Should I report this to the police?

happymummy24-7

This IS a money saving question.......................if she reports it to the police and its un-justified-which is upto the police to decide- it could be classed as a waste of police time.....costing the tax payers (thats us ballyblack!) hard earned cash.
Now as it happens i dont think this person is wanting to do this,mearly asking local peoples opinion of the whole situation and has asked a ''helpful'' local website for advice.....luckily many others around here are as interested in humans as they are in money and will offer advice accordingly-from time to time that advice may even save you money...but its not everything!
Perspective!!:rolleyes:
Laura.

belfastgirl23

I'm guessing that the driver pulled out too far at a T junction and then had to reverse/let the car drift back to get out of the way of oncoming traffic without checking behind - that's what happened me anyway. Of course if you are a pedestrian and crossing a side road you don't have a choice in terms of crossing and it is the safest thing to go behind the car...

Frenchtoast_2

BatCat wrote: »

Hi Folks,
Let me just qualify this with 2 points.
1: I am not from Northern Ireland
2: I don't drive

Taking those in mind... I was taking my son to nursery this morning when as we were crossing the road a woman reversed her car into us. We were both unharmed (very luckily) but I was incredibly shaken up. I was just glad to get my child off the road and into his nursery up the street (and then have a good weep as I'm 4 months pregnant).
As far as I can see it the woman was completely at fault. We were crossing a side road (Dundela Avenue which branches into the Holywood road) and she had pulled out into the Holywood road. We were halfway across the road when she reversed, backing into the pushchair. It was only me screaming and hitting her car that stopped her.
Thing is that I'm now going to press my local councillors to implement some form of traffic calming on this street. Would it help my case if I reported this incident to the police? Would they even care? I don't have her licence plate number (too shaken up) but there were a couple of drivers nearby who had been involved in a previous accident who witnessed the whole thing and were interviewed by the police (relating to their own accident).
Thanks,
BatCat

Would do no harm to report this and request an incident number from the officer you speak to. Would also suggest that you keep a detailed note of what happened.

cruesfan

happymummy24-7 wrote: »

This IS a money saving question.......................if she reports it to the police and its un-justified-which is upto the police to decide- it could be classed as a waste of police time.....costing the tax payers (thats us ballyblack!) hard earned cash.
Now as it happens i dont think this person is wanting to do this,mearly asking local peoples opinion of the whole situation and has asked a ''helpful'' local website for advice.....luckily many others around here are as interested in humans as they are in money and will offer advice accordingly-from time to time that advice may even save you money...but its not everything!
Perspective!!:rolleyes:
Laura.

Totally agree with your post Laura. God forbid that anyone should ask a question that is not related to money saving!

I always enjoy looking at the NI section of the forum. Thankfully most of us on here are not as dismissive as ballyblack.

Cherryscone

Yes report it to the police she wasnt looking where she was going and just because she didnt hurt you phsyically does not mean you laugh it off and forget it mentally something like this could take longer to get over!
And if every post was moved from the NI section that was not related to moneysaving there would be nothing left in it .

needaspirin

Obviously this silly woman posted this in the wrong section!

In future please post this kind of thread in the "Car reversing into pregnant woman with pushchair" Section.

Oops! just checked and there isn't such a Section. Can Martin create one? :rolleyes:

happymummy24-7

not forgetting to make sure the thread isnt started in the northern ireland section as the incident quite obviously isnt directly related to here :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

so what did you decide to do Batcat?( if you dont mind starting your message with some information about which petrol station in northern ireland is selling their diesel the cheapest today you should be safe enough :rolleyes: :rotfl:

cam8

I personally wouldn't report it. Neither you nor your child were injured and there wasn't any damage caused so in the eyes of the law, it is not classed as a collision.
The driver of the car may not have seen you if you were in a blind spot when (or if) they checked behind, prior to reversing.
At best, the driver would be guilty of a moments inattention, so I doubt they would be prosecuted.

almillar

That's a horrible thing to happen, and understandably upsetting, I would reiterate the advice above about the non-emergency police number above, they can advise you on how far (or not) to take it. But please don't apply for traffic calming! From my understanding of the incident, as said above, it wouldn't have prevented what happened. Traffic calming is horrible, slows people down too much, unnecessarily, causes extra wear on cars, higher fuel cosumption (bad for the environment!) and of course costs money to install. What would have prevented it would be this woman looking behind her before reversing. Nothing fancy, she would have been taught it when she did her driving test, if she ever did. Driving is a serious responsibility and if the only way to slow people down is to put big humps or corners in the road that the can't physically get around then they shouldn't have a driving licence.

BatCat

Hi Folks,
Thanks so much for the advice here. I really appreciate it. Sorry I couldn't reply sooner. After the incident I went to the office of my local MLA (as it was just up the road) to lodge a complaint. The next day I got a letter through the post to tell me that my MLA had actually gone to the police about the incident and police are now going to monitor that particular junction (well I'll believe it when I see it, but seeing as it's just down from the station... who knows). So the decision has largely been taken out of my hands. I had no idea my MLA would be that efficient.

Belfastgirl23 you are right! That is exactly what happened. When I began to cross the car had pretty left my crossing path. She then reversed into it. She didn't get out of the car, but she did however roll down the window to look out of the car.
Thank you all for being so kind and helpful. I really appreciate it.
Can I ask if traffic calming wouldn't help in this situation what might? Basically Dundela Avenue is a hill that cars speed down and often straight on to the Holywood road (not expecting to see pedestrians). There is nothing to encourage them to slow down and this route is crossed by people going to my creche and the local primary schools. I really think it needs some sort of review.
Thanks again,
BatCat