Daughter's Car Accident - please help.

tesuhoha

Contessa wrote: »

Something similar happened to me two months ago. I was in lane 2 of the busy M5 at Birmingham, travelling at about 70mph, when the car in lane 1 hit me as I was parallel with it. I don't remember the make, just that it was black and bigger than me (my car was a medium size hatchback). I remember that my immediate thought on impact was that "I've had an accident now" ( having an hour earlier avoided an accident a few car lengths ahead of me and thinking myself lucky then). Then followed the most terrifying seconds of my life. I lost control of the car and snaked between lanes 2 and 3 a couple of times before hitting the crash barrier. Spun 360, hit again, maybe again? All the time waiting to hit another vehicle or to be hit by one. Then suddenly I was on the hard shoulder, facing the right way and stopped. Two cars stopped. One had seen the other car hit me, and was shocked that it had not stopped. Traffic police said the CCTV cameras would not have been able to get the car's registration. However, I (well my insurance company) would be billed for the damage I did to the crash barrier and the ambulance call out)
I walked away with bruises and slight whiplash. The seat belt probably saved my life. None of the six airbags deployed.
My car was a right off (although my insurance company offered me a very fair payment) and I am down as being at fault. I consider myself very fortunate, as it could have been so much worse, and this has mitigated my anger towards the other driver.
I am very pleased that your daughter is OK. To a recently qualified driver this will be really off-putting. The best thing she can do is to get another car as soon as possible and get back on the motorway-perhaps with another driver as passenger, or book a couple of lessons with a driving school. It helped me to know that it wasn't my fault. I've driven a few times on the motorway since and it has been absolutely fine.
Good luck to your daughter!

Thanks a lot for this. I am very glad you were ok. Your accident sounds a lot like my daughter's.

It was not your fault and seems unfair but as you say, the first thought is how fortunate you are.

She is a sensible careful girl who took a lot of driving lessons (well over a year) before she felt ready to take her test and she passed first time with only 4 minor errors.

She is not suggesting that the policeman did not do his job properly, in fact she said he was very nice. She just felt that he did not take what she said seriously after she told him when she passed. This is also happening on this thread where some people have practically assumed she was at fault because she is a new driver. I suppose I knew this would happen. However, my husband who used to be an HGV1 driver and has 40 years driving experience felt from her description that someone hit her. It may have been that she swerved to avoid the BMW who wandered into her lane. Her car is completely smashed up by crash barriers on both sides so if another car hit her there wouldn't be much sign of it.

I think people are very dishonest and lie about things and in your case don't even stop, so it would not surprise me. I know that the BMW car stopped but maybe she was worried that there was a witness and she had been seen. Maybe she was entirely innocent.

tesuhoha

Strider590 wrote: »

My last car was hit by a Taxi, who was trying overtake on the inside at 40mph in the wet..... He just clipped my rear bumper, left no mark at all, but it was enough to send me into a spin, which I was quick enough to catch before ending up in someone's front garden.

At 70mph, it would take very little to put a car into a spin and if both cars are travelling at the same speed, there would be next to no damage at all.

Glad you were ok too.

tesuhoha

I must say that the majority of the comments on here have been very nice though and I do appreciate everyone's input, even if its not what I want to hear.

tesuhoha

Its a bit funny because at the weekend my car went wrong and needed a new coil fitted. I was given a brand new courtesy car (again a Yaris) and when I was driving on the M20 a pheasant ran out onto the carriageway and I hit it at 60mph. The front grille was damaged. I am having a very bad week.

pendulum

I find it strange she can remember virtually nothing of what happened immediately before the accident (for example, she is unsure of what lane she was in and the position of vehicles around her, and doesn't even know if she was hit or not or by whom), but milliseconds later her memory returns as she "remembers suddenly spinning and hoping that nothing else would hit her. She spun into the central reservation, then spun back to the other side of the road and hit the other crash barrier."

Her memory's working well enough to recall fine details such as the BMW driver's body language in order to claim she looked "guilty" and "looked as if there may have been some involvement". How one can tell this from body language I don't know! Perhaps trying to point the finger of blame away from herself?

I'd suggest she wasn't paying attention in the run-up to the accident, thus she is unsure of what actually happened. Claiming amnesia was quite clever, as it's the only way out! Of course, she'd have been in for a much longer stay in hospital after a head injury serious enough to cause real amnesia.

I think the reason the police officer "didn't seem to take her seriously" isn't because she told him she was a new driver. It's because he's spoken to the witnesses and in the course of his investigation has concluded that noone else was to blame; that she caused or heaviliy contributed to the accident. You've also admitted she's a nervous driver, which is just as bad as being an over-confident one.

Have they ruled out charges against her?

MX5huggy

tesuhoha wrote: »

Anyway, the situation is that the car was only bought in July and although we put some money towards it she has a car loan of £7,000. Also she works a long way from home so is stuck without a car. Sometimes she has to start at 4am.

Did she buy or get sold GAP insurance? Check her paper work if she did then it is for the GAP insurance company to agree the write off value with the insurance.

wba31

pendulum wrote: »

I find it strange she can remember virtually nothing of what happened immediately before the accident (for example, she is unsure of what lane she was in and the position of vehicles around her, and doesn't even know if she was hit or not or by whom), but milliseconds later her memory returns as she "remembers suddenly spinning and hoping that nothing else would hit her. She spun into the central reservation, then spun back to the other side of the road and hit the other crash barrier."

Her memory's working well enough to recall fine details such as the BMW driver's body language in order to claim she looked "guilty" and "looked as if there may have been some involvement". How one can tell this from body language I don't know! Perhaps trying to point the finger of blame away from herself?

I'd suggest she wasn't paying attention in the run-up to the accident, thus she is unsure of what actually happened. Claiming amnesia was quite clever, as it's the only way out! Of course, she'd have been in for a much longer stay in hospital after a head injury serious enough to cause real amnesia.

I think the reason the police officer "didn't seem to take her seriously" isn't because she told him she was a new driver. It's because he's spoken to the witnesses and in the course of his investigation has concluded that noone else was to blame; that she caused or heaviliy contributed to the accident. You've also admitted she's a nervous driver, which is just as bad as being an over-confident one.

Have they ruled out charges against her?

I agree in part with this. Ive had a few accidents and incidents, and each one I can recount fully to the finest detail. However eventless drives where it's quiet and I go through routines i cannot remember...
there are a number of questions I would have, was she in a routine part of her journey, although focusing on whats around her just switched off a little bit? distracted by the stereo? Was she just sat in the middle lane - not moving over when done overtaking? if she was clipped, it could be that car behind came up on inside lane quicker, then went to move all the way round her vehicle but mis-judged distance? you mentioned she is angry with this other driver, but she has no evidence of being hit, not even a memory? and just because you pass with hardly any minors is irrelevant. I passed with barely any, but became an over confident cocky little !!!!!! for the first 2 years of driving and was lucky i never lost my licence. i had a friend who passed with 2 minors and is even now, so careful and underconfident, although he is safe from not hitting anything in front of him, he has complete disregard for those behind him. I dont think there are any perfect drivers out there...

with regards of what to do now, with no other party, pay the excess, buy a replacement car with insurance pay out, and then carry on paying the loan as normal. insurance may go up a little bit, but if she has no no claims not sure how much it would go up. maybe when buying a replacement car, dont spend £7k (if she gets given £7k) maybe look a few grand cheaper and use the rest of the money to pay the insurance off in one go. there are plenty of great cars out there for £3-£4k

mustrum_ridcully

pendulum wrote: »

I find it strange she can remember virtually nothing of what happened immediately before the accident (for example, she is unsure of what lane she was in and the position of vehicles around her, and doesn't even know if she was hit or not or by whom), but milliseconds later her memory returns as she "remembers suddenly spinning and hoping that nothing else would hit her. She spun into the central reservation, then spun back to the other side of the road and hit the other crash barrier."

pendulum wrote: »

I find it strange she can remember virtually nothing of what happened immediately before the accident (for example, she is unsure of what lane she was in and the position of vehicles around her, and doesn't even know if she was hit or not or by whom), but milliseconds later her memory returns as she "remembers suddenly spinning and hoping that nothing else would hit her. She spun into the central reservation, then spun back to the other side of the road and hit the other crash barrier."

Sorry to say this but that and "nervous driver" + "thinks she was driving in the middle lane" bother me.

For starters I hope she gets back out on the motorway and gets taught that the left hand lane is for driving and the middle + right lanes are for overtaking and how to do it safely. Nervousness and lack of experience are two reasons people become middle lane owners as they can just sit there avoiding doing any 'scary' lane changes. She sounds like she could be an apprentice middle lane owner to me - which is not a good thing for her as she will find herself being bullied by other drivers.

As for the accident I also can't help but wonder if she wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her got spooked by the BMW and over-reacted. Its also possible she could have dropped off to sleep and that's why she doesn't remember anything.

Strider590

My take on this is driver A in lane 1 changing to lane 2, driver B in lane 3, changing to lane 2, then either:

Minor contact

Or

Driver B leans on the horn, Driver A panics, hits the brakes and due to the shifted centre of gravity and the car already aiming at the barrier, spins off.


Something they don't teach in driving school, is how a cars centre of gravity shifts under braking and what effect that can have at speed.

Humphrey10

mustrum_ridcully wrote: »

Its also possible she could have dropped off to sleep and that's why she doesn't remember anything.

It's also worth mentioning this memory loss/black out to her GP.