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AIBU?

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Original poster

Driver not admitting fault, where do i stand?!

121 replies

Rose19911991x · 13/07/2021 21:30

My lights were on green and i was going straight across the road as a car came speeding into me from the left hand side. He claims i was stationary in the yellow box but the traffic was flowing infront of me. He was speeding and not taking any notice of the road and must of came over on amber . As soon as he got out of ths car he had his phone in his hand which made me wonder if thats why he didnt see me. There was a witness around who didnt actually see the crash happen but said it looked 50:50 as i was in the box which i was but i was in flowing traffic not stand still so i had to be 'in the box' to go through the road. You can see from the damage to my car that the driver was speeding.

Driver at fault wanted to go down the 50:50 route as soon as the witness started to say her opinion but she didnt see the crash or his speed she just looked after the crash and saw he hit me whilst i was in the yellow box. driver at fault was saying he would be happy to go down that route to the witness but she didnt see the crash happen or see how he was speeding so I'm not agreeing as he went into me during flowing traffic and was speeding. I had my 6 week old baby in the car with me im a careful driver and dont take chances.(thankfully shes fine)

Where do i stand?
If there hadnt of been a yellow box he would be at fault, but because i was passing through a yellow box everyone seems to think its his word againt mine.

His car was small bumper damage but hes wrote mine off? Im panicking. Please help?

OP posts:
19lottie82 · 13/07/2021 21:34

I take it you’ve contacted your insurance?
Just let them deal with it.

TBH unless you have definite proof that the other driver was 100% at fault (dashcam?) then the likelihood is, it will be declared as
a 50/50.

nonsensenow · 13/07/2021 21:35

He's hit your car in the side? How can that ever be your fault?

Mysa74 · 13/07/2021 21:36

Did you call the police or get any photos op? If it were me I'd not agree to anything until speaking to my insurance company. I'd definately not say something was my fault if it wasn't.
I'd move the thread to legal if I were you xx

30degreesandmeltinghere · 13/07/2021 21:37

I would suggest to the police they check timings of his phone usage.. Report him for using it...
Imo.

Mysa74 · 13/07/2021 21:38

Also, if he's gone into the dose of you he's driving without due care and attention if nothing else...

Proudmumtoday · 13/07/2021 21:39

Just go through your insurance and let them sort it out.

DocsOddSocks · 13/07/2021 21:40

@Rose19911991x I'm not too sure but I didn't want to read and run. I'm so glad you and baby are okay. How scary! Flowers

Proudmumtoday · 13/07/2021 21:40

And you’re told not to admit fault at the scene by insurance companies.

MythsandSparkles · 13/07/2021 21:41

Your lights were on green and he’s hit you in the side of your car - how can that be your fault.

Even if you had been stationary int he yellow box it still wouldn’t be your fault he hit you because you were stationary and he should have been able to avoid hitting a stationary car.

I mean, you don’t just merrily crash into people parked on double yellows and get away with it being their fault because they shouldn’t have parked there do you?!

Floralnomad · 13/07/2021 21:42

Just let your insurance deal with it . The issue with a box junction is that you are legally not supposed to enter it unless your exit is clear so even though you say you were in a line of slow moving traffic in theory you shouldn’t have been there ( even though almost everybody else does what you have done which is enter the box if the traffic is moving ) .

Watchingyou2sleezes · 13/07/2021 21:50

Always deny any liability, get as clear a picture as you can truthfully make of the incident in your mind before filling in details etc.
Regardless of you possibly being in the yellow box when you shouldn't have, I doubt anyone would think that a reasoned response from another driver should be to crash into you for the hell of it. Their duty was to drive to the circumstances as presented not how they think it should have been.

50/50 often only rears it's ugly head when you both have an insurance company in common, if you're absolutely sure you've been done over make sure that you let your insurance company know that you'd be willing to attend any civil court hearings necessary in settling the matter.

lollypoppi · 13/07/2021 21:55

In cases where it's not clear they'll end up saying it's 50/50 and you both claim your own insurance.

Happened to my dh years ago, someone changed lane and hit the front/side of his car as there wasn't enough room for them to come in. He wouldn't admit liability and it dragged out for months insurance eventually came to an agreement with his which was both to claim their own insurance. It's ridiculous but insurance companies don't really care that much about u losing ur no claims or paying the excess etc.

I've had a couple of claims. 1 was for someone pulling out infront of me at a roundabout. Where the damage was to the cars the insurance company right away said it's a no fault claim. DH also had the same when someone pulled out from a junction and he hit them. Those type of claims seem to be more straight forward re liability.

Caramellatteplease · 13/07/2021 21:56

174
Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road (download ‘Road markings’). You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear.

Floralnomad is absolutely right. Your actions were against 174 of the highway code. Legally you shouldn't have been there anymore than he should. I'd be deeply surprised if this came out anything other than 50/50 especially if the report you put into you insurance company reads the same as you put here.

Everyone who said you did nothing wrong (from a legal perspective) need brushing up on their highway code!!!

billyt · 13/07/2021 22:08

@Caramellatteplease

174 Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road (download ‘Road markings’). You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear.

Floralnomad is absolutely right. Your actions were against 174 of the highway code. Legally you shouldn't have been there anymore than he should. I'd be deeply surprised if this came out anything other than 50/50 especially if the report you put into you insurance company reads the same as you put here.

Everyone who said you did nothing wrong (from a legal perspective) need brushing up on their highway code!!!

Who's to say that the flowing traffic OP has mentioned wasn't clear of the yellow box in which case they would be entitled to enter it as their exit from it would be clear? OP says the traffic was flowing, not queuing.
KrisAkabusi · 13/07/2021 22:11

Driver at fault wanted to go down the 50:50 route

It's got nothing to do with what the driver wants. It's down to what the insurance company (or the police) decide.

Caramellatteplease · 13/07/2021 22:12

On a more direct answer of what you should do, yy to pass the whole thing onto your insurance company. Personally I'd claim for my damage too as theres is going to be a claim anyway. You should get half your excess back. If you NCD is protected you wont lose it for one claim, even if it isnt most insurance companies you will only lose one or two years.

Liability is entirely governed by the highway code and what was the "proximate cause" of the accident. 50/50 isnt unusual and isnt in any way related to whether it's the same insurance company or not ConfusedHmm you being willing to attend court or not makes absolutely not a jot of difference. Your insurance company has a responsibility not to run up unjustified costs, it wont take anything to court it cant win.

And sometimes how we drive naturally doesn't match the highway code. It's a bugger

Caramellatteplease · 13/07/2021 22:14

enter it as their exit from it would be clear

The OP does not say the exit was free. Flowing freely doesn't mean free. I'm guessing the witness confirms this

Purplewithred · 13/07/2021 22:14

even if you shouldn’t have been in the box, for a driver to t-bone you would indicate they were going far too fast to stop or not paying due attention.

Let your insurance company deal: don't have anything to do with the other driver.

AFS1 · 13/07/2021 22:15

If the traffic in front of OP’s car was flowing then she is entitled to be moving through the yellow box. She can’t avoid driving through it! Even if the traffic was stopped and she was blocking the yellow box, it doesn’t give someone else the right to plough into her car. Her lights were green, which I assume means that the other driver ran a red light and rammed into the side of her moving car.

OP, just leave your insurers to sort it out. They may settle at 50/50, but on your description of simply driving through the yellow box behind a line of moving cars, you did nothing wrong.

dementedpixie · 13/07/2021 22:18

But you need to drive through the yellow box to get past it. OP said her car was moving. Regardless, you can't just ram into someone whether they are in the box or not

dementedpixie · 13/07/2021 22:19

@Caramellatteplease

enter it as their exit from it would be clear

The OP does not say the exit was free. Flowing freely doesn't mean free. I'm guessing the witness confirms this

The witness never saw the crash, only the aftermath
Caramellatteplease · 13/07/2021 22:21

^174
Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road (download ‘Road markings’). You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear^

was flowing then she is entitled to be moving through the yellow box.
As above no shes not. The exit actually has to be clear before you enter the box. Although most people dont stick to it is there in the highway code

He went through the lights illegally so shouldn't have been able to hit her but actually she entered the box illegally so she shouldn't have been there to be hit. 50/50

Dddccc · 13/07/2021 22:22

The lights might have cameras for evidence

msbevvy · 13/07/2021 22:22

If there's a yellow box is there a camera?
Not sure how you could access the footage but maybe your insurers will be able to investigate it for you.

Somerford · 13/07/2021 22:23

50/50 often only rears it's ugly head when you both have an insurance company in common

Not true.

Also, 50/50 doesn't mean that you each bear your own costs. It means that the other insurance company pays half of your costs and your insurer pays half of theirs.