Been in a car crash - Need advice on going to police etc....

MercilessKiller

Hi there.

I'll give out the full story and I need some advice on what may happen as I'm clueless and worried.

Driving with my girlfriend and friend in the car and a duel carriageway though limited to 40. A very large car pulls out and is speeding and driving stupidly. There are red lights, he's in the right lane I'm in the left....

In front of him is a small car (like mine) just going at the speed limit. I am too. Quite a bit forward there are some speed cameras too.

He flashes the person in front of him who can't move as I'm in the left lane.. he swerves straight behind me and gets VERY close, flashing me... I tap my hazards on to try and say "I'm going at the speed limit and in the left lane.. calm down" so just tapped them on and off. He pulled back in the right lane. I could have sped to 60 so he could undertake though wouldn't do that, or I could have slowed to 20 on a dual carriageway but thought he'd just leave us alone.

Anyway the car in the right finally forked off right. The big car though pulled aside me and started throwing stones at my window. I ignored and slowed right down, but he slowed down as well, so I started to speed up, and he sped up as well.

Then he put is foot down, swerved directly in front of me leaving no room and slammed his foot on the breaks resulting in me hitting the back of him. The car still drives through a front headlamp is outplaced and the bonet is completely crushed...

My neck was in pain too. He drove off, I recorded the number plate and rang 999. The woman told me to go the station tomorrow morning to report it..... My insurance is just 3rd party fire and theft.....

I'm feeling guilty for not avoiding it and somehow just let the guy undertake the other car by slowing down or pulling over a lot... but either way it's happened now. The other 2 people in my car are also convinced like me that he wanted me to hit him... The second he pulled in front of me I realised and slowed but by car has no ABS and his just stopped.

Advice needed

Just to answer any thoughts you may have, I'm just an average 20 year old with a clean license, no problems.. a pug 206 1.1, so not a speed freak at all.. This has completely shaken us up!

jeannieblue

So he didn't stop then...

Hate to say this, but he probably hasn't got insurance.. Ten out of ten to you for not rising to his bait.

Apart from that, i don't know what to say to you. Speak to the police tomorrow and ask for their advice, you may get lucky and talk to someone, how can I put this, someone who is experienced and sympathetic. Some of them are great and considerate, others aren't.

There are some stupid idiots on the road, most of them in illegal/stolen cars who are not insured. I've a gut feeling that the idiot who was playing games tonight, probably is one of the unisured. If you own your car, tax it, insure it - you normally drive it responsibly. If its stolen etc. - you wouldn't give a hoot to other road users. Thats how I see it.

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

Try and chill out. Accept that there are morons out there and you got lucky because nothing worse happened and you and your friends are safe.

Good luck - and keep us updated.

Marker_2

Tell the police exacty what you said here, thats all you can do. I wasnt very clear on your first post, whether the other driver stopped as well?? If so then they are witnesses as well. You also say that you were coming up to speed cameras, the driver and the car should then be spotted.

I hope who ever it was playing games was just an idiot driver and does have insurance etc.

I am really sorry for you, stuff like this is not fair and shouldnt ahppen. If ever you come up against something like that again then aways hold back and let them over take you (never speed for them, never ever do that) and get someone else to phone the police and report them.

daveyjp

One of life's idiots who probably wasn't insured. If there are a few of you in the car it's a good idea for a passenger to call the police whilst you are driving.

Print out your post, use this as the basis of your statement and take someone with you.

Jennifer_Jane

The big car had passengers with stones in the Car! They attacked you with these stones (presumably there are marks on your car where the stones hit the car?)

I think that you should highlight the aggressive behaviour which I also think is suspicious. There have been many reports of deliberate slowing down in order to get people to smack into the back of cars to scam insurance companies. To me it sounds a lot like this.

I'm so sorry that this has happened to you, it must have been terrifying. I think there is criminal intent here.

Very best of luck
Jen
x

globalds

It might be easier if you draw a few sketches of the stages of the incident.
Just to show the police where you were in relation to the other car .The speed camera would make a good fix point on the drawings as they will probably already know this location .
Also get pictures of any damage to your vehicle .Have you phoned your insurance yet .I see a claim by you on the other driver .

MercilessKiller

Hey guys. Thanks for your replies.

I went to the police an hour ago (didn't like sitting around doing nothing). Repeated all of the above. The lady officer was very nice and helpful. She took all the details in specifics.

Apparently though I have to wait for 1 week before I get a reference number, and then after that they'll get in touch with the owner of the vehicle. I have NO Idea what my insurance company will say but will ring them in 5.

She said the problem is my friends aren't "independant witnesses" so its word v word. The driver of the other car had forked off and gone before the collission and no other cars (I could see) were around....

Either way she said the fact he didn't stop after the accident is a good sign for me, but she said it would be hard for her to predict what would happen....

Very shaken up by this. Neck feels a little stiff but a bit easier than a few hours ago.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

I wouldn't be at all happy with that response. You were attacked. Your property damaged.

You don't just want a reference number - you want an investigation undertaken as to the identity of the driver and his passengers, and if you don't get it, complain to a superior officer.

Doozergirl

I'm really sorry about what happened. It must have been quite distressing for you.

FWIW, this is the sort of thing that gets reported in our local paper as a road rage attack - they give details of what happened and ask for witnesses.

(It was probably coins they threw at your car, someone did it to H once - I love London)

MercilessKiller

Could have been coins actually yeh! something like that.

I have to go back tomorrow with MOT and insurance certificate. Should I ask for a superior officer? I'm assumign this is RTA procedure?

goldspanners

MercilessKiller wrote: »

Hey guys. Thanks for your replies.

I went to the police an hour ago (didn't like sitting around doing nothing). Repeated all of the above. The lady officer was very nice and helpful. She took all the details in specifics.

Apparently though I have to wait for 1 week before I get a reference number, and then after that they'll get in touch with the owner of the vehicle. I have NO Idea what my insurance company will say but will ring them in 5.

unfortunatly you are now causing the police hassle, you are giving then some work to do,they dont like this very much,its easier to stand at the side of the road with a speed camera rather than go out and actually have to look for evidence and investigate a crime,investigations cost time and money, speed cameras earn money and will catch more "criminals" than this one investigation im afraid so you will be hard pushed to get anything other than a crappy referance number never mind any justice.
sorry to hear about this shamful incident,i had similar recently but no where near as bad,driver hit me in a car park and then gave me false details, police done nothing other than leave a bad taste in my mouth,expect to taste the same,keep the guys reg number, find him again and seek revenge,that is my plan.