Apparently, I’ve been involved in a Hit and Run???

I’ve pondered for a while, of should I publish, just keep this one as a personal record, or even just delete it?
Why am I publishing this one now???
In effect it’s the long version of something that happened to me, that has now been posted on my other blog site. The short version can be read Here.
This Long version is the warts and all testimonial of what happened, and how I dealt with it. (Badly, is how I feel that I mostly dealt with it, as I struggled to see the difference between Glass and Sugar.)

Below is what was mostly written, as it was happening.
As always, it’s your choice as to whether it’s worth reading, or not???
(This one which I would be happy for you to not read. 🙂 )

____________________________

Unfortunately, no, this is not a joke. I have a letter from the Met police stating (or so I thought) that my car was involved in an incident and that the driver of the car failed to stop and exchange details.

This was, still is, news to me.

One of the first things that I did was to quickly look at my car. No apparent damage there then. No paint marks, no dents or broken lights. Have I really been involved in an incident then? (I will try to use language that doesn’t assume blame. I would not like to self incriminate myself by using the wrong word. Incident instead of accident being an example. I hope and pray that I can use the correct terms.)

Should I even be writing this?
No problem with writing it, but should I publish it?
At this point in time, I don’t know. If you are reading it, then the answer appears to be yes. At the moment I just need to take the next step, which is write it, so that I can then have a statement of where I am, at this point in time.

So where am I, at this point in time?
Two sleep-ness nights and a couple of very dry tasting meals, and I think that I am starting to gain some level of peace. (Of sorts)

Back to where I left off. First look at my car. No apparent damage.
Is this letter some kind of bad joke?
Is it a scam?
Or is it genuine?
The answer to these questions is, “I do not know.”
Has anybody been hurt? Again, I don’t know, but it is another worry to deal with, along with concern of how could this of happened, and what does it mean now?

If it is a scam, then I wouldn’t want to use the contact details in the letter or the prepaid envelope. I would rather use the 111 number to contact the police, or go to my local police station. If it is a scam, then the police should be told about it. If it is genuine, then the need to contact the police, in the right way, is all the more important.

Part of my asking, “Is this a scam?” Is because the letter is addressed to a “Mr Somebody else” (The name on the letter is a name, I am just using “Mr Somebody else”)
Who is this Mr Somebody else?
The letter has my car registration details at the top of the letter, but it then states, “Dear Mr Somebody else”. This very much so confuses me.

What do I know?
Very little at this point in time. I have a letter stating (again, or so I thought) that, on a date at a time, my car was involved in an incident. (The term used in the letter was actually “alleged”, an important point that I missed.)
Was I in my car on this date, at the stated time?
I mostly cycle to work, so it is a question. Short version, yes. I think that I was in my car at the stated time and date.
Was I at the location stated?
I was in the local area stated, but I do not think that I was at the exact location stated. The location looks as if it could be a general location, and not an exact location. This confuses me. Was I at the stated location or not? (If only I understood the location section of the letter, straight away.)

I am being asked, “where was I?” at a specific date and time, to the minute. “On my way to work” is the only real answer, that I can give. I don’t drive my car looking at the clock, this would be a dangerous thing to do. So, I was on my way to work, at the stated time.

This next paragraph is written after the event. I didn’t write it at the time as I didn’t want to self incriminate myself.
I have stated that, initially I didn’t see any damage, and this is true. But on a second look, I did see some new scuff marks on the front bumper of the passenger side of the car. This added to my freaked out mind that much more.
Short version of my continued freak out.
In my mind, the dustbin collector truck that I probably went past on a road, is where I thought that I could have possibly hit a wheelie bin, and then injured a bin collector, which was then caught by a camera on the truck. This was all theory, but my freaked out mind was taking this theory, far too seriously.
Back to the time the account was written.

It has not been easy to come to this point where I can clearly state, I don’t know what has happened. I have very much so needed to apply three little words. Accept, Repent and Forgive.

I have needed to Accept that this letter has come to me, and that I need to deal with it. I need to cut away the veil of what ifs, and instead, try to concentrate on what is. (Oh, if only I could have Not listened to the what ifs.) I need to face up to the indication that something has happened and try to deal with it in a responsible manner.

Repent. I have a need to take actions that should lead to the issue being resolved in the best possible manner, without adding fuel to a fire, that appears to be burning. (Am I adding fuel by writing this???)

I have needed to forgive all who have caused me the stress of these past two days. (I think that it is wise to not go into too much detail on this one.) I endeavour to forgive all, as this is my route to some semblance of peace.

I know that there is a storm raging outside, but part of my belief is that we can have peace, in the middle of a storm, if we follow the prompting of One who is Greater than us. Our Lord God Almighty.

I also have this belief that, the truth will set you free. (That is part of John 8:32) So I need to endeavour to walk in the truth, and not hide away from what is happening. I also need to keep applying the three little words of accept, repent and forgive, which is currently not an easy task to do.

So there we have it.
I’m in a bit of a pickle, of some sort, that is unknown to me.
I also need to stop being the walking zombie that I could so easily be turning into (more like, had turned into), and instead look to my Heavenly Father for guidance instead.

______________________

Third night of troubled sleep, and it is all still there.
The only good thing about troubled sleep, is that I then have time to ponder the situation with my Lord God.

Current thoughts that have been going round my mind.

Am I actually innocent until proven guilty?
Or, now that I have been issued the letter, am I presumed guilty because an allegation has been made against me, and I now need to prove my innocence? (It is, I believe, innocent until proven guilty.)

No evidence has been presented to me yet, other than a general location, and a date and time.
What is the exact location of the incident? (It was in the letter, but my freaked out mind missed it.)
What happened?
What are the facts, that are available, at this present time?

I would like answers to these questions!

The other thought that keeps coming back to me is, “How did my car come into contact with another entity?”
I say entity, because I don’t know what it is that has come into contact with my car, if any contact has occurred?
Did the entity hit my car or did my car hit the entity? (My car did not come into contact with any entity, as it was not involved in the incident.)
That is an important question to ask, as it then opens the door to blame. Who is to blame for the contact that is alleged to have happened?
I know that it looks bad for me, as I drove away. But I drove away, because I was unaware of anything happening. (As nothing did happen!) As I have also previously stated, this also a worry, the prospect of driving away without knowing that something has happened.

Another thought that keeps coming back is, “In law, what maters more, facts or theories?”
I have very few facts, but a lot of theories, most of which are probably nonsense. (Which proved to be utter nonsense.) Do they even have any place in the world of law? If nonsense theories are spoken out, could they then trip you up??
I will endeavour to keep all my theories to myself, as they are just that, theories and not facts. I will be interested to hear what a legal expert has to say about this thought.
Can, should I keep quiet about any theories that I may or may not have, if I even have any at all? (Yes I had a theory, and it was doing me no good.)

This is proving to be very stressful. Almost reducing me to tears, on occasions.
My wife, who is disabled, is also feeling the strain. She is less able to process what is going on, and if we were to even try to discuss this issue together, well, it would probably cause more stress than help.
So we both, seem to have agreed to not talk about it. (Which was probably the best course of action that we could both take. She was with me in it, and offered as many hugs as she could, when she was able to.)
My counsel is currently coming from my pondering with my Lord God Almighty.

I did call a free 24 hour legal helpline that is available to me, a benefit from the union.
I spoke to someone straight away, who then said that they would refer me to a solicitors firm, who would then contact me within three working days.
Hence my waiting, instead of just going straight to the Police Station. It makes sense to try to understand the situation, to the best that I can before going to the Police Station. Which means, waiting to talk to someone who knows about these things.

This free legal advice is also making me think that it is only a fishing line for people who are in need, and as such, will then ask for representation?
How free is this, Free 24 hour legal helpline?
It’s proving itself to not be 24 hour, but wait three working days.
Three possible days of waiting. More as it is currently the weekend.

I continue to write this, as it helps to keep things straight in my own head, and, I hope, reduces the endless playback of what is going on and where will it go to?

The question of publishing or not?
I am currently just writing. The question of, “If or when to publish?” will be looked into later.
My Lord God does have the power of veto over me, and He will be my lead for what or when to do all things.

This is were my writing at the time finishes. The next bit is written after the issue has been resolved.

That morning I did go to church. It was a very good choice to do so. A member of our church was a police man. As I entered, he was available straight away. Time was short, but he helped me to understand what I was looking at, and helped me to know what steps to take next.
He assured me, the letter was genuine and not a fake. As such it did need to be responded to, and that I could use the email address in the letter. He even said that he recognised the name in the letter from a different matter.
He also pointed out that the location was exact and not a general location, as I had convinced myself that it could be. This was the starting point of me realising, that I was never anywhere near the location of the incident.
I feel now that it should have been instant relief, but it wasn’t. My brain was so frazzled, that it took time to percolate through.

Relief finally started to come after I wrote an email, basically stating, “It’s not me, I wasn’t there. I was somewhere else. You could even check a camera at a location for my time of passing it.”
I also put a small note, stating that the letter had caused me, “some concern.” Biggest understatement ever.

In my mind, I had been one step away from being thrown into jail, for for breaking the arm of a bin man, who was going to sue me for every penny I had. That would then leave me uninsurable on any car, ever again.
I know, a complete OTT reaction.
It wasn’t there all the time, but every now and then… (This may or may not be going over to slight over-exaggeration… 🙂 )
It’s certainly fair to say that, it had been a stressful time.

A couple of days later I received a reply to my email, and of course, I’m all in the clear.
I also receive an explanation of why I was sent the letter.
An incident had occurred at a location, and in order to try and find the person responsible, letters were sent out to car owners of the make of the car that was in the general area, at the time of the incident, which included me. 😦