DAO4 NXM - Cnut of the day

CCTV is a good idea - will have a look when I cycle past (on my shit old mountain bike) tomorrow morning.

I'm pretty sure attempted assault won't wash - no way of a witness seeing definitively the difference between that and someone just driving into the back of me...

but might pop back to the station and ask for a crime number for the fleeing the scene of the incident - if nothing else, should put the shits up him when I write asking for a big whack to repair my bike...

I am no lawyer, please take this as highly inaccurate in terms of the finer points but probably along the right lines...

First, this is a collision from the rear. Under law, it is entirely the fault of the driver at the back. So you have the right to claim your damages off their insurance. And you should do. That includes damage to your bike, loss of earnings etc. End of.

Don't know whether it's worth going to those no-win-no-fee people, I haven't heard much good to say about them, unless the case is open and shut.

But unfortunately, you haven't got his insurance details, because he drove off. Now he has a bit of time (is it 24hrs) to turn up in a cop shop to report the accident. However, lets assume he won't (probabaly because he didn't have any insurance). So now it's a criminal matter - Failure To Stop After An Accident (give me a while, I'll get you the offence summary for that one). If the police investigate and he has no insurance either, they have him on more than one count, plus whatever else they find when they start poking into things.

You must have the right to be given his insurance details by the police. How you go about it I'm not sure, but I'm sure they'll help.

The police don't prosecute though, they build a case, or not, which if they feel is strong enough, take to the Crown Prosecution Service, who decide whether or not to proceed. Often the police would like to press the charge, but the CPS decline. You, as the victim, have the right to take out a private prosecution at your own expense though. Now, you may not want to go through with it, but as part of starting that process, I believe you can ask for the car drivers name and address. Obviously, you have to sound like you really mean to go through with the prosecution (say you have a cousin who is a top barrister who will handle the case for you) otherwise they might hesitate to hand his details out. There may be a process to follow here - I know that my mother was given the details of the guy who burgled her house (maybe they shouldn't have done that) and she went around and menaced him a bit, saying that it was best she told him to not re-burgle her house, because if her sons came around, they'd be taking him to hospital one shovelful at a time. So I know you can get details like that from the five-0, but it might not be as easy as it was for me mammy. Hopefully you get them and what you do from the point that you get them is your own choice...

Hope all that helps.