Driver pretended to stop after a collision and exchange and drove off!! What now?

[joynergirl44]

Basically an elderly lady (maybe around 70?) hit me from their drivers side coming out of a parking space on the side of a busy public street and industrial area in London today. So we both looked at each other, she drove out to the other side to the empty road and parked up. Her car was behind my car. I noticed another car nicely stopped for a bit near me assuming in case she fled? But once they realised she wasn’t fleeing they drove off themselves.

The lady got out as did I and she started shouting at me and blamed me for the accident! She had the cheek to say that I was driving too fast and didn’t see her coming out? As if I don’t have the right of way already and I definitely wasn’t doing more than 5-10mph as I was coming to a traffic light! There were no open shops around to ask for CCTV. No other cars stopped and I asked if anyone happened to capture her license and no one did.

It was 100% her fault and she probably knew this because she jumped back in her car and drove off! Stupidly I don’t have a dash cam and didn’t get a chance to take pictures or her reg as I was flustered with them arguing and shouting at me and in shock. I genuinely thought they were going back to their car to get their phone and stood there in disbelief and she sped off. Is this worth reporting to the police or will this drag on and stress me out considering the damage is low? They drove off so quickly I didn’t even get the reg 😫

Without any details I’m worried they won’t be able to find the driver and police won’t pursue CCTV footage but I still plan to call 101 after work and report this to the police later on as a hit and run. Has anyone experience a hit and run driver before? What are the chances they can or even will find her car? There’s traffic cameras around the area and I’m sure others hidden or dotted. I could go back and ask in the industrial area but it was kinda empty. I’ve got the signage from there and I might try see if they will release any footage tomorrow.

The damage to my car (newer car, hers looker older) is some long-ish paint scratches from her car transferred to mine and the dent to my passenger. Is it worth me reporting this to my insurance/should I even if I don’t make a claim? I don’t want it to land on at fault if I go through insurance since I don’t have the other persons details and guess I will just pay the minor damages myself. I’m debating what to do. Has anyone else reported an accident and not claimed costs through insurance, has your costs gone up? I will be getting a dash cam next time! It’s so disgusting how people can get away with this! Praying the police will help me!

Yes it definitely is! I’m hoping police will use that as enough to look for the CCTV and try and find her.

I’m gonna call the police after work and hopefully they can find her.

I would call your insurance company and ask for their advice.

Definitely call the police. Describe the car and the driver. They'll be able to find her on CCTV. It is illegal to leave the scene of an accident without at least exchanging details.

And yes, call your insurance company immediately.

I wouldn’t wait to call, call the police now, at least it’s then reported and she hasn’t got in first and blaming you.

This happened to me recently.
I had a rough idea of the type of car and after contacting a few places in the area managed to get CCTV footage. Unfortunately the plate was obscured, but she drove past me again a few weeks later (with paint scratches matching my car) on hers 🤣 the police took it very seriously.
I would report it and try to get the footage. You'd like to think she'll learn her lesson if the police contact her (although maybe not).
Good luck!

You do have to report to your insurance. If the find out you haven't (never quite sure how they'd go that) they can refuse future claims.

Do you know how long it takes for these things? I’m gonna call the police asap after work!

You can file a report of an RTA online.

I reported a hit and run to the police that happened in a car park and they took it seriously. They took a statement from me. It was only a minor bump too.

How's this going?

If you report a claim, 99% of the time your premium goes up regardless of no claims or fault. This is because statistically you are more likely to have another accident within the next 5 years so it increases for that duration.

If it's a lot of damage it will be worth notifying them. If it's a scratch then I wouldn't.

The problem here is that you have a chance of catching her and getting justice (along with an increased premium) if there is cctv footage and if the police do their jobs. Respectfully, that's too many ifs for a scratch but if it's over a few hundred I'd go for it.

@joynergirl44 I hate to say it, but don’t hold your breath that the police will do anything. They’ll probably just put it down to vehicle damage and leave it at that; no prosecution and you’ll be left out of pocket. Exactly what you described happened to me earlier this year. I managed get a photo of the car and the other driver. I also had four independent witnesses who all said the accident was entirely the other drivers fault. The police attended the scene because my car was obstructing a motorway slip road. They asked me to send all the witness details and the photos to them by email, which I did. They made all the right noises at the time about tracking down the other driver and prosecuting. They’ve done absolutely nothing. When I pushed back and tried to get answers, they were rude, abusive and made me feel as though I was being unreasonable. I hope this doesn’t happen to you, but after my experience, I say that going to the police is a waste of time.

It’s a hit and run ultimately and she was hostile, maybe she shouldn’t actually have been driving which is why she fled but needs to be reported.

Where I am the police intervene quickly for hit and runs as there is cctv everywhere and it’s a ‘quick win’. Contact them immediately and they’ll get the ball rolling.

What exactly are you expecting the police to do here
Is it worth going through your insurance for a few scrapes
Are you prepared if cctv shows you where at fault
Every driver who has ever had an accident of any level denies being at fault
Every single driver cant b thzt innocent or there would be no accidents at all

What exactly are you expecting the police to do here
Is it worth going through your insurance for a few scrapes
Are you prepared if cctv shows you where at fault
Every driver who has ever had an accident of any level denies being at fault
Every single driver cant b thzt innocent or there would be no accidents at all

If you are in the UK, you have 24 hours to report any RTC to the police. You should report it as soon as possible.

I would also report it to your insurance if you intend to use them for the repairs.

But.. and there is always a but.. The police will do their utmost to find the driver of the car, and may include checking CCTV but not always the case. what they may need you to do is approach the businesses that have CCTV to ask if they have footage of the incident, and if its a yes, inform the police and they will gather it. Don't assume that the traffic cameras will have caught the bump, they are run and owned by the council not the police and are not always pointing in the right direction.

The police will not decide who was a fault, thats for your insurance to do, but they will, if they deem it appropriate deal with the fail to stop and failure to report and RTC.

Give them as much information as you can, make, model, colour, shape, direction they drove off in, description of the driver.. every small detail and hope they can find them.

I agree with this. I hope you’ve reported her, and that you’re ok.

I had a similar incident also with a lady in her 70s but I chased her for about 3 miles until she gave up and pulled in. She’d realised I was going nowhere. I did get her registration plate and then the stupid bint tried blocked my mobile number and was very surprised when I rang from my house phone! A police officer friend said I should have reported her for leaving the scene of an accident. She did pay up via her insurance in the end after I threatened to go to the police. The police officer I know said the police would have dealt with it.

Similar situation for us earlier this year, police were not interested. Apparently the reg plate we gave them was fake so they basically said there is nothing they can do & to claim through insurance.

Because we couldn't identify the other driver, we got a fault claim (despite not being AT fault) because that's how insurance works, if they can't claim off another party, its on you 🙃

A car rear ended me at a roundabout and drove off, lots of witnesses and a motorbike followed it to the motorway and came back to give me the direction it went in. The police looked for a while and then visited the registered owner, they said they 'had sold the car the day before, and didn't have the new keepers details' nothing they could do. I thought it was illegal to not notify the DVLA on the sale of a car but nothing happened, I'm sure it was just hiding in a garage somewhere.