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Hit and Run accident at a junction
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Hi folks, I am hoping for some advice.
Event:
I approached a busy junction looking to turn right, the coast was clear by a fair distance on both sides after checking so I decided to proceed. As I pulled out, out of no where on my right I saw a car overtake another car at roughly 60-70 mph in a 30 zone around a traffic island. At this point I was part way into turning right from the junction. This chap was swerving like he had lost control of his car, I couldn't understand whether he was going to continue on the wrong side of the road which I was turning into or cut back in. He cut back in and I tried to get out of the way as fast as I could but alas too late and he went into the drivers side rear wheel of my car. The entire thing took 3 to 5 seconds due to the speed, so there was barely any time to react.
My Children and 24 week pregnant wife were in the back, my air bag deployed and all I could hear was screams my babies my babies from my wife. I genuinely thought my children had died. My ears were ringing from the ear bag, I got out and got my children out who were luckily unharmed apart from a few scrapes. I then got my car across the road onto some street parking to get out of the live traffic.
The other party's car was undrivable, the moment the accident happened. 5 young lads jumped out of the car and ran away across the road and disappeared.
Police came collected CCTV, somebody offered dashcam and gave statements. Basically these lads had been speeding the entire way up the road over taking multiple cars and had nearly caused multiple collisions in a short space of time before they went into me.
Insurance:
My insurance company has said the car that we had the accident with is apparently insured, but there could be multiple reasons why they ran drunk, drugs etc Checking the database the car has been untaxed since March. My insurance company has stated that they will fight this as a non fault but there is a chance that I could be held liable for the accident, as is standard practice for somebody turning from minor road to a major road in a junction but obviously the circumstances above may be taken into account.
Where do I stand with this and what advice do you guys have for somebody in my situation. Ideally I would like their insurance company to admit liability but what happens if their driver doesn't come forward.
Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards
Event:
I approached a busy junction looking to turn right, the coast was clear by a fair distance on both sides after checking so I decided to proceed. As I pulled out, out of no where on my right I saw a car overtake another car at roughly 60-70 mph in a 30 zone around a traffic island. At this point I was part way into turning right from the junction. This chap was swerving like he had lost control of his car, I couldn't understand whether he was going to continue on the wrong side of the road which I was turning into or cut back in. He cut back in and I tried to get out of the way as fast as I could but alas too late and he went into the drivers side rear wheel of my car. The entire thing took 3 to 5 seconds due to the speed, so there was barely any time to react.
My Children and 24 week pregnant wife were in the back, my air bag deployed and all I could hear was screams my babies my babies from my wife. I genuinely thought my children had died. My ears were ringing from the ear bag, I got out and got my children out who were luckily unharmed apart from a few scrapes. I then got my car across the road onto some street parking to get out of the live traffic.
The other party's car was undrivable, the moment the accident happened. 5 young lads jumped out of the car and ran away across the road and disappeared.
Police came collected CCTV, somebody offered dashcam and gave statements. Basically these lads had been speeding the entire way up the road over taking multiple cars and had nearly caused multiple collisions in a short space of time before they went into me.
Insurance:
My insurance company has said the car that we had the accident with is apparently insured, but there could be multiple reasons why they ran drunk, drugs etc Checking the database the car has been untaxed since March. My insurance company has stated that they will fight this as a non fault but there is a chance that I could be held liable for the accident, as is standard practice for somebody turning from minor road to a major road in a junction but obviously the circumstances above may be taken into account.
Where do I stand with this and what advice do you guys have for somebody in my situation. Ideally I would like their insurance company to admit liability but what happens if their driver doesn't come forward.
Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards
0
Comments
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Your insurer will remove the screaming pregnant partner and thankfully-not-dead babies from the equation and look at the objective reasons for the accident having occurred.
The other driver will almost certainly never be found, and judging from the circumstances as described is probably not the person who has taken out insurance on the vehicle.
Do you have comprehensive cover? If so let your insurer deal with the claim for the damage to your vehicle.
Your insurer will be able to determine which insurer covered the other car at the time of the accident (whether contractually or under the RTA) and will deal with any third party claim on your behalf. Any correspondence you receive should be passed to your insurer.
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I’m always amazed at how cars appear from nowhere but yet people can accurately state the speed that they were apparently travelling at.2
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"At fault" in insurance terms just relate to who ends off paying for it. If your insurer can reclaim from someone else then you're not at fault. It's got nothing to do with who's fault it actually was.
It's unlikely anyone else's insurance will end up paying for it; if they catch any of the guys and somehow identify the driver, then it's almost guaranteed he's not insured.
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Herzlos said:"At fault" in insurance terms just relate to who ends off paying for it. If your insurer can reclaim from someone else then you're not at fault. It's got nothing to do with who's fault it actually was.
It's unlikely anyone else's insurance will end up paying for it; if they catch any of the guys and somehow identify the driver, then it's almost guaranteed he's not insured.
Yes the car is fully comprehensive and my NCB are protected. My insurer has said that they do have a uninsured driver promise in place but they will see what it comes to after their investigation.
I understand that the driver may never be found and even if they find him he might not be insured but they must know the person the insurance policy on that vehicle belongs to and surely that person needs to tell them who was driving or do they not even have to do that?
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They can just say the car was stolen.0
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KimJongUn88 said:I’m always amazed at how cars appear from nowhere but yet people can accurately state the speed that they were apparently travelling at.
You dont really expect people to come flying around other cars and islands at a busy junction, I am 9 years into driving career hopefully I will keep getting better at perceiving dangers as a driver with experience.
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ontheroad1970 said:They can just say the car was stolen.
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Nurpur said:ontheroad1970 said:They can just say the car was stolen.0
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If the driver can eventually be identified (which seems unlikely, though not impossible) then the third party insurer that was covering the car will be obliged to deal with the claim as if he was insured, even if he is not named on the policy and even if the car was stolen.
It will in all likelihood still be easier and simpler to claim from your own policy and let them deal with recovering the costs from the third party insurer, if they can.
If the driver remains unidentified things work differently and it's dealt with under the rules of a MIB claim. Which means that you have no option but to claim on your own policy for the damage to your own car. MIB rules only allow for claims for things that are not covered by your own policy (like personal injury, or your own possessions that were in the car).0 -
Op the argument could be that you are at fault for pulling out when unsafe to do so. So be prepared.1
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