The Student Room Group

Hit bumper in car park

I'm a new driver. As I was trying to park my car in the college car park earlier today I very slightly clipped the bumper of another parked car. Must have been going about 3 miles per hour.
I pulled out and parked up nearby as I could not very well just stop in the middle of a car park with a one way system in place. Nobody would have been able to get around me.

Anyway about 5 mins later I go up to check on the other car. The damage is so slight it's barely noticeable. A tiny bit of scratched paintwork on the bumper. There was nobody in the other car and the owner was nowhere to be seen. It's a college so they could be gone for hours.

Anyway this man came up to me, not the owner of the car, and said I'd "left the scene of an accident" which was a criminal offense and he was going to report me to the police. He said he'd caught me on his dashcam (even though I saw nobody nearby at the time) and I had damaged the other car's bumper. He demanded I let him take a picture of my car's Registration plate and made out he was going to report me.

I took pictures as well, reported the incident and left my details at the College Reception. I also left a note for the other driver.

When I came back later the other car was still there, but still no owner. I checked and there seemed to be no damage at all even the minor scratch on the bumper wasn't visible anymore.

However I'm petrified the police are going to come knocking on my door. That man really scared me. I wasn't intending to "leave a crime scene" I was just parking safely and then went in search of the parked car's driver. I had P plates on my car and the guy looked like some random workman with a load of his friends standing nearby.
Original post by Jlady
I'm a new driver. As I was trying to park my car in the college car park earlier today I very slightly clipped the bumper of another parked car. Must have been going about 3 miles per hour.
I pulled out and parked up nearby as I could not very well just stop in the middle of a car park with a one way system in place. Nobody would have been able to get around me.

Anyway about 5 mins later I go up to check on the other car. The damage is so slight it's barely noticeable. A tiny bit of scratched paintwork on the bumper. There was nobody in the other car and the owner was nowhere to be seen. It's a college so they could be gone for hours.

Anyway this man came up to me, not the owner of the car, and said I'd "left the scene of an accident" which was a criminal offense and he was going to report me to the police. He said he'd caught me on his dashcam (even though I saw nobody nearby at the time) and I had damaged the other car's bumper. He demanded I let him take a picture of my car's Registration plate and made out he was going to report me.

I took pictures as well, reported the incident and left my details at the College Reception. I also left a note for the other driver.

When I came back later the other car was still there, but still no owner. I checked and there seemed to be no damage at all even the minor scratch on the bumper wasn't visible anymore.

However I'm petrified the police are going to come knocking on my door. That man really scared me. I wasn't intending to "leave a crime scene" I was just parking safely and then went in search of the parked car's driver. I had P plates on my car and the guy looked like some random workman with a load of his friends standing nearby.

In reality it's very unlikely that he will bother reporting it.

However, you must report this to your insurer with 48hrs of the incident, even if you have no intention to claim. This is all the more important if there is the slightest possibility that you were recorded.
Original post by Jlady
I'm a new driver. As I was trying to park my car in the college car park earlier today I very slightly clipped the bumper of another parked car. Must have been going about 3 miles per hour.
I pulled out and parked up nearby as I could not very well just stop in the middle of a car park with a one way system in place. Nobody would have been able to get around me.

Anyway about 5 mins later I go up to check on the other car. The damage is so slight it's barely noticeable. A tiny bit of scratched paintwork on the bumper. There was nobody in the other car and the owner was nowhere to be seen. It's a college so they could be gone for hours.

Anyway this man came up to me, not the owner of the car, and said I'd "left the scene of an accident" which was a criminal offense and he was going to report me to the police. He said he'd caught me on his dashcam (even though I saw nobody nearby at the time) and I had damaged the other car's bumper. He demanded I let him take a picture of my car's Registration plate and made out he was going to report me.

I took pictures as well, reported the incident and left my details at the College Reception. I also left a note for the other driver.

When I came back later the other car was still there, but still no owner. I checked and there seemed to be no damage at all even the minor scratch on the bumper wasn't visible anymore.

However I'm petrified the police are going to come knocking on my door. That man really scared me. I wasn't intending to "leave a crime scene" I was just parking safely and then went in search of the parked car's driver. I had P plates on my car and the guy looked like some random workman with a load of his friends standing nearby.


I had a similar thing when I first started driving. A car parked stupidly and basically blocked me in a space, I just go out but ended up slightly brushing against another car which was parked next to me. I left a note but nothing ever came of it. But always best to leave a note and inform your insurer.

Since you've left a note, the police are unlikely to actually contact you or do anything. These kind of events are stressful and we often forget to do things in the moment. If you'd done that and then driven off, that would have been a different matter.
Even if you didn't leave any details, very few police forces ever bother to prosecute for failing to stop/remain/report if it's in a public car park, the only time you would be likely to hear from them is a section 172, they use this as a way to get your details for insurers to sort out. If you've left details you've not committed that offense anyway, just make sure you inform your insurer.

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