Potential car incident

[Hmpf]

Argh I don’t what to do. I’m so worried.

I was taking my eldest to his youth group. There is a few ways to get there. One includes main roads, another is a country road. I opted for the country road. A road I usually take and cuts out a fair chunk and it’s very quiet.

Half way down the road another car was coming towards me in the middle of the road. I moved as far left as I could but there is a ditch my side. I stayed stationary allowing the other car to pass safely if they were to move over a little. Only they didn’t slow down or move over! The continued hurtling towards me in the middle of the road. I veered a little more left doing maybe 2mph to avoid them colliding with me then remained stationary again. The road is 60mph and at a guess he was doing at least 50mph, he was going pretty fast. Unfortunately he hit my wing mirror with a thunk. My wing mirror is electronic and fine, just a small scuff. The man who was driving became very aggressive, honking his horn, swearing and got out the car. I didn’t feel safe. I left the scene as I was terrified. I have called 101 who said I’ve done the right thing by leaving and prioritising my safety but didn’t take any details. I don’t know if they had a dash cam or anything as they drove passed me very fast then stopped suddenly as he hit me. I don’t have one, I am going to get one now!

Its a very quiet country road, perfectly wide enough for two cars/vans to pass each other with care. There is good vision of the road with very low hedges. There is a few sharp bends which are a little harder to see others but again it impossible to see. The incident happened on a straight part. I had just passed a sharp bend where I waited at a safe place so the other car could pass me.

I just don’t know what to do, I’m so scared. It’s only a few minutes from my house so I am likely to pass him again. Did I do something wrong? I couldn’t have moved any further left and I was stationary. He had another adult in his car too. I don’t know if there was any damage caused to his car. It didn’t look like it at all when I was looking in my mirrors and around my car, although I didn’t get out as I didn’t feel safe. I’m a more hesitant than risk taker driver and I’ve never had anything like this happen to me before. I didn’t get any part of his license plate I just know the make and colour of his car.

I’d report it to your insurance company, tell them that you reported it to the police but they didn’t take it any further. That way you’ve already told them if the other guy tries to claim.
Make sure you tell them that you were stationary with your hand brake on.
And take photos of the damage.

It sounds like you did nothing wrong at all, I doubt he'll report anything but if he does then he'll be seen to be at fault. Do get a camera for your own car just for your own peace of mind. He sounds like a proper prat!

You weren't moving at the moment of collision, and there's no way your position can have been a surprise to him, so it can't have been your fault.

God he sounds like a total plonker. I think you did the right thing getting away.

Definitely not a surprise to him. If we had been on the corner I could agree he didn’t see me but I had just passed that and he was at the straight section of the road.

It’s really shaken me up. I’m still in shock at the fact he didn’t attempt to move to his left at all, he stayed in the middle of the road. If I had carried on I don’t think I’d be here or at least in a lot of pain. He just did not care at all until he collided with me then he become very angry.

@GeneLovesJezebel

I’d report it to your insurance company, tell them that you reported it to the police but they didn’t take it any further. That way you’ve already told them if the other guy tries to claim. Make sure you tell them that you were stationary with your hand brake on. And take photos of the damage.

Don't do this. Your insurance will go up. If you notify them of an "accident", regardless of whether it results in a claim, it still goes on your record.

I don't think that's actually true @TokenGinger . certainly my insurance policy requires me to notify them of any accident even if I'm there's no damage. I had to do that last year in a very similar situation to OPs, and it has made no difference to this year's insurance policy.

perfectly wide enough for two cars/vans to pass each other with care

If you really couldn’t move over any further, then the speed he was going makes no difference, as surely he’d have hit you if you if he was going slower and you were stopped anyway?

Don't report it for the sake of a wing mirror. If he reports it and your insurance call you you didn't know there was any contact.

@Wouldntitbenicetobeinyourshoes

perfectly wide enough for two cars/vans to pass each other with care

If you really couldn’t move over any further, then the speed he was going makes no difference, as surely he’d have hit you if you if he was going slower and you were stopped anyway?

Do you drive? There are many, many occasions where you'll collide at high speeds and be able to manoeuvre around an obstacle at a slower speed.

My insurance company and I had a row about this - I dutifully told them of a no fault accident, they put my premium up the next time round, I queried it and they told me it was because of the accident. I ended up leaving as they refused to budge on it.

Don't do this. Your insurance will go up. If you notify them of an "accident", regardless of whether it results in a claim, it still goes on your record.

Yes, but your policy will say you have to inform them of any accidents you have. The danger is that the other chap comes after OP at a later date for damage, and her insurance refuses to cover her because she never informed them.

You’re fine. Any dashcam footage he has would show you were near stationary and he was travelling at pace.
Your call records can also show you contacted the police even if they didn’t take details.

Make sure you sit down and write out what happened. Keep adding details as you remember them. Try to find a map and mark where your car was when you were hit. Also draw a rough diagram.

Then put it away. This is if anyone contacts you to discuss the accident, you will have notes etc to prompt you.

Wouldntitbenicetobeinyourshoes Yes there would have been ample room. He was going 50mph at a guess if not more. If he had slowed down once he had seen me then he would have had time and and room to drive more to the left/on the verge but I doubt that would have even needed if he was driving towards his left of the road. There isn’t a ditch on his side so in theory he also had more room to move over if he felt like he needed more space to pass. When he collided with me he was still in the middle of the road. I had just been around a sharp corner so going slow anyway, I drove a little further so if there was another car behind me they would have had room to stop behind me safely and the driver who collided with me had 3/4 of the straight part to notice me and more over to his left rather than the middle. Does that make sense?

GinPalace2 I’ve wrote down the events in my notebook ready to submit to our local police force website which the call handler told me to do from
101 if I wanted to. They were more bothered about whether or not I was safe.

I got my husband to ask my eldest what he saw happen too which is exactly the same as I had wrote down. He would definitely call me out if he thought I’d done anything wrong! He was pretty worried about me driving back alone once I had dropped him off. I went a different way back just incase.

You're stationary, he's at fault. If the scuff to the wing mirror is liveable just forget about the obnoxious twat.

I think you did everything correctly and were right to leave, as the police told you. If he has a dash cam it will show he hit you.

I wonder was he drunk/ high or just super aggressive. Hopefully you don't meet him again. I hope you aren't too shaken