brake lights?

[wezcort]

i had just come off a roundabout in a 40 zone in the rain at about 10 on monday night, it was raining quite alot so it was difficult to see to far ahead i kept a good distnce from the car in front and didnt even get a chance to reach the speed limit...when i relised the red astra in front had stopped dead... no idication no brakelights no nothing.... no bloody reason...truth be told i panicied..slammed my fot on the brake...due to my lack of ABS i skidded i tryed to change down a couple of gears but it was to late i had hit the towbar.....i stopped..and was imideatly greated by a torrent of abuse from the other drivier in a luaguage that simply put was not english...i tryed to exchange details and he wouldnt tell me anything other than it was my fault he wouldnt listen to any thing i tryed to tell him about his lack of stop lights he didnt seem to understand what i had said. I looked at both cars and to be honest there was no damage to his car and ill i appeared to have was a tiny dent in the bonnet and the same in the front bumper in the end i think i got my name and phone number ithink i dont know what else he wrote down?! he then said we sort this in broken english got in his car and tryed to drive away as i tryed to get some details from him... the cnut just drove off i got his reg...tho...

it was then i relised that my radiator had emptyied itself all over the road i called a friend of mine who i knew had a tow rope.....the only down side being he also drives a J reg 1litre micra towing i thought was going to be difficult the the tiny little micra managed to tow me the mile or so to my house how? God only knows, but it did....

when i got chance to inspect the damage the next nite i relised i had a tiny crack on one of the mounting points of the rad....so £15 later i had a new one and a power cut in which to fit it in but somehow it worked...and shes back on the road...

now the downside, what happens now? if he goes to the police do i get prosicuted? because there were no witneses so i cant prove he had no brake lights my insureance is stupid money already given that i live in a place that makes downtown bagdad look safe and that i am an 18/19 year old person with no no claims and a claim to my name driving a 1.6 engined car ....so if it goes thorugh that i could be stuuffed.....at the mo the onli thing i have worked out that if i does go down to insurance i will not claim for my car....and as far as money goes if my insurance went up by a grand my weekly payments would workout at about £55 which if i came to it i would pay it just to keep that car.....its my baby i cant imagine owning anything else...

 

i will add pics soon.....thanks for reading.....i would be greatful if anyone could advise me on what to do... guys and girls....

[mykez69]

if he didnt speak english the chances are he will probably claim, they do anything to get a couple of quid

 

if there no witnesses, then it didnt happen mate, so i wouldnt worry about it,

 

its be your story against his, he probably never got your reg etc, so i doubt he would see you again, if you tell police and tell them his reg, then you might be opening a can of trouble and questions, which is more hassle than 15 quid on a repair, bite your lip and dont worry

 

yeah its annoying, and its besides the point, but sometimes its easier than coming worst off by going through insruance

Edited November 22, 2008 by mykez69

[SLEEMAN]

so he only got your name, phone number and possibly your reg as well! he could possibly claim on that but he should have taken down your address though as that would have helped with claiming. plus he was the one that abused you, he drove off and not giving you his details, so its not looking good for his case at all, as that can be classified as a hit and run! but you got his reg so thats good so you could report him to the police, or call the police or your insurance company and ask them for the proper advise and the should point you in the right direction, if theres not that much damage to yours then don't claim as they will probably write it off!

[hamspeed]

I would move on and put it down to ignorance/ experience sounds like it could have been a lot worse... As its been said it will be your word against his if the authorities have been informed. Not tarring everyone with the same brush but if he drove off the chances are he probably didn't have insurance or valid doc's. Interesting...

[escort4x4]

mate i wouldnt worry, he drove off, if you really wanted to you could notify the police as of what happened, and clearly state i tried to exhange details, but the driver drove off, so i done my bit and took his number plate down, and just say that he didnt have any brake lights, this way if he does try to claim, you have got it down on record with the police, there is a website about that you could type in a reg and see if its insured, if i find it ill let ya no

[JC]

If it happened on Monday night, bit late to report it to the police, if that happened to me i'd be calling them anyway at the scene to have him checked out and make sure i had the full details outta him!

[sortedford]

I agree id have called them there and then if he had no brake lights

[Jt.]

i doubt he even had insurance, let the police know what happened and let them deal with it, or just say he reversed into you then drove off lol

[Craig855S]

Im in 2 minds here. There is no REAL damage to either car, so contacting the police or insurance could create hassle,and a record on ur insurance details which may affect ur premium,and they may end up inspecting ur car and classing it as a claim.

On the other hand,if u dont get the ball rolling then the other guy might,so u want to get ur side of the story in before him and make sure u win, so u wanna report a hit and run and his car being unroadworthy when u hit it.

 

Up to you what you do mate,i couldnt decide what i'd do in that situation without being there and comprehending this foreigners attitude

[Cosworth909]

delete this post and deny it your word against his!!!!!

[marshy]

i had sommat similar happen...a woman pulled out at a junction and then just stopped..i was following her up to the white line and hit her bumper..no damage..but she just said it doesnt matter and drove off.

i didnt report it and havent heard nothing since (happened about 4 mths ago)

personally..i wouldnt do nothing class it as experience and thats it.likes been said..he probably didnt have the correct documents etc.. if you do hear something,put across your side of story and tell them you didnt report it as you didnt realise you had to.play the dumb innocent.

[TommyT]

As said I'd have called old bill there and then, BUT..

 

its done now so no point worrying about it. With the lack of english, I'd be worried he doesnt even have insurance. Also, you go to your insurance company and even if it is his fault, your premium will still go up. Bets thing to do is find where he lives and make him have to claim on his insurance for broken windscreen etc etc...

[sidrick]

Summary for those of us with a short attention span?

[PeeWee]

He left the scene of an accident, so he`s basically knackered.

[sidrick]

I forced myself to read it.

 

You need to call the police and your insurance to make them aware of the accident and get your version of the story across to them first.

I don't see what the big hoo-ha is about him having no brake lights if the car was stationary. Sounds like your fault, and the insurance will see it that way since you rammed the back of him.