Side Swiped by Foreign Driver

terrierlady

Today minding my own i was side swiped by a large Lorry forcing me into the central reservation and back out into the traffic.... not too badly hurt, police on scene tell me happening 3/4 times a week on midland motorways, my question is how difficult is it likely to be to claim on insurance the driver said he spoke no english dispite saying sorry to me in english before the police arrived, has this happened to anyone else?:mad:

andyrules

There was a programme about this recently - 'Killer Lorries'. http://www.itv.com/News/tonight/episodes/KillerLorries/default.html

I believe that the language barrier is sometimes used as a get out.
I would definitely claim - do you have the legal cover as well?

What a frightening experience for you. Are you OK?

terrierlady

yes just stiff in legs and back but hey im alive just the car written off thanks for asking, yes im insured but just wonder how difficult its going to be the police seemed to think it was difficult to claim too.

mandi

Im really glad to hear your ok ... this is happening on our motorways, everyday... Drivers from abroad have a Blind spot , and CANNOT see you if they pull out , people are being killed.......... youve been really lucky, but it wont stop it happening again this week to someone else...

The government need to look into this URGENTLY

andyrules

Did anyone stop, ie were there any witnesses? i don't think you'll have a problem as this seems to be an increasingly common occurrence, alarmingly, and I'm sure the damage speaks for itself. Just let your legal department sort it out, but don't expect a speedy outcome

terrierlady

yes your right strange thing was we were all slowing down as there was accident further up the motorway so why he pulled from the inside lane into the middle i dont know, being high up he would have seen the traffic ahead better than us in the car and plus we all know that usally if all lanes slowing down problem ahead so no point in swopping lanes still as i said im ok /think i am so far,just the car finished off.really just a warning to all be careful of them
Witness behind stated he didnt want to get involved but thought he saw the lorry spin me.....

mandi

Terrier Lady, I hope you can claim , and No I dont think it will be easy . many of theses drivers, dont even have their Tachgraphs running , and some have driven for up to 17 hours without a break ... many of them drive vehicles with would fail an MOT in the UK .. Its scarey !!!



Best of luck , and really am glad your safe and well

Dan29

terrierlady wrote: »

Witness behind stated he didnt want to get involved

What an awful person.

I had a Lithuanian lorry roll back into my car in stationary traffic on the motorway last year. The damage was too minor to be worth getting my insurance company involved, but I didn't manage to get the company to pay up myself.

In your case I would just give all the details to your insurance company and let them deal with it all; I'm sure they've had similar cases before as it's becoming quite a well known problem unfortunately (it was featured on 5th Gear on Channel Five a couple of years ago).

beaker141

Its a shame the goverment, as usual, takes the easy way out of issues like this - and why wouldnt they when they can whack us brits for more and more taxes (road tax up again, petrol up big style) - more parking fines, more speeding fines etc.

Vehicles entering this country should be logged (not hard either, you cant really smuggle a lorry in like you can an immigrant) in and then logged back out, with a daily charge at least equivalent to our road tax made, perhaps a 50% premium on top. This might reduce the number of foreign truckers causing accidents like this and give some work back to british truckers.

tomstickland

My top tip is to not draw level with a lorry if it looks like they might be catching up with another vehicle. Hang back then overtake. I was forced onto the grass on a dual lane sliproad when a lorry pulled out in a similar manner to that described by the OP. I did have a bit of an uneasy feeling as I approached, so there must have been some clues there.

andyrules

beaker141 wrote: »

Its a shame the goverment, as usual, takes the easy way out of issues like this - and why wouldnt they when they can whack us brits for more and more taxes (road tax up again, petrol up big style) - more parking fines, more speeding fines etc.

Vehicles entering this country should be logged (not hard either, you cant really smuggle a lorry in like you can an immigrant) in and then logged back out, with a daily charge at least equivalent to our road tax made, perhaps a 50% premium on top. This might reduce the number of foreign truckers causing accidents like this and give some work back to british truckers.

Like your sentiment, but don't you think drivers would be eager to ensure they log up the least time possible?