Car accident. So confused??? Looking for reassure for my dad.

[Daughter96]

About 2 weeks ago my parents and brother were involved in a car accident, their care was totalled in the accident. Everyone was generally banged up but nothing serious, however, the other driver received a dislocated shoulder.
My dad has taken it very badly, he was in shock for a while after and now incredible down because he is worried about what will happen.
From what my parents and brother say, my dad was pulling out into a road that has a mini roundabout, he looked but saw nothing coming. This road is a bit dangerous as it has a bit of a blind spot as the road from where other car came is blocked by parked cars on either side of the road.
Half way round this mini roundabout a car came out of nowhere it slammed on the breaks even though he did break as there are two massive skid marks on the road, he still hit my dads car spinning it around and pushed it across the road. It hit the car between the drivers and back passengers door which made it spin round. I don't want to say what the make of my dad or the other car is but my dad's car is an estate car and very heavy and the other car was smaller and lighter, which suggest, to me, that the other car was going too fast.
Anyway, while this happened my brother, managed to get hold of my grandparent who came down and helped. my Granda took the car camera down ready to give to the police when they came. However, the women behind the other car was an off-duty police officer, states she saw the accident and it was my dad's fault. Because of this my grandad refused to give her the camera as she was now a witness and she shouldnt have anything to do with the evidence. (my grandad is an ex-policemen so understood procedure)
The off-duty policewomen then went around telling all other witnesses that it was my dads fault and she was a policewoman, my mum seems to think this was very unprofessional and hindered them getting witnesses. ( my mum is also an ex policewoman)
So now my dad is in a state, will not eat or talk, determined he will lose his license and be unable to take my mum to her hospital appointments (she is disabled now) and will go to prison. The policeman at the scene said he will leave it to the insurance company to sort out. But he does want a statement from everyone because this policewoman told them it was my dad's fault even though the care was definitely going too fast. Also, it is highly unlikely that she saw the other car from where she was because she was behind and her vision was obscured.

The info op has given and my interpretation. Obviously it's all random internet supposition.

Poor visibility on a mini roundabout. Dad in an estate car is half way round after checking. Gets hit in the middle of his car.
If small car was at the roundabout ready to join it as suggested, he'd have hit the front of the car or not at all as he should have been able to apply the brakes in time, beep his horn and swear like a trooper at the fuckwit who just pulled out on him.

But, there are skid marks on the road for the length of 3 cars in small cars approach to the mini roundabout, still hasn't been able to stop and has hit a considerably larger car with such force he's physically shunted it.

I drive a big estate, no way would a small car driving at normal speed coming onto a mini roundabout be able to move me.

But I wasn't there so it could indeed be dad's fault!

He is only worried about losing his license as he need to take my disabled mum to hospital appointments. He is in his early 40s, no medical conditions doesn't need glasses either

Being devils advocate no one will know if it is that vehicles skid marks. There won't have been any crash investigation done for such a minor accident so they could be a red herring.

And if the policewoman was driving right behind that driver then that suggests to me that wouldn't have been driving excessively fast as he would have been pulling away from her (if she was slowing for the roundabout) But that's my own supposition.

Mini roundabouts don't have much room (stating the obvious!!) so my interpretation is that the other driver was on the roundabout when the op's dad pulled out. The front of car to the middle of the vehicle isn't that huge a distance so perfectly feasible for the driver to have struck him there but that's my interpretation of the events.

The best the op can probably hope for is 50/50,

It sounds like it may be your dads fault but regardless of that unless he was driving dangerously which it doesn't sound like then nothing is goi f to happen to him. My car was written off a few months ago when a driver went into me. He accepted he was at fault and I had my car paid out for in 24 hours from his insurance company. As best I know he had protected no claims and no points have been given to him so really no consequences. I'm fine with that, it was an accident and that's what insurance is for. I had a bit of whiplash and shock but fine now, no payment for that needed. Your dad will be fine.

But it seems that from the skid marks show that the other car, when it did break was three car away from the junction and went over the round about and went over hitting my dads car

Apparently, if the man had not of been speeding, and hit his breaks he could have passed safely behind my dad car.

These statements totally contradict each other.

I'd agree with Nicknacky.
If the car was driving with excessive speed then there wouldn't be a car behind within seeing distance unless they were also driving with excessive speed, in which case it's likely that the car behind would have ploughed into both of them.

He's not going to get sent to prison unless there's something the Op isn't saying.
He may get points, but if he hasn't got points already then he's unlikely to be given 12 in one go for such a small prang, so won't lose his licence.
If he has already got points, and this takes him over 12, then he can probably plead that he needs the licence for the hospital appointments. Which is a stupid loophole, but people have got away with many more than 12 points.

Sorry, i got a bit confused about when i was writing. The policewomen was behind my dad not the other car.

My dad also has no prior car accidents in the 20 years he has been driving which is why i think he has been so worried. He has never been in a proper accident before.

Exactly MaxPepsi!

OP, the fact your dad's car was hit on the rear passenger door also suggests that he was well and truly on the mini roundabout when the car hit him. Adding in the skid marks and the force with which the other car hit your dad I think it's a no brainer as to fault here.

Surely if no car was visible to your dad when he drove onto the roundabout, then no car was visible. He wasn't to know that a car would be along moments later and hit his car - if the visibility is such that it appears that there is nothing there then you need to go. If you think that you better hover for a moment in case a car comes - fast or slow - then you would be there forever as you'd never be able to see enough distance to safely go.

Maybe the thing to get your dad to do is to talk to the local council/road traffic safety people/??? about the poor visibility at the junction due to the parked cars and to see if they could get better double yellow lines or no parking signs around the mini roundabout so that everybody can safely approach and see the roundabout and other users on it. Not least because if the OP's dad didn't see the other car, then there's a chance that the other car didn't see the dad's car when they thought that they could see that the way across around the mini roundabout was clear so hadn't adjusted their speed in time as they should have done if they had been able to see the mini roundabout better.

Would it be worth taking your dad back to the roundabout with somebody else driving so that he can see how bad the visibility was, what the timings involved were likely to be (fleeting moments rather than seconds or minutes!). Even get out and watch the junction from the pavement and see how the traffic flows and if there are any close calls or bad parking or whatever. Just make sure that he does that after you've all written your accounts of what happened. And if you didn't get a chance to take pictures, then take pictures, especially of the skid marks, so that you can illustrate your reports. Also take film of the area and a film of sitting in the front seat and going around the roundabout normally - especially if there is a car parked in the same place as there was when the accident happened - so that the two can be compared and the insurers (and more important maybe - your dad) can see that when he set off, there was nothing to suggest that there was a car coming and that it started off exactly the same for the accident as for a normal uneventful trip around the roundabout.

There seems to be something affecting loads of bad drivers at the moment - in the last week I've seen some appalling driving - including cars coming the wrong way down a one-way street - twice - this week, both of whom have taken umbrage when I flashed them to point out they were being dangerous!

Just out of interest - was the off duty policewoman still at the junction of the road and the roundabout, or had she started to drive onto the roundabout too?

Chances are that she hadn't started to pull onto the roundabout, but just in case she had, then that would also help your dad and is worth checking on any film or photos of the event...

Also agree with MaxPepsi. Where the OP's dad's car was hit, combined with the fact that the other driver braked hard before reaching the roundabout, certainly seems to indicate that he (the dad) was on the roundabout first, doesn't it?

Accidents happen, it's what insurance is for.

But why did the Policeman take the dashcam? It doesn't sound like it's a police matter, so they should return it to your Dad so he can send it to his insurer and hopefully put his mind at rest!

Your poor parents. I think it'll probably go 50/50 (though it sounds to me as if the other driver's was to blame).

I think the insurance companies will sort it out and there will be no penalty points attached.

But two things ... it sounds as if your dad is very anxious about this indeed, so perhaps (once the dust settles) he should consider a short driving course, to improve his confidence.
Also, I think the off-duty policewoman was out of order to the point of breaking the law (trying to influence witness accounts of the accident) and I think your parents should inform their insurance company of this and complain.

Hope they are all recovered soon and your dad can just put this behind him.

I have attended 100s of RTCs over the years. The amount of people who swear that the person they pulled out in front of wasn't there when they started to pull out is comical - of course they were there else they couldn't have hit you. We all have lapses of concentration or judgement - these things happen all too often which is why it is unlikely to be of interest to the police and why we have insurance.

As much as the policewoman may not have been professional - she has shown her warrant card and gave her collar number so is unlikely to be involved in a cash for crash scenario. This is highly unlikely to be anything sinister - that usually involves slamming on so the car behind hits you as this is clear cut without any ambiguity.

The other driver may have been speeding - you will never prove that though. I would be extremely surprised from the facts you have given on here if this would go anyway other than your dad at fault.

However, that's not what you posted for. Your dad WILL NOT go to prison for this. He is extremely unlikely to even get points. It will be a battle between the insurance companies and at worst he will have to pay his excess and lose his no claims.

I work in car insurance OP.

Firstly, if your dad is anxious anyway, GP would be a good idea.

WRT the accident - the likelihood of your dad getting points is minimal - same as any kind of prosecution. There are no major injuries and the police are unlikely to investigate further.
Who's fault the incident was isn't something the police generally deal with as it's a civil matter. They deal with the legal side things - like if there is any driving without due care or attention / dangerous driving etc, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

Liability wise, it does seem like your dad will be held at fault - the other car came from the right, he needs to give way to the right, the damage supports this.
The other driver speeding doesn't really factor unfortunately - if he has right of way, his speed is irrelevant.
Also, to prove speeding contributed, the police would need to prosecute the other driver and they don't have grounds or proof to do this.

Let the insurance deal with it. Your dads excess will need to be paid (or deducted from settlement if his car is written off) and his no claims bonus will be effected.

This is exactly what he pays his premiums for.

Jux, on a roundabout, you have to give way to the right. If the other car was coming from the right, and hit OP's Dad, he should have given way to it. If it was approaching the roundabout, from his right as he approached, he shouldn't have entered the roundabout. Not seeing it in time, does not mean he did not have to give way. That said, it was a mistake, we all make them, and as I said before, he is very unlikely to be prosecuted for it.

It'll either be a no-fault claim, or a 50-50, depending on the wrangling of the insurance company. DP is in car insurance. No chance whatsoever of prison or losing licence.