Accident help...

westwood68

Bravehearted wrote: »

Just cos the car in front has moved off doesn't mean it's safe for others behind to go. Anyone caught by this "scam" is just incompetent really.

You should move off only after looking forward and right - not really rocket science.

Lol at "you braked too hard". So what if I did. Not really an excuse as that doesn't affect her own stopping.

In reality, if you are not first in the queue, you shouldn't even be looking right. Your next move is to move forward. That's where people should be looking.

Classic mistake and the reason I got hit from behind while waiting on a roundabout (& I didn't even move forward)

wafmoo

Quick update:

At the time, my wife exchanged names & phone numbers with the other driver. As she had our children in the car on the way to school, she was a bit shaken and didn't make a note of the other car reg number.
She tried to ring the other driver yesterday afternoon when she finished work, and the mobile number she was given doesn't exist!!!

She is now facing a decision whether to get the repair done or just live with it, and if she does get it done to pay for it herself without going through insurance.

She realises that she should have made a note of the reg number, but under the circumstances, she just forgot.

Why are some people just such b*****s!!!

bartelbe

Strider590 wrote: »

This is an insurance scammers favourite situation. 90% of people see the car in front moving off, and then look right for traffic, but if the driver in front suddenly changes their mind during that split second, then the 2nd car has no chance and goes straight into them.

It is the responsibility of the driver behind to leave enough braking distance and check that it is safe to proceed. What about the situation were the driver in front has to do an emergency stop because a predestrian steps into a road, or a car pulls out of a junction without looking?

It is your responsbility to leave enough braking distance and if you don't, it is your fault.

Aretnap

It's not as simple as to say that the person who goes into the back of another car is always to blame. A driver who does performs an emergency stop for no good reason is in breach of his own duty of care to other road users (Highway Code Rule 117 for a start) and if likely to be found to be at least partly to blame for any resulting collision. See here or here for example.

Of course, performing an emergency stop for no good reason is not the same as braking a bit sharp-ish on the approach to a roundabout.

Aretnap

wafmoo wrote: »

Quick update:

At the time, my wife exchanged names & phone numbers with the other driver. As she had our children in the car on the way to school, she was a bit shaken and didn't make a note of the other car reg number.
She tried to ring the other driver yesterday afternoon when she finished work, and the mobile number she was given doesn't exist!!!

She is now facing a decision whether to get the repair done or just live with it, and if she does get it done to pay for it herself without going through insurance.

She realises that she should have made a note of the reg number, but under the circumstances, she just forgot.

Why are some people just such b*****s!!!

!!!!!!! Obviously she should have taken the reg number, but it's a bit late for that now.

Report it to the police. The name and car make/colour may be enough to identify him - though if he gave a non-existant phone number there's a good chance the name will be false too. What sort of area is it - are any of the shops likely to have CCTV?

Idiophreak

Aretnap wrote: »

Of course, performing an emergency stop for no good reason is not the same as braking a bit sharp-ish on the approach to a roundabout.

And yet there's not much in it, on occasions.

I've been caught out by this a couple of times, although I've never hit anyone...Nobody else around, car tootering onto the round about - I check right to make sure it's OK to follow them, look back and have to stamp on the brakes.

The issue is people who're just not capable of keeping up with the flow of traffic - they can't drive forward and look right at the same time...They have to get to the roundabout, stop, look both ways then continue, irrespective of the situation. Thing is, they're so few and far between you get used to following people who know how to drive to a decent standard - so when you come across them, it just seems like they're brake testing you for no reason.

sneaky

Lum wrote: »

Two options

1) Let the insurance deal with it. The repair will be done at no cost to you, you wont lose your NCB, but you will have to declare the accident for the next 5 years and they'll put your premium up anyway, even though it's non fault

2) Settle privately with the person who hit you, get a quote for the repairs in advance and have them pay you before the work is done. Do not tell the insurance, ensure that the person who hit you doesn't either, then you won't have to declare it for the next five years and wont have the increased premiums.

If you tell the insurance, even "for information only" your premiums are going up.

The second one is the most cost effective option, but not entirely risk free, at the first sign that the guy who hit you isn't going to play along, bail and go down the insurance route.

In the current compensation culture I would always always go with the insurance company. There is always the concern the other party somewhere down the line will make a claim for injury and you will not be able to prove it was their fault unless you got it all in writing and signed.