Involved in RTC - Report to Police?

Rover_Driver

Aretnap wrote: »

You're not obliged to report injury RTAs if you're the only person injured - Road Traffic Act 170 (1) (a).

If someone else is injured you're obliged to report it UNLESS you produce your insurance certificate at the scene - 170 (5).

Only if someone, with reasonable grounds, requests it to be produced - s.170 (5) (b).
If no-one does, and the rest of s.170 is complied with, there is no obligation to report the accident.

Aretnap

It's not written in terms of complying with the rest of the section, or failing to produce the certificate when asked, but simply about producing it or not producing it.

(5)If, in a case where this section applies by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above, [ie injury to someone else] 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.

If nobody requests it, you haven't produced it to a constable or other interested person, so the duty to report still applies.

As an analogy, if I hit a parked car and can't find the owner, nobody's requested my details, so can I just drive off and not report it? Or if the other driver doesn't ask for my certificate because he's dazed/confused/unconscious?

I agree it would be petty to prosecute someone for not reporting if the other person was only slightly injured and actively not interested in seeing your certificate... but by my reading the requirement would strictly speaking still apply.

Rover_Driver

Aretnap wrote: »

It's not written in terms of complying with the rest of the section, or failing to produce the certificate when asked, but simply about producing it or not producing it.
If nobody requests it, you haven't produced it to a constable or other interested person, so the duty to report still applies.

As an analogy, if I hit a parked car and can't find the owner, nobody's requested my details, so can I just drive off and not report it? Or if the other driver doesn't ask for my certificate because he's dazed/confused/unconscious?

I agree it would be petty to prosecute someone for not reporting if the other person was only slightly injured and actively not interested in seeing your certificate... but by my reading the requirement would strictly speaking still apply.

S.170 (5) b, only applies to the insurance certificate - if it is requested, if it not requested, it doesn't apply.

If you hit a parked car and have not complied with rest of s.170 - exchanged names and addresses etc. - you are required to report the accident

Aretnap

Rover_Driver wrote: »

S.170 (5) b, only applies to the insurance certificate - if it is requested, if it not requested, it doesn't apply.

That's not what it says though. It says you must report the accident unless you produce your certificate to some relevant person. No production, for whatever reason = duty to report.

[/quote]If you hit a parked car and have not complied with rest of s.170 - exchanged names and addresses etc. - you are required to report the accident[/QUOTE]
You have compiled with it though. Or at least you haven't failed to comply. Subsection 2 requires you to give your name and address if anyone with reasonable grounds requires it. If nobody asks for your name and address then there's nothing to comply with. In that situation you have to report the accident, not because you haven't complied with subsection 2, but because you haven't given your name and address to anyone. The difference is subtle but important.

But this is irrelevant to the OP's situation so I'm not going to push it any further.

Rover_Driver

Aretnap wrote: »

That's not what it says though. It says you must report the accident unless you produce your certificate to some relevant person. No production, for whatever reason = duty to report.

If you hit a parked car and have not complied with rest of s.170 - exchanged names and addresses etc. - you are required to report the accident[/QUOTE]
You have compiled with it though. Or at least you haven't failed to comply. Subsection 2 requires you to give your name and address if anyone with reasonable grounds requires it. If nobody asks for your name and address then there's nothing to comply with. In that situation you have to report the accident, not because you haven't complied with subsection 2, but because you haven't given your name and address to anyone. The difference is subtle but important.

[/QUOTE]

s.170 (2) Is the requirement to give name and address. s.(3) is the requirement to report the accident if s.(2) is not complied with - name and address not given.

s.(5) (b) Requires that, at the time of the accident, if someone who, having reasonable grounds for so doing, has required him to produce the certificate of insurance, and the certificate is not produced, the accident is required to be reported.

If he has not been required to produce the certificate as above, s.(5) (b) does not apply and the accident is not required to be reported.