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Had a minor car accident... but now the police are involved. Help!
20/f
This is kind of a legal question... but I put it into Etiquette because that's the closest.
I got my licence a couple of months ago (I'm not from America so I'm only a couple years late getting it!) and a month into getting it I accidently reversed into someone in a car park. I admit I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been, and it was entirely my fault. Anyway, I got out of the car and apologised to the woman about 4 times. She was really nice and said it was fine, there was more damage to my car than hers (I had a tiny scratch on the bumper, and she had no damage.. it's a tow bar afterall) So since there was no damage, I got in the car and drove away.
A couple of weeks later my boyfriend (whos car I was driving) gets a phone call from the police. They heard about the incident and want to clear it up. I call back and the policeman who is dealing with the incident is on leave for a month, so I can't clear it up.
I haven't been able to rest ever since this happened, I'm so stressed out because I'm worried something is going to happen to me. I don't know what I've done wrong, or what is going to happen.
Should I go in and give a statement even though the policeman isn't there, just so it's off my head? Why would this woman go report me to the police? How much trouble can I get into? etc.
Hoping someone can help. Thanks.
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Like Witty said, call them and ask what you need to do.
More than likely she needs a police report so her insurance company can get her car repaired. Even minor damage can cost a lot to repair these days.
She may have been fine with it, but maybe her husband wanted it fixed.
I doubt you are in a great deal of trouble. If you were they would have shown up at your door. :)
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Call back and ask them what or if you need to do anything, and see if you can find out the reason for their involvement.
You can't get in any trouble, it wasn't hit and run and its your word against hers if she pushes that angle. More than likely, she just filed a police report and they need your side of the story.
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The only reason that I can think of that she would report the incident to the police so long after the accident happened... Is that something is wrong with her car. Could be there was damage from the accident that she didn't know about when you drove away... Or, she's trying to get some money out of you. To file a claim through the insurance company, I'm fairly certain she would have to have a police report.
Don't freak out. If the police were going to arrest you, they would have done so all ready. And if the department was taking this incident seriously, they wouldn't have assigned an officer to your case after knowing that he'd be gone for a month. Most likely, you'll have to tell the police officer your side of the story, she'll tell her side of the story, and after that he'll write an official report stating what happened for the use of the insurance company. A citation may or may not be issued to the faulty party... And even if you are issued a citation, it's not a big deal. Most likely you'll pay a fine and that will be that.
If you have car insurance, you don't have to worry about the woman suing you personally. Most likely she'd try to get some money out of the insurance company... Which is never, never easy. (Especially since she did not call a police officer when the accident actually happened. Insurance companies take fraud very seriously and she WILL be investigated.) The price of your car insurance may go up a bit as a result.
I suggest... If you've been told that the police officer handling your case is away, just wait until he gets back. If you went to the station, you'd most likely be told the same thing.
Don't sweat it. It'll be okay ;)
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