Unusual Accident - Fault

DeltaEcho

I've been involved in a usual accident. Normally I would say yes, if I run into the back of someone, then I'm not paying attention, it's my fault..

i'm in the left hand lane of a dual carriageway doing the does limit. A van joins from the left in front of me and pulls into the right hand lane. There is a reduce in front of me slowing down. I love into the right hand lane. I've got a good distance to this van so if he stops, I know I can stop.

Next thing I know, the truck is braking heavily, and the van suddenly swerves in front of me rather dangerously, no brakes, no hazards and reveals a stationary car that I can't now not do anything to avoid. I brake hard straight away and manage to slow to about ten mph.

My insurance company are saying 100% my fault without reviewing any data.

If the truck had not slowed, I could have tucked in behind him but the car would have been hit by the van at 60mph.

If the van had seen the car and started slowing, I could have stopped.

I tried explaining that I kept appropriate distance to the van, this is the equivalent of the van going from 60mph to 0mph in zero seconds. Totally unavoidable. With no warning, brake, hazards, how is it my fault? Surely there's a concept of negligence at least for the van driver who didn't stop and was driving dangerously, possibly even the trucker for not using hazards, maybe even the broken down car for coming to a halt in the right hand lane.

I should just like to know what others make of this and whether I've got any recourse anywhere? I'm not happy to accept blame. Nothing I could have done differently apart from drive at 10mph everywhere just in case.

Your thoughts?:(

DeltaEcho

I would post a link to the video but being a new user, I cannot. However it is on YouTube with an Id of 0tLDU4EcJMc - you'll have to figure out constructing the link

ffacoffipawb

Sorry can't help but it seems you were unlucky, this is the link (fast forward to around 1:40) ...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0tLDU4EcJMc

splishsplash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tLDU4EcJMc

foxtrotoscar_2

A very unfortunate happenstance. Truck and van didn't hit the stationary car...you did.

DeltaEcho

While I get that concept, unlike the van, I had no where to go. And unlike the van I couldn't see the car. I was driving skiing to prevailing conditions and if the can had done an emergency stop then I had enough room to have done one myself. But he never.

If I had been in the position of the can I would have been using brakes and hazards a lot sooner.

I get the concept I ran into the back, no one else, but what about contributory negligence? What about the fact that there was literally nothing else I could have done and nothing I did wrong?

The car could have used warning triangles, the van could have slowed earlier, truck could have carried on giving me a way out, and both truck and can could have used hazards themselves.

DeltaEcho

Not skiing... According...

tempus_fugit

As others have said you have been unlucky, but there is nowhere else to put the blame. The car may have only just stopped due to some breakdown or such like, and therefore had no opportunity to use hazards or triangles. Also, there was an opportunity to see the hazard in the right hand lane when you pulled out, you actually get a glimpse of it on the video.

It may seem unfair, but unless some negligence can be found on the part of any of the other drivers it seems you'll just have to accept this as one of those things that can happen to any of us when we drive on the roads nowadays.

csgohan4

very unlucky I would say and you weren't tail gating either. You could argue some blame on the stationary driver not putting up warning signs but that is at a discretion of the insurer

Send the footage to the insurer but I suspect you will be at blame

rudekid48

Very unfortunate and on the surface a genuine 'accident', however you need to understand that in insurance terms 'fault' is not the same as 'blame'.

A 'fault' claim is simply where the insurer has little or no chance of recovering their outlay from another party. It does not mean that they are saying that you are to 'blame'. The terminology is unfortunate but has been around for decades so is unlikely to change now.

I agree that you could make a case to say that the van driver was in some way 'negligent' and I'm sure that the claims handlers at your insurer would probably agree, but it will come down to simple economics. They will weigh up the likelihood of being able to secure liability against the van driver (and their insurer) - most probably through the courts - and the cost of doing this vs the cost of just settling the claim with the innocent party. If the former is likely to cost more than the latter then they will take that path resulting in a 'fault' claim.

There will always be individual cases where this does not seem 'fair' but it is just the way that it works.

My advice would be to not lose any sleep over it and let the insurer deal with the claim - that means a lot less stress for you but it will have a financial impact on future premiums.

Alternatively, there is nothing to stop you pursuing your own claim against the van driver, but to be successful you would have to prove 'negligence' which is not as easy as it sounds and could ultimately end up costing you more in both money and stress.

prowla

Unfortunately, that is the OP's fault - an accident for sure, but I guess that's what insurance is for. :-(