From: "Steve Cottrell"
On 7/4/13, John Sessoms, discombobulated, unleashed:
If they'd just woke me up while the guy was still there, I could have
called the police & got a police report.
But after the neighbor made sure the old man and his vehicle got home
before anyone decided to tell me about it, I've got no "evidence". I
"know" there's an old man who drives up and down my street on an
unlicensed vehicle, and the neighbor says that's who hit my car. I don't
even know the man's name or where he lives.
All I have is the neighbor's word that he knows who the man is from his
church & he's going to get the man's caregivers to pay for the repair.
Haven't heard anything from the man's caregivers. I've got nothing a
court would accept as proof of his liability.
I'm trying not to be angry about this so the anger won't make me sick,
but it really irritates me.
In the UK there is a responsibility in law for those involved in a motor
vehicle collision to make themselves known to each other by exchanging
details for insurance purposes. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.
If the event you describe happened to me, then not only is the driver
who collided with your car at fault for not making himself known to me,
but also is criminally culpable for leaving the scene of an accident
without doing so. Not only that but the person who escorted the original
driver away is also culpable for assisting said driver.
If it was then made known to me who the driver was, I would immediately
report them to the police.
In this instance, it was a minor traffic incident - next time it could
be the death of a child crossing the road - if the person is too old and
unfit to drive, he shouldn't be driving!
It's supposed to work like that here too, but in this situation, I don't
have "evidence" that would stand up in court. Knowing who it was is not
"evidence". I've been through that with the Raleigh PD before.
My neighbor "Tom" came over to tell me my car had been hit. "Tom" didn't
actually see the accident.
"Tom" told me my other neighbor "Dave" told him about the old man
hitting my car & about helping the old man get his vehicle home and that
"Dave" said he knew the old man's care-giver from his church.
"Dave" came over last night and gave me a name & phone number for the
old man's care-giver & said she had indicated the old man would pay for
the repair ... which he might if it doesn't cost too much.
The tail light is going to be about $150 for the part. I don't know yet
what the mirror is going to cost, or how much it's going to cost to have
the parts installed.
I've got an appointment Thursday morning at the Ford Dealer.
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