Car accident.. who is at fault here?

It was his fault, he crashed into the back of you. He should have left enough room for situations such as you stalling.

It doesn't matter that you only passed your test recently. As an experienced driver, he should be driving defensively and paying attention to his surroundings. I remember a few weeks after I passed, I didn't quite manage to get my car into gear on the first try as I hadn't gone from 4th to 5th more than a couple of times in that car - it was very different to the car I learnt in. I was on a road where I had priority and it was clearly marked. A white van aggressively honked me, even though he was expected to give way, just because he was speeding and didn't want to slow down. I managed to accelerate quick enough to avoid a collision, but after that I did invest in a dashcam, having seem how much of a dick some people can be once they're behind the wheel.

His fault 100% . Don’t stress , no way he can remove liability from that . Hope you are ok

Bullshit. OP was stationary and essentially he just chose to drive into the back of her. Sounds like he had plenty of time to stop

Stalling isn't the issue, not applying the brakes is the issue. If a pile up had been caused it would be because he actively didn't brake, and the cars behind him also didn't brake.

OP could have not moved off for any reason, her car breaks down, the exits not clear, she stalls, a child or animal looks like they might run into the road etc etc.

I got beeped the other day by a driver who was angry because I turned right into a driveway that happened to be located just a few yards after the junction where we both pulled out onto the main road - he was behind me. Apparently my perfectly legal manoevre inconvenienced him by a fraction of a second ....🙄Stand your ground OP - there are far too many of these impatient tossers on the road these days.

He drove into you.

How can that ever be your fault?!

Even from stationary at a junction or traffic lights if you drive into someone it's your fault - you don't drive until the person in front of you has moved and you keep a safe distance.

p.s. have you reported to the police - he may already have form for this and police need to be told of road accidents and also for your insurance. He may already have a lot of points on his license and/or no tax or insurance (check on DVLA website with the reg) - hence the reaction you go.

nope. In the Uk, if someone hits a stationary car that they can see its ALWAYS their fault

No, he was at fault as he didn’t leave a safe breaking distance

He should not be assuming anything, he should be driving to what is in front on him, not what he thinks will be. Totally his fault.

But he was a white van so nothing is ever their fault and they are some of the most careless and bullying drivers out there.

Oh behave. Everybody stalls very occasionally, especially when under pressure. Don’t be mean.

Yeah police told me that once when someone went into me. Only exception he said is when someone nips into a too small gap and the person behind goes into them.

OP van driver is an arsehole. Not your fault.

However, I can understand his anger as stalling on a major road is so dangerous.

Not taking action to reduce your speed and allow appropriate stopping distances, especially in busy main roads, is incredibly dangerous.

The van driver was driving in a dangerous way. He chose not to take action which would have reduced the likelihood of hitting the op.

The OP's actions were a simple accident, which can happen to anyone. The van driver's inaction was not accidental.

Oh and as someone who has to cross a rural dual carriageway, I always slightly over rev when starting off as you absolutely don't want to stall in the line of 70mph traffic

Don't be ridiculous. Even a very experienced driver of many years can stall occasionally!

The van driver who crashed into her is by far the most dangerous driver in this situation.

Stopping distances exist for a reason. Even an experienced driver should be taking these into account, observing there is a stopped car and adjusting their speed accordingly. Experienced drivers should know this.

It's his fault but when you give your account be sure to say you indicated before stopping and not the other way round. I assume this is what you meant and you were already stationary but wording matters.

Work in insurance claims. If someone goes into the back of you it's never your fault in the eyes of your insurance company!

To be fair many people don't feel really confident just 3 months after passing their test.

And even more question their actions, even when it's not their fault, and don't feel confident straight after their first car accident.

He's to blame.

should anything like this happen again you could try doing what I did. I was at a busy roundabout but stopped at lights and I could see this van coming up much too fast behind me, clocked a couple of guys in it laughing so not paying enough attention. I leaned on my horn as I couldn't go anywhere. Van skidded to a halt just short of my bumper. Think I probably gave some of the other drivers a heart attack or made them wonder "what's that looney doing?" but I didn't get hit and that's all that mattered to me.

Definitely 100% his fault.

Report to your insurers and let them deal with it all.
Do not engage with him directly if he tries to contact you. He sounds like a bully.

Tough. Lesson no. 1 in driving is never make any assumptions like that. You could see the oncoming traffic and the road to your right better than he could, his possible belief that there was a gap you could have used didn't mean that he could assume that you would go - there might have been something or someone in the road, the gap could have been smaller than he thought, your car might have developed a fault and failed to move, etc etc etc.

He's a bad driver who wasn't keeping a proper lookout, and he is clearly trying to bully you into accepting liability. Pass it all on to your insurers with a full account of what happened and stop worrying.

Yeah absolutely his fault. Honestly being a new driver means nothing, I’ve just got a new car and stall it at least once every journey!

This happened to me just before Christmas. Very similar.
Highway code states that it is the fault of the person behind. They need to stay at a safe distance in case the person in front crashes, stalls, stops etc.
he wasn't keeping a safe distance. End of.

In the end his insurance paid and all was well.

He’s at fault.

Adding to the chorus of people, quite correctly, stating that he is 100% liable.
I can imagine it must have been very scary for you. Please don't let it damage your confidence.
Anyone can stall. That still doesn't make it your fault.