My fiancé collided with an unoccupied car. What next?

[TanteLena]

Hi there,

My fiancé tried to park into a tight parking space today and, unfortunately, scraped the rear wheel arch of an unoccupied car. He reversed out of the parking space and parked in another one nearby that was bigger. We were unsure of what details to leave, so we tried to use our mobile phones to find clarification. There was a lot of conflicting information, so I wrote a note stating my fiancé's name, telephone number and gave our apologies.

It was raining very hard and our note would have become wet and illegible if we left it on the unoccupied car, so we waited until the rain had stopped. I went over to where the car had parked to take a picture of the damage and to leave the note, but the owner of the vehicle had driven off without us realising.

We feel terrible about what has happened and we want to do the correct thing. We know the approximate time the accident happened, the location and the make, model, colour and year of the car, but we don't know the full registration number. We reported the incident to our local police station and an officer is visiting us tomorrow. After reading some horror stories on the internet, my fiancé is now worried that he'll be arrested and that legal proceedings will ensue.

He would like to know whether this visit is likely to result in his arrest, whether it's to formally record the incident and/or for any other reason.

Thanks to those who have taken the time to read and respond to this question.

 

[mightymoose]

Since you did not leave the scene and you did not fail to report there should be no negative consequences.

 

[disagreeable]

Of course neither of your phones is capable of ringing up the police.

 

[TanteLena]

Thanks for the information, mightymoose.

Disagreeable, I don't find your cynical and facetious comment helpful. I hope that your response isn't a true representation of the quality of advice given on this website.

 

[TanteLena]

Just a quick update: A police officer visited us, recorded some details of the incident and provided us with a crime reference number. She said that since we stayed at the scene and reported the incident, we did the right thing and there will be no negative consequences. Thanks once again.

 

[disagreeable]

Common Sense is so rare these days it should be considered a Super Power. The fact is he did not want to receive a ticket or caution for hitting another car so intentionally ignored the option.

Thanks for the information, mightymoose.

Disagreeable, I don't find your cynical and facetious comment helpful. I hope that your response isn't a true representation of the quality of advice given on this website.

 

[army judge]

Common Sense is so rare these days it should be considered a Super Power. The fact is he did not want to receive a ticket or caution for hitting another car so intentionally ignored the option.

True, so very true; but deceit, treachery, skullduggery, and TRICKERATION are doing very, very well!!!

 

[TanteLena]

Unfortunately, it appears that skepticism and derision are equally as rife.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Just a quick update: A police officer visited us, recorded some details of the incident and provided us with a crime reference number. She said that since we stayed at the scene and reported the incident, we did the right thing and there will be no negative consequences. Thanks once again.

Thanks for letting us know what happened. It is much appreciated. I always enjoy confirming what I would assume.

To begin, this is a civil matter and one that is almost certainly small claims. As mighty moose says, there doesn't seem to be any reasonable basis or justification to cause a problem for you and you did want to do the right thing. The fact that you ultimately did should be commended.

Regarding the sarcasm here, sometimes it happens. You have to understand that most people come here and claim to have no idea what to do when they really do and good intentions can be so easily lost in the shuffle. Most posters here will write little notes that they know are never going to be seen or claim to try to do the right thing when they are usually only caring about protecting their own interests. For example, they are worried that their accident was caught on a closed circuit camera, etc. Then they suddenly try to do the right thing.

So thanks for sharing, thanks for letting us know what happened after trying to do the right thing and rectifying the situation, and thanks letting others know that you can do the right thing without worrying about being severely punished for trying again after an event happened.

 

[TanteLena]

Thank you, thelawprofessor. I really appreciate the time that you've taken to provide me with advice.

I fully understand that many people may claim ignorance in a bid to evade responsibility. I assure you all that we are truly well-intentioned people, but I can appreciate that it's inevitable that we'll be associated with the deceptive and ill-willed.

The incident was unpleasant, but at least we now have a clear idea of exactly what to do if we're ever involved in a similar situation again. The irony is that I was on my way to enrol on an auto refinishing course!

Once again, many thanks.