Victim of road rage, damage to car?

spira9

Hi, today I was driving into a supermarket car park trying to find a space, when suddenly a guy in a bmw pulled out on me, forcing me to slam on my brakes. He gave me a dirty look as he was driving by and got really angry at me. I drove down futher into the car park and looked in my mirror to see him turning around and speeding towards me. He pulls up next to me so I just drove off to get away from this idiot. He then starts chasing me around the car park in his car. There's no where really to go as there are bumps around the car park and barriers at the exit. So I try to drive to the exit to get away and this guy speeds up beside me. He then starts shouting asking me to fight him, calling me a p**** and a f*****, along with other nasty words. I just wanted him to go away so I said sorry for making him angry. He kept swearing and then speeds off ahead to block my car. The psycho got out of his car and starts punching my car as I was driving away. I drove out of the car park and he is still chasing me in his car, until he eventually stops to turn a different direction than me. I then drove around to avoid him and made my way back to the supermarket car park. When I got out I noticed he caused a big dent in my car along with scratches.

I am in shock still and don't really know what to do. I spoke to the supermarket employees and had witnesses who gave me a number plate and I spoke to the local police on the phone. I gave all the information I can, number plate, what he looked like etc. The police said they were treating it as a driving incident. They have cameras in the car park so they should get it but I can't view them for legal reasons. However I did ask the car washing place in the car park and they showed me their camera but it didn't catch the number plate, it was too blurry.

I don't know if I should wait for what the police do or contact my insurer to try and get them to sort it out via the number plate? I don't want my insurance to go up higher because of this. I'm also thinking it should be treated more than just a driving incident as he threatened to attack me, tried to attack me and also damaged my car, then also fled the scene. I haven't experienced anything like this before and I'm really worried that nothing is going to happen and I'm stuck with a damaged car.

Tilt

Sounds like more than a "driving incident" to me. I would be looking toward threatening behaviour, criminal damage and leaving the scene of the "driving incident".

I would personally attend the local police station and ask to speak to a real policeman, preferably a duty sergeant.

Marktheshark

Make an appointment with the duty inspector and ask them to file an official complaint.
They have the option of remedial resolution, otherwise known as "doing their job properly"

arcon5

The guy cuts you up then does all that.... so what did you do?

tacpot12

You have a damaged car. Your only decisions about the car at this point are whether to get it repaired and whether to claim on your insurance.

i would check if you have any legal assistance cover included in your motor insurance policy. If you do, you might be able to take the other driver to court to recover your costs but you need to tell your insurers about the incident and be clear whether you are claiming for the damage or not.

photome

arcon5 wrote: »

The guy cuts you up then does all that.... so what did you do?

whatever, it doesnt justify what he did

missile

photome wrote: »

whatever, it doesnt justify what he did

Road rage is rarely (if ever?) a one sided incident.

[Deleted User]

missile wrote: »

Road rage is rarely (if ever?) a one sided incident.

Sure it is - people are idiots.

photome

missile wrote: »

Road rage is rarely (if ever?) a one sided incident.

are you saying that violence is justified?

interstellaflyer

missile wrote: »

Road rage is rarely (if ever?) a one sided incident.

The Police will deal with the physical facts, what verbal altercation came before is irrelevant, the crime committed was Criminal Damage and that, should they be interested, is what they will investigate.

Tilt

interstellaflyer wrote: »

The Police will deal with the physical facts, what verbal altercation came before is irrelevant, the crime committed was Criminal Damage and that, should they be interested, is what they will investigate.

Threatening behaviour is also an offence under the Public Order Act.