Advice about being hit by a car please.

[hockeymum]

Having a BAD day. It is my birthday and I've been hit by a car outside dd's school. Thankfully neither dd or ds were injured but an old biddy drove into me and my hip took her wing mirror off! She stopped and hadn't even realised I was in the road (putting newborn ds into his car seat). She has dented the door and bruised my hip.

I phoned the police but they said we couldnt prove she was speeding as we didnt have radars (5 parents say she was speeding) and as my injuries are not severe enough for hospital they say it is not a police matter, even when as far as I am concerned she is not safe to be on the road when she hadnt even noticed I was in the road and didnt realised she had hit me (someone had to stop her at the end of the road otherwise she would have driven off), a prime case of dangerous driving or without due care and attention I would say.

I called the council and they said there have to be a certain number of accidents before they make an area a "school zone" and make the limit 20. She was going above 30 in a 30 limit.

Has anyone got any info in how to petition the council on this or any other advice on what I should do?

Thanks

Sorry to hear about this. Do you have legal assistance on your car insurance? If so it might be worth giving them a ring and see what they say.

My DH seems to think that all roads past schools have a 20mph limit while school is on- some of his colleagues have been pulled up for driving at 30mph past schools. (He also think the police aren't interested because it's an old lady- had it been an 18 yo boy they'd have been straight out)

From our recent experience of road accidents I would recommend you exaggerate your injuries, or nothing will happen..

I don't know the answer, but could you phone citizens' advice to see what they say?

Poor you, sounds nasty. On the good side, at least the children were in the car and not hurt...

could you talk to the school maybe they have some clout!

silly old moo driving that fast you are lucky you're not seriously injured

the police were alot of help weren't they!

If you both excnahged details at the scne and the driver gave you her full anme address registration of the vehicke then she has complied with the raod traffic act and the police will do nothing about that part.

Howvere if you feel that a driving offence has been commiteed and you have witnesses then you should pursue the matter with the police. They will not pursue her for speeding but may be for careless driving but I wouldn'd hold your breath on that one. I would attend the police atation as soon as possoble with all the witnesses details and your car insurance and MOT. You do not need to show your driving licnece as you were not driving at the time.

Another reason for reporting this to the police as that the local authorirty get the data and statistics for accidents reported on roads. The local authority will then see which raods are accident blackspots and subsquently may do something about it.

It is rubbish about whta they said about your injuries not being serioulsy enough , as shock is calssed as an injury ( if I remember rightly ) under the road tarffic act.

Police do not follow up a majority of accidents as usualyy insurance compnaies do all the leg work to fin out who is to blame, howver if you feel strongly about iit pursue the matter further with the police. It would be a different matter if police had been called to the scene as they may have breathilese the driver and taken wintness details but agin you wopuld find that they would not have taken it any further.

In the meantime get your injuries noted by GP etc and get someone to take photosof the scene , damaged to your car and also any bruising that you may have on your hip. Send these to your insurance company but keep copies your self.

Thanks so much for your advice.

I've been to the doctor this afternoon as I got more sore and more shocked as time went on. I've got quite bad internal bruising on my abdomen and hip so it has set back the c-section recovery and she expects I'll be on anti inflamatories for at least a month, she's also given me some tablets for the shock (now I'm not bfeeding anymore).

The lady driving the other car says it is my fault! (oh, so sorry my hip hurt your car!!) so I've had to get the insurance company involved who are being really helpful and have got me a solicitor already. I'm still waiting for the police to get back to me (no surprise there!)

Thanks for all the advice though, good to get the ball rolling about road safety outside the school too, if I were a child the injuries would be so much more severe so I hope my efforts with the council and the police will help prevent a child getting hurt.

How can it possibly be your fault if your car was stationary, and hers was moving???!!!!!??? Is she trying to say you opened your door onto her car, or moved your hip on purpose to hit her car? - what a bionic hip you have...!!! I'm glad you went to the doctor, but so sorry you've got internal bruising on top of a c-section so recently. Do you have someone at home to help you out over the weekend, and into next week?

Hockeymum was a pedestrian, not in a car.

sorry - read it better now. I guess it could be considered HMum's fault because she was standing in the road with her car door open.

Oh, I read it as hockeymum was putting her baby into the car seat which was in her stationary car outside the school.

crossed posts.

Hockeymum - you might need to get witnesses - there must have been plenty outside a school...