[Alexus]

recently passed my motorbike test in England, I was in standstill traffic on the motorway (M25) and I came to a standstill with the cars in the outside lane. An orange car (no other details) moved forward just a tiny bit, pushing my motorbike against a car to my left, in the middle lane. I was pinned to the car and so could do nothing until the man got out and helped me get the bike away from me.
The traffic in front and to the right of us had cleared up and was free moving by this time. Because I was pinned and preoccupied I didn't get the license number of the man who knocked me sideways. I went to the hard shoulder with the person I fell into because my bike had caused a dent to his Peugeot 106.
We exchanged details and I hoped there was a way of the police helping me find the person who caused the accident (especially since there was also a theft) through cameras on the motorway but they have been useless.
The damage has come to a couple of hundred pounds, to 'bash out' the dent. Is this now my problem because I have nothing of the culprit so it would just be my word against the Peugeot owner's word?

Thank you. Sorry about the length!

[wagolynn]

I hope you are OK.
Looking at it purely as an insurance problem the 106 insurers will look to your insurers for compensation. In turn your insurers will look to the car that pushed you, but the fatherless one disappeared so it will be recorded as your fault I am afraid.

[tommytwotanks]

hi, if you know at about what time and approx where between jcn ? and jnc ? and you know its a orange van, do you know what make/model and how big a van,
dont they have cctv camera's on the M25, the police might help you, but i doubt it, or if you use the same bit of M25 on a regular basis, keep a look out for the same van :eek:

[Snowball]

Sadly, what wagolynn says is absolutely correct. Insurers will always pass the buck downwards, stopping at the last participant in the RTC chain who can be successfully charged for costs.

Regarding the chances of the police being able to track the van driver. Any interest on their part will be dependent upon whether they have cause and evidence to make a case for prosecution; not necessarily connected to your incident.

If they are still able to identify the van, they will not pass any details to you. You will run head first into the Data Protection Act. Furthermore, the police would still only divulge details to someone such as an insurance company with good cause to request the details. And this request would have to be in writing, and a fee would be payable to the police.
So your insurer would only go down this road if a redemption of costs was virtually 100% guaranteed.

[Alexus]

Thank you to all of you.

I don't believe the police will help anymore now, I tried to find out if there was anything they could do but they said since I didn't suffer sufficient injuries for it to be a necessity, they couldn't track him.

I guess I'd better start paying then, I don't think I'll ever find the third vehicle. For £200 I could probably pretty much buy the guy a second K reg Peugeot! :)

Have a nice day everyone!

[MrDanno]

What part of the guys car did you dent? There is a company that supplies and paints body panels for you to just fit for a very reasonable price.

[Snowball]

Originally Posted by Alexus

Thank you to all of you.

I don't believe the police will help anymore now, I tried to find out if there was anything they could do but they said since I didn't suffer sufficient injuries for it to be a necessity, they couldn't track him.

If this is how they put it to you, indicating that they couldn't (wouldn't?) track him because your injuries were not sufficient, beggers belief.

Had you been the son of the chief constable, I would bet the pressure would be on to bring the culprit to book. And the police are surprised by our cynicism!

[ficklejade]

I would like to be enlightened on the issue of the term injuries in English Law. The term "injury" does not solely imply physical injury to the individual but also mental and pecuniary (i.e. costs involved to the individual). Insurance companies so often don't offer what they say they'll pay for!.

[smudger]

Yea! I afraid in these modern times, with data protection, human rights and all these other fangled rules, you wont be able to receive much help from the police. This is from personal experience, that's why I thought I would mention it.
Cheers, Smudger.

[Snowball]

When I called 999 after my hit-and-run incident, the emergency services operator asked if anyone was injured, and if my car was drivable. I said that, at the moment we are both badly shaken, and that I had no idea if my car was still roadworthy.

If I had said we were both fine and the car definitely not disabled, I doubt if the police would have attended.

When they did arrive, I had to produce my driving documents (fortunately I always carry these with me, otherwise more time would have been involved in going to a police station to produce them), and I was breathalised. That was a "first", which read ZERO, but I understood that these latest units used download the information onto a data base.

The attending police officer was courteous and friendly, so I have no complaints there. The officers at the sharp end are probably always OK; if anything, it's the back-room admin people who are liable to be snotty.

Getting the police to attend in such circumstances as mine is important. Their official paperwork at the scene, plus the display of thoroughness on the part of the victim, seems to have a positive effect on subsequent dealings with the insurers.

Go belt-and-braces, dot every "i" and cross every "t".
If any indication is given that you are burdening officialdom, remember, you are the aggrieved victim, and it wasn't you who created the problem.
If the powers-that-be got to grips with the need to eradicate illegal drivers, we law-abiding ones would be far less likely to suffer these life-threatening incidents on our roads.

Regards, Snowball.

[Rolebama]

I suggest contacting MIB, as the vehicle that caused the incident drove off, they can assist. When my daughter was injured a few years ago because of an unsecured spare wheel, she used them, and they were very good.