You may have seen in the news that Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls was hit with 5 points and a whopping £900 fine on August 5, 2014. But what did he do wrong? The MP for Morley and Outwood reportedly hit a stationary vehicle and failed to report it to the owners or the police.

What was Ed meant to do?

The legal obligations in such situations are straightforward. If you cause damage or personal injury, you must stop at the scene, provide your contact details, and report the incident to the police within 24 hours. Failure to do so is a violation of Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Are the penalties fair?

Points for failing to report an incident like this vary between 5 and 10, meaning that Mr Balls was, in fact, quite lucky. Moreover, the fines attached to these incidents have been known to reach £5,000, making Mr Balls’s £900 fine a mere drop in the ocean. We mustn’t deem the authorities of being unfairly lenient on Mr Balls in this case, though, as the reported damage was quite minor. It has been reported that he may not have been aware he had even caused damage to the other vehicle!