Leaving the Scene of an accident.

megabantz

"Now, apparently, I clipped the other car's wing mirror causing minimal damage"


How is it possible to clip a car, not even realise and on top of all that it was caused by dangerous driving cause it sounds like you overtook a car when it was not safe to do so, as a result you put all 3 drivers including yourself in danger.

You need to have a long conversation with yourself

bucketybuck

Am I right in saying that you clipped the wing mirror of the car you were overtaking? And this was because there was a car approaching from the other direction you needed to avoid?

Did the approaching car have to swerve off the road because of your maneuver?

If it was the overtaken car that you hit then you were both going the same direction, so how fast were you going to not only leave the scene of the collision, but also to leave the following car far behind?

seamus

So, look, stop dancing around things and admit straight up what you know yourself. You performed a dangerous overtake where there was oncoming traffic and inadvertently clipped the wing mirror of the vehicle you were overtaking. You know you did this, but your wing mirror looked OK on your side, the car you overtook started beeping and shouting, you panicked and put the foot down.

The car you clipped probably followed you to your destination and then called in the incident, aware that reporting a UK reg would yield nothing unless they followed you.

The other driver is very unlikely to want to go the whole way through with a prosecution. If I was the other driver, I would happy with an frank acknowledgement of the error and a bit of remorse. But if the Gardai came back to me and said, "The other driver doesn't really know what happened, says she doesn't really remember, didn't really think anything happened, she just panicked", then I would push for a prosecution, because that shows someone who is dangerously unaware of how to drive safely.

You've already written enough text in this thread to make it pretty clear that you actually know what happened but are trying not to admit it and feign ignorance. A judge would tear you apart in court. You wouldn't get a ban, rather a few points and a big fine. But you could keep it from going there at all.

Arbiter of Good Taste

If you let the actions of the driver behind panic you, then you really should not be driving.

Shermanator

seamus wrote: »

So, look, stop dancing around things and admit straight up what you know yourself. You performed a dangerous overtake where there was oncoming traffic and inadvertently clipped the wing mirror of the vehicle you were overtaking. You know you did this, but your wing mirror looked OK on your side, the car you overtook started beeping and shouting, you panicked and put the foot down.

The car you clipped probably followed you to your destination and then called in the incident, aware that reporting a UK reg would yield nothing unless they followed you.

The other driver is very unlikely to want to go the whole way through with a prosecution. If I was the other driver, I would happy with an frank acknowledgement of the error and a bit of remorse. But if the Gardai came back to me and said, "The other driver doesn't really know what happened, says she doesn't really remember, didn't really think anything happened, she just panicked", then I would push for a prosecution, because that shows someone who is dangerously unaware of how to drive safely.

You've already written enough text in this thread to make it pretty clear that you actually know what happened but are trying not to admit it and feign ignorance. A judge would tear you apart in court. You wouldn't get a ban, rather a few points and a big fine. But you could keep it from going there at all.

Now I understand OP is a She

seamus

Shermanator wrote: »

Now I understand OP is a She

Actually I just wrote "she" because in my head "Dorian Gray" is a woman's name.

A quick google reveals that in fact it is not.

DorianGrayism

goz83 wrote: »

It sounds like you're not being very honest. In your op, you said you had apparently hit another cars wing mirror. There is no "apparently" about it, if (a) you checked your mirror for damage at the time and decided to put the foot down and speed off and (b) the boys in blue called to your work place about it and you remembered an overtaking incident, which most people would have forgotten the next day if it was uneventful..

I had no clue what they were talking about intially. Partly because they had the wrong date.

Then they described the incident and where it happend. I have only driven along that road twice in the past few weeks, so I knew what they were talking about and I fessed up.

Also, no one would forget that incident since it was a near miss.

goz83 wrote: »

Your story and assertions have changed and been added to along the way. First of all, the car was going very slow. Then it was just going under the speed limit. Then it was significantly under the speed limit. No matter what way you paint it, you were clearly driving without due care and were driving dangerously and you knowing left the scene of an accident. You wouldn't have checked your mirror otherwise and you couldn't have known if the other car was damaged, or not. You thought you would get away with it, but you were tracked down. Maybe nothing will come of this, but your the lack of regard for the other motorist shown by you at time of the incident is really poor form. The music was so loud, you might not have heard the other motorist beeping at you while you screamed out the words of Britney Spears song, hit me baby one more time, or whatever else was playing so loudly.

Next time, drive with care. Too often those manouvres end badly. The other driver could have been driving more slowly for many reasons, one being that kids were in the car. You just never know.

Absolutely, I agree. It was poor form and I thought I would get away with it. I was in a rush and I wasn't thinking about anyone else.

Won't be a next time. Will never do it again.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

3rdDegree

These threads are funny. OP admits he/she did something a bit silly with regard to a minor accident and asks for advice, everyone tears him/her to shreds and says the book will be thrown at them!

Arbiter of Good Taste

3rdDegree wrote: »

These threads are funny. OP admits he/she did something a bit silly with regard to a minor accident and asks for advice, everyone tears him/her to shreds and says the book will be thrown at them!

The OP may try to play it down, but they clipped another car and drove on. That is serious.

Also people get a bit cynical when the facts start to change as the story progresses

esforum

3rdDegree wrote: »

These threads are funny. OP admits he/she did something a bit silly with regard to a minor accident and asks for advice, everyone tears him/her to shreds and says the book will be thrown at them!

no he didnt just clip a mirror.
He put the foot down, probable breaking the limit seeing as the other car wasnt actually that slow.

He cant even say if its a solid line or not which I am taking as being a yes considering the OP's evasive attitude.

He struck an oncoming car which means he either didnt care or didnt see anothsr car on a straight road. Either one is bad.

He then drove on ignoring his own behaviour.

He did all this while driving a UK plate and being cynical I would suggest that had something to do with the behaviour either A, didnt want the car seized or B, has no valid insurance or c, expected not to be caught as a result of the car not being on the itish system

I personally hope the license is taken, we dont need drivers like this on our roads.

3rdDegree

I don't disagree with what you are saying. I'm sure the OP doesn't disagree either. It certainly seemed to me that he/she knows what they did was wrong.

My point is that they just came in here looking for some advice, and all they got was lectures. That seems to be par for the course in here.

bucketybuck

3rdDegree wrote: »

and all they got was lectures.

How ironic.

alan partridge aha

esforum wrote: »

no he didnt just clip a mirror.
He put the foot down, probable breaking the limit seeing as the other car wasnt actually that slow.

He cant even say if its a solid line or not which I am taking as being a yes considering the OP's evasive attitude.

He struck an oncoming car which means he either didnt care or didnt see anothsr car on a straight road. Either one is bad.

He then drove on ignoring his own behaviour.

He did all this while driving a UK plate and being cynical I would suggest that had something to do with the behaviour either A, didnt want the car seized or B, has no valid insurance or c, expected not to be caught as a result of the car not being on the itish system

I personally hope the license is taken, we dont need drivers like this on our roads.

Let he who is without sin and all that.

esforum

alan partridge aha wrote: »

Let he who is without sin and all that.

seriously? Your opposed to having a justice system based on a contradictory statement in the bible? Well sure, I have sinned so that murderer and rapist down the road, its grand. the paedophile outside my childs school? Ah but sure I was caught speeding once so who am I to intervene.

Absolutely absurd and pointless comment

3rdDegree

esforum wrote: »

seriously? Your opposed to having a justice system based on a contradictory statement in the bible? Well sure, I have sinned so that murderer and rapist down the road, its grand. the paedophile outside my childs school? Ah but sure I was caught speeding once so who am I to intervene.

Absolutely absurd and pointless comment

I'd guess he was referring to the people on this thread rather than the whole judicial system

alan partridge aha

esforum wrote: »

seriously? Your opposed to having a justice system based on a contradictory statement in the bible? Well sure, I have sinned so that murderer and rapist down the road, its grand. the paedophile outside my childs school? Ah but sure I was caught speeding once so who am I to intervene.

Absolutely absurd and pointless comment

You need to calm down, in your original post you jumped to a lot of conclusions which were not fact based.

nuac

DorianGrayism wrote: »

Well, according to my Lawyer, leaving the scene.

I am thinking possibly Driving without due care and attention as well.

He is saying I could possibly lose my licence and etc even if it is a first time offence. He is also saying I could be sued for shock and etc.

Tbh, I agree that it sounds a bit insane since the Garda are saying the damage is minimal.

A claim for shock for having your wing mirror clipped? Unlikely to succeed

ash23

Op did you clip the car coming against you or the car you were overtaking? It's not clear from your posts.

davo10

DorianGrayism wrote: »

Well, according to my Lawyer, leaving the scene.

I am thinking possibly Driving without due care and attention as well.

He is saying I could possibly lose my licence and etc even if it is a first time offence. He is also saying I could be sued for shock and etc.

Tbh, I agree that it sounds a bit insane since the Garda are saying the damage is minimal.

Op, taking into account the advice your solicitor has given you, your main concern should be the inevitable correspondence you will recieve from the Medical Council if the worst case scenario comes to pass. "Doctor leaves scene of accident" is a career killer, not being able to drive will rule you out of any GP positions or any hospital positions which involve you being on call unless you live within walking distance of the hospital.

Op sort this out very quickly and quietly, if you get a bill for the mirror, pay it in full without argument but without admitting liability. These guys can advise you about the law, they cannot advise you about the implications for your career and though this is a very minor incident, the combo of dangerous driving and in particular leaving the scene will not make good reading when someone googles your name.

Arbiter of Good Taste

nuac wrote: »

A claim for shock for having your wing mirror clipped? Unlikely to succeed

I world have thought the potential shock would be as a result of being hit while overtaken at (as has now been ascertained, some kind of) speed on a narrow road, rather than because of the damage to the wing mirror.