the Police upthread said, this can’t be progressed because you aren’t able to say exactly what happened or who to. Yes, you can tell the insurer that something might have happened. It will be recorded and you will be penalised your insurance for several years.

In the end, if something has happened and someone knows the details, there could be some come-back, but unless Oenone has the info you’re lacking, nothing further can happen. And if they do have that info and pursue you, you will be totally open to it all and co-operative. In my mind, that’s totally good enough. Anything else is martyring yourself with no benefit to anyone. You don’t have any info to share with Police or insurer that can help them identify the vehicle that you may or may not have damaged. Therefore all you can do is wait to see if someone else has info to suggest you did cause damage. In all likelihood you didn’t and nothing will come if it, but if it does, you will be able to resp8 d positively and co-operative oh and explain exactly what happened and that there wa snot hi g to see when you went back. You could say it with total honesty.

@Mrsttcno1 it is quite possible for the penny to drop after the event. It goes something like this:

You hear a noise and think nothing much of it at the time.
Later, you notice your wing mirror is damaged.
This brings back the memory of the noise.
Which you conclude must have been you clipping a wing mirror with your own wing mirror.
You remember where you were when you heard the noise.
You go back and look at the cars there.

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I’m still feeling a bit anxious this morning, but hoping it’ll pass soon.

I’ve ordered a new casing for my wing mirror from eBay which cost £60. I’m hoping it won’t be a big job to fit.