Driving accident

[LetsGoChamp]

Probably a little outing but my DSis had an accident that wasn’t her fault. Car speeding and not paying attention went into the side of her at an island from the left. Car flipped a few times and she was very lucky to come out basically unharmed.

Police on scene breathalysed the other driver etc.

Will she get charged with anything? I’d like to think so. This was on a quiet street, literally outside a nursery.

From my experience working in motor claims where there were no injuries and no alcohol etc involved, it was usually left with insurance to deal with.

The car shouldn't have been speeding but it's incredibly hard to prove speeding unless she's went through a speed camera or similar. There may be witnesses but the fact is all they can say is it "looks" like she was speeding, none of them will know exactly what speed she was doing as it would be impossible for them to be able to see her speedometer. This is why these cases often go uncharged as if it was to go to court and the driver claimed they were within the speed limit, there's no evidence to say otherwise. There are of course exceptions but the majority of the time this is the case. Not saying it's right but I seen it time and time again.

@slashlover OP means will the other driver be charged.

Sorry for any confusion in my OP. Yes it was the other driver coming from the left (I knew I should of drawn a picture for it)!

Sister checked before pulling off and said the car was far enough away when she was pulling off, she obviously didn’t realise the car was going so fast it’s a 20mph road I think (might be 30mph).

She must of been speeding and not paying attention in my eyes as someone who is aware of the road. You can’t normally even go 20mph coming from the left as there are parked cars along the road and you have to let some out to get though and a zebra crossing and small junction before the mini roundabout. So to hit a car with so much speed it rolls 2 times and then land on its roof is surely too bloody fast!

@slashlover sorry I meant the other driver. They’re both ‘she’ so it’s my own fault for causing the confusion. I’ll call the other driver Mary from now on 😂

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

I'm amazed at the posters who seem quite relaxed about the other driver's part in this. How fast do you have to be going to actually hit a car hard enough to barrel-roll it?! It must have been terrifying.

Bizarrely, not as fast as you'd think: if you clip the other vehicle at the right angle, physics does the rest for you.

Omg - lucky escape for your sister who seems absolutely the innocent party. Hopefully the book will be thrown, but drivers as bad as this other woman usually don't trouble themselves with insurance etc. Still, that might add to the evidence.

[quote LetsGoChamp]@slashlover sorry I meant the other driver. They’re both ‘she’ so it’s my own fault for causing the confusion. I’ll call the other driver Mary from now on 😂[/quote]
You don’t need to call anyone Mary, but if you had referred to your sister as “my sister” and the other driver as “the other driver” instead of calling them both “she” from the start and not differentiating in any way, then your post and subsequent posts might have made a hell of a lot more sense. 🙄

@Lou98 thank you that’s really helpful. And to all the other replies that can understand my rambling thank you all too.

Seems such a shame that you have to severely injure/ kill someone before your bad driving will get you out on a course/ points or conviction.

This could well be a one off and she could be a good driver usually, that and I’m obviously biased as it’s my little sister but it just seems surreal to me that you can put someone in so much danger and the worst that happens is your insurance might go up!

I'd hope the other woman would be charged. She hits another car on a mini roundabout so hard the other car ends up flips a few times. In an urban area as well. That's atrocious driving.

Urban mini roundabouts are accident blackspots in our area. People going straight on never seem to adjust their speed when coming up to them, they just fly straight through at speed.

@Aprilx - clearly apologised and said that it was my fault for the confusion, but thank you for your input.

A family member died as a result of an accident and 3 other passengers severely injured. The driver of the other vehicle came into their lane and was completely at fault didn't even lose their licence so I wouldn't get your sister to hold her breath! Glad she is ok, that must have been terrifying for her.

Thank you @raeroe

The most important thing to us all is that she is okay physically and mentally. Our DM happened to be driving past not long after and after losing our older brother in an accident when he was only young (he was a pedestrian and driver was not at fault at all) I can’t imagine the worry she too must of felt. So we are definitely more grateful that she is okay than wanting anything to come of it, it just seems so unfair that people can get away with it sometimes.

@raeroe - also I’m very sorry to hear about your family member and the other passengers.

She has hit at a perfect angle to roll the car. My BIL rolled his crashing into a gate, it just flicked him over.

She may get a fine or something for driving without due care and attention, perhaps dangerous driving if there's proof she was speeding. But it kinda seems like you want her to "pay for it".

Yes, someone could have died, but someone could die by standing in the wrong place at most accidents. No body did die, or was even properly injured.

It will have been scary for both parties involved but she misjudged your sisters speed and clipped her back end. It happens thousands of times a day. I'd just be glad everyone was OK.

Why does it matter so much? If the police think she was driving badly they'll deal with it. But your sister is OK and that's the important thing.

This happened to me years ago. The other driver was blinded by the sun and didn't see me. She was at fault, but it wasn't her fault.

@Angrypregnantlady rather than get into a debate about all the things that aren’t correct and aren’t relevant in your post I’m just going to say ok and wish you a happy Friday

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply, I think we know where we stand now with it all and won’t bother chasing it down. Whilst it is a shame IMO this is the common practice, as I’ve said above, the most important thing to us is that she’s well physically and mentally, which she mostly is. We’re also glad the other driver didn’t suffer any injuries as we know too well how costly mistakes can be since losing my DB.

[quote LetsGoChamp]@sunflowersandbuttercups do you know why that is? She’s had to have a few days off work her side and arm have been sore but no serious injuries, thank god! Car is a write off. She was legal to drive but my DS car flipped 2/3 times she was obviously giving it some welly.

Surely if we’re not charging these drivers/ giving them points for speeding and causing accidents then next time they could seriously harm/ kill someone.[/quote]
I'm not sure, I'm just going off my own experience. It guess could be different depending on area and whether there's any concrete evidence like CCTV or dashcam footage.

I've rang the police twice after accidents and they've never been remotely interested. The first time I was hit and the other driver didn't stop - they basically said "well, it will just be your word against theirs so there's nothing we can do even if they did stop". Luckily I didn't need to claim on my insurance.

The second time my car was written off - the police attended and both drivers were breathalysed. Again, no injuries or any witnesses (just my word against his) and nothing happened. My insurance dealt with everything and I never heard a thing from the police.

@Moondust001 is doesn’t ‘matter so much’. I asked a question about whether it was likely.

Everyone that has come to tell me the importance of my sister being okay can stop. I am aware.

I was in an accident where the other driver hit me head on, at speed, on the wrong side of the road. She took the corner too fast. Her small car shunted my big one backwards, up the pavement, snapping the rear wheel off. She must have been doing some speed. We were both carted off to hospital, she being cut out of her car.

She went on a driver re-education course. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Speaking as someone with over 10 years experience in the car claims dept, you cant prove the other driver was speeding (although we can agree that they most probably were to cause the car to flip) you have no proof and with regards to her being charged that would be down to the police, and how they see fit as it would be a criminal case not a civil case which a car claim is.

Can’t imagine her being charged. What with? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Other driver is at fault. Should have yielded but didn’t.

@Bunglemom

Thank you. I appreciate the time for your reply. It’s not the end of the world if nothing comes of it, she’s ok that’s the main thing to the family.

@LetsGoChamp

Not a problem 😉

a car is a piece of metal and can be replaced, im just happy your sister is ok..

[quote LetsGoChamp]@Moondust001 is doesn’t ‘matter so much’. I asked a question about whether it was likely.

Everyone that has come to tell me the importance of my sister being okay can stop. I am aware.[/quote]
Wow, rude. You perhaps aren't aware of it - although it has been pointed out by others - but you came across as looking for vengeance. It really doesn't matter - the police will determine whether action needs to be taken. The way you posted sounded like you wanted them to. You do not know whether she was driving badly or not. There can be reasons - as I explained - why something goes wrong. Being at fault is not the same thing as driving dangerously. Perhaps you may be overly sensitive because of your past history, but that is no reason to tell people what they can and cannot say!

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

I'm amazed at the posters who seem quite relaxed about the other driver's part in this. How fast do you have to be going to actually hit a car hard enough to barrel-roll it?! It must have been terrifying.

You don’t need to be going very fast

I hit the side of an elderly ladies car when she drove straight across a junction

My speed limit was 60mph, but I had slowed as I know that junction enough.
I don’t know what my speed was and told the police that I had slowed from 60 and would still be above 50.
They had my skid marks to do their thing and confirm that.

With the force of my full size car into the side of a small granny car hers was pushed sideways and lifted.
If it wasn’t for the opposite car waiting on the giveaway line then I’m certain that I would have flipped her car

Instead we had the front of my car totalled, a corner of the awaiting car and a giant dent in the side of the small car, with her suspended at an angle between us

In the OPs case, we can’t say that the police will prosecute but there was certainly plenty of force involved
If the car from the left just drove straight ahead with momentum assuming the car on the roundabout had cleared then they may not need to have been speeding, (looking to their right and assuming she had passed clear on the left) but if they stopped at the line and then drove then they had slammed their foot down with high acceleration - again not necessarily speeding but at low gear with a lot of force