Crashed car this morning, need advice

saml_88

Hi , so I'm currently a nervous wreck . While taking a turn this morning I hit into the back of a cattle trailer attached to a jeep . Some scratches on my bumper nothing major. I'm unsure as who was at fault as far as Im concerned I was doing everything right. I felt the impact and pulled over waiting for the other driver and after five minutes no sign of him coming back . I then went about 100 yards down the road and pulled into a safer spot and I was parked for a good 30 minutes and still no sign of anybody returning ? Now I'm not wanting insurance involved etc as it's only a few scratches but I'm worried sick that this may fall back on me in the future ?

GBX

If you did not make contact with the other driver, I cant see how it could fall back on you in the future. Its possible they didn't even notice the contact and proceeded on their journey.

Water John

He possibly doesn't even know you nicked him. Having driven such vechicles, I would say if there was any movement that he thought it was the animals in the box moving around.

Nekarsulm

Any visible damage to the trailer? You could always leave a note on the jeep windscreen.
If its anything like my cattle trailer, an impact that only scratched your bumper probably only cleaned a bit of dirt off the trailer!

On re-reading, I see that he kept driving. Didn't even know you hit him. As Water John said, just felt like a cow shifting her weight about, or the left wheels dropping off the tarred surface.

saml_88

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Any visible damage to the trailer? You could always leave a note on the jeep windscreen.
If its anything like my cattle trailer, an impact that only scratched your bumper probably only cleaned a bit of dirt off the trailer!

Hi, I don't know if there was any damage to the trailer as he continued driving and never came back.

GBX

I can understand why you would be worried Saml, but there is nothing you can do now especially if the other driver didn't stop or notice. Make yourself a cup of tea and forget about it.

Nekarsulm

saml_88 wrote: »

Hi, I don't know if there was any damage to the trailer as he continued driving and never came back.

Don't worry about it so.

saml_88

Also I can't imagine much damage would have been done as I have no dents etc just some scratches, I have been googling and may have gotten myself into a tizy reading posts about fleeing scene of accident etc , however I did pull over and wait for 30 minutes as I was a bit shaken as this was my first 'accident' and have no registration plate etc of owner

bear1

saml_88 wrote: »

Hi , so I'm currently a nervous wreck . While taking a turn this morning I hit into the back of a cattle trailer attached to a jeep . Some scratches on my bumper nothing major. I'm unsure as who was at fault as far as Im concerned I was doing everything right. I felt the impact and pulled over waiting for the other driver and after five minutes no sign of him coming back . I then went about 100 yards down the road and pulled into a safer spot and I was parked for a good 30 minutes and still no sign of anybody returning ? Now I'm not wanting insurance involved etc as it's only a few scratches but I'm worried sick that this may fall back on me in the future ?

Ok, first thing's first as you hit the person from behind you can almost guarantee you'd be found at fault.
Second thing, you did the right thing and stopped and waited and the other person didn't.
Could very well be that the other driver just didn't realise as they are fairly big lumpy yokes so could have assumed he went over something.
I'd stay calm and let it pass you by.
If someone does end up coming to you (I'd be very surprised) just stay calm and explain it all.
But for now, be calm, have a drink and sleep tight.

saml_88

bear1 wrote: »

Ok, first thing's first as you hit the person from behind you can almost guarantee you'd be found at fault.
Second thing, you did the right thing and stopped and waited and the other person didn't.
Could very well be that the other driver just didn't realise as they are fairly big lumpy yokes so could have assumed he went over something.
I'd stay calm and let it pass you by.
If someone does end up coming to you (I'd be very surprised) just stay calm and explain it all.
But for now, be calm, have a drink and sleep tight.

Thank you for your reply , I didn't actually hit from behind , I was taking a left turn on to a side road as he was coming off the same road and turning right ,so it was my front driver side bumper that swiped the back corner of his trailer.

Isambard

you could report it to the Gards just to be safe, but it sounds like you didn't get his number and he didn't get yours. put it down to experience and move on

Satriale

saml_88 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply , I didn't actually hit from behind , I was taking a left turn on to a side road as he was coming off the same road and turning right ,so it was my front driver side bumper that swiped the back corner of his trailer.

If he was moving and no white lines on that side road, that could be either of your faults. Dont lose any sleep over it.

morritty

saml_88 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply , I didn't actually hit from behind , I was taking a left turn on to a side road as he was coming off the same road and turning right ,so it was my front driver side bumper that swiped the back corner of his trailer.

You'll probally never hear anything back about it, but for arguements sake, the front of your car hit the rear of their trailer, therefore you are the one at fault. thats just how it goes.

Stephenc66

saml_88 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply , I didn't actually hit from behind , I was taking a left turn on to a side road as he was coming off the same road and turning right ,so it was my front driver side bumper that swiped the back corner of his trailer.

OP having done a lot of trailer work and as others on here who have the same experience have said I doubt the other driver even realized what happened.

On the other hand as you explain it there he may also be to blame, if he were turning right as you turned in left he may not have allowed enough room for the trailer crossed into your path and clipped you.

Like Satriale says. Was he moving as you turned in?

bucketybuck

Its possible he actually did know about the contact, but decided that since there might be doubt about who was at fault and because it was just a trailer of his that got hit, that he would rather drive on than get into an argument that might end up in him paying for a far more expensive car repair.

I wouldn't lose a minutes sleep over this, its very unlikely that either he knows who you are or that he even wants to know who you are.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Isambard wrote: »

you could report it to the Gards just to be safe, but it sounds like you didn't get his number and he didn't get yours. put it down to experience and move on

I wouldn't bother. If the other driver didn't stop then he doesn't know he was tipped and probably thought an animal in the trailer kicked back or slipped (which is very common) Trailers by their nature get very battered and bruised through daily use and even if there was slight damage its unlikely the driver would notice it.

Get your own car fixed (if its damaged) and forget about it.

Samuel T. Cogley

Take the opportunity while you have a cup of tea and calm down to grab a dash cam off Amazon. However any proof you need that you waited there will be on your mobile. Not that you'll need any. As has been said above, apart your bumper, nothing to worry about.

saml_88

Thanks everyone for the replies , my husband came home from work a few minutes ago to inspect the car tells me it's nothing only some damage to the paintwork and to stop being dramatic and that I did everything right by pulling in and waiting. I am just a generally anxious person so always imagine the worst . Having a mug of tea now and trying not to let my imagination run away with me

mickdw

Report the accident to Gardai. Say you didn't get details.
No major damage done and just to have it on record that you stayed at the scene for 30 mins and they didn't return.

clintondaly

And for the final bit of consolation you have everyone here can vouch for you as you told us all about it and the times are recorded.

Water John

Well OP, you have your first tip over you now. Chill out and look after yourself for the rest of the day.

Samuel T. Cogley

Water John wrote: »

Well OP, you have your first tip over you now. Chill out and look after yourself for the rest of the day.

Had min driving back (unaccompanied) from the test centre. Good to get these out of the way :pac:

exaisle

saml_88 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies , my husband came home from work a few minutes ago to inspect the car tells me it's nothing only some damage to the paintwork and to stop being dramatic and that I did everything right by pulling in and waiting. I am just a generally anxious person so always imagine the worst . Having a mug of tea now and trying not to let my imagination run away with me

Your hubby is a sound man.
I hope you got him a nice Valentine's Day card... :-)
Enjoy your tae!

pa990

Just got home from collecting a Cow from the Market, someone has crashed into my horsebox. There is only minor damage, but I think Daisy the cow is suffering form whiplash.

OP, can i have your insurance details, Daisy needs to go to A&E

biko

I doubt a tiny fender bender constitutes a "crash" like in the title

Cee-Jay-Cee

mickdw wrote: »

Report the accident to Gardai. Say you didn't get details.
No major damage done and just to have it on record that you stayed at the scene for 30 mins and they didn't return.

No do not. The other driver never stopped and so they don't need to know. You dont need to run to gardai at every instance. There is no damage worth talking about somursvefectjveky a non event. Don't report it to anyone and especially not your insurance company. As far as you should be concerned OP nothing happened. End of story.

clintondaly

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

No do not. The other driver never stopped and so they don't need to know. You dont need to run to gardai at every instance. There is no damage worth talking about somursvefectjveky a non event. Don't report it to anyone and especially not your insurance company. As far as you should be concerned OP nothing happened. End of story.

Even a google returned no results:D

pa990

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

..........There is no damage worth talking about somursvefectjveky a non event. Don't report it to anyone and especially not your insurance company. As far as you should be concerned OP nothing happened. End of story.

Is that you Donald ?

georgefalls

To save any confusion in the future. I can highly recommend:

http://www.halfords.ie/technology/dash-cams/dash-cams?cm_re=mmtechnology-_-Dashcams-_-Dashcams

Delacent

pa990 wrote: »

Just got home from collecting a Cow from the Market, someone has crashed into my horsebox. There is only minor damage, but I think Daisy the cow is suffering form whiplash.

OP, can i have your insurance details, Daisy needs to go to A&E

There's a great A&E franchise specifically for cows called the Royal McDonald Hospital - Daisy would feel right at home there.

Water John

I could see insurance cos asking for dash cams in cars. This would greatly assist with accidents especially smaller claims.