Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Refusal To Name A Driver When Questioned

By Christos Chalfont

According to our legal system, failing to name the driver of your vehicle when it has an accident is a greater crime than being in the accident while driving the car yourself!

Several cases finish up in court because people do not name the person who was driving their car at the time of the accident and although it seems like an honourable thing to do to protect your friend; it is in fact very foolish. Accidents happen all the time, although some are more serious than others, but even the best drivers cant avoid them completely.

When more serious accidents happen, it is quite a common occurrence for the driver to flee the scene and leave the car. However when the car is found it is traced back to the owner who then has to identify who was driving the car when the accident took place, but if they dont, then they face two charges. One is failing to name the driver and the other is causing the accident.

Many people who hire drivers do not know the address of their driver and usually only have a mobile phone number which are not always reliable. So if you employ drivers, it is well worth getting their full information and conducting a full background check, even if it means getting them from a third party agency so that you are not held responsible when something untoward happens on the roads.

The police department says that there are thousands of cases each year when the owner of the car wants to protect his friend who has actually caused the accident, and claim that they dont know who has taken the car out. But most of these cases are proven with the help of someone else at the crime scene and the offending driver is fined for the accident and the owner is convicted for failing to name the driver " and the latter carries a higher degree of punishment!

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