Someone claiming I rear ended them!

Bigmac1euro

Ok bit of a story here.

On my way home from work this evening I was driving along as normal and a car pulled out of a halting site. I proceeded behind him and when the traffic came to a halt applied my hand brake as normal.

He started rolling back but then put the foot down and moved forward. I felt something dodgy was going on.

Then I moved up a bit and applied the hand brake as we were on a hill.

Then he starts rolling back again and I start beeping and flashing headlights.
He rolls into the front of my car and he accelerated forward again. No damage done.

Then he jumps out of the car and starts claiming I drove into the back of him.
He looked like he was on drugs
Awkward silence and then he jumps back into his car and wheel spins and he’s off.

I got his reg
I have a dash cam
My dash cam reports the wrong date and time unfortunately.

Should I report this strange episode to the Garda?

Any suggestions on the next steps I should take ?

V8 Interceptor

steo_magra wrote: »

car pulled out of a halting site.

Say no more.

Some Yoke

Definitely report, otherwise he'll keep at it. That's assuming the guards actually bother though unfortunately in my experience

colm_mcm

steo_magra wrote: »

Ok bit of a story here.

On my way home from work this evening I was driving along as normal and a car pulled out of a halting site. I proceeded behind him and when the traffic came to a halt applied my hand brake as normal.

He started rolling back but then put the foot down and moved forward. I felt something dodgy was going on.

Then I moved up a bit and applied the hand brake as we were on a hill.

Then he starts rolling back again and I start beeping and flashing headlights.
He rolls into the front of my car and he accelerated forward again. No damage done.

Then he jumps out of the car and starts claiming I drove into the back of him.
He looked like he was on drugs
Awkward silence and then he jumps back into his car and wheel spins and he’s off.

I got his reg
I have a dash cam
My dash cam reports the wrong date and time unfortunately.

Should I report this strange episode to the Garda?

Any suggestions on the next steps I should take ?

Hand over footage to your insurance company maybe.

stampydmonkey

<Helpful posts please, moderator>

Bigmac1euro

Think I’ll hand over the footage to the Garda this evening and explain what happened. Don’t think he was looking for a claim or anything because he looked off his head. He just wasn’t capable of driving properly.

Markcheese

steo_magra wrote: »

Think I’ll hand over the footage to the Garda this evening and explain what happened. Don’t think he was looking for a claim or anything because he looked off his head. He just wasn’t capable of driving properly.

Cover your ass, there could be someone else in his car who decides to claim in a few months time, and if you have the incident reported to the Gardaí, and make sure you have the sd card from the dash cam saved... And the discrepancies in dates and times noted..

corks finest

steo_magra wrote: »

Ok bit of a story here.

On my way home from work this evening I was driving along as normal and a car pulled out of a halting site. I proceeded behind him and when the traffic came to a halt applied my hand brake as normal.

He started rolling back but then put the foot down and moved forward. I felt something dodgy was going on.

Then I moved up a bit and applied the hand brake as we were on a hill.

Then he starts rolling back again and I start beeping and flashing headlights.
He rolls into the front of my car and he accelerated forward again. No damage done.

Then he jumps out of the car and starts claiming I drove into the back of him.
He looked like he was on drugs
Awkward silence and then he jumps back into his car and wheel spins and he’s off.

I got his reg
I have a dash cam
My dash cam reports the wrong date and time unfortunately.

Should I report this strange episode to the Garda?

Any suggestions on the next steps I should take ?

Gardai, they're at it up n down the country for ages,read the court reports,or Google

corks finest

corks finest wrote: »

steo_magra wrote: »

Ok bit of a story here.

On my way home from work this evening I was driving along as normal and a car pulled out of a halting site. I proceeded behind him and when the traffic came to a halt applied my hand brake as normal.

He started rolling back but then put the foot down and moved forward. I felt something dodgy was going on.

Then I moved up a bit and applied the hand brake as we were on a hill.

Then he starts rolling back again and I start beeping and flashing headlights.
He rolls into the front of my car and he accelerated forward again. No damage done.

Then he jumps out of the car and starts claiming I drove into the back of him.
He looked like he was on drugs
Awkward silence and then he jumps back into his car and wheel spins and he’s off.

I got his reg
I have a dash cam
My dash cam reports the wrong date and time unfortunately.

Should I report this strange episode to the Garda?

Any suggestions on the next steps I should take ?

Gardai straight away, they're at it up n down the country for ages,read the court reports,or Google

colm_mcm wrote: »

steo_magra wrote: »

Ok bit of a story here.

On my way home from work this evening I was driving along as normal and a car pulled out of a halting site. I proceeded behind him and when the traffic came to a halt applied my hand brake as normal.

He started rolling back but then put the foot down and moved forward. I felt something dodgy was going on.

Then I moved up a bit and applied the hand brake as we were on a hill.

Then he starts rolling back again and I start beeping and flashing headlights.
He rolls into the front of my car and he accelerated forward again. No damage done.

Then he jumps out of the car and starts claiming I drove into the back of him.
He looked like he was on drugs
Awkward silence and then he jumps back into his car and wheel spins and he’s off.

I got his reg
I have a dash cam
My dash cam reports the wrong date and time unfortunately.

Should I report this strange episode to the Garda?

Any suggestions on the next steps I should take ?

Hand over footage to your insurance company maybe.

Straight to the law

Eggs For Dinner

Deffo report it to Gardai. Standard (and regular) scam for injuries. Usually they call for a fleet of ambulances to take them to hospital but you may be lucky that he saw your camera and thought better of it

OldMrBrennan83

Yeah sounds like they spotted the camera and have probably moved on to someone else by now.

Odyssey 2005

Wonder was he going to make an accusation of an accident until he saw your dash cam.?. Bet the fear of footage changed his mind. Either way save a d make copies of it and give one to your ins co.

Half-cocked

Doesn't matter if time and date are wrong on the cam. My cams settings were wrong too but the Gardaí still accepted the footage as evidence.

Bigmac1euro

I went to the local Garda station last night but they told me to go to the garda station closer to where the accident happened.
A friend of mine told me the two Garda stations are in the same division so i could hand it in to my nearest but anyway the guard didn't want to know. So ill bring it to the Garda station nearest where the accident happened.

Should I report this to my insurance company ?

thebiglad

steo_magra wrote: »

Should I report this to my insurance company ?

There is no need to report it to you insurer unless a claim is made is against you - simply keep the footage and if/when needed share it with them.

Wanderer78

This nearly happened to a friend some time ago, he has installed a cam since. Follow it up, and best of luck

cursai

What are the garda going to do with footage of a crime that hasn't been reported as such.

Bigmac1euro

cursai wrote: »

What are the garda going to do with footage of a crime that hasn't been reported as such.

I'm reporting it today.
Surely if this person tries to pull a fast one or claim off me a garda report with dash cam footage is going to favour me ???

tretorn

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/just-one-family-behind-40-personal-injury-claims-worth-over-1m-37720550.html

At long last someone is lining up the dots but as for pursuing these people for legal costs, that wont happen unless payment can be deducted before they cash in State benefits in the off licence.

The Law Society has an input into this scamming too, too many solicitors involving themselves in what they know are fraudent claims. A few visits from the Criminal Assets Bureau might put manners on these solicitors.

The payments awarded are too high too and not just in personal injuries cases.

An Irish woman living in the UK had her cervical cancer missed and she got the maximum award of 595,00 euros in the Netherlands. The Irish Courts awarded seven million euro to one victim of cervical cancer and there are hundreds more in the same situation, these awards need to be looked at pronto and the Government are dragging judges to the table shortly to get their house in order.

If the awards were lower solicitors taking these cases on a no foal no fee basis wouldnt be so eager because they are taking a uge chunk of the damages and with smaller awards it might nt be worth their while.

Billgirlylegs

Make sure you keep a copy of the footage.

tretorn

thebiglad wrote: »

There is no need to report it to you insurer unless a claim is made is against you - simply keep the footage and if/when needed share it with them.

Report this immediately to your insurance company and to the Gardai if you havent already done so.

ELM327

Am I missing something here, he reversed into your car, made contact and then left the scene?

A crime has been committed here, he caused a collision and left the scene. Report to AGS immediately and make statements.

sunnysoutheast

thebiglad wrote: »

There is no need to report it to you insurer unless a claim is made is against you - simply keep the footage and if/when needed share it with them.

I believe it is a generally standard condition that the insurer must be informed of any incident which may result in a claim being made against the policy. It is certainly in mine.

Bigmac1euro

ELM327 wrote: »

Am I missing something here, he reversed into your car, made contact and then left the scene?

A crime has been committed here, he caused a collision and left the scene. Report to AGS immediately and make statements.

No you got it in one!
We didn't exchange insurance details or anything.

My take on things is.

He was under the influence.
Realized he rolled into me.
Decided he'd pretend its my fault so i wont call the guards.
Then jumps into his car and gone.
I doubt he was even insured, this guy looked like he was straight out of prison.
It was hard to tell if there were other occupants in his vehicle which also made me feel a bit paranoid.
I don't think this guy is looking for a bogus claim, anyway I'll be going to the Garda station this evening to report everything.

If I report to my insurance company is this going to open a can of worms ?


IE when renewing, have you ever been involved in a collision ?.......... yes

sunnysoutheast

steo_magra wrote: »

No you got it in one!
We didn't exchange insurance details or anything.

My take on things is.

He was under the influence.
Realized he rolled into me.
Decided he'd pretend its my fault so i wont call the guards.
Then jumps into his car and gone.
I doubt he was even insured, this guy looked like he was straight out of prison.
It was hard to tell if there were other occupants in his vehicle which also made me feel a bit paranoid.
I don't think this guy is looking for a bogus claim, anyway I'll be going to the Garda station this evening to report everything.

If I report to my insurance company is this going to open a can of worms ?


IE when renewing, have you ever been involved in a collision ?.......... yes

Yes but it'll be worse if a claim comes in and you haven't told them. There's no open claim unless one is made, it is just information only.

Might be worth checking your policy docs. but I'd bet that clause or similar would be in there.

Access

I think you are missing a factor here, the dashcam saved your behind in this case... the reason he jumped in and sped off is because he spotted the cam and knew it wasn't worth the hassle.

Report the incident with the nearest station of where it happened, note the gardas name, time and date of when you report it to them and save as a doc file on your pc/tablet etc in a folder along with the video file.

I suspect you wont hear anything but just in case.

There is also no need to report to insurance company... you are only making hassle for yourself later, reporting it to the gardai is enough and you are covering you behind if anything came down the line.

handlemaster

steo_magra wrote: »

Think I’ll hand over the footage to the Garda this evening and explain what happened. Don’t think he was looking for a claim or anything because he looked off his head. He just wasn’t capable of driving properly.

get your date time fixed on the cam..

tretorn

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/over-9-000-irish-motor-insurance-policies-were-issued-through-ghost-brokers-1.3760559

Aviva are doing sterling work, I will be moving my car insurance to them on renewal.

flazio

If the dashcam was recording audio and you had a radio station on, it might be able to confirm the correct time and date of the incident. It's not definite (could have been listening to a podcast, but if the date on the dashcam was from before it might help.

Bigmac1euro

handlemaster wrote: »

get your date time fixed on the cam..

Camera is getting binned for a new one.
I've set the date/time twice already. I got it in lidl its awful.

Mrnew

Id imagine he saw the dash cam and realised he wasn't going to get a claim and drove off. I would report it to the Garda and give them the footage, and as said previously no need to tell your insurance company

Bigmac1euro

Access wrote: »

I think you are missing a factor here, the dashcam saved your behind in this case... the reason he jumped in and sped off is because he spotted the cam and knew it wasn't worth the hassle..

No he didn't spot the camera because i was making eye contact with him the whole time (35 seconds) anxious he would pull a blade ready to put my car in gear and move off quickly.

A number of times his car rolled back before the incident and he would move up and correct himself.

He was incapable of driving properly because he was smashed off his head.
Shortly after the incident with me i was behind him and he almost swerved into a truck on the opposite side of the road before correcting himself.

This guy wasn't looking for a claim he was going about his business incapable of driving properly and realized when he made a mistake to put the onus on me so i wouldn't ring the guards and cause a fuss because he would have been thrown in the slammer there and then and worse if he didn't get out of the car and drove away it would be seen as leaving the scene of an accident.

But everything else you stated in your comment I can agree with and appreciate the reply.

I understand though it seems from an outside point of view he seen the camera and legged it but that wasn't the case here this guy was on something and shouldn't have been on the road. The car is probably not even belonging to him and he probably wasnt insured to drive it and didnt want to get his friend/brother/sister in trouble who actually owned the vehicle.

Dial Hard

There's a lot of reaching in that last post.

Access

steo_magra wrote: »

No he didn't spot the camera because i was making eye contact with him the whole time

He did... they always do.

He was incapable of driving properly because he was smashed off his head. Shortly after the incident with me i was behind him and he almost swerved into a truck on the opposite side of the road before correcting himself.

You didn't think then to ring 999 and report?

This guy wasn't looking for a claim

Wanna bet?

Mate, only helping you out here as you were asking for advice.

Post the footage till we have a better look.

tretorn

I am hoping you pulled in to report him to the Gardai too.

Its your civic duty to report dangerous driving.

Fann Linn

Make a claim off him OP!!

Eggs For Dinner

You are obliged to notify your insurer of any incident which may result in a claim. It is a condition of EVERY insurance policy, so no need t look up your documents. Your insurers will be upset if you don't and a claim materialises years later and you haven't. They should be able to provide you with assistance on how best to handle this

demanufactured

Out of a halting site eh?

cursai

Just keep the footage in case of future need of it. Report it to your nearest station as a traffic collision.

Bigmac1euro

Access wrote: »

He did... they always do.



You didn't think then to ring 999 and report?



Wanna bet?

Mate, only helping you out here as you were asking for advice.

Post the footage till we have a better look.

I appreciate the advice as posted above.

If he was looking for a claim why would he swerve all over the road clearly drawing attention to himself.

These lads are stupid but not that stupid.

If he was looking for a claim why would he be driving under the influence hindering his chances when garda arrive ?


The footage is awful as the camera is damaged from condensation possibly.
But the reg is readable and its possible to make out whats going on. Unfortunately you cant see the driver because of the angle its at.

I will post the footage but not until the issue is cleared up.

I didn't ring 999 as he had left the scene as did I.

I went to the garda station that night and they advised me to go to another Garda station which I will be doing today.

Again I do appreciate the advice and I do like hearing other opinions on this.

rabbitinlights

I must get a dash cam.

Bigmac1euro

rabbitinlights wrote: »

I must get a dash cam.

Highly advise you to get one!
You never know whats going to happen.

Reati

Half-cocked wrote: »

Doesn't matter if time and date are wrong on the cam. My cams settings were wrong too but the Gardaí still accepted the footage as evidence.

What happened in court? Of course the guards will take it as evidence. That's part of thier job to document all possible evidence. The problem is if the judge decides, with some gentle nudging from the defence, that its inadmissible. I could see a good defence lawyer get it thrown out for having the wrong date.

Bigmac1euro

Went to the Garda station this evening, they were great.
Took the USB off me and advised me they'd have a look at the footage.
The fact I got the reg on the footage was so important
I advised the Garda no damage to myself or the car occurred and asked about telling my insurance company.
She said there's no need as nobody was injured and no damage occurred and also no damage to his car. This wasnt going to be logged as an accident but something else and I cant remember the offence she said but it was a very minor thing. It wasn't a hit and run as such but just a report of what happened from my end in case he tries to follow up that i rear ended him.

She also let me know that if someone came to make a claim they would be able to check the information i provided which proves i didn't rear end him.
When i told her the full story she advised me it was unlikely they'll make a claim because he probably wasnt even insured on the vehicle or may not even have a license.

tretorn

I think you are obliged to tell your insurance company.

Read your policy documents carefully.

I know I would definitely contact mine if I was in that situation.

Markcheese

Reati wrote: »

What happened in court? Of course the guards will take it as evidence. That's part of thier job to document all possible evidence. The problem is if the judge decides, with some gentle nudging from the defence, that its inadmissible. I could see a good defence lawyer get it thrown out for having the wrong date.

The claimants lawyer could probably could throw some doubt on the footage for showing the wrong date... But it would definitely look odd if the same 2 cars and individuals also had another " crash" /"bump" / incident (whatever), in the same location...
And if the op were to offer a reasonable explanation for a date/time discrepancy... It'd be hard for a solicitor to prove he wasn't telling the truth...

Eggs For Dinner

Please, please, please. If I can give you one final piece of advice. Never take any heed of a Garda on insurance matters. They are generally good people doing a tough job that I wouldn't do but it is my experience that they know little about the subject. This matter needs to be reported to your insurer for record purposes. It won't go against you

steo_magra

steo_magra wrote: »

If I report to my insurance company is this going to open a can of worms ?

IE when renewing, have you ever been involved in a collision ?.......... yes

I had a crash before Christmas, and the other driver was at fault.


My insurance company said that although I am in a claims process at the moment (my car was written off) I wouldn't need to disclose it to any other insurance company, as the other party was admitting liability from the get-go, and as a result, my own insurer was simply 'making a note of it, but not acting on it'.


I would presume the same is true for you. I'd imagine that if you ring the Insurance company, tell them the craic, they'll make a note of it on your account, but as you're not making an actual claim, (not initiating any legal proceedings, injury claims, wanting money for your car etc.) they won't do anything about it.


However, the fact you reported it to them, will (hopefully) stand to you in future, if this does indeed actually come back on you later.


If it were me, I'd ring them up and say it to them. If you're unsure or nervous, then I'd run your question by the operator on the phone, as a 'hypothetical situation' before giving any of your actual info.

Bigmac1euro

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I had a crash before Christmas, and the other driver was at fault.


My insurance company said that although I am in a claims process at the moment (my car was written off) I wouldn't need to disclose it to any other insurance company, as the other party was admitting liability from the get-go, and as a result, my own insurer was simply 'making a note of it, but not acting on it'.


I would presume the same is true for you. I'd imagine that if you ring the Insurance company, tell them the craic, they'll make a note of it on your account, but as you're not making an actual claim, (not initiating any legal proceedings, injury claims, wanting money for your car etc.) they won't do anything about it.


However, the fact you reported it to them, will (hopefully) stand to you in future, if this does indeed actually come back on you later.


If it were me, I'd ring them up and say it to them. If you're unsure or nervous, then I'd run your question by the operator on the phone, as a 'hypothetical situation' before giving any of your actual info.

Helpful!
Thanks mate I’ll do this tomorrow.
To be honest I thought this was probably the case from speaking to some different people.

mikeecho

Make copies of the footage, but retain the original sdcard.

If it ever comes to a claim/ court. You can present the original copy.

Continuity of evidence and all that.

steo_magra

steo_magra wrote: »

Helpful!
Thanks mate I’ll do this tomorrow.
To be honest I thought this was probably the case from speaking to some different people.

Yeah, you should be fine.


The issue will appear if they ever actual make a claim against you. Then you get caught up in the whole 'he said, she said' where the insurance company will initiate the claims process.


However, if the chap was out of his head, as you say, and didn't hang around, then I doubt he bothered to remember your reg or insurance info to actually make a claim (I'd feel differently if you said he got out and took a pic of your reg plate on his phone or something like that).


So ultimately I'd say it's a lot of worry about nothing, but at least if it does ever come to your insurance company, by reporting it now it won't look like you're trying to hide anything.


It's just a pity assholes like that can cause stress and grief for decent people trying to get by day-to-day. Infuriates me.