Had a strange encounter with a Vectra last night peeps!!

I was over in Dunfermline and had spent a very enjoyable evening charging around the back roads with John Banks trying the set the correct boost using the dawes for the TEK2 ECU we'd just installed. Overall by the end of the night it seemed to pull slightly better than when I arrived so I think it's mission accomplished. At one point it was pulling like a bitch and I thought that John was some sort of boost god until he politely asked me to pull over cause the knock correction was going nutts Still, I'll get back to that performance somehow.

Anyways, later on we are sitting parked up in a huge carpark whilst John was explaining to me fuel and ignition map differences. Suddenly the car seemed to jump forward a foot and John and turned and looked at each other as if to say 'did you feel that???' Nipped out and sure enough the Vectra that was now driving away [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] had left a big scratch on the rear bumper!!

Like something out of the dukes of hazard we both jumped in the car fired her up and gave chase. The guy was driving normally (i.e. not trying to get away) and after a bit of signalling he moved over.

We explained he'd hit us and he said............wait for it...........this is brilliant..........'Oh, sorry I couldn't see cause my windows were steamed up and you have a dark car' Er, HELLO, why were you driving!!!!!

The guy seemed nice and reasonable when confronted and I still can't decide if he noticed he'd hit a car but didn't care or if he somehow didn't realise it had happened??

What I did think last night was that he was turning left and yet hit the right side of the bumper........in other words he got it way wrong!!!

Bit hacked off this morning as there is hassle factor involved in this but I have the guys details and a reputable witness so if he pi55es around I think my position on the matter is pretty secure.

All I can say is it's a good thing John and I were in the car or it would have been coming out of my pocket!!

And that was it......that was kenny's storey

 

Oh dear, I fear you may find you have to take him to court to get any money back.
It's almost certain that if he tells his insurers it was a carpark (which is not public highway) they will not be interested in the claim. Also the police will not want to handle it unless it was on the public highway.
I hope you get it solved easily, but it sounds like it might be problematic.

 

Are you sure a carpark is not regarded as public highway? A petrol station forecourt is regarded as public highway regardless of the fact it is private property.

 

Sorry to hear about the hassle Kenny

btw - are you still using the Dawes to get the faster spool up? (since the Tek2 can remap the boost itself).

Richard.

 

Just what you need!!

Good luck sorting it all out.

 

Hmmmm, he seemed reasonable last night so I'm hoping it won't come to that. Besides his vectra was in good nick and I know where he lives so it's probably in his own best interests just to shell out the couple of 100 pounds and save himself the hassle.

Still running the dawes at just shy of 1.2bar (in 4th) and the car is running a little quicker. We did have it at 1.3 bar for a while and it was silly quick

 

I'm suprised he stopped with a two-up scoob coming tearing after him flashing it's lights.

He was probably just relieved your weren't going to rob him!

 

He probably thought that no-one was in the car as it was in a car park and, therefore, just drove off as if nothing had happened...

How p1ssed off would you be to return to a car park and find your car has been damaged and the offender had gone? [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

 

Brun: Positive, I have personal experience of this and it cost me dearly :-(

 

sorry to hear that sheep!

 

Why am i not surprised? Bad Luck Kenny

 

If the car park is generally accessible to the public then it will probably be treated as a public highway so you shouldn't have any problems.

 

anywhere that has UNHINDERED ACCESS is classed a a public road and is liable to the laws governing it.

I was on a campsite at a car show a couple of years back and a load of muppets were *****d up and driving around the campsite (Not fast though)

However, a police car had came onto the campsite and they stopped the car and breathalsed and arrested the driver and took him away.

The best way to check would be to call your local nick and ask them.

 

the old "a car park is not a pubic highway and so rules dont apply" is a bit of an urban myth -

first (good news for saxo boy) a neighbour of ours had exactly the same thing happen in sainsburies car park, claimed and all went through with no fuss

second, a mate in his youth thought it would be funny to drive around an empty carpark at night, pissed, because "a car park is not a highway and you cant get done". Well you can, and he did.

No doubt there are exceptions to this - private land and stuff, but your the same rules apply in your average shopping car park as anywhere else

 

Just to cheer you up (or add to the misery) my car was damaged last night as well [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Full story here.

Rich [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

 

From personal experience, as far as the "old bill" are concerned car parks are not public highways and no criminal offence has taken place if someone hits you. I came back to my car a while back and it had a dent in the side. Chap comes over and said he saw the car still parked next to mine hit it. Rang up the cops and explained the situation and told them the car was now unattended and asked for the name and address of the reg no or for them to contact them.
Guess what ? not interested. would give the name and address and wouldn't help. reason being they said it was in car park which is not a public highway. moral here, in this case, is to say it was on a public road first to the get the name and address and then change the location !

Chris