Asked to attend court for hit and run, what to expect
Discussion
At the start of the year on a piece of road where the left hand merges into the right. I was in the right hand lane, as the lanes merged I slowed slightly to allow the person next to me to merge in front of me. A car then came speeding up the inside of me and forced its way in, I braked but as it pushed in, it hit my front wing with its rear quarter. We both stopped, the other driver starts ranting at me saying its my fault, I say no its not, the fact his lane merges into mine is clearly marked on the road and I blame him saying he forced his way in. He shouts some more then gets back into his car. I go up to his car and open his passenger door, a woman is sitting in the passenger seat, I again repeat he was at fault and tell him I have what happened on my dash cam, (to be clear unlike him I wasn't shouting or swearing whilst doing this, and sadly I am not a powerful built company director). He then drove off.
I contacted my insurance company who told me to report the what happened to the Police, which I did. After reviewing the dash cam footage the insurance company agreed with me not being at fault and have since closed the claim with my NCB not being affected. I also know he has still not reported the accident to his insurance company as the claim is showing as my fault on the CUE insurance database, this is because my insurance company are still pursing his insurance for costs. The Police officer assigned to the incident has told me he had "carried out procedures on the other driver with regard to careless driving" after seeing the footage. The other driver was then also charged with not sharing his insurance details, he has plead not guilty to this and I have asked to attend court as a witness.
TBH I'm not sure why this is going to court, my dash cam footage captures him hitting me but not driving off as I had turned off my engine it stopped recording at that point. I'm worried the court case will consist of him and I'm assuming his OH saying they gave me his insurance details and me saying he didn't? Having attended court before when I was on jury duty the Sheriff advised that we should only find someone guilty if we were 99.99% sure they had committed the crime, how is the other driver going to be convicted here? I've never been to court before as a witness, what exactly happens?
I contacted my insurance company who told me to report the what happened to the Police, which I did. After reviewing the dash cam footage the insurance company agreed with me not being at fault and have since closed the claim with my NCB not being affected. I also know he has still not reported the accident to his insurance company as the claim is showing as my fault on the CUE insurance database, this is because my insurance company are still pursing his insurance for costs. The Police officer assigned to the incident has told me he had "carried out procedures on the other driver with regard to careless driving" after seeing the footage. The other driver was then also charged with not sharing his insurance details, he has plead not guilty to this and I have asked to attend court as a witness.
TBH I'm not sure why this is going to court, my dash cam footage captures him hitting me but not driving off as I had turned off my engine it stopped recording at that point. I'm worried the court case will consist of him and I'm assuming his OH saying they gave me his insurance details and me saying he didn't? Having attended court before when I was on jury duty the Sheriff advised that we should only find someone guilty if we were 99.99% sure they had committed the crime, how is the other driver going to be convicted here? I've never been to court before as a witness, what exactly happens?
I suspect the alleged perp has pleaded not guilty hoping that you won't turn up at court to offer evidence.
https://www.gov.uk/going-to-court-victim-witness has some guidance. You may want to contact the Witness Service if you need more infornation.
HMCTS has some videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/HMCTSgovuk
https://www.gov.uk/going-to-court-victim-witness has some guidance. You may want to contact the Witness Service if you need more infornation.
HMCTS has some videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/HMCTSgovuk
Lenovo said:
That would be good as I still don't see how this trial is going to be anything but he said/she said as there's no other proof.
Plus the dash cam for the careless driving charge. And if his insurance still haven't acknowledged yours then I'd have thought the failure to stop looks like a goer too.ETA if he's hoping you won't turn up, he's hardly going to plead guilty to just one of the charges when you do.
JQ said:
As above, the other party is hoping you don't turn up, hence the not-guilty plea. Please do turn up, these scrotes rely on apathy to get away with things.
Not just "these scrotes". I know someone who was taken to court by TfL for not paying a fine (that he knew nothing about). Just before the hearing the TfL officer came up to him and said they didn't have any evidence. I had similar a while ago. A tractor took my mirror off, but denied all knowledge, despite it being on my dash cam. He also refused to give his details, but luckily the tractor was sign written with his company name, address and phone number. No Police involvement though, despite him not stopping until I chased after him and not providing his details. He continued to deny everything until we had a court date, then he admitted it a couple of days before the hearing.
Lenovo said:
TBH I'm not sure why this is going to court, my dash cam footage captures him hitting me but not driving off as I had turned off my engine it stopped recording at that point. I'm worried the court case will consist of him and I'm assuming his OH saying they gave me his insurance details and me saying he didn't?
If he was going to say that then presumably he would have done so by now and the case wouldn't be proceeding.Is he being charged with multiple offences? Based on many other stories I'd be amazed if they're going after him just for failing to give his details unless the police asked him and he still refused.
Sheepshanks said:
If he was going to say that then presumably he would have done so by now and the case wouldn't be proceeding.
Is he being charged with multiple offences? Based on many other stories I'd be amazed if they're going after him just for failing to give his details unless the police asked him and he still refused.
I know the police officer said he had "carried out procedures" regarding the careless driving. I got the other driver's name from the witness citation, I googled it (he has quite a unique name) and saw he was in court at the end of last month as well. Is he being charged with multiple offences? Based on many other stories I'd be amazed if they're going after him just for failing to give his details unless the police asked him and he still refused.
croyde said:
There's a regular on these forums who is very knowledgeable about these matters.
Agatlaw, I think.
Hopefully he'll see this and respond.
You mean agtlaw, although I believe his speciality is getting people off speeding fines / driving under the influence / without due care & attention etc, ie a defence lawyer. I may well be wrong. He certainly knows the nuances of the law, mind.Agatlaw, I think.
Hopefully he'll see this and respond.
With regards to your lack of dashcam footage.
With most modern dashcams you can piggyback it off a permanently live fuse (most use the cigarette lighter fuse, as it’s an unimportant system) so the dashcam still records when you leave your car in a carpark. If you’re leaving the car for a few days, the dashcam “should” switch off when the car battery drops to a certain level but if I’m in a secure carpark (like my employers gated compound) for several days then I will unplug power cable from the dashcam end to stop battery drain.
With most modern dashcams you can piggyback it off a permanently live fuse (most use the cigarette lighter fuse, as it’s an unimportant system) so the dashcam still records when you leave your car in a carpark. If you’re leaving the car for a few days, the dashcam “should” switch off when the car battery drops to a certain level but if I’m in a secure carpark (like my employers gated compound) for several days then I will unplug power cable from the dashcam end to stop battery drain.
carl_w said:
I suspect the alleged perp has pleaded not guilty hoping that you won't turn up at court to offer evidence.
https://www.gov.uk/going-to-court-victim-witness has some guidance. You may want to contact the Witness Service if you need more infornation.
HMCTS has some videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/HMCTSgovuk
The OP is in Scotland so some of the links may not be relevant.https://www.gov.uk/going-to-court-victim-witness has some guidance. You may want to contact the Witness Service if you need more infornation.
HMCTS has some videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/HMCTSgovuk
Hi OP, it's difficult to say precisely why you are being called without knowing the wording of the charge or the likely other witnesses and other evidence but it could be for a number of reasons.
From your description it sounds like there is at least a charge of careless driving and a charge of failing to provide details (in terms of s.172 RTA 1988) being made.
On a practical evidential level in Scots law, unless they are agreed between the parties then court productions such as documents or your dashcam footage need spoken to by the person who 'created' them.
You may also need to provide evidence as to what happened at the scene. In Scots criminal law there is still a need for corroboration, that is evidence from 2 sources speaking to a crime, it could be that your evidence of the events and the dashcam would corroborate parts of the charge. There may be further evidence from other sources that you might not have been told about.
This is almost certainly going to be a summary trial in front of a Sheriff.
What is likely to happen is when you get called as a witness (there will probably be a lengthy period of sitting in a witness room beforehand), you will have to enter the witness box, then the Sheriff will put you on oath or you can affirm that you will tell the truth. The Fiscal (prosecutor) will ask you questions first, these will likely be open questions. Once the Fiscal has finished, the defence gets to question you, these will likely be closed questions, seeking yes/no answers. The fiscal has a chance to re-examine you if anything comes up in the defenders questioning that needs addressed. All you can do is answer the questions put to you, as best you can truthfully and honestly.
As for what may happen, its hard to say without knowing all the evidence. It's all down to the Sheriff on the day.
From your description it sounds like there is at least a charge of careless driving and a charge of failing to provide details (in terms of s.172 RTA 1988) being made.
On a practical evidential level in Scots law, unless they are agreed between the parties then court productions such as documents or your dashcam footage need spoken to by the person who 'created' them.
You may also need to provide evidence as to what happened at the scene. In Scots criminal law there is still a need for corroboration, that is evidence from 2 sources speaking to a crime, it could be that your evidence of the events and the dashcam would corroborate parts of the charge. There may be further evidence from other sources that you might not have been told about.
This is almost certainly going to be a summary trial in front of a Sheriff.
What is likely to happen is when you get called as a witness (there will probably be a lengthy period of sitting in a witness room beforehand), you will have to enter the witness box, then the Sheriff will put you on oath or you can affirm that you will tell the truth. The Fiscal (prosecutor) will ask you questions first, these will likely be open questions. Once the Fiscal has finished, the defence gets to question you, these will likely be closed questions, seeking yes/no answers. The fiscal has a chance to re-examine you if anything comes up in the defenders questioning that needs addressed. All you can do is answer the questions put to you, as best you can truthfully and honestly.
As for what may happen, its hard to say without knowing all the evidence. It's all down to the Sheriff on the day.
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