I disagree with car insurance decision

AdrianC

puddy28cat wrote: »

...my lights were green and I'm driving in a straight line going the speed limit. There was no reason to suppose extra caution was needed.

Umm, yes, there was.

It was a junction, with a car waiting to turn across your path. That says that there's reason to suppose extra caution is needed, because it's very foreseeable that he might think he's got time to go.

The insurance company is saying as I hit his rear end it means we was nearly through his manoeuvre and therefore the onus was on me to stop.
I hope he does have a dash cam and it will show he went before his light turned green

Whether he moved before his light was green or not is irrelevant. The only relevant question is whether you could have avoided hitting him or not.

You hit his rear - he was nearly clear of your path. Avoiding would have been simple. At 30mph, you're covering barely three car lengths per second, just under 14m. Highway code stopping distance is 23m, and is much longer than modern car reality, even on a damp surface.

Unless you had not much more than a second and a half to see him start to move, turn, and get most of the way clear of your path... That takes a good chunk longer than that.

How hard was the impact? How bad's the damage to the two cars?

System

puddy28cat wrote: »

Thanks for all your support. I was going 30mph and it was raining lightly. I understand saying I should have approached the junction with more caution but my lights were green and I'm driving in a straight line going the speed limit. There was no reason to suppose extra caution was needed.

Oh deary deary me. You really need to go take some driving lessons if you truly believe that especially after just having a perfect example of why you DO approach with caution.

In my lorry I used to assume as I was driving down a main road that everyone waiting at the junction of a side road was likely to pull out in front of me and be prepared for it accordingly. As a result of that there is one prat near Buxton who drives a green Landrover Discovery who is still alive because he pulled out in front of me when I stood absolutely no chance of stopping and I'd already planned an escape route so went round him whilst he was stopped stationary broadside across the lane I'd been in no doubt filling his trousers with something brown and smelly.

Manxman_in_exile

Since my accident I referred to above I approach all traffic lights with great caution unless I know they've only just turned to green. If you haven't seen them change from red/amber you should be approaching at a speed that will allow you to stop if they change. That may be less than the speed limit.

puddy28cat

Oh deary deary me. You really need to go take some driving lessons if you truly believe that especially after just having a perfect example of why you DO approach with caution.


With regards to the above, I do approach all lights, and in fact, always drive with due caution. What I meant was, as the lights were on green and he was stationary, I saw no need to dramatically slow down on the off chance he would choose to dart out in front of me. I'm sure if I slowed down each time I went through a green light to allow people to pull right across my path, i would actually become a menace on the roads.

I couldn't see much damage on his car. My car is damaged on the passenger side front bumper.

You hit his rear - he was nearly clear of your path. Avoiding would have been simple. At 30mph, you're covering barely three car lengths per second, just under 14m. Highway code stopping distance is 23m, and is much longer than modern car reality, even on a damp surface.

I'm not clear on how avoiding him would have been simple? He pulls across my path at the last second and I don't have the distance to stop in time. I am virtually on top of him, less than the 23m, before he moves.

AdrianC

puddy28cat wrote: »

I'm not clear on how avoiding him would have been simple? He pulls across my path at the last second and I don't have the distance to stop in time. I am virtually on top of him, less than the 23m, before he moves.

And yet your passenger side hit the rear of his car.

Blibble

puddy28cat wrote: »

What I meant was, as the lights were on green and he was stationary, I saw no need to dramatically slow down on the off chance he would choose to dart out in front of me.

Nobody is suggesting you should dramatically slow down each time you approach any sort of junction, rather that a greater level of awareness would have been required of other road users when approaching the junction.

motorguy

debtdebt wrote: »

OP, if you disagree with your insurer's decision, why don't you hire your own solicitors to present your own claim or defend the third party claim at your own cost of course!

+1

My son had an accident whereby someone changed lanes from the left side in to the side of him. Insurance companies decided on 50/50.

We used our own solicitor to have a look, he agreed they were wrong, a couple of letters later and the threat of court action and the other party "accepted full liability" :beer:

Took about a year to bottom out but well worth it. Justice prevailed!

puddy28cat

AdrianC
I'm really not sure what your point is? If I had not hit the brakes as hard and as quick as I did then I would have gone into either the front of him or the whe of the passenger side. Because I noticed him and I was quick to brake we are very lucky I only hit his rear side.

almillar

a greater level of awareness would have been required of other road users when approaching the junction

Precisely how much awareness can you apply when approaching a vehicle indicating to turn right across you? How much can you slow down to avoid an accident.

Can anyone in this thread believe that OP might just have been doing a reasonable speed, and paying good attention, and an idiot randomly pulled across them at the wrong time? Something that no driver could have avoided?

AdrianC

almillar wrote: »

Precisely how much awareness can you apply when approaching a vehicle indicating to turn right across you? How much can you slow down to avoid an accident.

Can anyone in this thread believe that OP might just have been doing a reasonable speed, and paying good attention, and an idiot randomly pulled across them at the wrong time? Something that no driver could have avoided?

If he'd hit the front of the car, or in a higher speed limit, yes.

Hitting the rear corner, in a 30...?