Friday 13th... Edition 30 - Officially DEAD

[SO8]

The guy behind me in the truck witnessed the full thing - but the cops that turned up were normal cops, not traffic cops as there was another accident further down the road (apparently why we were slowing down!).  I do have his details though - and I'm guessing the police do too.  A few folk have said that they probably don't want to bother with all the paperwork - hence haven't issued any charges.

Someone has also advised me to write to the supervisor of their station and ask why the guy hasn't been charged.  Clearly he wasn't paying 'due course and attention'!

Traffic cops or normal cops they should still report it the same way and include all the details.  Reporting someone - or recommending it be done later - is no more paperwork at all .... whoever said that doesn't know how easy it is.  The report takes quite a while - reporting only 2 lines of writing ....

These things can take time to sort.  A police 'process' unit will normally want statements from all witnesses in writing before deciding whether to summons.  They will take their statements into account and the recommendations of the reporting officers.  The report books can take a week or so to get to the right dept and then people have to be written to. 

A quick phone call will hopefully get you a point of contact to talk to about it.  I would try ringing before writing as it takes you less time and will hopefully get the same result. 

FWIW I speak with a fair degree of knowledge on reporting collisions - 7 years as a Traffic officer    .... and a fellow Ed 30 owner ....

[Hurdy]

Sorry to hear that peeps.

It is hard for me to see a car like that let alone you. Your neck will get better in time and you just have to thank your lucky stars he wasn't in a lorry and that there was no-one in your rear seats at the time.

Hope you get it sorted soon and rejoin the GTI fold

[p3eps]

Yep... back up at Specialist.  Spent a few hours in there removing my stereo / roadpilot etc.  Its the first time I've seen the car since I left it 3 weeks ago in the middle of the motorway.

I still have the officers name and also my accident number... should I try calling that station and enquire as to why there have been no charges?  I know it sounds petty wanting the guy charged - but why should he get away with it!?

I'm glad there was no one else in the car with me - especially in the back - as I'd end up feeling guilty for them... even though it wasn't my fault! 

I don't know what I'm going to get next... was thinking about an S3 perhaps 
On the other hand - maybe a 1990 Landrover Defender or something!  I wouldn't need to worry about parking it at the other end of the car park in Tescos, and would save myself a few quid!

[Martz]

Christ mate! looked like a nasty one, still no one was seriously hurt and I do hope that justice will be done. Hope all goes well with the claim and that Accident Exchange behave themselves.

[ifti]

WOW!
Good to hear you are not seriously hurt though, although need time to recover.
The car looks really bad, and since I have the same car/colour, but 5 door, its a reminder for me to drive calm. Then again, the worst thing about all this is, it wasnt even your fault. It was all because of some careless idiot not watching the road in front of him.
Dont let him get away with it. Chase it as much as you can. I mean, whats the worst that can happen now??
Best of luck.

On a sidenote - can you also not claim for your injury??
Im sure you can, as my ss in law was hit from behind once, and put a claim foward and she was awarded over £1k for her ack inhury - similar to yours.
Try one of the accident claim companies you see on TV - a no win no fee thingy - Im sure you'll get some extra for your injury. Worth a shot aint it?

[Martz]

WOW!
Good to hear you are not seriously hurt though, although need time to recover.
The car looks really bad, and since I have the same car/colour, but 5 door, its a reminder for me to drive calm. Then again, the worst thing about all this is, it wasnt even your fault. It was all because of some careless idiot not watching the road in front of him.
Dont let him get away with it. Chase it as much as you can. I mean, whats the worst that can happen now??
Best of luck.

On a sidenote - can you also not claim for your injury??
Im sure you can, as my ss in law was hit from behind once, and put a claim foward and she was awarded over £1k for her ack inhury - similar to yours.
Try one of the accident claim companies you see on TV - a no win no fee thingy - Im sure you'll get some extra for your injury. Worth a shot aint it?

Accident Exchange will deal with that too.

[p3eps]

Accident Exchange will deal with that too.

Yeah - they've put me in touch with a solicitor who will claim for personal injury, as well as claiming their fees / car hire back for them. 

Martz - have you used them before or something?
So far they seem pretty good... they got me back on the road quickly when my own insurance company told me to get a train home!

[Makaveli]

Gutted for you but glad that you were able to walk away from this - as has been said before cars can be replaced body parts can't.

Maybe you will stick to watching the Dandies (even though we are pish just now!!!) in future instead of going to Old Trafford 

[starlingadey]

Gutted for you.Make sure you get compo for the injury.I ended up with £1900 for my rear end shunt. But...further advice,next time DON'T get a steel grey car.Before getting my RED ED30 I had a grey Corolla T Sport and twice got hit from behind and was told by the garage that they were always getting cars of that colour in and figured that the colour isn't particularly "visible". It kind of blends in with its surroundings which you can imagine to be true when you think about it!

[Alexander]

I dont know how much experience youve got with defenders but if you want any advice etc just PM me. My GTI is the first "car" ive had as all my previous motors have been defenders or landies of some form or other!! Although if you value your back/arse get an S3!!!!