Tracing owner from a part number plate.

[goosergus]

Hi.
I looking for help regarding tracing a part number plate.
I was hit in rear by an artic recently but the bastard didnt stop and i only got four letters of his plate W772.

I have a policewoman friend who said it can be traced but the police wont do it because of the enormous amount of work involved (cross referencing was mentioned). Another police officer i did some work for said it can be done by the MIB (motor insurance bureau (not men in black)) who handle unisured or untraceable claims. The MIB say they can but arent allowed. My insurance company say it simply cant be done.
Who is right?
DVLA dont seem to know if they can do it or not but i have to pay to find out if they can.

If it can be done surely someone somewhere will have set up a business to do so for a fee.
Has anyone else successfully traced a part number plate?

I would appreciate any advice on this matter.

However, (here is along shot) if anyone out there sees an artic lorry with white cab and flat bed trailer (no signwriting) with a plate begining W772 please note the last three numbers and i will trace it and ask to see their taco for the day of the incident.

 

[Blobcat]

You would need PNC (Police National Computer) access. If you know the tyre of lorry (make and model) then the search parrameters can be narrowed down making the search easier.
However if the police are not interested in investigating then you are up a creek without a paddle I'm affraid

 

[davidsl500]

maybe you should have told the police that he pulled a gun on you....

 

[goosergus]

Haha

I fairly sure you are joking about the gun but hey....what a good idea. They would definitely have found him within minutes.

I think i am fairly stuck on this so i will just have to get the cheque book out and get on with life.

While i here does any one know of a good insurer who will actually provide a van while the insured vehicle is being repaired? All the insurance i have ever had will only offer a small car.
It annoys me because i am paying for hire and reward insurance on a commercial vehicle.

I did see a large van once, owned by a commercial vehicle bodyshop and they let you borrow their van while repairing yours. I took their number off the side of van but have since lost it. Based in hertford. Any one know of them or a similar company?

Thanks for you advice.

 

[jberks]

The problem is that the 'free loan car' the insurance co provides doesn't actually cost them a penny as the car belongs to the bodyshop. This is the price the bodyshop pays to be 'insurance approved'. So, you'd need an 'insurance approved' bodyshop with a loan van. Hard to find I would think. That said, I would have expected commercial bodyshops to have loan vans available instead.

I did get my ins co to poppy up for a proper rental car once, when I explained that their bodyshop may have been approved by them but it wasn't by the manufacturer so any warranties would be voided. The dealer bodyshop didn't have a loan car so I was holding them to their word, a free loan car please. After a bit of hassle, they got me a europcar Astra. - Now once they've agreed to that, chances are the price difference between an Astra and a van will be minimal - so pay the difference and you're sorted.

As far as tracing - speak to your ins co. It's doubtful you'll get anywhere though. With a partial plate, you can't prove anything.

 

[davidsl500]

I wonder if the truck was on a regular weekly run - same time, same place week in week out? Might be worth a stake out the next week maybe?

 

[turnipsock]

Where are the CCTV cameras when you need them?

Chances are the lorry would have been on some camera somewhere. It's just that nobody can be bothered to check.

I was once assaulted by another driver, basically he came off a roundabout and chose the outside lane, even though he was going left at the next roundabout. He was going really slow and then decided to cut in in front of me and thought I should give way (even though he had been holding me up for ages and blocking two lanes). At the next set of traffic lights he was banging on my window. I reported the matter as I knew that the M8 is covered with cameras. What a surprise when the police phoned back and said they could see nothing.

From the bit of the number plate you have, there are 17,000 combinations left. I'll bet they are not all lorries. If somebody had been killed, the police would have the lorry in an instant.

 

[bibamus]

I use Direct Motorline in Ipswich. Tel 0871 330 8033. I insured my ( Renault Trafic) van with them a few years ago, went through the quote and they gave me a price, which was very good. Then asked me if I used it for business. Well, yes, isnt that what a van is for, usually? Anyway, this reduced my quote by about 40%, so I took it, and have been with them for 4 years.
If you take out their Accident Plus Gold ( costs me £20 per year) with them, you will get a Transit sized van for a max of 2 weeks while they repair your van, and pay £20 per person per night ( up to 5 people) if you cannot get home after the accident or van theft.
Looks like a good deal to me, give them a try.

Allan

 

[Casanunder]

Police are generally reluctant to retrieve CCTV footage. A work-mate of mine was recently rear-ended at a major city-centre set of lights by a driver who had been tailgating him. The other guy drove off at high speed.

Fortunately, the lights are covered by a number of CCTV cameras. But after going to the police, and enquiring about retrieving the CCTV footage, he was immediately asked - "was anybody hurt?".
My friend replied honestly - "No".
Desk Sergeant - "ermmm - No, then".

There's probably a moral in there somewhere...

 

[davidsl500]

Is anyone hurt question is a good one. I seem to remember that if anyone is hurt in an accident then the police must be called and it is a serious offence if you leave before they arrive.

 

[Stircrazy]

Bibamus,

Have you ever claimed on this bargain policy?

 

[turnipsock]

This is just stupid. If nobody is hurt then the criminal just drives away leaving the victim footing the bill for repairs.

Where do you draw the line on 'hurt'? "yes officer, somebody was hurt, my g/friend broke a nail"

 

[bibamus]

No, never,......yet. It is underwritten by Provident Insurance PLC, they are certainly on the ball when it comes to sending out your insurance policy and certificate.

Allan

 

[Myros]

Who defines hurt?

even though it sounds like a licence to print money for "whiplash willy" type lawyers, the last person qualified to diagnose injury is the victim. You may feel fine at the scene of the accident, get home a couple of hours later and drop dead of shock.
Play safe, call the police out saying that you have been in an accident and might be injured, but aren't in a position to tell as you are shaken up, and then seek medical opinion after the law has become involved.
Just apply the same principles to dealing with yourself that you would do to the children of your best friend whom you were transporting in your car. You wouldn't take them home after a shunt and tell their parents nothing happened, would you? No, you wouldn't, you'd run them along to hospital yourself and have them looked over.
You cannot be criticised for doing a sensible and reasonable thing. There is a benefit to society from this as well. Your actions may well have a dodgy driver put back on the right road, or taken off it completely. That surely must be a civic duty.

 

[Hanz]

After a Van collided with my friend and me (in a Renault 5) I have been left with a dislocated collarbone and bad whiplash. I have an operation in about 3 months. The thing is the van drove onto our side of the road because he wasn't concentrating. He stopped and admitted liabilty, probably wouldn't of if there wasn't so many witnesses...

Thankfully no one has driven away from an accident I've been in (I've never had one before with me driving *touchwood* just have a curse on my friends cars* I can imagine how ****ed off I would be though....

 

[goosergus]

I have thought about setting up at the road side where and about the time the incident occured but finding the time just means losing more money in hope. (self employed.)

I will give the Ipswich insurers a call when my current insurance is up.

It is a shame though that in order to get the police or insurance to co-operate i have to consider lying

Thanks for the advice everyone.

On the point of CCTV.
I have worked within the CCTV field for some years and i can tell you that anyone is breaking the law if they hold footage of you and refuse to hand over a copy. In fact anyone who owns a CCTV system or database must make availalble on your request any footage, files or any material of a personal nature to you. Even a neighbour or local store.
A neighbour of mine had a camera pointed illegally in a direction that covered my rear garden. Every day for a week i handed him written requests for all footage involving me or my family.
He ignored every one of them so i reported him to the Information Commisioner. He was paid a visit and the camera was later removed. I presume he had also failed to register his equipment with the I.C.
The camera later went back up but pointing in the opposite direction and i know it is now registered.
However the owner of the equipment could say there is no footage held and you cant disprove it or even be sure he checked. The owner of the equipment is allowed to charge reasonably for the time to find and copy the footage.

Now i have bored you with that bit of info i am off. Thanks again all who replied.

 

[goosergus]

myros i agree absolutely.

 

[pace]

My other half was hit by a lorry in 98. She was pushed of the road, the lorry didn't stop, the car was a write off and she was taken to Hospital. The Police were not interested and even though there were traces of yellow paint from the lorry left on the tailgate they did nothing. I just hope he didn't go on to kill someone (unless it was himself of course)

 

[turnipsock]

This is annoying me.

It seems that if you cause an accident, you might as well drive away. What have you got to loose?

Why don't the police put a big effort into one in ten cases say. Once they catch them, give them ten times the penalty. It would make people think twice about driving away and wrecking other peoples lifes.

Lorry drivers will always take the chance as they loose their job as well.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

If you have a young teenage friend they may be aple to put a post on the internet, teenagers would find him quickly.