Leaving your crashed car

[ShyViewer]

Can anyone advise what happens if you crash your car and leave it - no other vehicle or person involved. The vehicle has now been removed but its whereabouts are not known.

Thanks

We're you drink driving by any chance? The police will track you down and tell you where it is or contact your insurance company. Did you damage anything else whilst you had your crash? As you may need to pay for damage and also the fee for towing the car

I am not a lawyer but a former local MP did similar and was charged of several offences, including not reporting the accident and leaving the car in a dangerous place. Can’t quite remember what the outcome was.

ETA a link to the story.

I’d assume you’d contact non emergency police.

My daughter’s ex bf did this. He was drunk at the time. He laid low for 12 hrs plus (the police were like for him) and then went to the police station and said sorry, he’d swerved to miss a badger and couldn’t get the car out the verge so left it and went to sleep. Police were suspicious it was bollocks but couldn’t do anything about the drink driving. So nothing happened.

he certainly wasn’t charged with leaving the scene of a accident or leaving the car in an unsafe place. It was off the road anyway.

Police might have been harsher on the above story because the offender was an MP, or something else. Not saying that it’s what actually happens every time, it just reminded me of the story.

Depends on the circumstances surely?

I know of someone who crashed their car into a parked car drunk, walked to the nearest pub, had a few whiskies to "settle their nerves" (cover up the booze) then called the police from there.

Don't think they were charged with anything.

Was a bridge involved?

Your insurance company sorts all of that out

It depends really. My DM crashed her car into a kerb on a country road in the middle of the night. My DF went and managed to drive it to a nearby lay by and left it there until the next morning when he arranged to have it towed. All was fine.

BUT if you left a crashed car in a dangerous location I imagine its a different matter.

If the car has gone it will either have been removed by the police or stolen.

If the police have removed it they will attempt to contact the registered owner. I think the owner should contact the police first.

If you crash and the only damage you do is to your own vehicle you aren't legally obliged to exchange details or report the accident so you can't be prosecuted for leaving the scene etc. The MP mentioned above hit a lamppost which probably did considerable damage so if he didn't provide his details to the council or report to the police he would have committed an offence.

The council are responsible for dealing with abandoned vehicles. There is normally police involvement in the first instance, especially if it has been left in a dangerous position, in case there are offences involved.

If the car has been recovered by the authorities there should be a record on the national database and attempts to contact the owner should have been made. But it may not be there because it's been stolen. Abandoned vehicles are often ripe for joy riding and stripping.

The MP mentioned above hit a lamppost which probably did considerable damage

I haven't followed the link, but if it's the MP I'm thinking of (Welsh, I think?), he took out the internet for the entire village.

Was it causing an obstruction?

Are you coming back OP or , like your car, are you just going to walk away from this thread.

Not sure about legally, but morally you should. You're basically fly-tipping. No one wants to look at your dumped car

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses

Yes, it was the now ex MP you're thinking of and yes he did take out the internet for the entire village.

Sorry, off topic.