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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Car Claims Handlers - Motorway accident?

56 replies

NioNioNio · 04/06/2023 22:26

Accident yesterday, thankfully I am fine. Was in second lane of three lane motor way on a straight section 70mph. Then suddenly knew car had been hit and then glanced to see lorry grill on passenger window... maintained control of steering wheel ( not completely sure what I did but I think I rocked it left and back to middle when there was resistance)..Car came to a rest thankfully after 3 or so seconds. It was straight section on second lane but I ended up perfectly facing the hard shoulder on the hard shoulder with my mid section at the halfway point of his grill ! ie my boot and front end had roughly same distance sticking out on both sides. Lorry driver said he was in first lane...impact mainly square on the passenger rear door and passenger rear wheel. Tyres for both vehicles appear ok so no blow outs for either. I was not attempting to change lanes simply driving straight on motorway.

Any ideas what could have happened for near-sided lane truck and middle lane car to end up on hard shoulder?

If I drifted into near side lane would the physics mean the above?

If lorry drifted into middle lane would we be no where near the hard shoulder?

I am truly baffled though thankful as at 60 it is my major first car accident ever...

OP posts:
Original poster
NioNioNio · 05/06/2023 10:49

@GoodChat impact mainly square on the passenger rear door and passenger rear wheel. Tyres for both vehicles appear ok so no blow outs for either.

So agree it is a side swipe but trying to establish who at fault.

Based on physics if lorry drifted and then turned left as natural reaction then that's how we ended in hard shoulder.

Also if I drifted, lorry natural reaction might also be to turn left and thus end up in hard shoulder.

I guess I was trying to work out from resting position if obvious who was at fault/ crossed lanes..

OP posts:
comfyoldcardi · 05/06/2023 10:59

A front and rear dash cam is a really good investment. We had an road rage incident recently. All on camera.

GoodChat · 05/06/2023 11:08

It'll almost certainly be a 50/50 claim.

OneTC · 05/06/2023 11:13

I think it sounds like you drifted. I think if he'd drifted into you it would have knocked you right and you wouldn't have ended up stuck to him.

I think you've moved significantly enough left but at an about identical speed to carry the weight of your vehicle in front of him, hence you sticking and ending up on the left

tymberland · 05/06/2023 11:25

To me it sounds as though you drifted into the lorry. I think if he drifted into you then you'd have ended up away from the hard shoulder. The other reason I think it's you is because you seem to have been completely unaware that there was a lorry even there. You must have either just overtaken him, or you were hogging the middle lane and totally unaware of your surroundings.

Frabbits · 05/06/2023 11:25

From the description it sounds like OP was slightly ahead of the lorry and one of you has drifted into the other.

The fact that you didn't know that a great whacking HGV was there would make me think the OP is at fault.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 05/06/2023 11:28

If the lorry has drifted into you, you wouldn't have ended up on the hard shoulder I don't think.

tymberland · 05/06/2023 11:29

NioNioNio · 04/06/2023 23:21

It was a really busy three lane motor

Then how are there no other witnesses? Did no one else stop?

ArcticSkewer · 05/06/2023 11:34

tymberland · 05/06/2023 11:29

Then how are there no other witnesses? Did no one else stop?

Show quote history

On a motorway?? They'd have ended up about half a mile away from the op by the time they'd safely pulled across the lanes.

Original poster
NioNioNio · 05/06/2023 11:39

No witnesses as really busy motorway and no where for any good Samaritan to stop unless they instantly decided to pull up onto hard shoulder which is unlikely given the moving traffic.

All lanes had flowing traffic so I was focusing on maintaining distance from car in front.

At that point every lane had no space for overtaking or changing lanes so not sure if that is hogging.

OP posts:
ArcticSkewer · 05/06/2023 11:41

Op, like others I would be a bit concerned that you hadn't noticed/weren't aware of the lorry, but possibly there's a bit of shock affecting your short term memory as well.
I wouldn't say much at all right now to the insurers - certainly no speculation that you may have drifted across the lane. You may have done, or you may find in a few days you have a clearer memory of events.

Meanwhile, dashcam footage may emerge.

It's also worth checking with the police again in a few days. I phone and leave my details when I witness motorway accidents in case I am needed. Usually that's just in case there are injuries/police court cases (but obviously I am doing it anyway if on handsfree to report an incident and alert police). You may find that other people also phoned in and left their details.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 05/06/2023 11:42

Just because nobody stopped, doesn't mean there aren't witnesses.

You could put an appeal out on social media - people do it all the time here and so do the police.

If it was a busy motorway someone will have a dash cam - in fact I'd be shocked if the HGV driver didn't have one himself.

tymberland · 05/06/2023 11:53

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 05/06/2023 11:42

Just because nobody stopped, doesn't mean there aren't witnesses.

You could put an appeal out on social media - people do it all the time here and so do the police.

If it was a busy motorway someone will have a dash cam - in fact I'd be shocked if the HGV driver didn't have one himself.

There must be loads of witnesses if it was as busy as the OP said

LittleFreakJezebel · 05/06/2023 12:02

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 05/06/2023 11:42

Just because nobody stopped, doesn't mean there aren't witnesses.

You could put an appeal out on social media - people do it all the time here and so do the police.

If it was a busy motorway someone will have a dash cam - in fact I'd be shocked if the HGV driver didn't have one himself.

Yep so many people have dash cams now I'd be surprised if no one comes forward with some footage.

TheFairyCaravan · 05/06/2023 12:04

I saw an accident like this happen. We were in the car travelling behind the car in lane 2. The lorry came across from lane 1 and clipped the rear of her car, which was a little hatchback. It spun round so the front was pointing towards the central reservation and the lorry dragged her down the road for around 50m before he came to a stop.

We stopped, too, because we were convinced that the poor lady would be injured but fortunately she wasn’t and obviously we felt that we had to give our details for her insurance as she definitely wasn’t at fault.

I don’t understand how neither of you know who drifted across. It’s very bizarre.

MooMooSharoo · 05/06/2023 12:08

I agree with PP - don't say anything to insurers about speculation. Only tell them what you know, i.e., somehow the lorry connected with the rear side of my car and I ended up being spun in to the path of the lorry, at right angles to the lorry's grille.

Definitely do not say "I didn't know the lorry was there".

If the police aren't involved, and the lorry driver wasn't required to have a camera as part of his insurance, I'd say it's likely that it will go to 50:50. If they have a camera, but it's not part of their requirements for insurance, chances are even if it's the driver's fault, they'll just deny having a camera.

In the absence of any proof, they'll split the claim.

As another PP mentioned, you could put out a post on a nearby facebook page to see if there were any witnesses. This could go against you however if someone responds with "yes, I saw that. The car in lane 2 just drifted in to the front of the lorry"

Leave it to the insurers and just be grateful that it didn't turn out worse. Please do learn from this though. You should know what vehicles are around you at all times and, unless you're overtaking something, you should be in lane 1.

When I was learning to drive, my dad gave me a quick lesson in not using my mirrors enough. He put his hand over my rear view mirror and said "what colour's the car behind?" and of course I didn't know.

Lougle · 05/06/2023 12:27

I was on the motorway 2 weeks ago and a lorry hit the car in front. It span in a circle then ricocheted back into the lorry as the lorry tried to pull over. The lorry driver said, 'the traffic was moving smoothly then it wasn't.'

At those speeds, it really is possible that either of you just clipped the other. Either way, the force would be similar. I'm glad you weren't hurt!

Lougle · 05/06/2023 12:30

I do find it odd that nobody stopped, by the way. About 6 of us stopped at the accident that I referred to, despite it being a busy 4 lane motorway with lots of traffic.

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 05/06/2023 12:51

I don’t understand how neither of you know who drifted across. It’s very bizarre.

I suspect one of them does know, they're just hoping they don't get the blame 🙈

HisNibs · 05/06/2023 13:25

That you ended up in the hard shoulder so quickly suggests to me that you came from lane 2 into lane 1 and not the other way around. If the lorry had come into your lane, his momentum would have kept you in lane 2 longer. Without dashcam or witnesses, it'll end up being a 50/50 with the insurance though. I'd be happy with walking away from it, it could have been so much worse.

Greentree1 · 05/06/2023 13:36

I got hit like that years ago, the lorry pulled out as I was overtaking, his front corner hit the rear side door of my car, it was a foreign lorry, left hand drive, and at the time I was told that it was quite common for them not to see cars overtaking. My car was spun in front of the lorry, up the bank and rolled over a fence into a field, I was very lucky to walk away. Do you have any witnesses to what happened? I was fortunate that a couple of cars travelling behind stopped and could vouch for what happened.

Noseylittlemoo · 05/06/2023 13:43

@TheFairyCaravan this could have been me! I got hit by a lorry on the M1 and went spinning crashing into the crash barriers when the lorry tried to change lanes. It was the most terrifying experience of my life . I'm not sure how but some lovely ppl managed to stop on the hard shoulder and come to my aid. It was 5 years ago now but I still can't drive on a motorway and don't even like being a passenger. I'm wondering if OP is in shock/numb as seems very vague and not shaken up by something so dangerous.

Noseylittlemoo · 05/06/2023 13:44

@Greentree1 it was a foreign lorry that hit me too and police said the same. Their blind spot is even bigger but on a busy motorway it would be impossible to stay out of all of their blind spots

TrainYourCat · 05/06/2023 14:02

@NioNioNio I completely agree with Feigning. Due to Ds learning to drive we have watched a million lot of dash cam videos for him to be able to spot potential dangers and you see a lot of these types of accidents. HGVs have massive blind spots, there is no way the driver would admit they made a mistake because he is a "professional" driver for a living with a special license. Usually this type of car spin happens when cars sit in the blind spot to the left of the HGV but it also happens on the right too.

They catch the back end of the car which causes it to spin, sometimes they don't even realise that they have done it and carry on driving with a car stuck to the front of them. Lots of videos on YouTube showing "HGV pushing cars".

Glad you are okay, it must have been terrifying. This is also why we have a dash cam in both our cars.

Original poster
NioNioNio · 05/06/2023 15:08

Thanks all, lesson learnt and am very glad I live to tell the tale.

OP posts: