Overtaking Vehicle Side Collision

bex88

Heya all,

Today my stepdad was in a collision on his way home from work, literally 1 minute from home typically and just wondered on peoples thoughts of the situation and how the insurance might go?

Of course I was not there when this all happened but this is what he's told me happened.

Basically, he was driving along through the village we live in his Citroen van around 5:15pm today (So it was dark) and he noticed there there a black van behind him which he said had his Full beams on and was driving quite close. (The speed limit is 30).

He said he put on his brakes to slow down as the lights were dazzling him in his mirror as the van got right up behind him.

The other van then backed off a bit and dipped his lights.
He said then next thing he knows the black van is up alongside him overtaking. However, the part of the road they were at is a bit of a bend round to the right and you cannot see cars coming the other way very easily.



As they were alongside each other at point of overtake a car comes round the bend on the other side. The Black van then moves over and pushed my stepdad's van. He said as he was being pushed over he was trying to steer back to the right to avoid going into metal railings on the left.

As the black van then was slowing it caused my stepdad's van to swing round across the road and up the steep bank on the other side, which if he had stopped on he would have tipped and rolled down so he carried on driving across and down again before pulling up at the side of the road to get out.

The driver of the oncoming car came over to my stepdad. My stepdad asked hf he was ok and then the bloke started having a go at him saying he almost hit him and threatening him but my stepdad said he was the one on the inside lane, not the overtaking van.

He went to the driver of the black overtaking van - He was apparently an older chap roughly in his 70's and had his wife with him. The wife wrote their details and they exchanged and then went off.

Now, we said to him he should have go some pictures, the details of the car driver and the bloke who was just walking along's details as well but he didn't - he didn't have his phone on him either at the time to take pics.

His van has scratches, scrapes and dents the entire right hand side now and is pulling to the right now.
He phone the insurance when he got in but apparently they didn't seem too helpful or wanting to deal with it, saying it will be 50/50.

I think this will likely be the case but is there anything else he can/should do or just sit and wait for a phone call at some point?

loskie

no mention of reporting this to the police?

Aylesbury_Duck

If he has no other pertinent information to provide to the insurer then yes, all he can do is wait to see what unfolds. If the black van driver isn't honest about his manoeuvre it could well go 50:50. If there isn't an independent witness or dashcam footage to show that the overtaking van caused the accident, the black van driver could simply stand by a false account that he was overtaking and your stepfather sideswiped him. The third driver doesn't appear to be much use if he didn't see the cause of your stepfather's avoiding action.

bex88

Hi, thanks for the reply. Yes that's exactly what we thought, the other van driver could easily just say my stepdad pulled across into him and it will one word against another.

Aylesbury_Duck

If I didn't have a dashcam and this sort of thing happened to me, I'd be very tempted to tell the other driver at the scene "We'll let insurance sort it out, I've got it all on camera", just to make them think twice about lying to the insurer.

bex88

loskie wrote: »

no mention of reporting this to the police?

My mum told him that he probably should have called the police but he said he didn't think they would have done anything as no-one was injured and just have said to call his insurance.

bex88

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

If I didn't have a dashcam and this sort of thing happened to me, I'd be very tempted to tell the other driver at the scene "We'll let insurance sort it out, I've got it all on camera", just to make them think twice about lying to the insurer.

Yeah that would have been a smart idea actually. He's quite the 'technophobe' so avoids gadgets when he can as he says "they never work for him" lol.
I actually said to him it would have useful to have it on a dashcam.

Might have to start seriously considering one for myself. I have a camera on my motorbike helmet but not in my car.

AdrianC

bex88 wrote: »

Basically, he was driving along through the village we live in his Citroen van around 5:15pm today (So it was dark) and he noticed there there a black van behind him which he said had his Full beams on and was driving quite close. (The speed limit is 30).

So he knew damn well this other vehicle was there, and was driving in a strange manner.

He said he put on his brakes to slow down as the lights were dazzling him in his mirror as the van got right up behind him.

He didn't think to just dip his mirror?

The other van then backed off a bit and dipped his lights.
He said then next thing he knows the black van is up alongside him overtaking.

Which probably didn't come as a great surprise, right?

However, the part of the road they were at is a bit of a bend round to the right and you cannot see cars coming the other way very easily.

Even at night, with lights on?

As they were alongside each other at point of overtake a car comes round the bend on the other side. The Black van then moves over and pushed my stepdad's van. He said as he was being pushed over he was trying to steer back to the right to avoid going into metal railings on the left.

And your stepfather didn't think to brake at any stage of this whole process, so that the overtaking vehicle could just pass him and pull in safely, minimising the time spent on the wrong side of the road approaching a bend with poor visibility...?

As the black van then was slowing it caused my stepdad's van to swing round across the road and up the steep bank on the other side, which if he had stopped on he would have tipped and rolled down so he carried on driving across and down again before pulling up at the side of the road to get out.

In a 30 limit...?

He phone the insurance when he got in but apparently they didn't seem too helpful or wanting to deal with it, saying it will be 50/50.

From your description, there's a hell of a lot your stepfather could have done to avoid any collision, while it sounds rather as if he tried to be all "I'm in the right, you shall not do that" - so 50/50 does not sound unfair at all.

Hermione_Granger

AdrianC wrote: »

And your stepfather didn't think to brake at any stage of this whole process, so that the overtaking vehicle could just pass him and pull in safely, minimising the time spent on the wrong side of the road approaching a bend with poor visibility...?

Did you even read what you quoted in your reply?

bex88 wrote: »

He said he put on his brakes to slow down as the lights were dazzling him in his mirror as the van got right up behind him.

Yet when the OP stated their stepfather did brake, your comment was:

AdrianC wrote: »

He didn't think to just dip his mirror?

I used to think that you were a troll.
This appears to prove it.

sevenhills

bex88 wrote: »

He said he put on his brakes to slow down as the lights were dazzling him in his mirror as the van got right up behind him.

I guess you have to believe what your step-dad tells you, but braking because of blinding lights behind you?

AdrianC

Braking when another vehicle is behind you with full beam on does not remove the dazzle. Dipping the mirror does.

Braking when another vehicle is behind you is not the same as braking when they're overtaking you in a stupid place.

I'll leave you to decide whether the slope shenanigans described is even remotely likely from a speed substantially below 30mph since, as you reminded us, the stepfather had already slowed down...

This whole scenario makes no sense as described. Add in some "I'll teach this idiot a lesson", which then gets omitted from the Chinese Whispers retelling, and it starts to fall together perfectly.