1st car accident- did I do the right things?

Is there any damage? you said her wing mirror hit yours, yet she says there was bumper damage?

yes though, you did the right thing. actually, i d call the police as well, and report the speeding, and tell them what happened.

I don't think you need to call the police if there were no injuries and both vehicles remained roadworthy. Call your insurance company asap as she will undoubtedly call hers and blame you for it all. A friend of mine years ago hit someone's passenger door when they opened it as she passed and my friend got done for it. I believe the onus is on the driver to be aware of potential hazards and respond accordingly. It's also why, when learning to drive, you are told to leave a suitable gap when passing parked vehicles.

I'm not surprised you are shaken up. She sounds vile, although a lot of it was probably shock and anger at herself for allowing it to happen. She must know she's at fault.

ETA: Re the speeding, yes I think I'd probably call the police too, come to think of it. Even if there were no witnesses and they can't prosecute, it'll give her a helluva fright to have copper knocking on the door.

As a non driver, this may be duff advice, but is it worth taking some photographs of any damage (or lack of) on your car?

You poor thing - sounds a vile incident. Not surprised you are shaken up.

Thanks Nick, yes you could see she hit my wing mirror as it was knocked from it's position and scratched, that is the only damage to my car that I can see. I don't see how there could be bumper damage to be honest, I think she was just losing it because she didn't like the fact that I was remaining as calm as I could be and not resorting to swearing etc. Her claim seemed to come out of nowhere and contradicted her earlier statement of there being no damage. But there are children in the road (some I used to teach) and I didn't want any to walk past and see Miss engaged in fish wife behaviour.

So I should call the police and tell them, then? That's fine. Should I do it now or when I'm a bit calmer? Will I get in to trouble for not phoning them at the scene?

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope youre okay.?

I agree with Nick J.

[B)] to her for being so unreasonable about the situation.

Well, as hooby says, you have no obligation to call the police, but if this silly cow does go after you insurance wise, it would help. i would report her for speeding, and just tell them what happened.

your probably not going to want to make a claim for a scratched mirror though, it ll be too much hassle etc.

but if you report her, they may well go aftyer her for dangerous driving and speeding. whilst some reading this may disagree, and say no witnesses, i know of it happening when the police charged someone in similar circs to this, and they got three points.

if youre going to do it, i d do it now though, dont wait. and try not to call 999, try your local station.

asumming only the mirros connected, i cant see there being any damage to her car unless her mirrors are fixed, which if its a "normal" car, they re unlikely to be.

Poor you - yes, you did the right thing. Incidentally, the Highway Code says:

quoteriving in built-up areas
152

Residential streets. You should drive slowly and carefully on streets where there are likely to be pedestrians, cyclists and parked cars. In some areas a 20 mph (32 km/h) maximum speed limit may be in force. Look out for

* vehicles emerging from junctions or driveways
* vehicles moving off
* car doors opening
* pedestrians
* children running out from between parked cars
* cyclists and motorcyclists

Unfortunately the Police won't attend these sort of accident if there is no injury so no need to worry on that part.
Yes you did the right thing by giving her your details. Call your insurance company and give them all the details and let them deal with it that's what you pay them for.

Thanks guys. I am sorry my last post thanked only Nick, his was the only reply I had read before posting. Good advice from all. Mr CD is coming home now and will be here in 10 mins, I will call the insurance company and I might as well call the police, although I am sorry to say I don't have much faith in them. I called them after a road range incident a couple of years ago in which a guy threatened to break my neck and kill my cats, and they didn't seem interested so I doubt I'll be top of their list with this. But worth a go.

Thanks again for the reassurance.

And yes, she was vile.

I have checked the postcode she gave me online and itg appears the address is genuine, the way she was behaving I doubted she'd even give me real details as like I said her initial reaction was "there's no damage" and I thought after a bit of swearing she'd drive away. It was only after we prompted the exchanging details that she got the hump and said I'd done her bumper in, to use her expression

She was clearly in the wrong as your car was stationary and as she only appears to have damaged your wing mirror, this would presumably have happened whether you had been in the car or not IYSWIM.
So it was up to her to take evasive action when spotting your car which because of the speed she was doing was clearly impossible. You just have to tell your insurance company exactly what happened with drawings etc and it is then up to them to sort it out, but as far as I am aware if your car was not moving and she hit it, she is wrong. By the way how on earth did she manage to damage your wing mirror with her bumper. May be that damage was on her bumper already!!! Good luck with your claim ?

I presume you also took down her numberplate, make, model & colour of car in case she gave you false details? If not, ask the people who came and saw her too if they remember.
You could have got the police down but unless there were skidmarks or witnesses, I don't think they can calculate if she was speeding or not.
I had an accident where I pulled out to turn right and a car hit me side-on as he was speeding round a bend, spinning my car round 90 degrees to rest near the kerb. I was injured, my car was a write-off and yet because I left the scene in an ambulance, when the police arrived no one told them what had happened, they thought I'd parked the car where it has ended up and the whole claim went against my insurance. You live and learn but not everyone is honest or insured.