Just saw a hit an run...kind of.

[ryanh1418]

I wasn't talking about the article, I haven't read it, I was talking purely about the original incident that this thread is about.

Failing to stop is a minor traffic offence. That's a fact in law, not an opinion to be debated. I'm not justifying it or making light of it, just pointing out the facts of what is likely to happen in THESE circumstances. No one's ever going to be hanged or do time for traffic offences other than death by careless/dangerous etc (still talking about the original article btw ).

Originally Posted by ryanh1418

Since April 2006(ish, might be wrong, can't really remember) EVERYTHING is an "arrestable offence" but you have to be able to justify the arrest. So technically you can be arrested for failing to wear a seatbelt or littering. Arresting someone is the taking away of someone's liberty. It is an extreme power so we must not lose sight of the fact that what we are talking about here is a minor road traffic offence. Fortunately most people never have to witness/be involved in this sort of incident. But we're on a motorcycling forum though so thoughts/feelings about this subject will naturally be quite passionate and strong.

The reality is that this sort of event, whilst unfortunate, is not uncommon. Yes there are various offences commited by the driver, such as failing to stop, however the main offence of careless driving will take precedence and will "override" the other issues.

Someone mentioned the seizure of the vehicle. This will only happen if it is alleged that there was a mechanical defect with the vehicle which might have been a contributory factor in the collision. Nine times out of ten this is someone talking sh*t and claiming their brakes failed. Subsequently the vehicle is examined and found to have perfectly functioning brakes. In a serious (life changing or threatening injuries) or fatal collision all vehicles will be seized and examined by a police vehicle examiner.

Basically, a lot of the time it sucks and lets just hope it never happens to any of us, but you have to deal with the cold hard facts and circumstances and not what we all think/feel should happen as bikers.


PS, please appreciate the effort it took to type that after a curry, 5 pints and a rum & coke. I'm pretty confident there are no spelling/grammar mistakes though I have been typing for two hours. ;o)

In England this may be the case but not everything is an "arrestable" offence in Scotland - we have varying powers of arrest.

The rest - well I've pretty much said all that

And, can we just make it clear we are talking about failing to stop at the scene of an accident - which technically, this guy did. He just drove away again. I would suggest the offence he has committed instead is failing to report an accident.....

The other failing to stop is failing to stop for the Police which is a naughty thing to and means helicopters chase you and things......

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

The other failing to stop is failing to stop for the Police which is a naughty thing to and means helicopters chase you and things......

Is it wrong that my very first thought was "oooohh, that sounds like FUN!!" I'm a middle aged man for god sake

To the OP, sounds like you did your civic and moral duty and it's perhaps best to take comfort from that and let the cogs of justice do their whirry spinny thing. Karma will come round eventually, either in this instance or down the line.

On the plus side the driver is probably now wetting himself and will continue to leave dribbly puddles for the next few months. Most folks have a remarkable ability to justify accidents that were in reality their fault as being quite the opposite, I have a number of friends and colleagues who've rear ended some poor sod and still to this day claim it was everyone else's fault but their own. But in the popular psyche at large, failing to stop/report is thought of as a huge feckin deal and they're no doubt now thinking they're proper-fooked.

Originally Posted by ryanh1418

Failing to stop is a minor traffic offence. That's a fact in law, not an opinion to be debated.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Failing to stop should not be, and morally is not just a minor traffic offence IMO, especially where the driver suspects someone has been injured.

There you go. I've corrected what I wrote for you. Is that acceptable now? Am I allowed to have an opinion and debate it?

[ryanh1418]

That's much better.