This morning I had a minor car accident. I was giving way to a turning car at an intersection when I was rear-ended. My car was shunted forward a bit and will need some panelbeating work. No one had any injuries although my young daughter was pretty freaked out by it.

The driver of the other car was extrememly scared, panicky and totally unsure what to do. She accepted all responsibility and said she doesn't want to get her insurance company involved and will pay for my repairs out of pocket.

We swapped phone numbers, names and car details etc and took lots of photos. However, we did not call the police. Does anyone know if this is mandatory? If so, is there a time frame for this and which type of police would you call (carabinieri, stradale, polizia etc etc)?

Not sure if this is relevant or not but it was at an intersection on a double carriageway where the speed 'limit' is 50 but most people do near on 100. That particular intersection has traffic lights but for some reason they have not been working all year (were on flashing orange). ABout a month ago they were turned off completely.

Now i am having second thoughts and thinking i should have called the police, at least to get them to turn the lights back on again!!! Any one else been in this situation before or can offer me any advice??

The law requires her to fill out an accident report form, which goes to her insurance company. The police don't need to come to the site unless there are injuries, serious damage, or a law was broken (like running a light). (The specific rules are in my old driving theory manual- I'm being lazy by not looking them up.)

Without the cops, you should still have the other person fill out the accident report form (she should have a blank one from her insurance company in her glove box). I would call her, tell her you changed your mind, and want her to fill out the accident report. You can meet and get a copy from her.

Profv. I go along with Bill2 on this one. I had something similar happen in the UK and the guy didn't want to go through the insurance, but my car was so badly damaged I couldn't open the driver's door to get in and out or lock it, so I had to call my insurance company anyway to see if they would provide a hire car for the duration of the repair - this started the ball rolling anyway and I realised I would soon be out of pocket before any reimbursement came my way. If the insurance companies are anything like the UK ones, if she gets funny and won't play, you can get your insurance company to track her down through her number plate, which is what happened to me - the other parties insurance company did give me a car, free, while they took over the repairs etc. from my company - this also meant I didn't lose any no-claims from my policy.

Thanks Bill2 and Alyson, i will do that. I had no idea that form existed (being my first accident in almost 20 years of driving) so will track one down first.

My car is fine to drive although i can't open the boot! Tomorrow i'm taking it for a quote at the panelbeaters so will organise to meet up with the other driver and fill one out. Here's hoping she doesn't change her story....

Also i would have thought whoever is in charge of roads/ traffic lights might like to know what 'impact' (ha ha) their turning off the lights at that intersection has done.

Here's what the form "constatazione amichevole" looks like:

Illegal or not it is quite common for Italians not to go through insurance companies if and whenever they can avoid it. Thier car insurance is already so high and paying out for even minor repairs does put their premiums up a LOT.

This is also why you might find bumps and scrapes on your car but never a courtesy note on your windshield saying "twanged your car - sorry - here's my number".
They will just drive off.

We're all aware that people break laws. The OP is trying to get her car repaired after it was damaged due to negligence of another driver.

I can read.
The OP also said that the other driver did not want to involve her insurance company.
I was neither advocating or criticising this but merely said that it is not uncommon for Italians.