How a P-plater ran me off the road and nearly killed me

VERY soon I'll be taking my much-loved little car to the wreckers.

Two weeks ago, while driving at 80km/h on the Bruxner Hwy, I was forced off the road by a P-plater who had decided to use the left-hand lane to overtake a truck.

Unfortunately, I was in that lane.

I had to hit my brakes so the P-plater didn't hit me, but that sent my car into a spin and I crashed into a fence.

Thankfully, I wasn't hurt.

The same can't be said for my car, which is now a write-off.

Meanwhile, the P-plater didn't even bother to stop.

I had a witness (Rod, the friendly truck driver), but neither of us caught the number plate, only the make and model of the car, and we knew it had P-plates on it.

I thought it would be impossible to track the driver down.

But there are some advantages to working in a newsroom, where the people around me are trained to find stuff out.

We found the P-plater and the police paid him a visit.

He wasn't charged; instead the police gave me his phone number so we could sort it out between ourselves.

I haven't built up enough courage to make that phone call just yet.

I've been driving for 17 years and I have a perfect driving record - never had a crash; haven't even had a speeding ticket.

So, what do I say to the person who drove so dangerously that he caused me to crash and write off my car, but then drove away without checking that I was okay?

That's the real issue here.

Yes, I'm out of pocket thousands of dollars, but I'm more shaken up by the fact that I was left on the side of road, in a smashed-up car, while the person who caused that situation just drove away.

This driver made a mistake. He should have stopped and taken responsibility for his actions.

I'm not sure what will happen when I eventually call him, but at the very least I hope he apologises and I hope he means it.

Oh, and I'd happily accept a few thousand dollars deposited into in my bank account, too.