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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I've just hit someone with my car. He's ok, but was I at fault?

321 replies

LimeLeaf · 25/04/2016 16:52

Just to say first that I was going less than 5mph and he walked away relatively(?) unhurt but I'm very upset about it and wondering if I was at fault.

I was at the bottom of a road which is very steep, at the junction where it meets a very busy main road. I was turning left onto the main road and looking right for a gap in the traffic. I'd been waiting a minute or so.

A car appeared on the main road and stopped, waiting to turn right onto the road I was on. A lorry to my right then stopped on the main road and gave way to allow me to turn left in front of him and the car on the main road to turn right past him onto the road I was on.

I started to release my foot from the brake as its a very steep road so I could roll forward before putting my foot on the gas. The car started moving forward and the man was right in front of my car and it hit him. He must have been on the pavement to the left of me and had tried to cross in front of my car but I didn't see him because I was looking right. He must have been walking quickly because he was already half way across the front of my car and I was already looking forward when I began to take my foot off the brake. As soon as I saw him I put my foot back down on the brake hard. I had moved maybe 3-5 inches but as he was walking so close to my car, it hit him.

He stumbled but kept walking across and then looked back at me and started shouting whilst I sat there in complete shock. The lorry waited for me to set off again even though I was shocked and nervous to drive immediately. He then turned around and kept walking.

I'm so upset about this. I've never hit anyone with my car before and feel very bad about it. Was I at fault do you think or was the man? Is there anything I need to do now?

OP posts:

sjojolove · 26/04/2016 11:37

I think it was your fault and if you feel so bad about it maybe you should report it somehow?

coffeeisnectar · 26/04/2016 11:40

I'm not going to tell you it's your fault because that point's been hammered repeatedly on here.

I actually feel you've been given a bloody hard time on this thread. Yes, you should've looked left, I think that's possibly been established without it being repeated over and over but what sort of idiot just walks across a road when there are two cars trying to turn in different directions, both across where you are trying to walk?

I think the pedestrian is totally in the wrong. The road is for cars. You can't just walk across the road as a pedestrian and expect cars to be able to spot and stop in time. At some point, if you continue to wander across the road willy nilly the chances are one of these vehicles is going to hit you. This idiot was just lucky that you were travelling at low speed.

I hope you're ok. I really understand how shaken you must feel. I very nearly hit a 5 year old who shot out between two parked cars one day, I literally stopped within a foot of him and was very shaken by it. I opened the window and told the boy off, told him he was very silly and his dad had a go at me. I lost it and shouted at him, told him he's lucky I was aware enough of his kids fucking about on the pavement and had stopped in time and perhaps he should teach them some road safety before they ended up dead. I have never been so scared.

Jessbow · 26/04/2016 11:40

Strange that your daughter saw him coming and you didn't. If she saw him coming and knows he didn't even pause at the kerb, she realised he was there, she saw him! You didn't!

if he was injured, you'd prob get 'undue care and attention'- be glad that he wasn't.

Original poster

LimeLeaf · 26/04/2016 11:46

Thanks everyone for the further replies.

Jess, she will have seen him because he was right at her side. I was at that point concentrating on the gap I was about to pull into having already made the decision that it was safe to pull out and was moving already. He was at the very least walking fast, probably jogging or running because he wasn't in my line of vision when I was checking the road and watching the vehicle turning right and the gap. He was very quickly in front of my car.

OP posts:

sleeponeday · 26/04/2016 11:48

Agree with coffeeisnectar. Roads are actually for cars and pedestrians, but given the greater vulnerability of being on foot, someone crossing needs to watch what the cars are doing when crossing at a busy junction - and the best way to do that is to bloody well use a pedestrian crossing, not dart across at will.

Drivers are all human. Not one single person behind the wheel hasn't done what you did, many times. Usually, they get lucky. Sure, you should have checked for a pedestrian or cyclist - every time. But nobody manages to do that every time, I don't believe someone claiming they have never, ever, made a stupid mistake when driving.

I'm sorry you had such a horrible shock, and I'm glad the guy was okay.

MagratGarlikAgain · 26/04/2016 11:48

Not stopping at the scene of an accident (and not reporting) can mean 5-10 penalty points and can even mean a driving ban, even if the other party in the accident is not in a vehicle themselves.

DH was the victim of a hit and run driver a few months ago. The driver left him lying in the middle of a country road with a broken ankle.

YvaineStormhold · 26/04/2016 11:50

Jaywalking is not allowed, is it?

Report it anyway, OP, just to cover yourself. You'll feel better if you do.

Mousefinkle · 26/04/2016 11:54

This happened to me a couple of months ago except I was the one that got hit. Well, my DD (4) was in the direct path of the car because she was holding onto the pram. It bumped very lightly into her and the pram but thankfully nobody was hurt. Basically it's a crossing at a junction that leads onto a roundabout iykwim with two lanes, first car let us go but the second car didn't see us and I think the driver wasn't looking TBH, a bit away with the fairies early in the morning. She was lovely about it but it was a massive shock for all of us and since then I have to make sure BOTH cars have acknowledged us before I cross.

So yes, you were at fault for not looking.

Justontherightsideofnormal · 26/04/2016 11:55

I opened my car door without checking out side a newsagents about 15 years ago....... It hit a bike. Well the biker was riding along with shopping bags on his handle bars and not holding on shopping everywhere, man and bike sprawled out across the road. He claimed he was ok and off he went, I got into my car and drove home ......... Couldn't get the car door open , it was completely distorted. Car was brand new and I was 8 months pregnant that was my karma in hindsight maybe I should have reported it.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 26/04/2016 12:01

Magrat - you are of course right, but is there much point stopping at the scene of the accident if the "victim" doesn't? Of course, in your DH's case, they should have - but in the OP's case, the man carried on walking, didn't stop. So what on earth use would it have been for the OP to have stopped?

However, I do think it might be an idea to log it with the police, just in case it comes back to bite you at any point - just call the non-emergency number, tell them what happened, they'll tell you if it needs to be logged and give you a reference number if it does.

MagratGarlikAgain · 26/04/2016 12:07

But in that situation, Thumb, wouldn't the correct course of action be to report it to the police, as according to the link I posted earlier upthread. The chances are, if the pedestrian does nothing, she wouldn't hear anything more about it, but if the pedestrian reports and she doesn't she makes herself vulnerable to more issues such as a "failure to report" charge.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 26/04/2016 12:26

Well yes, which is why I agreed that it would be a good idea to log it with the police!

MagratGarlikAgain · 26/04/2016 12:34

Oh right, I read that as being a separate point iyswim.

angelos02 · 26/04/2016 12:41

Justontherightside if he was cycling without holding on he would have had almost zero control of the bike. I saw a lad cycling along with both hands in his pockets this morning. What an idiot.

mumof4lovelysons · 26/04/2016 12:43

Haven't read all the posts LimeLeaf but I reckon you must be feeling rather shaken by the incident and by the fact a lot of people think you are at fault! So I asked my DH (a retired police insp) who would be responsible in this case. He says that criminally the man is at fault because he must cross a road only when it is safe to do so and therefore he could be charged with jaywalking. For insurance purposes you would be held responsible for not taking appropriate care and attention on the road. Personally I think if the man had not stepped out in front of your car in the 1st place (which was a stupid thing to do at the junction of a busy road) there would be no case to answer for either party. Men ... always thinking they are indestructable!!
Hope this helps make you feel a little better

ZestyMaximus · 26/04/2016 12:47

I think you answered your own question when you put 'I've just hit someone'. You hit him, he didn't hit you.

StKildasNun · 26/04/2016 12:59

Good.someone says it's his fault.
Anyone who walks so close to the front of a car sitting on a steep slope that if it moves 3 inches it touches them HAS to be partly to blame.

Notagainmun · 26/04/2016 13:05

Technically your fault but the pedestrian was an idiot. I would log it with police but stress that he walked off and refused to engage in conversation with you. Have a strong sweet tea now and a large wine this evening.

Original poster

LimeLeaf · 26/04/2016 13:19

mum, yes, that does make me feel a little better, as have the posters who have said they can see how this happens, shared their similar stories and not blamed me off the bat. So thank you all. That's not to say I don't understand the harsher posts. I have appreciated everyone taking the time to reply.

I have been to the police station with my documents. The lady dealing with me was very nice. I explained what happened and she said not to worry about it for now and they'll get in touch if necessary. She even said it will teach him to be more careful. I'm feeling ever so slightly better and have been able to eat for the first time since it happened. I'm still feeling bad about it though.

OP posts:

DogMa1 · 26/04/2016 13:22

Could be wrong but I thought you only had to tell the police if, to the best of your knowledge, someone was injured. As far as she is aware no-one was injured. The pedestrian had left the scene of the accident so LimeLeaf was free to do so too. You can't exchange details with someone who isn't there anymore!

The cheating Bastards Insurance Company are a different matter. I would tell them because they will use ANYTHING to avoid paying out (in my experience) up to and including cancelling your policy retrospectively.

Danger - anecdote warning I has 3 people hit me from behind in a six month period but the only things they had in common was that they involved 2 cars on a road. Different times, places, traffic conditions, circumstances, everything. No claims were made against my insurance and each driver accepted that it wasn't my fault by paying for the repairs! When I notified them at renewal time the insurers Sun Alliance moved me into a higher risk driver category "because I must have been doing something" to make people hit me. I kept my no claims because I hadn't made a claim but had to pay far higher premiums for several years . I'm now with Direct line who were lovely when an "under the influence" driver wrote off my correctly parked, unoccupied car last year

Spandexpants007 · 26/04/2016 13:39

you should have been looking both ways

MummyBex1985 · 26/04/2016 13:40

OP you did exactly the right thing. I'd have notified the police too. Maybe he was drunk or maybe he won't take it further, but it was an accident, no harm done and you haven't tried to hide anything.

My DHs friend knocked an elderly man off his scooter once, he drove into her car from the side of the road... She checked he was ok and helped the man home (his son was nearby) but was subsequently arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident because she didn't report it and the chap sadly died as a result of his fall

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 26/04/2016 13:41

Lime - good choice to go to the police. Glad they're being sensible about it all! :)

Spandexpants007 · 26/04/2016 13:42

It wasn't j walking because OPs was initially static and it was safe to cross. The problem lies in op not looking both ways. Drivers need to observe and look for cars, people, bikes.

Original poster

LimeLeaf · 26/04/2016 13:47

To be honest spandex, even if I'd seen him at the moment he stepped off the pavement, I'm not sure it would have made a difference. I was rolling on the brakes down a very steep slope so it takes longer to stop. He'd clearly already made the decision to cross in the few inch gap between me and the main road, he walked/ran across the white junction markings. I was already committed to the manoeuvre having decided it was safe since there were no pedestrians on the pavement at the time I had passed it. Even if I'd seen him, I would still have expected him to stop at the pavement since my car was blocking it anyway.

OP posts:

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