Hit a pillar = hit-and-run?

Question

Hi,

When backing out of an underground parking lot, I brushed off against a pillar and thereby took off the left side of my front bumper. I then drove to a body shop to get it fixed. On the way, I was stopped by a cop who checked me out. He asked me what happened and I said I hit a pillar in a parking lot. Then he asked me if I've reported it to the police...I said no, since I didn't hit anybody.

He then took my license's plate number but did NOT give me a ticket. He told me that I should report to the police department where I hit the pillar else I'll be arrested for hit-and-run.

What the f****!!!

Here are my questions:

1) If I do not report, will I get arrested?

2) If I report, will be insurance rate change?

3) If I told the cop I hit my car in my home garage, will his reaction be different?

4) I've been told that if I'm not given a ticket, it's fine. Is this true?

Answer 1

I live in the UK but I presume the law is much the same. If you hit public or private property, no matter how minimal the damage, it has to be reported to the police or the owner of the damaged item. If you do not, this is indeed considered hit and run. As the police are now aware of the incident, you are obliged to report it and you may face being fined and taken to court if you do not. Your insurance rate will change if the owner of the pillar decides to make a claim against you and goes through your insurance company.

On the other matter you raise, if you had hit a pillar in your own home, this would be an entirely different matter as you have damaged your OWN property and nobody elses! There would be no point in reporting yourself as you are not going to be making a claim against yourself for damage to property.

Lastly, the cop has advised you to report the matter within a specified time scale presumably. Your details have been taken and would have been logged on file. They will be expecting you to report the matter. The reason why you have not been given a ticket is because you have not yet committed a crime as such - if you fail to report the matter within a certain timescale, you WILL be committing an offence. The cop had no reason to ticket you at the time. Just because you have not received a ticket does not mean its fine to leave!

Answer 2

That pillar you hit belongs to somebody else, presumably the owners of the car park. They may need to have it repaired, which you're responsible for. He's giving you the chance to report it.

How would you like it if someone drove a truck through your house & drove off?  Exactly the same thing.

Answer 3

you left the scene of an accident, which is illegal.  file a police report.  insurance rate won't go up unless you file a claim.

Answer 4

Thank you for your responses. Please spare me the morale lessons. I'm interested to find out about the law and its limits, and not what I should do as a sensible human being. I know perfectly well what's nice and what's not.

First, the pillar that I "hit" was already beat up as it is. It looks just as horrible before as after the "hit," which was just a brush-off in any case. I'm sure the damage incurred is like $20. I just had a loose bumper to begin with.

My greatest question is, if I just told the cop the accident is in MY garage, i.e. MY property, is he still in a position to call it a hit-and-run?

My second greatest question is, is he the cop in a position to pursue this any further? After all, I did not give me a ticket. He could very easily give me a repair ticket, but he did NOT. Is he hoping that I would report out of my own guilt, which I have none?

Thank you for all of your insights.

Answer 5

I seriously doubt that it would be necessary to report hitting a pillar any more that if you hit a dog, cat, squirrel, deer, or anything else unless there is an injury that needs reported.  If they did anything it would be to send a notice to you to mail one but personally I doubt that also unless you are unfortunate to live in a small community that the local troopers have nothing else to do.

Answer 6

1. you left the seen of an accident, arrested 50/50.

2. yes.

3. yes.

4. possibly both because in some states this could be looked at as a misdemeanor.

Answer 7

#1-Maybe-if property owner files complaint

#2 Yes

#3 No-He'll think you are lying to him(usually)

#4 You could get a ticket in the mail, later. You could also get a summons to appear for a suit against you from the property owner later.

Answer 8

In most jurisdictions, all accidents involving injury or death or damages over a specified amount must be reported.   In your case,  if the cost of repair is over the statutory amount,  usually $1k to $3k,  then you have to report.