Had a prang, need some general advice

[hannem]

Hi all,
Just had a prang this afternoon at a roundabout. It was a roundabout where the right lane goes straight on and the left lane has to turn left.

I am driving down the road, young bloke in a small white 2 door is following me, I come up to the roundabout and go on through and the next thing I know this idiot is at the front left of my car and I hit him right at the rear right wheel arch with my front left corner, this causes him to spin 180 degrees.

Obviously he has fanged it into the left turning lane and tried to undertake me but could not get back in front of me in time and we have connected.

I pull up next to him and as he has spun around, our drivers doors are facing each other and I just look at him and next thing I know he hits the juice and buggers off.

Great just what I need is a chase, so I too hit it, do a U bolt and take off after him, with plenty of people just gawking with mouths open. (Don't blame them)

Catch up to him and after a few streets he decides to pull over (luckily he was not hooning too bad this time) I jump out and start paying out on him. He looks crushed at what he has just done and loses it a bit more when he sees my 4 year old daughter in the back seat.

I calm down a bit and he is begging me not to call the cops on him. He is dying just to get home so I take his wallet and follow him the short distance to a house.

This is where he spills the beans and says it is his girlfriends car, the house he went to is his mates house and he has just left work after downing two long necks (6 standard drinks) and really does not want the cops involved, yeah no wonder. Turns out he is 25 and full license.

I start to rip him a new bum hole but calm down a bit as I can see that he is really panicking about losing his license and facing a huge fine, he is also ready to cry at this stage.

He explains that he works at a smash repair place and has been there for 9 years and would like it very much if we can fix the car there.

I tell him that if I get stuffed around one little bit I will head off to my insurance and talk to the cops. (Too late for the cops by then probably)

Anyway the whole reason for this post is to see what you think about his boss at work, because this young fool said his boss watched him have the two beers and then let him head off.

I reckon his boss has a duty of care to abide by here and will have a nice chat to him when I go down there.

Hmmm, still not sure whether to get the car fixed by them or not. Problem is for him he will get shafted by the insurance if I go to them. Might be a nice finish off lesson for him to fix it out of his own pocket and in his own time.

Probably some of you out there won't approve of me letting him off but that's just how the cookies crumbled this particular time.

[Marduk]

Who gives a rats. Let him get shafted by the insurance company. He just tried to shaft you by doing a runner. He deserves what he gets. It's the only way he will learn. He's lucky it wasn't me I would have been so tempted to deck him. Drinking driving he deserves to lose his license.

[DoreSlamR]

Yep, file a police report, let them and the insurance mob sort him out.

What happens if the work they do on your car is faulty?

Too many what ifs for you and not too many for him if you cut him some slack.

[Pinkbits]

Some words of advice.
From his actions after the collision and leading you on a merry chase, notify your insurer. He is 25 and must be held responsible for his actions, your car will be repaired and it will be up to them to recoup their loss. That is what you pay your premium for.

[MAD]

Stuff him, file a report.
See if he might learn a lesson when he loses his licence/job.
No excuses for driving under the influence.

[Auslandau]

Sorry but because of the situtation I would have called the cops and made sure all was treated properly. It could get messy now ...... you give an inch, they will take a mile and in the end you will be left with it all and no where to go. I would still go to the police and tell them what happened, even if you tell them you were trying to do the right thing but thought you had better report it. When heads clear tommorrow, when you go to sort things out it may be a case of ..... "What accident?"



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[fiery]

I think I am more unimpressed with the fact that you 'chased' this guy then abused him with your 4 year old watching.

I understand not wanting this person to get away with wrecking your car but have you not heard of getting the number plate? Or as you say, there were witnesses, surely someone there would have gotten it.
But as it stands now, there might be a report about both you and the other driver taking off like tools.

Do what you like where the accident is concerned but remember there is no come back if you go to the police after the fact - in fact you might get into trouble yourself. Plus doubt the insurance company will be overly helpful if you get this repair place to fix and then go to the insurance company after if you are unhappy with the job.

[b2tf]

As above stay away from anyone who says they "work at a smash repair place".

You mess up - too bad. His problems are not yours.

[Laminge]

If you believe a word he is saying I say you deserve to get shafted.

Ill leave out the rest of what I want to say! :

[uranium_death]

He may have been over the legal blood-alcohol limit, and caused an accident.

Don't get pulled in by hard luck stories. He tried to drive off in the hope he would not be caught. He did you no favours, so why do any for him?
He's doing wee in your pocket.

[seduced_xr]

mate he put your daughter into danger. if that was me all barganing power he had would have been gone.

[Charliewool]

How come there's some "sensible" replies on a topic like this tonight? Is it the Chrissie spirit or something?...
Normally, It's "you should have baseball batted him" or "poured petrol over him before you tied him over the bullants nest naked and left matches with him"
Come on guys, you're all getting soft!

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by charliewool

How come there's some "sensible" replies on a topic like this tonight? Is it the Chrissie spirit or something?...
Normally, It's "you should have baseball batted him" or "poured petrol over him before you tied him over the bullants nest naked and left matches with him"
Come on guys, you're all getting soft!

All the 'youngens' are in bed and its only the oldies up this late



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[fiery]

Originally Posted by auslandau

All the 'youngens' are in bed and its only the oldies up this late

Speak for yourself on the 'oldies' bit :

Charliewool, maybe the sensible posts are simply because those that post the 'silly' stuff have been warned enough times so far or are already banned :

[Yellow_Festiva]

I'm talking from experience.

He tried to stuff you over the first time, he won't think twice to do it again.

I was involved in a hit and run. He turned in front of me against the red arrow and I hit the brakes from 70km/h and just clipped the rear tray of his ute with the front left of my car.

Had he not gunned it during the turn, or had I braked a second slower It would have been a very serious T bone with both cars written off.

He pulls over 50m down the street and gets out, I pull over shaking and white as a ghost. He looks at me, I look at him. He hops back in the car and speeds off.

I give chase, we are on either side of a suburb block, but he is too stupid to alter his trip. Eventually I'm 3 cars behind him, then 2, then 1. My hand is on the horn full time, drawing as much attention as possible, as we are now 150m from Bankstown police station and he pulls over.

I say what any bloke would say, he tries to talk his way out of it. Blah blah, company ute, boss will kill me, blah blah, restricted licence, blah blah he will pay the repairs etc etc etc.

I trust him, get his details, get a quote for repairs.

He doesn't return calls, he gets his sister to pretend she is a 'friend' who will pass on the msg of the call etc etc etc.

I start to lose my patience... and am close to going to his place and using the more 'direct' method. He was slightly older than me, but still lived with his parents so I figured having an adult discussion with them may result in a good outcome..

Instead, I call again, the same 'visiting friend' answered the phone.

I told her to pass on the msg that I have booked a hearing with the Bankstown Chamber magistrate, and a police officer will be at his home this evening to serve a summons.

Her reply "Oh.. ummm you mean like court 'n' stuff?"

Anyway... I was talking out of my rectum of course, but I figured he was not the sharpest tool in the shed. This was now over a month from the accident.

He called 20 min later. Confessed that he didn't have the money and would talk to his boss about what actions can be taken to stop the court action.

The boss called me the next day, had arranged a repayment plan between herself and the worker, and was at my house that evening with a personal cheque for damages.

Had the boss not come to the party and fixed the issue it would have been more wasted time on my behalf etc etc.

Don't waste any more time on the matter. You want your car correctly repaired and don't want to be having to personally chase up people...

[SM1DY]

I can't stand drink drivers, I don't understand the thought process that they go through when they get behind the wheel of a car under the influence. Obviously, there capacity to think cearly is diminished, but as soon as I crack the top off that second stubbie, I'm all business, I'll line up a ride to get where I'm going or I just stay put.

First chance I got, I'd be on the blower to the coppers lettin' them know what had happened and the fact that you let this guy off is astonishing, no-one should have a second thought when it comes to dobbing in drink drivers. In the apparent fit of rage you had when this guy has smashed into your car and bailed, I'm surprised that you didn't get vigilante on his a$$.

[Pinkbits]

Originally Posted by charliewool

How come there's some "sensible" replies on a topic like this tonight? Is it the Chrissie spirit or something?...
Normally, It's "you should have baseball batted him" or "poured petrol over him before you tied him over the bullants nest naked and left matches with him"
Come on guys, you're all getting soft!

Feel the love Charlie :

[DoreSlamR]

I think it's unanimous mate, get to your local station first thing tomorrow.

[XR6TCraig]

Originally Posted by hannem

I reckon his boss has a duty of care to abide by here and will have a nice chat to him when I go down there.

Yeah well I don't.

At 25 years of age he should be man enough to take responsibility for his own actions, rather than relying on his boss to also be his babysitter.

The person with the duty of care is him! The problems with our society today largely stem from the fact that people wont take responsibility for their own actions. Always looking to blame someone else.

The fact that he took off too indicated to me that he isn't man enough to face the consequences of his actions so I will be very suprised if the repair to your car goes smoothly if you leave it up to him.

Ring the insurance company and get them involved at the very least. If you don't want to get him into too much poo because of the drink driving then thats up to you. Pretty sure that in Vic you dont need to get the law involved if no one is injured in the accident. Just swap details and leave it to your insurance company.


It may be the only way this guy will learn though!!

[MAD]

If he was drinking on work premises the company has duty of care.
Duty of care does not let him of the hook, it just puts somebody else on the hook with him. At least thats my understanding of it.

Yeah its fine to say 'stuff him, let him make his own decisions, he's old enough to know better', but when one of his decisions kills your daughter you might be asking why nobody stepped in to stop him from driving.

Its not just a society thing, its a mate thing. Mates dont let mates drive drunk.

[mad cow]

if he treats his sisters car with such disregard imagine whats going to happen to your car whilst at the shop. dont wait until tommorrow ring your local station now and get it noted down asap, we all have to learn from our mistakes othewise we wont learn at all.

[Yaw]

its pointless calling the police after the fact all it will do is make any insurance claim you make take longer. Just go and make an insurance claim and leave out the part about him telling you he had been drinking....you did not witness that, what you did witness was the crash and him leaving the scene of the accident. The insurance company will still hold him liable and you will get the benifits of your policy. (legally if it is his girlfriends car and he had permission to be driving it she is the one that the insurer will hit up) Not to mention you have no warranty accepting his work. and once its been done and there is a quality issue, you have no come back.

[XR6TCraig]

Originally Posted by MAD

Duty of care does not let him of the hook, it just puts somebody else on the hook with him. At least thats my understanding of it.

And other than a generation who dont want to man up and take responsibility for their actions, what does having the blame shared with his babysitter ( oh I mean his employer) actually achieve?

The blame sits squarely on this young guys head! Time that we stopped pointing fingers at others. Its all just politically correct Bu££sk!t

[MAD]

I see the point you are making, but I think you're not quite seeing the full picture here.

The blame doesnt get shared, they both get a punishment (if my understanding is correct), nobody is getting let off the hook.

Are you really taking the stand point that if somebody was at a pub, had more than enough to drink and the security guards let him get in his car to drive home which he subsequently crashed into your mum's/sister's/daughter's car/house and killed them, that the people who let him get in the car from the pub do not have something to answer for?

[05_ENFORCER]

Been there done that.
At least 20 years ago, a bloke in a yellow Volvo sedan, NSW plates, comes out of a side street (intociated by alcohol or drugs) T bones the GT (XY) says he is ****ed and if he stays I will get no insurance.
Me being about 19 says (after the advise of a big Kiwi tow truck driver) yeah man fu@k off this car is worth about 10 grand I need to claim.
And guess what the insurer said.
You guessed it, no driver details, no claim.
DEVASTATED :evil3:

Grab hold of the bastard/beach and hold he/she until the coppers arrive and let them deal with it!

[XR6TCraig]

Originally Posted by MAD

I see the point you are making, but I think you're not quite seeing the full picture here.

The blame doesnt get shared, they both get a punishment (if my understanding is correct), nobody is getting let off the hook.

Are you really taking the stand point that if somebody was at a pub, had more than enough to drink and the security guards let him get in his car to drive home which he subsequently crashed into your mum's/sister's/daughter's car/house and killed them, that the people who let him get in the car from the pub do not have something to answer for?

You didn't answer my last question. What does blaming his employer for an accident that this young man had on his way home actually achieve?

In your example of the pub security, are you really taking the point of view that instead of each individual taking responsibility for themselves and how much they drink and how they get home, its up to the bouncers (security at the pub) to ensure that everyone in that pub gets home safely?

Why not just blame the people who make the beer/spirits or the car? Or blame the government for giving someone who may one day drink, a licence to drive a car? Why not just ban alcohol or ban cars? Surely we can apportion equal blame to all of these parties. Without just one of them, the drunk wouldn't have been able to crash into my daughters/ wifes/ sisters/ mums/ car or house.

Would you blame the bridge builder of the Westgate bridge for the number of suicide jumpers? Surely we can lock that person up for multiple manslaughter at the very least!

Mate I am quite aware of the point you are making. I just don't agree that when someone does an irresponsible thing and an incident occurs, others should be dragged down with that person. How is dragging everyone into the poo teaching this young man a lesson on being responsible for his actions.


The employer didn't hold a shot gun to this kids head and force him to drink 2 longnecks before telling him he must drive. We don't even know if he supplied the drink, do we?

Wouldn't you rather live in a society where you were free to use you own judgement and common sense to do what you like but had to face the consequences of your mistakes, rather than wrapping yourself and others up in cotton wool because you were scared to live?

[FGII-XR6]

he is a drink driver and deserves all he gets the road is a safer place by having drunks removed . you should have called the cops and had him charged

[prydey]

Originally Posted by fiery

I think I am more unimpressed with the fact that you 'chased' this guy then abused him with your 4 year old watching.

I understand not wanting this person to get away with wrecking your car but have you not heard of getting the number plate? Or as you say, there were witnesses, surely someone there would have gotten it.
But as it stands now, there might be a report about both you and the other driver taking off like tools.

Do what you like where the accident is concerned but remember there is no come back if you go to the police after the fact - in fact you might get into trouble yourself. Plus doubt the insurance company will be overly helpful if you get this repair place to fix and then go to the insurance company after if you are unhappy with the job.

agreed 100%

this is why you have your own insurance. surely the well being of a 4yr old is more important than chasing down some guy.

if there were witnesses there then i'm sure you wouldn't lose your no claim bonus or anything.

there's nothing to be proud of being a vigilante

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by MAD

Are you really taking the stand point that if somebody was at a pub, had more than enough to drink and the security guards let him get in his car to drive home which he subsequently crashed into your mum's/sister's/daughter's car/house and killed them, that the people who let him get in the car from the pub do not have something to answer for?

Quite frankly, no.

Security guards have to follow everyone that leaves a pub to make sure they don't get into a car? What if they parked that car a couple of blocks away? What if it's closing time and 200 people leave simultaneously?

Apart from it being impossible to police for security, how could it possibly be their responsibility when any numbnuts can jump in a car 5 minutes after leaving the pub well out of the vision of the pub and cause mayhem on the road?

If they plan on driving they should plan their (non)drinking. It's the sole responsibility of the person with the glass in their hand and their car keys in their pocket - no-one else.

[King Nothing]

I agree with most of the posts above. He already tried to screw you over once by driving away, there is no guaruntee he won't do it again. Really you should have called the police straight away and had him done for running from an accident and drink driving. Too late for the second charge now anyway, as there is no proof.

I would go through your insurer, you pay your premiums for them to sort out these problems. If you go through his spray shop, there is no warranty on the work so if it goes bad you will be kicking yourself. The kid needs to learn a lesson, too many people try to avoid blame and responsibility (I'm only 23 myself!). He should consider himself lucky he is avoiding a drink driving charge, if it were me he wouldn't have been so lucky.

I'll tell you a quick story. My Dad used to have an 85 landcrusier which he parked on the street. One night a couple of kids threw a brick through the window. My brother ran out and confronted them, they went to the same school (not friends though). We called the police and started to file a report. Eventually we got hold of the parents, one was reasonable and apologetic, the other was a cow. They agreed to get the kids around to clean the glass up and pay for a replacement window if we dropped the charges (I warned against this). The kids offered no apology, didn't clean up properly and was short on the money ($20, but anyway. They turned up with pies and coke for themselves, wonder where the $20 went?).

A couple of months later Dad had sold that 4WD, and bought a newer one (95). One morning we came out and someone had jumped on the bonnet. Straight away we knew it was the same kids but we had no proof.

My point is, it didn't matter if they did it or not, it's that we will always wonder if it was them, and if we had of gone to the police would our new car have been damaged. Dad was kicking himself for going too easy on them.

So if he has done the wrong thing by you, don't go out of your way to help him. Follow the proper channels, cover your own backside, protect your peace of mind and don't risk putting yourself out further.