car park bump

FormulaDriven

nidO - the only thing I disagree with you is where you say: "it baffles me that he's needed to explain himself a further 5(!) times." This is an internet forum, where sterile debate thrives!

Quentin

dannyrst wrote: »

To be fair to FormulaDriven, my car has been dinged slightly in car parks several times and not once have I thought of going back into the shop to see if someone reported it, nor has it even crossed my mind to contact the police (surely they have more important things to do). I would agree, a simple note on the windscreen would be far more appropriate (depending on weather conditions naturally).

Trouble is anyone just following your advice (instead of the OP's way of doing things) would be guilty of an offence!

FormulaDriven

Quentin wrote: »

Trouble is anyone just following your advice (instead of the OP's way of doing things) would be guilty of an offence!

That's a new one: what's the offence? (I know this sounds like I'm trying to pick another argument, but I am genuinely interested to know the answer).

Aretnap

dannyrst wrote: »

To be fair to FormulaDriven, my car has been dinged slightly in car parks several times and not once have I thought of going back into the shop to see if someone reported it, nor has it even crossed my mind to contact the police (surely they have more important things to do). I would agree, a simple note on the windscreen would be far more appropriate (depending on weather conditions naturally).

Whether they have more important things to do or not, the law requires that if you can't find the driver/owner, you must report it to the police. Leaving a note is a nice thing to do, but it's not enough to satisfy the law (it might blow away after all) - nor is it even required by law. The most important thing is to report it to the police.

All drivers should really know that, though I imagine in practice a lot of them don't. (Road Traffic Act section 170, or Highway Code rule 170 286.

Aretnap

FormulaDriven wrote: »

That's a new one: what's the offence? (I know this sounds like I'm trying to pick another argument, but I am genuinely interested to know the answer).

Failure to report an accident - Road Traffic Act section 170. There's case law to the effect that leaving a note under the windscreen wiper doesn't meet the requirement to provide your details (for various reasons, not least that it might blow away/get rained on) so if you are unable to give your details to the other driver/owner in person, you must report the accident to the police.

FormulaDriven

*Aretnap* - are you trying to spoil a good debate with facts?;)

I wasn't aware of this. One point: Highway Rule 170 is about behaviour at junctions, so you might want to check your reference.

I still think it would be a courtesy to leave a note, which obviously could just say "I've left my details with the police".

Quentin

FormulaDriven wrote: »

That's a new one: what's the offence? (I know this sounds like I'm trying to pick another argument, but I am genuinely interested to know the answer).

You really need to know this sort of thing before you go on the road!


Much better to get your questions answered authoritatively than rely on a forum where matters of law are involved. (google RTA 1988 s. 170)


(Highway code is NOT the RTA) (If you had clicked Aretnap's helpful link you wouldn't now look so ignorant)

FormulaDriven

I know the HWC is not the same as the RTA - it was Aretnap who mentioned both, and probably just got confused mentioning HWC 170 when they'd also mentioned RTA s170. (I'm editing my post, as Quentin edited his to clarify: on Aretnap's first comment, I googled Highway Code 170 [which he's now corrected] as mentioned by him, as I though the code would be an easier thing to read first. Then I followed the link to the RTA and read that, precisely to not rely on random strangers on the net).

I've read the RTA that was linked to above, and it's very clear that if you don't give the owner of the other vehicle your name and address, you have 24 hours to inform the police - fair enough.

What I didn't know because apparently you'd have to be a student of case law to know it, is that leaving your name and address on the windscreen (with a reasonable expectation that the owner would find it intact) is not enough to fulfil section 170 of the RTA. That's surprising, as parking penalty notices stuck on the windscreen are presumably considered sufficient by the law to inform the driver of a parking offence.

I'm happy to be educated. I've been driving a while, and probably ought to re-read the HWC, but who has time to do that?

nidO

Quentin wrote: »

(Highway code is NOT the RTA) (If you had clicked Aretnap's helpful link you wouldn't now look so ignorant)

Getting really off-topic now but it's not FormulaDriven looking ignorant i'm afraid, it's you for not reading properly.

Aretnap said:

Aretnap wrote: »

All drivers should really know that, though I imagine in practice a lot of them don't. (Road Traffic Act section 170, or Highway Code rule 170)

The reference to Road Traffic Act section 170 is correct, this relates to reporting accidents.
The reference to Highway Code rule 170 however is not correct, because as FormulaDriven mentioned, this relates to taking care at junctions.

Quentin

nidO wrote: »

Getting really off-topic now but it's not FormulaDriven looking ignorant i'm afraid, it's you for not reading properly.....

If you reread my post you will realise that I was well aware about Aretnap's well intended yet confusing post.

Which was why I advised the duelling gent to get his facts on law from an authority rather than a forum!

Anyway all is good thanks to Aretnap and others and the ignorance has been dealt with.