Ring the Guards or leave it?

hardybuck

Howya folks,

Suffered at the hands of some really careless driving this morning. Pretty annoyed after it, but could have been far worse.

Car in the lane next to me decided to pull into the lane I was driving in, but didn't check their mirrors or look to see what was around them. She was only halfway past me when she changed lane.

I hit the brakes, pulled left a little to avoid her. Rubbed off the kerb in doing so. Have a scuff around the edge of my alloy and hopefully the tire is ok.

She drove on, but I recorded the reg. Is it worth chasing it down with the Guards or is it likely to be too much hassle?

Thanks folks.

Weylin

hardybuck wrote: »

Howya folks,

Suffered at the hands of some really careless driving this morning. Pretty annoyed after it, but could have been far worse.

Car in the lane next to me decided to pull into the lane I was driving in, but didn't check their mirrors or look to see what was around them. She was only halfway past me when she changed lane.

I hit the brakes, pulled left a little to avoid her. Rubbed off the kerb in doing so. Have a scuff around the edge of my alloy and hopefully the tire is ok.

She drove on, but I recorded the reg. Is it worth chasing it down with the Guards or is it likely to be too much hassle?

Thanks folks.

did the cars actually hit/scrape each other? if not then u will have a hard job proving it. your word against hers,etc...

biko

Go into a Garda station and ask? Probably won't lead anywhere unfortunately since it's just a bit of material damage.
You could try contacting your insurance company and see what they say.

hardybuck

No touching of cars thankfully. I was hoping that if I could get contact details that she would have the decency to take care of it.

JessyMc

I doubt anything will come of it. the best you could hope for is that the cops would contact her, say that there was a complaint against her driving and warn her of her driving in the future.

Cavehill Red

Dangerous driving is a criminal offence. Report it to the Gardai. You don't need evidence of her damaging your car to offer a witness statement to a crime. The Gardai won't do anything of course, but they never do anyway.

copeyhagen

Get a motorbike and enjoy witnessing motorists doing this on a daily basis!

hardybuck

I've actually reported blatant drink driving before, and found the whole thing a lot of hassle. The guy was actually drinking vodka while driving!

I rang 999 and followed the guy until the cops got close enough to pull him. Later that day they asked me would I mind calling up to the station to give a statement etc...in the end I felt like I was nearly doing their job for them.

Anyway, was wondering if they'd have some form of procedure for this sort of thing - it must happen pretty regularly. Was hoping to hear if anyone had any positive experience in this area before I rang them up and was given the usual "whats yer own name, where were you going, by any chance had you exceeding the speed limit sir?" sort of malarkey!

langdang

Trafficwatch is the handiest way to go about it.
They will get back to you. In my case I didn't go any further with it when they did ring me back, I might have but shur, you know yourself. That's Limerick city.

McCrack

Report it if you wish but pointless if you are not prepared to give a statement and stand up in court and give evidence (if she contests the summons that is)

bijapos

hardybuck wrote: »

I've actually reported blatant drink driving before, and found the whole thing a lot of hassle. The guy was actually drinking vodka while driving!

I rang 999 and followed the guy until the cops got close enough to pull him. Later that day they asked me would I mind calling up to the station to give a statement etc...in the end I felt like I was nearly doing their job for them.

Firstly fair play for ringing up, if he is actually drinking behind the wheel its a good job he is off the road.

Its probable the Guards wanted a statement because they might also want to do him for careless or reckless driving along with drunk driving and need your evidence for this. It would increase the amount of time he is off the road, it could also be that he was on a suspended sentence for something related.