Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice because I have a PDI tomorrow and I’m pretty stressed about it.
I was returning to the office after finishing a pivot and was literally right near the office when an older driver tried to switch lanes without looking and hit the side of my Metris. There were no injuries and the damage to both vehicles was minor.
We both pulled over; he went into a driveway and I parked my vehicle in a safe location. I immediately went over to check on him and his wife, and he apologized for the accident. I got his name and information, took pictures of the damage and his license plate, and a witness who saw everything approached me and gave me their name and number.
After that, I went back to the office (which was very close by) and reported everything to my supervisor right away. He had me write a statement for the police. Later, an officer called me to confirm my version of events, and she told me I was not at fault. However, she also explained that I should have stayed at the scene until police arrived, and that leaving could technically be considered an issue in certain situations.
That’s the part I’m worried about. I didn’t realize I was supposed to stay at the scene in a situation where I wasn’t at fault, I thought I handled it properly by making sure everyone was okay, getting all the information, and reporting it immediately. I’ve only really been trained on what to do when we’re at fault for an accident, not when we’re the ones being hit.
Now I have a PDI tomorrow, and I’m concerned about possible discipline. I understand now that I should have stayed at the scene, but it wasn’t intentional, I genuinely thought I was handling things correctly at the time.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? What should I expect going into the PDI, and how serious could this be?
Appreciate any advice.