Niece (driving from Manchester to Wales) had to brake very sharply due to approaching car overtaking another car - car behind nieces smashed into her car - niece and other driver concussed. Police called - not interested in tracing the driver who caused accident (he/she unscathed) - drove off. Nearby garage has recording cameras which would have picked up 'guilty' car before the accident. 2 q's - are the police right not to follow things up as no one was 'seriously injured?' is garage obliged to give copy of recording to my niece - and would police have to do something if she gave it to the police?
Don't think the garage would be obliged to give it to anyone other than the police. The car that smashed into her, did she not get their details or any of their reg plate?
I'm not sure of the specifics about recordings and such, but if someone crashed into your niece's car from behind, they were driving too closely and as such it's their fault. If there's no dispute about them crashing into your niece's car then there really shouldn't be a need for footage. Edited to say the situation is obviously the overtaking car's fault, but the vehicle behind your niece should be able to claim off them as long as the facts aren't disputed. Double edit to say I hope your niece and everyone involved is OK
I think that is correct, if there's no serious injuries the police don't have to do anything or they'd be investigating thousands of crashes each day. However depending on exactly what happened it could be considered leaving the scene of an accident? The garage don't have to show her the footage of the other car but they DO have to show her the footage which shows her but may ask for a small charge for that. Whether the police would have to do anything if they saw the footage is really the same as the first point. It depends what it shows. If it shows dangerous driving I'd say yes, if it doesn't clearly then no not really. Remember though that the car didn't run into the back of her because another car caused her to brake, it ran into the back of her because it was following too close to stop safely.
If any person involved had concussion then that's a Personal Injury accident and all the legal obligations under the RTA88 as amended apply to all drivers involved. The driver that caused the accident has committed the offence of failing to stop (at least). However, would need to prove that driver was aware that an accident had taken place. If offences are apparent, alleged or disclosed then the police have a duty to make all reasonable enquiries to investigate.
Thanks - the incident was caused by the approaching car but the car behind my niece's was driving too close to them. Probably nothing can be done about the guy who caused the incident. My niece and her family badly shaken and been checked out in A & E. (The only reason they were travelling to visit her relatives tonight was because of the tightening of rules re Covid - had planned to go on the 27 Dec but with the recent changes this wasn't going to be possible!)
thanks Atac - my guess is that it would be difficult to prove the 'guilty' criver was aware of the accident.
Car that's gone into back of your neice was possibly being driven without due care and attention - in the world of insurance in these circumstances your neice has a claim against the driver of car behind. Look up s.170 of the Road Traffic Act to make sure your neice and the others have complied with the law.
I don't think they would have to show the footage to anyone, but if approached by the insurers they probably would allow it....it doesn't hurt to ask them, they might be pleased to help.
The police won't investigate what they would class as a "minor" accident. The car behind your niece is at fault, driving too close and went into the back of your niece's car. Your niece should be claiming from the car behind's insurance - including any claim for compensation for whiplash etc. So, it's up to the car behind to suggest to ascertain if there is any other footage from nearby garages to aid "extenuating circumstances" NOT your neice
A different but similar situation happened to me whereby I had a green arrow to turn right at a junction but a jaywalker made me stop in the middle of the junction so as not to run her over. A ute plowed into the back of me. It was the ute driver's fault for not paying attention (and he paid up) but I did feel for him as it was ultimately the jaywalker's fault. He wouldn't have expected me to brake where I did. The jaywalker? She just took one glance and scarpered before we could pull over. I think it is very common for the instigator to get off unscathed in these types of crashes, where innocents take evasive action. Let's hope in your case the insurance of the driver behind pays up. As Tyke_67 says, it is up to them to chase up the other driver.
As others have said, forget about the approaching car. Whilst that is what caused your niece to stop, it is the car behind that she needs to claim from as they are the ones who ultimately caused damage and injury to her and her car. The car behind can then either just suck it up and pay up or try and track down the approaching car to claim on them (although I suspect it wouldn’t help them much as they still should have been able to stop in time to not hit your niece regardless of whatever they were doing).
In my experience (mostly cycling related) it's a complete waste of time contacting the police unless somebody is injured. They won't do anything. Even if presented with the evidence (in this case video footage) they "may" contact the offender and issue a warning - not even an official caution. I've read countless threads on cycling fora where the evidence, from helmet cam footage, is of clear offences against highway legislation but nothing is ever done. Occasionally, after repeated offences by the same driver, a caution may be issued. The police seem to have the attitude that people can drive how they want with impunity. Possibly this is driven by the number of idiots that get 12 points but no ban because they plead that they need their car for their work or for some other trivial reason. If I were you, I'd try to get the footage for insurance purposes. It seems like there are 2 motoring offences here, the stupid and dangerous overtake and the driver behind being too close and too fast.
As far as I know there is no actual offence of jaywalking in the UK. Whilst I appreciate that they probably shouldn't have been walking where they were, that doesn't excuse the driver behind you from being too close and too fast for them to be able to stop when you did. I would attach little or no blame to the "jaywalker" in this instance, it's never ok to run down a pedestrian in any circumstances.
thanks - some excellent replies - re Insurance etc. I guess niece will go after the guy behind her who crashed into her car.
