Witnessed a bump

Kilty_2

verybigchris wrote: »

I witnessed a bump in a supermarket car park a couple of months ago. There was a queue of stationary traffic, and one driver just decided to reverse for no apparent reason, and bumped the car behind. I went to the victim to offer myself as a witness and he told me to ****-off and mind my own ****ing business.

Next time I'll probably just walk away.

Little did he realise that without a witness he wouldn't have a hope in hell of winning his insurance claim if the reversing driver said he was hit from behind :eek:

mikey72

verybigchris wrote: »

I witnessed a bump in a supermarket car park a couple of months ago. There was a queue of stationary traffic, and one driver just decided to reverse for no apparent reason, and bumped the car behind. I went to the victim to offer myself as a witness and he told me to ****-off and mind my own ****ing business.

Next time I'll probably just walk away.

No, don't.
Next time it might be me, and I would be grateful.

Kilty_2

mikey72 wrote: »

No, don't.
Next time it might be me, and I would be grateful.

+1.

If I had an independent witness to the bump I had in August I'd probably be in a far better financial position at the moment.

cavework

I was behind an elderly gentleman on a main RD .. Courier Van was trying to nudge out from side Rd.
Car coming from other direction flashed headlights to Courier driver who pulled out and hit Elderley gentlemans car as he was only looking one way at car flashing headlights.
Courier driver and mate jump out and start giving verbal , so we pulled over and gave details to both drivers and check elderly gent is OK!
Minimal damage to Elderly Gents car and no visible damage to Couriers van.
Guys in Courier van were both really agressive until I suggested we call the police.;)
We are then contacted by Elderly gents insurers to say Courier driver is claiming for whiplash!:rotfl:
seen bigger impacts on the dodgems..
Elderly gents insurers send out an insurance investigator to confirm our witness statement.
'Courier driver emerged from a junction onto main Rd without due care and attention'
End result , a lovely old gentleman who lives on his own and was so grateful he phones me every so often just to keep in touch..

Idiophreak

espresso wrote: »

It should not make you late for work if you simply stop and give your contact details, so that you can be contacted to provide a witness statement if necessary.

If you expect others to do this for you, then surely you should make the small effort yourself.

I don't know if I would "expect" anyone else to go out of their way to help me, though...it would be nice, sure, but I wouldn't expect it.

This morning, as much as I was worried about getting to work on time (important call), it was also impractical for me to stop - I would have had to block a slip road onto a major dual carriage way (or face a mile's walk back from the next lay-by) - and actually, that's been the case in half of these situations - it would have been extremely hard to stop safely in a reasonable distance from the prang.

If any of these were major accidents, I'd obviously stop - but these are very minor things...

Idiophreak

fivetide wrote: »

To the OP - Hope you never find yourself in need of help only to have everyone 'too busy' to bother.

The post seems well menaing but surely you realise what you just said?

5t.

Oh your life must be so happy and full of sunshine.

I very much doubt anyone was "in need of help". It's unlikely there will be any doubt about any of these collisions - in rear-endings, it's very unlikely the other party will claim to have been reversed into and even less likely either insurer will buy it (believe me, as someone who's been reversed into :wall:).

I would have likely faced some kind of disciplinary action had I been late into the office today. I may have made it in time, with stopping to give my details, but I didn't want to risk it. If I found that someone had got into trouble at work for stopping to give me their details in a minor bump, I'd feel extremely guilty, actually.

I just wondered if there was any way of trying to help after the event - sorry I can't be as perfect and organised as you obviously are. Next time I'm planning on witnessing something like this, I'll make sure I allow extra time for it on my journey.

Lirin

I stop and give my details if I'm in a position to do so- I'd like to hope the same would be true for me.

fivetide

Idiophreak wrote: »

Oh your life must be so happy and full of sunshine.

It is thanks. But then, I'm not a person who is facing disciplinary at the office for being late all the time.

Cheers,

5t.

Idiophreak

fivetide wrote: »

It is thanks. But then, I'm not a person who is facing disciplinary at the office for being late all the time.

Cheers,

5t.

...or you're just not smart enough to have a job with any kind of responsibility...

fivetide

Wrong. I'm very responsible. That's why I'm not late and factor in enough time to cover the 30 mile commute each day

Thanks for trying though.

In all se4riousness I wouldn't have thought anyone would be facing discipline if they had witnessed a crash and simply offered to help. I'm a believer in treating people as you would want to be treated and as such I feel my comment about you getting help if you need it sometime is perfectly valid. No need to get upset!

5t