Crash......

Big Nelly

Ok my cousin was accused a while back of hitting a car and then driving off.....according to Garda he hit the side of a car and caused damage but then drove on and left car without putting his details on car or trying to contact owner! anyway turns out it was bulls**t and his car was in Cavan all that weekend when accident was supposed to happen in Dublin......was just wondering does anyone know what would happen if you did do this? i.e. leave after casuing damage to someones car? would you get points?

Also if you where the accuser would the Garda so anything if they found out it was bullsh**t?

Cheers

laoisfan

well leaving the scene of an accident is an offence so you can be prosecuted for that.

on the flip side somebody falsely accusing someone of a crime can also be prosecuted (wasting garda time etc etc).

just my opinion.

any other takers?

Big Nelly

Know its against the law but wondering what you would get? points or would it go to court? would you get the chance to just pay the insurance? just an interesting one I never thought about till I was chatting at weekend and hadn't a clue what happens!!

seamus

It would go to court. It's a serious offence, essentially a hit-and-run. I'm not sure what the usual result is, but I'd imagine at a minimum you'd get a ban, points (for when the ban expires) and a big big fine. Then you'd have to pay the damages.

There wouldn't be an issue of "If you just pay up, you'll be OK". The offender had the opportunity to admit to hitting the other vehicle. By driving off, he's already waived that opportunity.

Seth Brundle

Why would points be an issue in the above case?
See www.penaltypoints.ie for a list of pointable offences

Big Nelly

kbannon wrote:

Why would points be an issue in the above case?
See www.penaltypoints.ie for a list of pointable offences

prob wouldnt involve points so....cant see anythign there unless they say it is careless driving.....strange one

Also Seamus would they ban? seems abit harsh to me! just my opinion but if it was my car would prob say a ban!!

seamus

Big Nelly wrote:

Also Seamus would they ban? seems abit harsh to me! just my opinion but if it was my car would prob say a ban!!

Why is it harsh though? Essentially what you are doing is easily as bad an offence as driving uninsured. It's not an easy mistake to make like creeping over the speed limit or inadvertently turning against a "no right turn" sign. If you hit someone, you know you've hit them. At that point, if you're not willing to own up, or you don't know the correct procedure, you're not competent to be sharing the road.

According to the above site quoted by kbannon, "Breach of duty at accident" is a mandatory court appearance, and if/when they fully extend the penalty points scheme, it will carry an endorsement of 5 points. Same as driving when drunk or without insurance.

I was under the impression though that a judge could impose penalty points at will (up to a maximum) even if the offence isn't "point-able"? Perhaps not.

Big Nelly

seamus wrote:

Why is it harsh though? Essentially what you are doing is easily as bad an offence as driving uninsured. It's not an easy mistake to make like creeping over the speed limit or inadvertently turning against a "no right turn" sign. If you hit someone, you know you've hit them. At that point, if you're not willing to own up, or you don't know the correct procedure, you're not competent to be sharing the road.

This is all true but is that the law is really my question? checking around and cant see anything really specific to say what the situation is!! car was parked along the side of road and would that make a differnece?

Or this situation that comes to mind. Once years ago was getting a taxi into town and was at roundabout on N3 and this guy came around and went straight into a car.....stuck his car into reverse and off up the road before the other driver could get out! now taxi driver that was bringing me hopped out and gave his details and the number plate of car!! so what would happen to him in this case?

just interested to know because I park my car sometimes along the st!!

BrianD

Last year a driver crashed into my car parked on a city street. I returned some hours after the event to find what turned out to be €1,400 worth of damage to the car. There was no note left by the other party nor did they inform the Gardai. Fortunately, a number of residents had reported the incident to the Gardai and also approached me with the info when I arrived on the scene.

The Garda - who was most helpful - gave me the number of the other party to contact. However, as far as he was concerned it was a hit and run incident and that if I had any hassle over insurance he would pursue it as such. When I contacted the other party she was immediately on the offensive claiming she had left a note (on the wheel - not behind the wiper like anyone else) and tried to suggest that the car had been parked there for some time (i.e. semi-abandoned) and that it already had a flat tyre and she wouldn't want to be paying for that.

Even though her insurance co. paid up it was hassle all the way. The assessor wanted to declare my car a write off (it was a 96 reg) and give me €1400. I had to hire a car and they would only pay so much plus there was an initial suggestion that the other party may not have been insured. Plus she was being bolshy about it. Fortunately, the Garda didn't seem to think much of this woman so I always had the threat of criminal action if I was getting no where on the insurance front though I'm not sure what I would have achieved with it.

So to cut a long story short - striking an unoccupied parked vehicle is classed as hit and run!

Seth Brundle

BrianD wrote:

So to cut a long story short - striking an unoccupied parked vehicle is classed as hit and run!

...assuming you drive off without leaving details!

BrianD3

BrianD wrote:

So to cut a long story short - striking an unoccupied parked vehicle is classed as hit and run!

And proper order too. You were lucky that the residents took down the details of that **** that damaged your car. I myself have left notes on cars that I saw being damaged by other drivers who took off thinking they had gotten away with it.

Big Nelly

BrianD wrote:

Last year a driver crashed into my car parked on a city street. I returned some hours after the event to find what turned out to be €1,400 worth of damage to the car. There was no note left by the other party nor did they inform the Gardai. Fortunately, a number of residents had reported the incident to the Gardai and also approached me with the info when I arrived on the scene.

The Garda - who was most helpful - gave me the number of the other party to contact. However, as far as he was concerned it was a hit and run incident and that if I had any hassle over insurance he would pursue it as such. When I contacted the other party she was immediately on the offensive claiming she had left a note (on the wheel - not behind the wiper like anyone else) and tried to suggest that the car had been parked there for some time (i.e. semi-abandoned) and that it already had a flat tyre and she wouldn't want to be paying for that.

Even though her insurance co. paid up it was hassle all the way. The assessor wanted to declare my car a write off (it was a 96 reg) and give me €1400. I had to hire a car and they would only pay so much plus there was an initial suggestion that the other party may not have been insured. Plus she was being bolshy about it. Fortunately, the Garda didn't seem to think much of this woman so I always had the threat of criminal action if I was getting no where on the insurance front though I'm not sure what I would have achieved with it.

So to cut a long story short - striking an unoccupied parked vehicle is classed as hit and run!

Did it take long to get details? with my cousin it was weeks after when he got a call from Garda!!! sounded strange to me....if they had your number plate couldnt the Garda just pull up your details in 2-3 secs from computers?