crash law

Emily1990_2

Not to do it I'd imagine?

What did you do?

sebdangerfield

No it won't, Nigewic has it bang on. You must stop, nothing more. Hitting something, coming to a standstill and then driving off still counts as having stopped. Perfectly legal to report the detail to the police as he said.:T

This has been discussed a few times on here now and it's just wrong. Mearly stopping does not satisfy that act.

DaveF327

Road_Traffic_Act_1988 wrote:

Duty of driver to stop, report accident and give information or documents.
170.— (1) This section applies in a case where, owing to the presence of a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place, an accident occurs by which—

(a) personal injury is caused to a person other than the driver of that mechanically propelled vehicle, or
(b) damage is caused—

(i) to a vehicle other than that mechanically propelled vehicle or a trailer drawn by that mechanically propelled vehicle, or
(ii) to an animal other than an animal in or on that mechanically propelled vehicle or a trailer drawn by that mechanically propelled vehicle, or
(iii) to any other property constructed on, fixed to, growing in or otherwise forming part of the land on which the road or place in question is situated or land adjacent to such land.

(2) The driver of the mechanically propelled vehicle must stop and, if required to do so by any person having reasonable grounds for so requiring, give his name and address and also the name and address of the owner and the identification marks of the vehicle.

(3) If for any reason the driver of the mechanically propelled vehicle does not give his name and address under subsection (2) above, he must report the accident.

(4) A person who fails to comply with subsection (2) or (3) above is guilty of an offence.

(5) If, in a case where this section applies by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above, the driver of a motor vehicle does not at the time of the accident produce such a certificate of insurance or security, or other evidence, as is mentioned in section 165(2)(a) of this Act—

(a) to a constable, or
(b) to some person who, having reasonable grounds for so doing, has required him to produce it,

the driver must report the accident and produce such a certificate or other evidence.This subsection does not apply to the driver of an invalid carriage.

(6) To comply with a duty under this section to report an accident or to produce such a certificate of insurance or security, or other evidence, as is mentioned in section 165(2)(a) of this Act, the driver—

(a) must do so at a police station or to a constable, and
(b) must do so as soon as is reasonably practicable and, in any case, within twenty-four hours of the occurrence of the accident.

(7) A person who fails to comply with a duty under subsection (5) above is guilty of an offence, but he shall not be convicted by reason only of a failure to produce a certificate or other evidence if, within seven days after the occurrence of the accident, the certificate or other evidence is produced at a police station that was specified by him at the time when the accident was reported.

(8) In this section “animal” means horse, cattle, a$$, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog.

In summary, you must stop, then exchange details. Only if you haven't been able to exchange details must you approach a police constable without delay and absolutely within 24 hours.

The above act extends to England, Scotland and Wales but not to Northern Ireland.

cyclonebri1

sebdangerfield wrote: »

This has been discussed a few times on here now and it's just wrong. Mearly stopping does not satisfy that act.

NO. You are wrong.


Yes, you must stop.

No, you don't have to give details at the scene

Yes, you have to report this ASAP, eg within 24hrs to the police


The one thing you do not have to do is stop and exchange details.

This is to protect the innocent party in an accident from the wrath of the other party, totally correct in my opinion.:T

sebdangerfield

Like I said, we've had this discussion several times and it's unfair to keep saying the same things when it's wrong.

Cyclone, I can see from your posts that you appear to be very knowledgable with regards to cars and sometimes offer good advise on that subject. However, I don't see where your knowledge of legal matters comes from. The actual act and section has been posted both here and the other posts regarding failure to stop but you still don't seem to believe you're wrong. It really is quite clear.

Tell me, if mearly stopping is all that's required why is the offence; failing to stop and exchange details after a reportable accident?

cyclonebri1

You are right Seb, I'm not an expert in legal matters, but have been on the receiving end of this one. We were rear ended by a driver that did no more than complete a 3 point turn and disapear back up the road. No one was injured. We did get the number but not a good view of the driver.

The copper who came out told us that as he had effectively stopped there was no offence, and if he produced his documents in a reasonable amount of time, at a police station, that was acceptable. I won't bore you with the whole story as it went dodgy.;)

There have been, as you say, numerous posts about people failing to exchange details at the scene and many reasons given for not doing...


So tell me this; Is it or is it not legal to stop after an accident and if no one is injured, to drive to a police station to report the issue rather than exchange details at the scene?

Then just maybe this one can be put to bed.

I recall something in another post from yourself stating that if you were wrong, "I shouldn't be in this job"?

So may be you are a copper or civilian police? come on cough up, there's every type of proffesion on here and of course posts carry more weight with that professional back up;) Don't need you badge number :rotfl::rotfl:

cyclonebri1

DaveF327 wrote: »

In summary, you must stop, then exchange details. Only if you haven't been able to exchange details must you approach a police constable without delay and absolutely within 24 hours.

The above act extends to England, Scotland and Wales but not to Northern Ireland.

And thats exactly as I understand it, there can be many reasons given for not exchanging details, eg, scared of an irrate 2nd party, not having any with you, and even wishing to report directly to the police to get in 1st so to speak.

Hintza

Where has the OP gone?

sebdangerfield

Bri, I can assure you, if thats all the guy did, and there were no mitigating circumstances as to why the guy who hit you didn't stop then thats poor advice from that officer.

So tell me this; Is it or is it not legal to stop after an accident and if no one is injured, to drive to a police station to report the issue rather than exchange details at the scene?

I'm assuming that the above would be a reportable accident. i.e if there was no injury there would be damage to another's property. If thats the case, to be able to not stop at the scene to furnish the details of the vehicle, driver and owner's vehicle there must be mitigating circumstances but its for a court/CPS lawyer to decide so it's a very thin line to tread as the ball's not in your court so to speak.

To comply with the law the driver must;

Stop, provide his details, the owners details and the vehicle details to anyone at the scene with a need for it.

If (and the courts/CPS decide this) mitigating circumstances apply i.e, a medical emergency then you must report the accident in person to a police officer as soon as practicable and in any case within 24 hours.

So may be you are a copper or civilian police? come on cough up, there's every type of proffesion on here and of course posts carry more weight with that professional back up;) Don't need you badge number :rotfl::rotfl:

I'm niether! I'd make a very poor Police officer! I can get rather opinionated when it comes to chavs and idiots so i'd be sacked rather quickly as thats pretty much how 90% of police time is taken up! I'm a Lawyer, I'm junior partner of a firm in Birmingham.

cyclonebri1

sebdangerfield wrote: »

Bri, I can assure you, if thats all the guy did, and there were no mitigating circumstances as to why the guy who hit you didn't stop then thats poor advice from that officer.



I'm assuming that the above would be a reportable accident. i.e if there was no injury there would be damage to another's property. If thats the case, to be able to not stop at the scene to furnish the details of the vehicle, driver and owner's vehicle there must be mitigating circumstances but its for a court/CPS lawyer to decide so it's a very thin line to tread as the ball's not in your court so to speak.

To comply with the law the driver must;

Stop, provide his details, the owners details and the vehicle details to anyone at the scene with a need for it.

If (and the courts/CPS decide this) mitigating circumstances apply i.e, a medical emergency then you must report the accident in person to a police officer as soon as practicable and in any case within 24 hours.



I'm niether! I'd make a very poor Police officer! I can get rather opinionated when it comes to chavs and idiots so i'd be sacked rather quickly as thats pretty much how 90% of police time is taken up! I'm a Lawyer, I'm junior partner of a firm in Birmingham.

Thanks for that Seb, it's the term mitigating that brings everything together or even blows it apart. As said, claiming you were frightened or similar would be mitigating circumstances/ don't you think?

I'm not saying the law is correct by giving an opt out card here, infact I think it's wrong, very wrong. To explain, in an earlier post I said things got dodgy after the RTA we had. The other driver turned up at the police station latyer that evening with full documentation etc Made an excuse about having a panic attack. We accepted that as they admitted the details we had provided were correct and the insurance sorted it. No one was prosecuted. We had our damages paid for. However it sticks in the craw a little when a bloke drives into the back of your car, and later a woman provides details and admits responsibilities. . Doesn't take much working out really. :mad::mad::mad: From our point of view the only way out of the situation was to accept that or lose out.