Car rear-ended a second time in five months - while parked.
Car rear-ended a second time in five months - while parked.
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Riley Blue

Original Poster:

23,205 posts

256 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
For the second time in six months my car has been hit while parked at the side of the road. The second time was sometime yesterday or last night, we discovered the damge at 9.30 this morning. No note left but buried under the snow we found lots of pieces of headlamp and indicator lenses and trim but, best of all, a front number plate.
It's been reported to the police and we have a 'collision reference' so what's the next step - advise my insurers? Without knowing who the other driver is, what else can I do?
BTW - I know the colour, make and model of the other car so will be looking out for it should it return.

tyranical

927 posts

220 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
If you've found the number plate then surely you can trace who its insured by (assuming it is insured) etc through that when reporting to your insurers

MK4 Slowride

10,028 posts

238 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
Tell your insurers, give them the reg of the other car and let them do the job you pay them for. I'd imagine the police will be in touch with the other driver for not stopping etc.

Ace-T

8,404 posts

285 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
Write to the DVLA asking for the registered keeper details. It will cost £2.50.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/data/relinfo/howtoreque...

With your query they may give you the details but from what it says on the link it is not guaranteed because of data protection etc.

Got to be worth a shot.

jamei303

3,084 posts

186 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
Maybe park it somewhere safer?

themanwithnoname

1,634 posts

243 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
You've been given a collision reference? I would have pressed for the other driver being pursued for failure to stop.

In the meantime, call your insurer, explain the situation, you have the other vehicle registration number. Should be relatively simple.

Agrilla

834 posts

213 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
themanwithnoname said:
You've been given a collision reference? I would have pressed for the other driver being pursued for failure to stop.

In the meantime, call your insurer, explain the situation, you have the other vehicle registration number. Should be relatively simple.
Agree with pressing for the police to identify the driver. If they do not, and your insurers subsequently need to litigate, they will be stuffed, since they need to issue proceedings on the known DRIVER of the offending vehicle as they were the negligent party. The owner or registered keeper will not do

GC8

19,910 posts

220 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
A shame that the police seem to be lax here. I have recent experience of the police in Sheffield going to great lenghts to pursue a supermarket carp park damage and drive off incident.

Not only is the victims repair being paid for the guilty partys insurers, but the driver is being prosecuted for driving off too (my photos played a part, but the PC was superb).

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

228 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
Not good at all.
Decency honesty these days seems to be lacking by so many.

Hopefully you are able to catch this person

Worst case depending on te severity of te damage it might be worth paying to fix the damage yourself rather than an insurance claim as without a 3rd party it will be considered a fault claim.

Good luck.

chappardababbar

483 posts

173 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
Semi - thread hijack . Apologies in advance.

I just hit a parked car on my road about an hour ago. The car was parked fully on the road on a bend. It's a windy road that comes off a main road into the suburb and winds its way to my house which is at the bottom of the road. The bend is tight, to give you an idea, in normal conditions you can take it at around 15 mph, no more than that as it's blind and you often get Range Rovers / X5s travelling in the opposite direction.

The car is often parked there, but today the road is sheet ice. I approached the bend at 7mph which was obviously too fast. In these conditions, on that bend I should have been driving at a crawl. Something was on my mind and I just wasn't thinking. I turned, the car went straight. It was about three seconds from losing front grip, to hitting the car. I lifted off the throttle, tried to turn left and at the last second hit the brakes, which obviously made no difference.

The off side of my car hit the near side of the parked car. My car doesn't look too bad: damaged bumper, smashed headlight, crumpled bonnet. The other car looked like it was written off.

I knocked on a few doors until I found the owner who was livid understandably and accused me of driving irresponsibly. Luckily and old timer was walking by and reassured the owner that I was driving slowly.

I've accepted responsibility and processed the claim with my insurance company. I accepted responsibility because I was in control of the situation and I could have avoided the incident. In a way I'm glad it happened. I haven't had so much as a parking ticket in 10 years of driving and I think after a while you start to think you're invincible behind the wheel. This was a wakeup call and I'm thankful for it.

Now, for my own knowledge and going back to the OP's subject, is there a case to be made to say that the owner was parked irresponsibly? He doesn't live in my area, so the car wasn't parked there before it started snowing. He arrived this morning to meet his mother at the old folks home and parked on a bend knowing full well that it's icy and snowing. Dangerous driving includes dangerous parking doesn't it? In this case I think his actions were beyond stupid. The only way to pass this car without hitting it would be to see it well in advance, slow right down to 1mph or less and squeeze past.

Just interested in people's views. In the picture the car was parked one full car length behind the Fiesta in the shot but completely on the road. I approached from the bottom of the photo.

chappardababbar

483 posts

173 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
I'll mention it because it's topical but I believe this would not have happened if I had winter tyres. I'm definitely getting a set as soon as I can afford it.

Riley Blue

Original Poster:

23,205 posts

256 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
GC8 said:
A shame that the police seem to be lax here. I have recent experience of the police in Sheffield going to great lenghts to pursue a supermarket carp park damage and drive off incident.

Not only is the victims repair being paid for the guilty partys insurers, but the driver is being prosecuted for driving off too (my photos played a part, but the PC was superb).
Chap on the front desk (a civilian from Contact Management according to his shoulder flash) noted the other car's registration and that I'd said it was red because of the paint marks on my car. He said they'd be checking the registration and I assumed it would be followed up with the car's owner. I'll speak to the police again after I've contacted my insurers to ensure that it is. Your Sheffield experience is interesting, I'm not far away in Chesterfield.

GC8

19,910 posts

220 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
Keep at it.

Riley Blue

Original Poster:

23,205 posts

256 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
The good news is that the other car is insured so having left evidence in the form of a numberplate it'll be difficult for them to deny liability - I hope.

davepoth

29,395 posts

229 months

Saturday 19th January 2013
quotequote all
chappardababbar said:
Now, for my own knowledge and going back to the OP's subject, is there a case to be made to say that the owner was parked irresponsibly? He doesn't live in my area, so the car wasn't parked there before it started snowing. He arrived this morning to meet his mother at the old folks home and parked on a bend knowing full well that it's icy and snowing. Dangerous driving includes dangerous parking doesn't it? In this case I think his actions were beyond stupid. The only way to pass this car without hitting it would be to see it well in advance, slow right down to 1mph or less and squeeze past.
Google Maps of the incident site would help...





Andehh

7,607 posts

236 months

Sunday 20th January 2013
quotequote all
Two accidents into your parked car?

Street view indicating where your car was parked please! smile

Riley Blue

Original Poster:

23,205 posts

256 months

Sunday 20th January 2013
quotequote all
Andehh said:
Two accidents into your parked car?

Street view indicating where your car was parked please! smile
Yes, same town but different streets. Each time parked in a marked bay at the side of the road.

chappardababbar

483 posts

173 months

Monday 21st January 2013
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trashbat

6,313 posts

183 months

Monday 21st January 2013
quotequote all
chappardababbar said:
Now, for my own knowledge and going back to the OP's subject, is there a case to be made to say that the owner was parked irresponsibly? He doesn't live in my area, so the car wasn't parked there before it started snowing. He arrived this morning to meet his mother at the old folks home and parked on a bend knowing full well that it's icy and snowing. Dangerous driving includes dangerous parking doesn't it? In this case I think his actions were beyond stupid. The only way to pass this car without hitting it would be to see it well in advance, slow right down to 1mph or less and squeeze past.
I'm assuming it was legally parked. Morally, maybe. Legally, not a chance.

DocJock

8,722 posts

270 months

Monday 21st January 2013
quotequote all
Are you serious?

If said car was parked one car length behind the Fiesta then you had plenty of time to see the car and adjust your course accordingly, icy road surface or not.