Car collision

[camille79]

I was scraping the ice from my car window this morning when I was struck by a passing vehicle's wing mirror.  As they were only going about 25mph and the mirror autimatically folded in I was unhurt but, thinking about it later, was a bit surprised that the driver didn't stop as they couldn't have failed to notice what happened.  I was wondering, is there a legal requirement for a car to stop after any collision or were they perfectly entitled to just drive on.

 

I didn't take the registration so am only looking for advise for my own interest really!

[Ouisch]

In the US, anyway, what happened to you would be considered a "hit and run", which is a serious offense.  By law, a motorist is required to stop after any collision, no matter how minor.

[archbishop]

Also applies in the UK. It is an offence not to report an accident however trivial.

[BenDToy]

It is not, however an offence not to stop, unless someone was injured. As Archbishop says, it is an offence not to report an accident, but I think you have 24 hours to do so.

[Dusky]

BenDToy is correct but, had you taken his number then in order to achieve a successful prosecution for failing to stop and/or failing to report within 24 hours it must be proven that the driver was aware the collision had taken place.

 

You say the driver couldn't have failed to notice but that might have been hard to prove.  For example, people often say, "He obviously saw me; he looked right at me." but that is not sufficient proof of your actually having been seen.

 

Archbishop, it is not an offence to fail to report any accident.  If, for example, you hit an animal it must fall into one of the categories of "Road Traffic Act Animals".  These are (or were, last I knew) "Horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog" to require a report.  An accident involving a motor vehicle and a cat, for example, doesn't need to be reported as long as nothing else was involved - unless it was another cat.  Neither does a collision with temporary "roadside property" such as plastic cones or roadworks fencing need reporting.

[Dusky]

Further to my first point, if a driver's defence was not having noticed the collision and it could be proved he was the driver, he'd have to be very careful that his "defence" doesn't put him squarely in the firing line for "driving without due care & attention".