You should report all damage, however minor, suggests road traffic expert Sean Joyce. Otherwise you could find yourself with five points on your licence and a possible jail term

The law and car collisions – however minor

HARRIET Harman has been in the news. Again. And not for her performance at the Labour party conference but for her performance behind the wheel.

Reports in today’s Independent newspaper suggest that a police inquiry is underway following Harriet Harman’s apparent failure to report an incident before driving off. The alleged incident says that Ms Harman drove away without leaving a name and address, and also that she was on her mobile at the time. The Independent says Ms Harman has denied all wrongdoings.

While this makes some good column inches for the newspapers, it does highlight some issues for business drivers over what you should and shouldn’t do if you do have a minor accident or scrape.

This is what the law says in the Highway Code: if you are involved in a collision or damage to another vehicle or property you must stop; give your name and registration number to the injured party or a witness; and if not practical, report it to the police within 24 hours.

I asked law expert Sean Joyce from Stephensons’ Solicitors what are the penalties for not reporting an incident.

“Failing to stop and failing to report an offence both carry a minimum penalty of five points on your licence,” said Sean. “There’s also the possibility of a discretionary ban or a jail term of six months. The problem is, the offence covers a wide variety of situations, from a minor scrape to a more serious incident. And that’s why the deterrent includes a jail sentence.

“In general, there’s always the whiff of possible drink-driving if you don’t stop – even if you haven’t been drinking the immediate suspicion is that could be the reason for leaving the scene. So that’s why it’s important to report the incident straight away. You can visit a police station; or at the very least phone the duty officer. But my advice is not to leave an incident unreported – even if it’s minor – that’s an offence. And could get you into serious trouble.

“Much of our work involves defending people who had a minor incident and failed to report it, only to find a witness had seen the incident and alerted the police. And this can happen months later. So don’t leave it. Again, my advice is report all incidents, however minor you may think they are.”