AIBU to wonder whether I should report an accidental offence?

[AccidentalCriminal]

So I recently found out that I unknowingly and unwittingly broke the law last year.

No victim involved and I honestly and truly didn't know I'd done it.

Would you report yourself or just accept you got away with it?

A criminal conviction would destroy my career. But I also feel terrible that I've done something illegal.

WWYD?

There is no such thing as a victimless crime. Lighthearted next. You might have run over a rabbit or a pheasant, for example, when otherwise banned. While you were driving, you were adding pollution either in the form of CO2 emissions, or brake dust if it is an EV.

Bunny killer.

I have no idea @AccidentalCriminal what you're hoping to gain posting this here, it's an open forum of course, but are you really feeling guilty? I for one think there's something quite different going on here.

Driving whilst disqualified is clearly not good, but you know that. Fessing up could lead to a further ban and also allegations of driving without insurance. I’d stay quiet and think yourself lucky you got away with it, but do make sure you tell your insurance company.

Yes I agree. It’s really odd

Don't tell anyone but you could "punish" yourself with some community service like volunteering at a food bank or similar

Two speeding offences, neither serious enough to warrant more than three points on your licence, is not in the slightest uncommon.

The other six points were nothing to do with actual driving, and entirely to do with failure to notify of a change of address.

But I also feel terrible that I've done something illegal.

really? I don’t get so much as a whiff of you feeling “terrible” about this!

Apologies @AccidentalCriminal but I simply don't believe you are actually seriously considering voluntarily reporting that you committed any criminal offence, accidental or not.

Did you feel the need for attention this afternoon?

There is a charity called Brake, it’s a road safety charity who supports victims & bereaved due to road traffic accidents. That would probably be a perfectly appropriate charity if you did want to make a donation of some sort.

And please don’t beat yourself up, you didn’t do it intentionally & you’ll learn from it for the future! The fact that you’re even asking the question means you’ve got a good conscience.

Hear hear! 👏👏

Stop worrying about it, it’s done now. Just - please - make sure you drive super carefully when you get your full licence back.

^^

Honestly, if wouldnt give it a moments thought tbh!
You unintentionally completed your 'ban period' without realising it (or without actually stopping driving!) I'd just thank my lucky stars I didnt get caught during the ban! Ignorance is no excuse but you didn't cause anyone any harm in the process.
You'll ne paying for this in the longterm with the eye wateringly high insurance policies as a result of your ban! See that as your punishment and learn from it to sort out your paperwork.
Not quite the same league but I drove my car for nearly a year with no tax or MOT without realising it. I certainly didn't shop myself in to the DVLA ......

I did, but only for 3 months. I moved in November 24, the ticket was Marchish.
I don't get many actual letters these days as I'm paperless for most things.

I think you are lucky you didn’t get caught but I wouldn’t try and report it now. I also forgot to update my V5 when I moved house,I had updated on my driving license and insurance but didn’t realise updating the V5 was a separate thing and I ended up forgetting to renew my tax and only found out when a debt collection company contacted me. I had been driving around untaxed for months and was lucky I only had to pay £80 to the debt collectors as if I’d pulled over could have been £1000s. I also felt very guilty and it wasn’t intentional, I also have adhd and just forgot to update the V5 and hadn’t realised my tax wasn’t on a direct debit or that the address on record is the one on my V5 not the one on my driving license.

I'm glad to know that you have never made a silly mistake in your life. You must let me know how you've achieved such perfection, it could really improve my life.

I did run over a squirrel years ago, I was traumatised!

I feel very guilty as I have never broken the law before (speeding aside). I wanted to know what other people would do in this situation as it's been weighing on me quite heavily.
What nefarious activity is it that you think I'm up to??

OP, it sounds like you are a bit overwhelmed at the moment and could do with some help. I would forget wasting energy over potentially turning yourself in - and instead focus that energy into ensuring nothing like this happens again, which are this stage is much more important. Have you updated your address for all key things now?

Yeah, you're right, that's exactly what this is. Couldn't possibly just be posting for opinions like literally hundreds of other people.

I'm not sure how I could convince you, it's not particularly easy to convey emotion in anonymous posting.

Thank you, that is perfect. I will be donating to them.

I don't think this is about the crime. I think for some reason you feel generally guilty and like a bad person and this is an outlet. You aren't a bad person, I am sure. But you don't need to prove you are good by shooting yourself in the foot. I would encourage you to get some therapy to work out where the underlying feeling comes from.

I have, thank you 😊
You're right, I have a lot going on at the moment and for whatever reason I am.reallt ruminating on this. Despite accusations from other posters I feel both guilty and embarrassed.

@AccidentalCriminal channel the guilt and embarrassment into efforts to make sure that nothing like this can happen again. You’ve updated all your details which is great, if you move house again will you have systems in place to make sure that you don’t make the same mistakes again?

Are you happy that you are more aware of speed limits and therefore less likely to get points for speeding? If not, what changes can you make?

There’s little point in ruminating constantly about this if you are going to take the feelings and channel them into action. Otherwise, you’re just using this event as an opportunity for negative self talk because you generally feel guilty or embarrassed about other things and don’t want to address them instead.