To think it was not an overreaction to call the police?

[hottubwhocares]

We were out today at a family event. We were parked up in the car park of the venue and were getting in our cars to travel home. There was a man parked next to us in the (relatively narrow) bays, window down, chatting to his girlfriend. He was there when we came out and approached our car.

DD age 8 was getting into the back passenger side of our car, so on the same side as his car. I was on the other/driver’s side. As I was getting in, I heard DD start to scream. Basically the man next to us had started to move his car forward and his back wheel had run over the back of her ankle/foot.

I immediately ran round the back of the car, picked her up, helped her into the back seat and took her shoe and sock off to have a look. The top layer of skin had come off and it looked bruised so I went round to his car, said sorry, I think you have hurt her so I am going to need your details.

He and his girlfriend then said ‘Why? I haven’t done anything wrong’. I asked if he was refusing and he said he ‘didn’t even know what happened’ and started mouthing off.

So, I called 999 and of course the second he heard I was on the phone to the police, he started offering his details.

Two police cars then attended. DH is furious with me and says I completely overreacted as DD’s injury was minor (scrapes and bruises) and I ‘see the worst in everyone’. I am very upset about his lack of support when our child was hurt and upset.

FWIW I would never move my own car when a child was down the side and if I had ever done anything like this I certainly wouldn’t be mouthing off at the parent of the injured child!

So, was it an overreaction to call the police?

Wrong. It is the driver's responsibility to make sure it is safe to move off. And at that stage how would anybody know if it was a serious injury or not? Without getting any details what if there was a subsequent issue with the 8 year old foot ?

YABU
I feel it was a bit of an over reaction and you are partly to blame! If he was parked as close as you say why were you not stood there making sure she got in safely without banging the car door in to the next to you.
Did he actually run over her foot or just scrape it?
was the man in the car in the wrong for mouthing off? Yes he was but What exactly do you want to do with his details? Sue? It’s unlikely you would get anything out of this? Did you need to take your DD to hospital or was it just a cold compress sort of thing? We need more details to actually decide who truly was to blame.

Why does anyone have to be 'to blame'? It was obviously an accident, kiddo stepped back while opening the door to get in at the same time he started to drive out. He should have noticed her at the side of his car, and she should have been more aware of the other car, but she is an 8 year old child and he is an adult, and as the driver who caused the damage to her foot it was 100% up to him to make sure he was clear to move his car, it doesn't mean he did it on purpose, but she had just seen her walk in front of his car then down the side, there really was no excuse for not checking where she was before pulling out of the space.

He still needed to provide his details though, he has injured someone with his car while driving and OP was perfectly within her right to call the police over his refusal:

If you have an accident causing damage or injury you must give the following to anyone with ‘reasonable grounds for requiring them’, for example an insurance company:

• your name and address
• the vehicle registration number

You also need to give the owner’s name and address if the vehicle is not yours. You must report the accident to the police within 24 hours if you do not give your details at the time of the accident. You must also report the accident to your insurance company, even if you’re not planning to make a claim.

That's interesting because it suggests the driver didn't need to give his details at the time, provided he notified the police within 24 hours.

I guess this clause is more for someone who is involved in a collision and is too scared to stop because the other person is being aggressive/threatening. But on the face of it it gives a get-out clause for not giving your details on the scene.

No, it says he MUST give his details at the scene.

it says you MUST give your details to anyone who has reasonable grounds for requesting them, OP would be that person in this scenario, it was her child that was injured so he was legally obligated to give his details to OP at the scene, just the same as any other car accident.

The 24 hour bit you are referring to is with regards to notifying the police, because he injured someone with his car, he is legally obligated to ALSO report that incident to the police, but that can be done up to 24 hours later, it doesn't have to be done immediately, if he had handed over his details to OP as requested, which he was legally required to do, she wouldn't have had to call the police at the scene at all, she could have taken his details and rang 101 later to make sure it was reported.

But because he caused injury and refused to give details, OP was right to call the police there and then.

A car ran over a child’s foot, the driver refuses to accept responsibility and people think it is NOT a police matter?!!

Then you're an idiot as well, it was pure luck that she wasn't more seriously injured and the driver was obviously about to leave the scene of an accident involving a child without providing details, 999 all the way.....

999 call handlers are civilians. They often get it wrong when they take calls.

I saw what I thought was a possible drunk driver. Called DH (police sergeant who was on duty). He said call it in via 999 which I did and the call handler took all the details of the car and location and did nothing with it.

DH said call never came through. Call handler must’ve decided in their clueless civilian wisdom that they knew better than a police sergeant.

I personally can't belive how trivial some people are making this. The man ran into the child. Regardless of immediate injuries something could of been worse later. If a person is hit by a car and clearly injured which she was then its a police matter. The guy was rude and dismissive which could have escalated. The parent was right

OK, despite the "ongoing discussions" here from the twits who think it was "inappropriate/overreacting" to call 999 to report a hit and run - what do you feel needs to "happen now" regarding the incident?

Also have you addressed your DH's unreasonable behaviour yet?

you did the right thing OP.

the onus is on you to provide the facts to the call handler, if they think immediate police dispatch is required then that’s their call. You’re not in the wrong for that, it wasn’t your decision for multiple officers to attend. They might have been in the vicinity/had a quiet day. This sort of situation had the propensity to get worse, so it was good they attended to keep the peace. It wasn’t necessarily just about the initial incident but the ongoing conflict.

Plus the police were able to quickly retrieve CCTV. That’s in the best interests of everyone involved. If the other driver thought he didn’t do anything wrong then that CCTV clears up the truth.

I think you did the right thing, if he didn’t even know he’d done it he wasn’t checking round his vehicle properly. He could have done much worse, run over her leg or run over a smaller child and not known he’d done it.

If you described it to the operator as you did here they could have decided it wasn’t an emergency and got you to call 101. They must have thought it was an emergency. Perhaps because he didn’t know he’d done it.

Also let’s not forget you aren’t a trained medical professional (I assume) and therefore at this stage you hope she hasnt sustained a fracture or more damage than can be seen on first look , as the injury hasn’t been assessed. Why do people act so defensively when they have caused a problem it’s the oddest thing ? “I didn’t do anything !” Yes you did and just sorry and be more cautious when children are getting in and out of cars right next to you !!?? Not rocket science ! Hope she’s ok that’s not a nice situation and I would have done the same ! We are responsible for our children and they are precious to us

Spot on