Are black boxes any use in an insurance claim?

ferry

Just curious as wife is going through an insurance claim at the moment and we've just discovered that the other driver has had a 'black box' fitted to her car.

Just what do these black boxes record and as we're convinced it was not my wifes fault,is there likely to be any valuable data on it for insurance purposes?

Just thinking out loud....

Thanks
F

Rolandtheroadie

Without a description of what happened, it would be hard to say.

ferry

Basically two lanes approaching a roundabout .
3rd party in left hand lane attempts to turn right at roundabout ,wife in right hand lane attempting to go straight over to continue journey. 3rd party speeds up ahead of wifes vehicle to try and complete right turn manoevre into roundabout to apparently take 3rd exit.Wife impacts into side of 3rd party vehicle inside roundabout.
A little more complicated as road markings are very basic but a clear break in the marking suggest you can go straigt over from right hand lane or turn right.
My investiagtion (which is obviously worth nothing) seem to indicate you should never turn right into a roundabout from the left hand lane approach.

Any way the 3rd party have disclosed they have a black box fitted and intend to use its data in the claim.

Strider590

It's not sufficient to simply say third party was wrong in going right from the LH lane, I know plenty of roundabouts where this is correct by the road markings and where drivers take the RH lane to go straight on, when they shouldn't.

The lane markings are more important here than any "black box".

Herzlos

It would show if the driver sped up to try and get past, but it's unlikely the insurance company (or police, I guess) would share the data with you, just the outcome. It's worth mentioning it in any reports to the insurance/police though as it can't hurt.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Going on what I was taught 12 years ago when learning my instructor always said, if not clearly marked, Lh lane to go straight on regardless if theres 2 lanes on the 1st exit, right hand lane to take right or back on yourself.


this could easily be a 50/50 split decision, IMHO.

warehouse

OP if you tell us where this happened then google maps is usually very good at checking out exactly what the road markings are.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Aside from the lane markings, other aspects of the driving can be taken into account. Most should be in your favour.

If there are road markings consistent with convention (e.g. 2 into one merge sign on exit or dual carriageway) and no lane markings or clearly marked straight on signs, any lane marking signs on posts around, then it is clear that the car in the wrong lane should take especial care when trying to correct a mistake of a lane change.

I would tend to agree that attempting a right turn from a left hand lane is foolish and would be considered incorrect without explicit markings. The only exception would be where a major road went right and there were some very minor roads going off before, then you may find both lanes going to the right, and in this case it sounds like that was not the case.

A black box probably would not be useful in this case because it is not about speed ultimately, it is about road positioning and I doubt it would have enough accuracy, and of course cannot show the relative positions of the car. To be honest, it sounds like a bluff "I have a black box so I must have been driving properly."

So, clear diagram of all signings and lane markings, what signals did your wife see, was the car accelerating and she just thought it was overtaking on the inside going straight on and so on, why was your wife unable to avoid or slow to avoid an accident.

Black box equals young driver, and it sounds like they were living up to stereotype. Just because they are arguing doesn't mean the insurance companies will believe them and a clear consistent statement that shows the other driver was driving without due consideration to other road users (using the wrong lane to gain an advantage over another car is used as an example by the CPS of this offence) and you should be OK. However, insurance companies do tend to be lazy and any hint of a dispute and they may go 50/50.

colino

As with all of these, no need for a black box or map of the area, your wife made an unsafe lane change and drove into another car. By all means stick up for wife, but unless there's clear, independent evidence that the other car managed to position itself at speed, unsafely into a place where (she should have been looking) without a reasonable driver, taking reasonable car, couldn't have stopped, she'll lose.

londonTiger

lane markings are not a substitute for you to use your judgement when changing lanes. Rememebr the motto "mirror, signal, manouvre".

I'm sure we've all ended up in the wrong lane on roundabouts, especially when we're driving somewhere new and not familiar with which exit to take.

I remember once when I was turning right in a roundabout, and another car coming out of the same junction as me was doing a U turn. The driver stayed in the left lane the entire time and I was blocked from making my exit so I decided to slow down and drop back, so I can make my exit. You have inexperienced road users like that - at roundabouts you're expected to use your mirrors, signal and navigate accordingly.

Black box is useless here because

1) speed is aggregated over different time intervals say every 10 seconds, and given that they stopped at a roundabout would drop their speed average way down so it will not show that they were speeding (even if they were)

2) unless you both have block boxes it won't be much help (in any case - it's not accurate enough to show who hit who)

sh0597

It might not have been a lane change if there were 2 exit lanes.