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-   -   Rear-ended a cop's Swift, but things weren’t as straightforward as they seemed – Need advice (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/292997-rear-ended-cops-swift-but-things-weren-t-straightforward-they-seemed-need-advice.html)

This happened a week ago while my wife was on her way to work. It was around noon. She was driving in the rightmost lane of a flyover, listening to a podcast. Traffic was slow-moving, so she couldn’t have been going over 40 km/h.

Unfortunately, the car in front, an older silver Maruti Swift braked suddenly, and she couldn’t react in time. She ended up rear-ending it.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

The Swift pulled over to the extreme left of the flyover and flagged my wife down. The driver appeared to be a middle-aged man, accompanied by a woman, presumably his wife. Both got out, inspected the minor damage on their rear bumper, and then came up to my wife’s passenger side window.

A few things to note right away:
The Swift had a “Police” placard on the dashboard.
The driver’s keychain also had a police insignia.
My wife, naturally cautious, rolled the window down only slightly.

Now, instead of discussing things calmly, the woman from the Swift started recording my wife and firing off aggressive questions like:

“Where are you going?”
“How did our brakes work but your nice car’s brakes didn’t?”
“Who’s going to pay for this damage?”

My wife replied calmly, “Don’t you have insurance? That should cover the damage. And in any case, we have third-party insurance from our side too.”

The man responded, “Nope. Why should we claim insurance when it’s your fault?” "How are you driving like this, do you even have a driver's license?"

Sensing that this wasn’t going to go anywhere productive, my wife gave them my phone number and said, “Please get a damage quote, speak to my husband, he’ll handle it.”

She called me on speaker right there in front of them, told me what had happened, and I reassured her that I’d take care of it. They took a picture of her driver’s license and left.

Now here’s where things began to feel off.

All day, my wife felt terrible. She’s usually an extremely careful driver and couldn’t figure out how she missed something like this. It really shook her confidence. We debated what to do. Whether to just pay the guy off and be done with it, or go the insurance route. She was also concerned about how the video they recorded might be misused, especially since she was wearing shorts and a tube top that day.

Later that night, once she got home, I checked the dash-cam footage to see what really happened. And that changed everything.

Here’s what we noticed:

1. The Swift’s high-mounted stop lamp and the right taillight were completely non-functional.

2. Only the left taillight worked, barely enough to alert anyone, especially in 12pm sunlight.

All the Swift’s windows were heavily tinted, so much so that it was near impossible to see the car in front of it.

A quick check on the Vahan portal revealed that the Swift hadn’t had valid insurance for over two years.

So, now the picture was much clearer. My wife had applied the brakes only after realising the Swift had come to a complete stop, because there were no functioning brake lights to warn her. She never even saw the car in front of the Swift until it was too late. I reassured her again - this wasn't her fault. Not even close.

The next morning, the Swift driver called me. He said he had the damage quote ready and asked if he could send it to me on WhatsApp. I told him I’d thought about it, and we should follow the legal route: let the insurance companies handle it. I even offered to share my insurer’s details and said he could file an FIR if needed.

He clearly wasn’t happy. Turns out, of course, he didn’t have insurance.
He then tried to pressure me by saying, “Your wife admitted it was her mistake. We have it on video.” To which I replied: “Your taillights weren’t working. Your windows were illegally tinted. You don’t have valid insurance. I have dashcam footage of the entire incident. If anyone was at fault here, it wasn’t my wife.”

His response?
“It’s my car. I decide if it needs insurance. Don’t teach me the law. Don't talk about technicalities, the fact is, your wife hit my car”

I told him politely but firmly, that as someone claiming to be from the police, he should already know that driving without valid insurance is a criminal offence. I reiterated that I had the entire incident on video and wasn’t going to pay him a penny.
He hung up without saying another word.

So now I come to you, fellow BHPians—
Am I in the wrong here? Is there anything I should do preemptively, without having to pull strings? I don’t want to bother the few contacts I do have, but I also don’t want this guy trying to intimidate us or misuse that recording.

Would appreciate any guidance or suggestions.

Here's the Swift in question, as it starts braking. LHS taillight working, HMSL and RHS taillight not working. Here you can also see how clearly the taillights of the Nexon that's further away, but not the Swift's:


The point at which my wife's car rear ends the Swift:


The occupants of the Swift assessing the damage to their car, while the woman records my wife:


The damage this incident caused to the Swift:

I would suggest to unblur the number, publicly display it here and then wait if you ever get a call.

Any payout should be done digitally to keep a trail of the same. And ask him to sign and accept the compensation only after signing a notarised document. Most likely you will never hear from him again. This is exactly what happens when such people realise that other car has a dashcam, so recording even before they took out their phones : lol

Wish you all the best

He's definitely at fault there,
Lights don't work, He doesn't have insurance (which is mandatory other than registration if you want your car on the road), has illegal tinted windows, I wonder how he can even see out his rear view mirror.

The behavior of the people in Swift seems really rude and shouldn’t make you too upset. Indian traffic is known for its lack of manners and respect, and unfortunately, things like this happen quite often.

Now, let’s talk about who’s at fault. I’m not a legal expert, but I have a question: isn’t it still our responsibility to keep a safe distance from the car in front of us and be ready to brake when needed? Even if the brake lights of the car infront don’t work.

The fact that Swift is not road-legal was identified after the incident. What if it was all road legal?

Personally, I believe its my job to keep safe distance and be alert all the time.

The damage on the "cop's" car seems negligible. If a guy can't be bothered to get his taillight bulbs replaced or his insurance renewed he can live with a couple of nicks on the bumper.

It looks like he was just trying to make a quick buck off you. If he is indeed a cop I'm sure that he knows that he may win the battle with his bluster but he is sure to lose the war. The fact that his car, strictly speaking, is not road legal will cause him no end of bother if he decides to claim damages.

As far as them recording your wife is concerned, I wouldn't worry about it. They know that you have the entire incident on your dashcam.

With all that being said, the party who rear ends a vehicle is usually considered to be at fault. Its a minor detail in your case but worth keeping in mind.

Don't bother man. You have the dashcam video of black tints, non functioning tail lamps, you have the details that he does not have insurance and is still driving around, one cop board can't change all this.

He won't call back and he will forget.

Be proactive and check with a lawyer. You have the dashcam recording and Vahaan details to back up your stance. It would be a run around for you if the Swift guy initiates a false case of hit and run etc.

If the person is in the department, can you ask him that you will come and meet him at his office ?

A car without insurance CANNOT be driven on the roads.

Under the Motor Vehicles Act, driving vehicles without valid insurance is a criminal offence.

Non-compliance can cause several consequences, including fines and even imprisonment. The law ensures all road users remain protected from financial burdens in case of accidents involving uninsured vehicles.

However, the fault is yours since you have rear ended him. It is a driving error regardless of the situation.

I suggest you pay for the damages and close the case.

Got to laude this guy for his confidence, making a complete mockery of the law.

The Swift is clearly not road legal. But that is not relevant here. It is a road accident. The legal way to handle is to have insurance take care of it. We don't owe anybody anything in a road accident unless there is injury involved. Damages to the car is the insurance headache. If he needs to get third party insurance involved, let him take the FIR route. The tailgating car paying the car in front is a norm in my part of the world, but there is no legal standing for it. It is something you do if you feel you are at fault out of empathy.

Pick your battles man. If he insists on the compensation, pay 75% of the amount (should be less than 10K) and get done with.

Not worth the time, money and hassles.

Also looks like an olddd swift, the 15 year validity may also have passed without renewal.

That damage seems almost negligible. Just out of curiosity, may I ask how much he asked as compensation for the repair?

I think you’ve said what you had to say to him. Simply wait for him to come back to you if he is keen to pursue. I think there’s a high chance he won’t come back.

Thanks

While going via insurance is ideally the legally correct route, what the OP is doing is morally wrong.

1. OP’s wife is at fault. Irrespective of the other vehicle’s condition, she needs to pay attention on the road and handle the situation
2. Changing tactics to escape the situation. A good person would have been honest to the other party right from the incident. Lying to their face (that OP will settle monetary dues) to escape the situation and then going back to the insurance route later is not going to make amends with all. I’m guessing OP would have done that even if the other car was in good shape and documentation
3. What might save OP from the cop owner making OP run around is the dashcam evidence and the knowledge that the other car doesn’t have insurance. But if the owner has an ego, I would think he’ll still make trouble just for point 2.


OP - if I were you, I’d reach a middle ground; just on the fact that your wife was primarily at fault. In the big picture, it will be a minor monetary hit but peace to the mind. The other option as you are currently opting for is to wait and watch what the other party does.

I agree with this statement.

Let him know that you will file an FIR with the Police stating these facts and to file a claim with the insurance. For that, you will need his driving licence etc. to file the claim.

Another thing, is the person whom you hit, the same person whose owns the car, if not, state that you will only deal with the owner in this case.

I am betting, that the insurance has not happened as the car was not transferred. The insurance companies are now very clear that proof of ownership and verified identity has to be in place.

If that is not the case, give him Rs 4000 to repaint the bumper and close the case