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car accident - dispute over liability
I was involved in a car accident a couple of months ago and it now seems there is a dispute over liability.
I was driving at approximately 40mph when the car infront of me slammed on its brakes to avoid an animal in the road. I did an emergency stop and managed to stop in time but was shunted from behind into the car infront. There was no real damage to the rear of the front car and the first driver is not making a claim. I was able to drive off afterwards as were all the other drivers but unfortunately my car was subsequently declared a write off, primarily due to the damage at the rear of the car.
Where the disputed liability comes in is that there were two cars behind me who were involved in the accident and the argument is whether the third car hit me first or if it stopped in time and was then subsequently shunted into me by the fourth car. I really don't know which was the case as my focus was on stopping in time to avoid the car in front and the only thing I've been able to tell the insurers is that I remember two distinct bumps during the accident. I've just been asked to confirm the number of bumps due to the third driver stating that they do not accept liability for the damage to my car.
Does any one have any experience of cases like this and have any ideas what the procedure is? I am mainly wondering how liability will be determined and who makes the final arbitration? I'm also concerned as to how long this is likely to drag on for as obviously I'd like a quick resolution so I can put the whole thing behind me.
Any advice or comments would be very gratefully received.
I was driving at approximately 40mph when the car infront of me slammed on its brakes to avoid an animal in the road. I did an emergency stop and managed to stop in time but was shunted from behind into the car infront. There was no real damage to the rear of the front car and the first driver is not making a claim. I was able to drive off afterwards as were all the other drivers but unfortunately my car was subsequently declared a write off, primarily due to the damage at the rear of the car.
Where the disputed liability comes in is that there were two cars behind me who were involved in the accident and the argument is whether the third car hit me first or if it stopped in time and was then subsequently shunted into me by the fourth car. I really don't know which was the case as my focus was on stopping in time to avoid the car in front and the only thing I've been able to tell the insurers is that I remember two distinct bumps during the accident. I've just been asked to confirm the number of bumps due to the third driver stating that they do not accept liability for the damage to my car.
Does any one have any experience of cases like this and have any ideas what the procedure is? I am mainly wondering how liability will be determined and who makes the final arbitration? I'm also concerned as to how long this is likely to drag on for as obviously I'd like a quick resolution so I can put the whole thing behind me.
Any advice or comments would be very gratefully received.
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Comments
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Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5tHk4O76VI
I cut the bit where I called him a w**ker and said "it's a f**king squirrel, you d**khead".
Van behind me came within inches of hitting me.
Had this been not such a quiet road (no distractions), the van would have been planted in my boot for sure.
Your case will drag on for quite some time, it might have helped if remember which of the bumps hit you the hardest, but it's a hard one to prove. You'll suffer increased premiums and loss of your excess payment until it's resolved.
The driver who stopped for the animal should have been taken into the woods and shot, because in reality it's all their fault.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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Strider590 wrote: »Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5tHk4O76VI
Your case will drag on for quite some time, it might have helped if remember which of the bumps hit you the hardest, but it's a hard one to prove. You'll suffer increased premiums and loss of your excess payment until it's resolved.
The driver who stopped for the animal should have been taken into the woods and shot, because in reality it's all their fault.
Nonsense. It's obviously the animal's fault for not understanding the Green Cross Code.
The blame lies fairly and squarely with those who couldn't stop before they hit something in front of them.0 -
Strider590 wrote: »Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5tHk4O76VI
Your case will drag on for quite some time, it might have helped if remember which of the bumps hit you the hardest, but it's a hard one to prove. You'll suffer increased premiums and loss of your excess payment until it's resolved.
The driver who stopped for the animal should have been taken into the woods and shot, because in reality it's all their fault.
Whilst technically the driver in front should have not stopped for an animal (although having seen what a large animal such a deer let alone cow or horse can do do the front of a car I'm damned well going to try and avoid hitting one*), it's the responsibility of the driver behind to make sure he always has enough room to brake in time.
I'd also guess that if the car in front hadn't braked to avoid the animal, he still would have braked (or lost control depending on the animal**) after hitting it, potentially leaving the drivers behind in a much worse state, having not had the brake light warning.
By the sounds of it the Op left a sensible gap and was able to stop, the driver of the first car was able to stop within his visible area, the drivers of cars 3 and 4 however didn't, and it's their fault they hit the op's car - not the first car, or the op's.
I suspect it's going to be messy from an insurance point of view, but as the Op didn't hit anyone it's going to be messy primarily for drivers 3 and 4 - iirc the Op claims from the car directly behind him, and that car and the last car's insurance companies should then argue about the blame between them.
*I'd rather a rear end shunt where there is plenty of protection for me and the car behind, and not having a large animal hitting the wind shield where I've got little protection and be in the "wrong" than be in the "right" and dead due to that animal coming straight through the wind-shield
(hitting something like a deer or cow can be very bad for your health, even in a modern car).
**One of my mother's friends was nearly killed when she hit a badger in her car, and it did something to the rear wheels, meaning the car ended up in a ditch upside down (iirc they found bits of badger on the road and wrapped around part of the rear axle).0 -
Strider590 wrote: »Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5tHk4O76VI
I cut the bit where I called him a w**ker and said "it's a f**king squirrel, you d**khead".
Van behind me came within inches of hitting me.
Had this been not such a quiet road (no distractions), the van would have been planted in my boot for sure.
Your case will drag on for quite some time, it might have helped if remember which of the bumps hit you the hardest, but it's a hard one to prove. You'll suffer increased premiums and loss of your excess payment until it's resolved.
The driver who stopped for the animal should have been taken into the woods and shot, because in reality it's all their fault.
Another classic. There's a few more on there worth watching too.0 -
**One of my mother's friends was nearly killed when she hit a badger in her car, and it did something to the rear wheels, meaning the car ended up in a ditch upside down (iirc they found bits of badger on the road and wrapped around part of the rear axle).
I lost my last car to a badger... >11pm, dark section of road obviously quite "out in the sticks" and overgrown tree's covering street lights (if I remember correctly). Doing 60 quite happily minding my own business and the damn thing ran out underneath my headlights, I saw only a tiny white flash, I felt the impact, the car left the ground, I didn't brake after the hit because I didn't want to end up planted into a tree (see below), I let the car more or less roll to a stop and got out the check the damage, got back in pretty sharpish and made a dash for home before the coolant drained out of the huge hole in my rad.
£2500 worth of damage
Many years ago my father also got his front suspension/wheel ripped off by one and nearly had a head on. Similar to me, but he hit the brakes after the impact, the badger had taken out the passenger side wheel and the result was like having a jammed brake piston, all the braking on one wheel sent the car into a spin.
Because we decided to protect them when numbers were low, we now have far too many of them and they're creeping closer and closer to the towns and cities. I've seen 3 dead badgers on just one 8 miles stretch of dual carriageway in the past 7 days.
Would I brake for a badger? If I saw it before it was too late, yes.
Would I brake for a bird or a squirrel? hell no. My life and the lives of my passengers and the lives of other road users are far more valuable than one crazy grey squirrel.Another classic. There's a few more on there worth watching too.
Mikey, what are you talking about dude? What in that video could anyone possibly criticise?“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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Strider590 wrote: »Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5tHk4O76VI
I cut the bit where I called him a w**ker and said "it's a f**king squirrel, you d**khead".
Van behind me came within inches of hitting me.
Had this been not such a quiet road (no distractions), the van would have been planted in my boot for sure.
Your case will drag on for quite some time, it might have helped if remember which of the bumps hit you the hardest, but it's a hard one to prove. You'll suffer increased premiums and loss of your excess payment until it's resolved.
The driver who stopped for the animal should have been taken into the woods and shot, because in reality it's all their fault.
Sorry, but i see nothing wrong in that youtube video. The driver in front drove well.Can we just take it as read I didn't mean to offend you?0 -
Strider590 wrote: »
Would I brake for a badger? If I saw it before it was too late, yes.
Would I brake for a bird or a squirrel? hell no. My life and the lives of my passengers and the lives of other road users are far more valuable than one crazy grey squirrel.
Mikey, what are you talking about dude? What in that video could anyone possibly criticise?
Do you possibly think that the driver in front just saw something run out and didn't have time to think "oh, that's just a squirrel, I'll just hit it" ?0 -
Do you possibly think that the driver in front just saw something run out and didn't have time to think "oh, that's just a squirrel, I'll just hit it" ?
The thing was limping across the road, I saw it a long way off and I really didn't expect the car in front to brake quite so heavily. If he didn't want to hit it, he could have straddled it..... But me personally i'd probably have lined up a wheel and ended it's suffering!
Similar to the badger, if not for the coolant loss i'd have gone back to make sure it didn't spend the next 72 hours suffering at the side of the road....... And that's actually what can happen, they don't die easily those badgers.
If you've ever watched "I am legend", you'll......... Oh hell just watch it“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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Can't access YouTube at work hence I've not had a laugh at your home video yet.
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Can't access YouTube at work hence I've not had a laugh at your home video yet.
Nothing to laugh at
And according to this, it's now an offence to brake for animals in Germany.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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