Someone reversed into my motorcycle and caused superficial damage. What should I do?

rambutann on 26/10/2014 - 10:37

Yesterday I was parked at an event in Melbourne and I returned to my motorcycle to find someone had reversed into it and knocked it over. It has not caused a whole lot of damage but its enough to depreciate the value of it by hundreds of dollars..

A paramedic nearby saw the whole thing unfold and was yelling at the driver to stop by he just drove off.

I have the guys licence plate and the mobile number of the witness.

Should I go to the police and persue this further to get all of the panels replaced that were damaged or would it just be too difficult?

Your input/experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Automotive

Comments

  • Dangit on 26/10/2014 - 10:52
    +7

    If its a hit & run so if you go to police they can charge the driver? From there only if you have insurance that they could get the guy to pay the damages I would assume.

  • Baysew on 26/10/2014 - 12:09
    +2

    Call Bikies ?

  • eatwell365 on 26/10/2014 - 12:11
    +1

    since you have an independent witness, successful or not, I would still report to police (police assitance line) on the hit and run. at least give the guy a warning. let insurance company to deal with, can withdraw the claim if you decide to fix it yourself.

  • shadowarrior on 26/10/2014 - 12:30
    +1

    Cop's won't really do much apart from filing a report which might help you in your insurance claims.
    Call insurance, explain the situation, tell them the details you have and then ask them what's the next step.

    If the cost of excess>cost of repairs, fix it yourself without involving insurance, do take that first step of calling them up first though. Tell them this has happened, but I don't want to lodge a claim yet, I want to know what my options are. That you are willing to report the case to the police and get a report number for them (which kinda proves you are not pulling a fast one on them).

    • peterlong1952 on 27/10/2014 - 07:31
      +2

      I backed into a Mercedes at Eastland once. Didn't think there was any damage so drove off. Someone got my rego number and a few days later a nice female cop came around and suggested I contact my insurance company. Failing that I may be charged with leaving the scene of the accident. Rang insurance company after she left.

    • backpaqer on 27/10/2014 - 10:56

      My wife got a call from the cops because someone thought she had hit their car and left a mark on it (and such a small mark too). She turned up to the police station promptly and the policeman was unsure what to do as there was no damage to our car whatsoever…but because a complaint had been lodged he felt obliged to do something about it so my wife got a summons to go to court for leaving the scene of an accident. The court date is usually 4 months away so she went through 4 months of pure hell wondering what she should do - she was clearly not guilty of "leaving the scene of an accident" as she was completely unaware she had been involved in one…at the time or even after looking for any signs of damage on her car. We even had our insurers look at our car and they said our car had not been involved in any accident (no extra paint or any paint missing). The magistrate was almost begging my wife to plead not guilty because the prosecution had no evidence - but my wife plead guilty purely to have the matter over with so the case was dismissed with no charges anyway. But it was still 4 months of stress.

      Back to your case. Sure, they may have been totally unaware of the impact or the paramedic yelling at him to stop, he may have been on his mobile phone and too engrossed in whatever. Still a court summons should be a nice slap in the face as it sounds like he deserves it.

  • Steptoe on 26/10/2014 - 12:36

    You don't mention if you have any type of insurance cover.

    As other mentioned, report as per your state requirements to get a report number.

    • rambutann on 26/10/2014 - 13:05
      +1

      I don't have comprehensive hence why I want their insurance to sort it out. I only have third party fire and theft..

      • outlander on 26/10/2014 - 13:56
        -1

        Most of the time that still covers damage if you can point the finger at the liable party. Doesn't hurt to give them a call

        • rambutann on 27/10/2014 - 11:21
          +2

          I just gave them a call and they said to go to the police so ill give that a go this afternoon.

          And for the person who negged my previous comment about not having comprehensive insurance.. The bike is worth $3k, I am on my P plates, Comprehensive insurance is about $800-$1300 a year and is therefore not worth it in the slightest. I got Third Party Fire and Theft for $232 so I felt like that was definitely a better option.

  • Cheeper on 26/10/2014 - 13:04
    +3

    File a claim with your insurer asap.
    Give them the rego no and details of the witness and they will do the rest.

  • X3 on 27/10/2014 - 08:52
    +5

    The paramedic deserves a pat in the back because a witness is only useful if you can identify him/her (ie legally speaking,an anonymous note is useless)

    And you should definitely pursue this - the offender knocks your bike over (which has to be impossible to miss) and has a witness yelling at him to stop and the guy STILL simply drives off. What a douchebag.

  • grb1234 on 27/10/2014 - 11:01

    Step 1: insist they contact their insurance company or have the cops go after them for leaving the scene.

    Step 2: get comprehensive insurance.

  • rambutann on 27/10/2014 - 12:41

    Update;

    Called the police and reported the incident.
    I was told that if he did not realise what he had done then he would not be charged for hit and run, he would exchange our details and we would sort it out..

    • rambutann on 27/10/2014 - 14:37

      Driver now denies having ever hit my motorcycle.

      I do not doubt that he didnt know but he has admitted that he was in fact there; police are calling my witness to ask him a few questions.

      • k005h on 27/10/2014 - 18:32

        Keep us posted rambutann! I always have the fear that something similar is going to happen to my bike when I park it along the walkway. It'll be good to know how this turns out. Good luck!

        • rambutann on 27/10/2014 - 18:41

          Will do!
          I haven't received word from the police this afternoon but hopefully they will call tomorrow..

  • eatwell365 on 27/10/2014 - 23:17

    Understand the other driver will have to go through the 5 steps of grief - denial, isolation, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

    May the truth prevails.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/03/2015 - 09:09

    Hit & Run options:
    1. you know the rego -> go to police station, tell them and they will put you in contact with the owner/driver (Police will not take a report)
    1.1 He does admit -> all good
    1.2 He does NOT admit -> charge (police will take a report)
    2. you don't know the rego -> no leads to who might have hit you, bad luck. (Police will not take a report)

    From a legal point of view, he has to give you: name & address. Insurance will do the rest.

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