Enterprise are trying to take all our savings

Manxman_in_exile

If it was a number of years ago I'm a bit surprised the police haven't by now told the DoT to get the Highway Code corrected so as to give clearer advice to motorists then.

DB1904

Manxman_in_exile said:

If it was a number of years ago I'm a bit surprised the police haven't by now told the DoT to get the Highway Code corrected so as to give clearer advice to motorists then.

Given it's was a DoT decision why would they need to?

After it happened you could pass your driving test by giving an incorrect answer to the question who answers the SOS phones on the motorway. 

Andy_L

Running through higing a car in Germany it only seems to say that Damage Waiver/Excess protection is void if:

"damage is caused by: using the vehicle outside the countries listed on the front of the contract, driving under the influence of narcotics, alcohol or drugs, transporting easily flammable, toxic or otherwise dangerous substances, illegal purposes, car races, driver and vehicle tests, towing other vehicles or towing trailers, use on unpaved roads, racetracks and test courses, in violation of the legally prescribed safety precautions, or for the purpose beyond the predictable and usual use, in particular any careless or reckless use, or intentional damaging of the vehicle."

Nothing specifically about calling the cops after an accident, I suppose it could be a "legally prescribed safety precaution".

TBH, ignoring the OP's case, I'd be concerned about "any careless use" clause. I'd of though that any damage that is the fault of the drive is going to be down to carelessness. 

Manxman_in_exile

DB1904 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

If it was a number of years ago I'm a bit surprised the police haven't by now told the DoT to get the Highway Code corrected so as to give clearer advice to motorists then.

Given it's was a DoT decision why would they need to?

After it happened you could pass your driving test by giving an incorrect answer to the question who answers the SOS phones on the motorway. 

Well if you think its not a matter for the police to help to ensure that motorists get accurate and up to date advice, that's fine - you can keep thinking that and I won't stop you.

DB1904

Manxman_in_exile said:

DB1904 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

If it was a number of years ago I'm a bit surprised the police haven't by now told the DoT to get the Highway Code corrected so as to give clearer advice to motorists then.

Given it's was a DoT decision why would they need to?

After it happened you could pass your driving test by giving an incorrect answer to the question who answers the SOS phones on the motorway. Well if you think its not a matter for the police to help to ensure that motorists get accurate and up to date advice, that's fine - you can keep thinking that and I won't stop you.

I can't see why you think the police should inform the DoT, surely they are well aware having created the Highways Agency. 

Murphybear

theonlywayisup said:

Ergates said:

theonlywayisup said:

Just turning your discussion to a different angle.  If I see a breakdown on a motorway or a major road (we don't have motorways in Cornwall) then I call 999.  I have lost count of the number of police cars that sit behind broken down vehicles on the A30 down here in the summertime, when they have far more pressing things to do. 

I would argue that protecting people from potentially fatal car accidents is probably quite an important thing for them to be doing.

I completely agree, but they are stretched very thin here due to the nature of the geography of the two counties  - but my point was that calling 999 is my first instinct when it isn't me that has broken down, so I have no reason to think it would be any different if it were me. 

We lived on the Devon side of the border not far from the A30 and rarely saw a police car.  We now live in Dorset about 500 yards from the A30.  Never seen a police car in 4 years.  

Admiral_Barbarossa

Manxman_in_exile said:

LTELLIT01 said:

k18dan said:

Who knows what they would have done in that situation, but it sounds like you did what felt right to you at the time.

That's probably the fairest comment I have seen in the entire thread.  Very easy to know exactly what somebody else should have done when you aren't in the likely state of shock that the driver would have been in.

Well I know what I'd do.  In the only road traffic accident I've been involved in the first thing I did - after checking I was ok and the other driver was ok - was contact the police.  I didn't do so because another car was involved, I did so because the road needed to be cleared and because it seemed the sensible thing to do anyway.

I must admit I'm not clear what the effects of the recent Highway Code changes are, but I thought the very clear advice in there was that if you suffer a breakdown on the motorway and end up on the hard shoulder (which seems to be what the OP says happened to them) then your first action after safely exiting the car, if you aren't right next to an emergency 'phone, is to call 999 and ask for the police, or have I got that wrong?

If that's the advice for breakdowns on the motorway in the UK, I'm pretty sure I'd expect something similar on the Autobahn.  

And if I were driving a hire car in Germany - or any other foreign country - I'd make damn' sure I understood fully the terms of my insurance.  I note the OP still hasn't come back to confirm whether or not the term Enterprise is relying on is in the insurance they signed up to.

On the three occasions I have had a blow out on the motorway, I have managed to safely get to the hard shoulder quickly without hitting either the safety barrier, even once when another car travelling the other way decided to hit it, and only this occasion did I contact the police, who were full of praise that all three vehicles that suffered tyre damage git off safely with no further damage. Fortunately the other car the hit the crash carrier left his bumper and number plate, and was soon quizzed by the fuzz!

On the two other occasions I called the AA, they removed my damaged tyre and I got home safely.