[beffy]

So basically, I found out I was in an 'accident' today regarding yesterday.
Apparently I had bumped into a car whilst turning around and there was a witness who gave a statement. I'm an 19 year old new driver and I'm just getting used to having the car, so unfortunately for me, I stall quite a bit.
I was unaware of any crashes, and I'd apparently hit a car and damaged it.
I had to endure an interview from a police officer today, and I had to say 'I'm unsure / I don't know / I was unaware' - I know this makes me sound bad, but I genuinely don't know if I had hit a car or not (As I've never experienced a collision with a car) and I didn't want to answer difinitively considering I can neither deny or confirm a scrape with another car.
I'm looking for advice, I've no idea what is going to happen next, and to be honest, I'm quite shaken and over-whelmed since I only found out today about the supposed collision.
Please help me.

[JC.]

Were you actually there?

[beffy]

Yeah but I don't recall hitting anything. Apparently it was a stationary car, and I just stalled a few times before being able to get proper control of the car.

[Hopple]

Is there any damage on your car?

Presumably you were at least at the scene else they wouldn't know what license plate to report. It is possible they'd driven into a wall themselves and were waiting for someone they thought was an easy target - you repeatedly stalling won't have helped

[beffy]

(Original post by Hopple)
Is there any damage on your car?

Presumably you were at least at the scene else they wouldn't know what license plate to report. It is possible they'd driven into a wall themselves and were waiting for someone they thought was an easy target - you repeatedly stalling won't have helped

No there was no new damage to the car - it's got a few scuffs here and there from the previous owner. The witness wasn't the driver of that car either, she was just a random pedestrian who was there. I've no idea what to do with myself, I feel sick to my stomach as I would have done something like phoned someone or left a note if I knew I'd hit a car. I know, but I'm just getting used to the clutch so I stall a lot unfortunately :/

[Hopple]

(Original post by beffy)
No there was no new damage to the car - it's got a few scuffs here and there from the previous owner. The witness wasn't the driver of that car either, she was just a random pedestrian who was there. I've no idea what to do with myself, I feel sick to my stomach as I would have done something like phoned someone or left a note if I knew I'd hit a car. I know, but I'm just getting used to the clutch so I stall a lot unfortunately :/

Does the owner of the other car even know about the incident?

Aside from the possibility of the pedestrian being in cahoots with the owner, it's possible your stalling made it look as if you'd hit a car/something when actually there's no collision and any damage on the other car (do you know if is there any?) was already there.

I think my advice is basically make sure you did hit it before saying you did, which is what you seem to be doing already

[beffy]

(Original post by Hopple)
Does the owner of the other car even know about the incident?

Aside from the possibility of the pedestrian being in cahoots with the owner, it's possible your stalling made it look as if you'd hit a car/something when actually there's no collision and any damage on the other car (do you know if is there any?) was already there.

I think my advice is basically make sure you did hit it before saying you did, which is what you seem to be doing already

Yeah apparently the woman witness left a note (something I'd of done if I knew I hit it) Not sure if there was anything on the car, as I never took time to look since I didn't have to because I didn't think I hit it. I'm thinking I did hit it now, since the officer is making it sound like I'm denying hitting hit - when really I don't know whether I did or didn't.

[iisjman07]

See if there's CCTV in the area, because if they can find video or possible evidence then you saying 'no' might not help, even if it is the truth.

If there's no damage caused by you to the car that you 'hit', and your car is also not damaged then just keep denying everything; if there's no evidence then nothing bad can happen.

I had a couple of bumps when learning; in my dad's car I clipped the wing mirror (luckily they folded-in, causing no damage) and I scraped-up the wheel trims on my car and both of those incidents have taught me that when something goes wrong it makes a lot of noise, either banging or scraping, etc - unless you had music up ridiculously loudly then there's no way you could have missed it.

[beffy]

(Original post by iisjman07)
See if there's CCTV in the area, because if they can find video or possible evidence then you saying 'no' might not help, even if it is the truth.

If there's no damage caused by you to the car that you 'hit', and your car is also not damaged then just keep denying everything; if there's no evidence then nothing bad can happen.

I had a couple of bumps when learning; in my dad's car I clipped the wing mirror (luckily they folded-in, causing no damage) and I scraped-up the wheel trims on my car and both of those incidents have taught me that when something goes wrong it makes a lot of noise, either banging or scraping, etc - unless you had music up ridiculously loudly then there's no way you could have missed it.

No my music is always really quiet, I always have it on. I'm worried since I'm young and a new driver that I'd be labelled as reckless when really I'm very cautious - hence stalling so much because I was really flustered about trying to get out of the road safely. If this ends up going to court with no cctv is it just her word against mine? I've no idea how these kinds of things go about.

[Hopple]

(Original post by beffy)
Yeah apparently the woman witness left a note (something I'd of done if I knew I hit it) Not sure if there was anything on the car, as I never took time to look since I didn't have to because I didn't think I hit it. I'm thinking I did hit it now, since the officer is making it sound like I'm denying hitting hit - when really I don't know whether I did or didn't.

Bear in mind the officer doesn't want to have wasted his time chasing it up, so he will try to press you into a confession. He also has no reason to dispute the (objective) witness' statement so will think you did it. If he won't show you any photos of it, go and have a look yourself at the other car to see if there is any damage, and if there is could it have been caused by your car with no damage to yours.

I think there are three options: the 'witness' is lying; the witness mistook you stalling for hitting something; you did hit the other car.

[beffy]

(Original post by Hopple)
Bear in mind the officer doesn't want to have wasted his time chasing it up, so he will try to press you into a confession. He also has no reason to dispute the (objective) witness' statement so will think you did it. If he won't show you any photos of it, go and have a look yourself at the other car to see if there is any damage, and if there is could it have been caused by your car with no damage to yours.

I think there are three options: the 'witness' is lying; the witness mistook you stalling for hitting something; you did hit the other car.

I see. And if I hit the other car - and mistook it for another stall, what does that mean? I've no idea what the procedure is, I thought it'd just be an insurance thing, but talks of going to court have occured, but I wouldn't know why - is it because I never left a note? Or just because mine and the female withness' statement's don't match up? I'm seriously falling to pieces here, I'm so worried.

[Hopple]

(Original post by beffy)
I see. And if I hit the other car - and mistook it for another stall, what does that mean? I've no idea what the procedure is, I thought it'd just be an insurance thing, but talks of going to court have occured, but I wouldn't know why - is it because I never left a note? Or just because mine and the female withness' statement's don't match up? I'm seriously falling to pieces here, I'm so worried.

You wouldn't have mistaken a hit for a stall, you'd have had to start the engine

The witness might have mistaken a stall for a hit though, with the car jerking or maybe you jamming the brakes on quickly.

The worst that the police will think has happened is you've knowingly hit someone's car and driven off loling - that's what he's investigating. The worst case real scenario is that you've accidentally hit someone's car and driven off without realising.

The best thing you have going for you is that your car is undamaged. If the other car is very damaged then obviously it wasn't you, and if it's not damaged at all then it's quite possible you just stalled and the witness thought you'd hit something.