Just Been Hit By A Drunk Driver

[Band]

I know that you don't want to name the guy, but could you say if he lives in Tala or Kissonerga, and possibly a type and colour of car to be aware of?

My personal view is that the dashcam footage should be posted on social media, possibly some of the expat sites as a warning to all!

Lower Tala, and a blue Suzuki Swift with driver's side damage!

[Band]

There is, unfortunately, no admissible evidence (breath/blood test, etc) to show that he was over the limit at the time of the collision. Your testimony and video might not be enough, sadly.

I think you are, sadly, quite right. He will be prosecuted for driving offences though and his insurers will be given the video, where any sane person can see the state that he was in. As I said before, he is also somewhat unpopular with his neighbours.

What really worries me it what is going to be the outcome next time he does it. He tried to intimidate me by shouting and swearing. That wasn't going to work with me, just like him trying to drive off without stopping, but he could do the same, for example, to a lady on her own (I promise I am not trying to be sexist here) and could get away with all sorts of financial and physical damage and injury, or worse.

I went back to take more photos in daylight, as I noticed more damage on my car this morning, but his was gone, so he is out on the roads, or back in the pub, right now!

[Dominic]

Bear in mind that by posting a video of somebody online, without their permission, you will be committing an offence, I believe? I may very well be wrong, but I believe that to be the case. There was a kerfuffle a few months ago when somebody posted video of a hospital, and they got in trouble for that very reason.

Note: I am not saying it is a good law. I am just saying that you should check.

If he is an alkie, there is no doubt he will do it again. An easier approach might be to try and find out where he drinks, and then you can get him nabbed there?

[Poppy]

Probably Mario's? I have known so many Brits who seem to think it is OK to drink and drive so long as they use the back roads where less traffic and of course less chance of getting nabbed! I really think the bar owners should also take some responsibility in either stopping serving or taking car keys. I seem to remember that Stavros,owner of NEOS, assured everyone of a lift home last New Year which is a start.

[Band]

An easier approach might be to try and find out where he drinks, and then you can get him nabbed there?

Already working on that one. Just need support from the police to make sure someone will turn up quickly if I catch him again. Back to see them again tomorrow.

[galexinda]

Relieved that damage was limited to the car due to your quick actions and while it is up to the police and the respective insurance companies to follow up the incident, thank you for posting details. This man should not be allowed on the road. I just hope it doesn't take an accident that involves personal injury before people take action to stop drunk drivers getting behind the wheel.

Perhaps a few more charges the police could make from this list?
http://www.simila-cyprus.com/news/id/83 ... in-cyprus/

[Band]

Thanks very much for that.

I will take the following:

Dangerous driving – 3 – 6 points – fine determined by the court

Careless driving – 3 – 6 points – The fine will be determined by the court

Failing to stop after an accident – 5 – 10 penalty points – The fine will be determined by the court

Failing – to slow down to allow the safe passage of other vehicles or traffic – fine €55

Those should be enough to lose a license!

On a different topic, it was a bit of a surprise to see "Parking facing other than in the direction of traffic flow. This applies at any time day or night even if it is in a permitted parking place – fine €85". Was anyone else aware of that one?

[Dominic]

An easier approach might be to try and find out where he drinks, and then you can get him nabbed there?

Already working on that one. Just need support from the police to make sure someone will turn up quickly if I catch him again. Back to see them again tomorrow.

If you are liaising with the police I think you definitely want to steer clear of posting any videos for the time being. Might prove counter-productive.

[DavidatLWH]

That list is fascinating, but I'm not sure it's correct. Just a few years ago, I completely forgot the reduced speed limit on the flyovers at Limassol and was nabbed by a m/c cop. I was doing 100kph (20kph - i.e. 25% - over the limit) and got a fine of 20x€2, whereas the list suggests I should have only got 20x€1.

"unnecessary use of the horn in a built-up area". Unless there's a wedding, of course.

"Causing death by dangerous driving - 3-5 points". Unbelievable.

[WHL]

Bit confused..have the Police spoken to this man yet?

[Band]

Bit confused..have the Police spoken to this man yet?

Don't know. I'll find out tomorrow.

[Band]

Given where he lives, he could also have been coming back from Tala centre.

[Poppy]

That is what I thought Band.I used to live in Tala and I know what goes on and the back roads used!

[STELIOSBWFC]

In your opening post, you say that you caught up with him and got he's details, which were false and that the police arrived and they got he's details.

How did he manage to get back to he's apartment without the police seeing him? Did he drive off?

I am unsure of the sequence of events here.

Yawn.

[William Morris]

Bit confused..have the Police spoken to this man yet?

Me as well.

[Paulo]

Sorry to be the pessimist but I doubt whether any charges will be brought against this individual.
From experience I can tell you that the police don't take drink driving very seriously at all over here, this is reflected in the fact that it doesn't even result in a driving ban in most cases and usually a fine of around €100.
I think that you'll find that the video evidence is not admissible in court and he wasn't even breathalysed at the time, if you're lucky the police may charge him with failing to stop resulting in a small fine. More than likely they will just drag it out for a few weeks and then tell you to go through your insurance company.
Anybody who believes this guy will be taken off the road is just being a bit naive, even if his insurance company refused to cover him in the future (which is unlikely as he won't be charged with anything serious) the chances are he would just continue to drive without insurance, leaving any future victims in an even worse position.
Until the penalties in Cyprus are increased to reflect the seriousness of these crimes I think the only way to punish these criminals is for victims like yourself to post their dash cam videos on line (probably youtube), at least then their peers, employers or even possible customers can see the type of people they are dealing with.
I know Dominic is concerned about the legal issues of this but seriously, what are they going to do? This is Cyprus and it would cost a fortune and take years for anybody to take you to court and then it would likely be thrown out, do you really think that some drunken idiot is going to be able to go through with that.

[Band]

Hi all and thanks for your comments on this thread.

Here is where we are at the moment.

Yes, the police have spoken to him. The delightful drunk told them that I was speeding along the middle of the road and hit him. Sadly (for him) that was before he was reminded about the dash cam video!

A meeting was arranged for 16:00 today with both him and me at the police station, but the coward turned up at 14:30 to avoid having to face me.

I can say that he has accepted full responsibility for the accident and my car goes in for repair tomorrow.

Am I happy with the outcome? No! With hindsight, would I have done anything differently? Yes! Is he being prosecuted? I don't know at this stage. Do his insurers know the true story? Yes! Is this the end of it? Who can say.

What I will say is that without the dash cam footage this would at best have been knock for knock and, at worst, my fault. The footage clearly shows that I was both on the grass and stationary at the moment of impact, plus I was sounding my horn to warn him, although apparently the horn on a Pajero is difficult to hear if your are driving completely sh*t faced! If you don't have one, get one. At least two police officers looked at mine and have now gone off to buy their own.

Thank you all for your concerns, comments and suggestions.

[smudger]

Glad for the outcome for you and your car Band, but shame that the police didn't take this disgraceful action seriously enough to take the appropriate action at the time to enable them to prosecute him. Sorry, but this is yet another disgrace for the Cypriot police.

[WHL]

If your not happy with local police action, then send an Email to Police HQ Nicosia, giving them the facts, I know that they do investigate.

[J B]

What I will say is that without the dash cam footage ............... If you don't have one, get one. At least two police officers looked at mine and have now gone off to buy their own.

Ought you to share the make/model/shop of your dash-cam?