Car accident - who's at fault?

anewman

I thought the way insurance worked is if you went into the back of someone it was automatically your fault. As the other driver could have easily avoided this (had they actually seen the person pulling out) it is quite clearly their fault.

Lum

If you drive into the back of someone it's almost always your fault, and the situations where it is not your fault are hard to prove. One example is when someone cuts in front of you with inches to spare then slams on the anchors (a popular scam)

In the OPs example, if it were the case that DiL had pulled out at the last minute, she may have been able to turn enough that the car hit her from behind but without giving the car behind a chance to stop (especially on a downhill).
I'm not saying this is what happened. The OP states the DiL looked and nothing was coming, but it is on this basis that the other driver will be arguing that it was DiL's fault.

Proc

So, she saw him coming but still put her foot down to try and get out instead of waiting? Irrespective of his speed, she pulled out in front of someone else. It's her fault.

And she's a prime example of why women shouldn't be allowed to drive.

geri1965_2

Proc wrote: »

So, she saw him coming but still put her foot down to try and get out instead of waiting? Irrespective of his speed, she pulled out in front of someone else. It's her fault.

And she's a prime example of why women shouldn't be allowed to drive.

Yeah, because men never have accidents!

Idiot.

Anihilator

The speed is irrelevent here and there word against his - the witnesses arent independent.

Your daughter was coming out of a side street hence the burden is fully on her to ensure the road is clear.

If he was bombing it then the DIL should have waited rather than compensate for this by flooring it herself.

I very much doubt this would go anyway against your DIL due to the provable facts i.e she pulled out of a side street in front of another car. Everything else is supposition and there word against yours.

jeanmd

The road was clear when DiL started to pull out.

From the top of the road the other driver would have a clear view down.

He admitted seeing DiL, which is why he applied the brakes so far away.
DiL's front end was already over the centre white line (she was in a large volvo estate and he only clipped her back bumper)

We live in a village where most of the roads around are national speed limit and people just seem to think that because they can see the bottom of the road they can speed.

DiL wasn't trying to rush out, she's a very safe driver and even more so when she has the children in the car.
How can anyone every pull out of a junction again if a driver is doing such speed in a 30 mile an hour area that he has no control over his vehicle, can hit you and it becomes your fault.

anewman

Proc wrote: »

So, she saw him coming but still put her foot down to try and get out instead of waiting? Irrespective of his speed, she pulled out in front of someone else. It's her fault.

Would it have been faster to reverse back in?

Proc

anewman wrote: »

Would it have been faster to reverse back in?

Why the rush? Why couldn't she have just waited until after he'd gone?

I know exactly what's happened here...but I won't say because there are a few (probably correct) assumptions and people here always cry when assumptions are made.

Inactive

jeanmd wrote: »

DiL wasn't trying to rush out, she's a very safe driver and even more so when she has the children in the car.
How can anyone every pull out of a junction again if a driver is doing such speed in a 30 mile an hour area that he has no control over his vehicle, can hit you and it becomes your fault.

Obviously not.;)

A driver joining a major road has a duty to ensure that it is safe to proceed before committing themselves to emerging, sadly your DIL did not do that.

Proc

Inactive wrote: »

Obviously not.;)

A driver joining a major road has a duty to ensure that it is safe to proceed before committing themselves to emerging, sadly your DIL did not do that.

Drivers that think they are safe, but are actually very bad (like OP's DiL) actually worry me more than people who admit to being a bit wreckless from time to time.