Worms of the road!!

[FROGM5]

A pretty sight greeted me this morning....some gutless worm had decided to stove my wing in then slither away on its belly!!!
Needless to say I will be checking any red car I see in our village for quite some time

http://img695.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=20090328urchin0047.jpg

 

[ringway]

Unlucky.

I had a red (van maybe) go along around a 3 metre section of my Sprinter a few years ago.

In my Omega whilst donating goods to a local animal sanctury shop (only in there a few minutes) some a*s*hole damaged the wing/door/light/indicator/mirror. That really hacked me off.

In both instances the offenders were nowhere to be seen.

 

[Mr E]

There seems to be something about Mrs E car too...

1. Scrape and white paint on nearside rear wing
2. Broken nearside mirror (at different time to 1)
3. Offside blanking plate (where foglight would go if fitted) gone

All in the space of 5 weeks, all while parked outside her place of work!

 

[FROGM5]

Mystery solved...red LHD vectra polish plates(probably usuall no tax mot or insurance job) covered in dents including Mercedes alu silver in right place etc.....guy drives like a muppett..now for a plan!

 

[bennesspipers]

Set the boys in blue on him,they like hit n runs

 

[FROGM5]

They wont give it a thought...cant do squat to them.

 

[crockers]

Trouble is without a witness - not a cat in hells chance. How long has his car been in the country? If over 6 months that is an offense without registering in this country.

What you don't want to do - even if you feel like it - is take the law into your own hands. Its not worth spending a holiday in one of Lizzies hotels over this.

 

[FROGM5]

No I need to see what he has to say for himself.....mite say i got a witness...encourage him to come clean???

 

[Satch]

Mystery solved...red LHD vectra polish plates(probably usuall no tax mot or insurance job) covered in dents including Mercedes alu silver in right place etc.....guy drives like a muppett..now for a plan!

Ah, we are often told by our own Government how badly maintained vehicles can so easily burst into flame.

 

[rossyl]

definitely do something, confronting and aksing him to come clean seems a good idea.

 

[grober]

I would suggest trying quietly getting a few background details first like:-
What's his name and UK address
and [a possible bonus ] his home address in Poland.
Where does he work?-has he got a regular job?- does he have family here?
All goes to whether he is liable to pay up when confronted or liable to leg it back home on the first available ferry.
It might also help when you do confront him if you can arrange /hire a friend/acquaintance/interpreter who speaks Polish with you as otherwise he may play the "no speeka tha engleesh" card or simply not fully understand what you are saying?
Be mindful also that the potential cost of repairing a Mercedes for a man with possibly very little money may escalate any confrontational situation to a level you might not anticipate under normal circumstances.

 

[lynall]

He will know exactly what it costs to fix a merc hence the reason he done a runner!



Lynall

 

[ringway]

Mystery solved...red LHD vectra polish plates(probably usuall no tax mot or insurance job) covered in dents including Mercedes alu silver in right place etc.....guy drives like a muppett..now for a plan!

His car will be taxed if it is his first year in this country.

IIRC, our government pay the first year's tax and insurance for these guy's.

 

[nick mercedes]

Ah, we are often told by our own Government how badly maintained vehicles can so easily burst into flame.

Setting fire to someone's car on the off chance they dented your wing might be a bit of a rash thing to do...

 

[nick mercedes]

I would suggest trying quietly getting a few background details first like:-
What's his name and UK address
and [a possible bonus ] his home address in Poland.
Where does he work?-has he got a regular job?- does he have family here?
All goes to whether he is liable to pay up when confronted or liable to leg it back home on the first available ferry.
It might also help when you do confront him if you can arrange /hire a friend/acquaintance/interpreter who speaks Polish with you as otherwise he may play the "no speeka tha engleesh" card or simply not fully understand what you are saying?
Be mindful also that the potential cost of repairing a Mercedes for a man with possibly very little money may escalate any confrontational situation to a level you might not anticipate under normal circumstances.

All the Poles I know work hard and have plenty of money, most of them speak better English than many of us too.

Perhaps hiring the heavies to get a confession out of him for a £100 dent might be a little OTT?

 

[grober]

All the Poles I know work hard and have plenty of money, most of them speak better English than many of us too.

Perhaps hiring the heavies to get a confession out of him for a £100 dent might be a little OTT?

I certainly wasn't suggesting anything heavy at all-rather the opposite. I was suggesting things the poster might do to help a negotiated settlement of the affair. Sorry if you got the wrong impression from my post. The fact remains he did not come forward after the accident which goes towards this particular individuals character assuming it was indeed him in the first place..

 

[HR17]

Setting fire to someone's car on the off chance they dented your wing might be a bit of a rash thing to do...

It would be a public service to get it off the road. If the car's not illegal, then at least its driver has been by leaving the scene etc.

There are loads of East European cars and drivers around my area, and I have to say in all honesty, a majority are a menace - dodgy/dangerous cars, and driving like I've never seen before on public roads. British drivers in other EU countries can face the full wrath of their laws and Police, whereas foreign drivers in the UK can generally drive what and how they like.

I wouldn't accept a language barrier either - unless he's a tourist(unlikely) then he's working here, and disregarding what he does, he's bound to speak more English than he lets on - its a common trick they play round here - like the selective hearing I use with my Mrs.