Car accident.. who is at fault here?

[Greenleafants]

I am so stressed so bare with me. Going down the A1 but it’s a single carriageway and turning right into a little side road because I live there. I stop and start Indicating right as there is approaching traffic on other side of the road. I can see a white van approaching my rear at high speed but I still don’t want to turn as there is traffic coming very quickly on other side of road. Then I see a gap but I am really stressed at this point and I stall my car like an absolute fool. So embarrassed. Crash. He goes into the back of me and he was absolutely raging. His van is damaged worse than my car, I have some damage to my bumper but managed to drive home.. I’ll be found at fault for, won't I?

Car in front needs to be able to stop at any point for any reason and car behind needs to have left enough stopping distance to avoid going into the back. It’s really quite simple. He is a twat and his insurance will have to pay out for it all. Phone your insurance company and tell them what happened in factual terms.

No point arguing with a moron anyway.

It's his fault. He hit you from behind and you were stationary.

If you feel nervous maybe do a pass plus driving course. It should lower your insurance as well. But, in this case you did nothing wrong.

It is ALWAYS the person who does the rear ending's fault. It is up to the driver behind to check their speed and folowing distance. Doesn't matter what he expectd you to do. Or even what you DID/DIDN'T do. At the end of the day, it is still the responsibility of the car behind.

if someone stops suddenly for no reason an dI hit them. They might well be an idiot. Doesn't matter, I'm still liable as it's up to me to ensure that I have time to stop for vehicles in front of me.

Doesn't matter why your car stopped.
Could have been a child running out etc
He is at fault

Totally his fault, he failed to slow down enough to anticipate a potential issue, that’s why the theory test has videos on it. Complete dickhead to then try to take it out on you. Ignore what he said about your driving, it’s him that needs a few lessons.

Tell your insurance exactly what happened and let them tell his insurance to fuck off pay for your damage. Moron.

1000% his fault!!
Typical fecking man, he thought you would move and but he thought wrong.
If this is a turn you have to do often I would suggest that for safety if you think someone is coming too fast behind you drive on. I used to have to do a right turn of a main road into the road I lived on. If I thought a car was going to go into the back of me I was ready to drive on. Shouldn’t have to do that though!

I had something similar happen last year. Was driving out of a service station and indicating left at a junction. Lots of traffic so had to wait. Went to move off and car cut across me so stopped again. Van went into the back of me. He didn't apologise, just went on and on about how he thought I was going to move. I was so shocked tbh so didn't say anything, just exchanged details and left the scene.

I reported the crash when we got home and my insurance company said more or less straight away that they knew I wasn't at fault. The only way you'd be found responsible is if you reversed into the front of his van, which is not what happened obviously. The other insurer took ages to admit liability to my insurer. I reckon the driver kept claiming I was at fault.

Sorry you were intimidated. Drivers seem to be becoming more aggressive. And they're always men. And I've been driving 19 years. Big hugs to you.

That's happened a friend of mine and it was still her fault 😱 well in stop start traffic going over a hill, the car in front rolled back into her car. Minor superficial damage to both cars but I think it still cost her a few 100. He apologied and admitted fault. But then filed it as her fault, that she had driven into his car!

It's not your fault. And it's not your fault you stalled either, that happens even to experienced drivers. He was pissed off because he thought you had time to turn. Maybe you did, but that doesn't matter. He should have been driving to the situation that was in front of him, and that situation was your car stopped in the road.

I would just tell your insurance that you were waiting to turn and he went into the back of you. No need to add in unnecessary info with the stalling etc.

Report to the police and your insurance company. Did you exchange details - or did he drive off after ranting at you?

He knows full well he is at fault. It's not even up for discussion. If you drive into the rear of someone you are always deemed to be at fault - even if they do a sudden emergency stop in front of you.

He hit you.

He is at fault

That’s why you need a dash cam! And witnessed if possible.

There is nothing to report to the police. You don’t report accidents to the police unless someone has been actually injured, someone has left the scene without exchanging details or your car is causing an obstruction and you can’t get it move. This has nothing to do with the police. Just report to the insurance.

From the Police/UK website:

The law defines a reportable road traffic collision as a collision involving a mechanically-propelled vehicle on a road or other public area which causes:

• injury or damage to anybody - other than the driver of that vehicle
• injury or damage to an animal - other than one being carried on that vehicle (an animal is classed as a horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog)*
• damage to a vehicle - other than the vehicle which caused the collision
• damage to property built on, attached to, growing in, or otherwise forming part of the land where the road is

As he's damaged her car by running into the back of it, then technically yes, it does need reporting to the police. They will make a note of it. It's a simple phone call, but you are supposed to report all accidents.

Thanks all. He demanded a photo of my driving licence. Dick. I’ve got his reg. I was indicating beforehand but he wasn’t even there then, I had to wait for a safe gap so he came up behind me and must have expected me to go then I stall. I’m feeling better now. Wish I didn’t let him intimidate me like that but I was by myself on the side of the road with a stranger so just wanted to go home.

Definitely not your fault. You can't just drive into people because they don't move when you expect them to! Sorry this happened to you, do not let him try and bully you into saying it's 50/50. It is 100% his fault and you need to be clear about that.

Did you actually let him take a photo of your license ? Zero requirement for him to have those details- be sure to mention this to your insurers they may recommend reporting it as an incident to 101

This is not true.

You can be at fault for stopping for no acceptable reason.

However OP what you describes seems reasonable

100% will be his fault

I had similar happen once, insurance were 'it's always the fault of the person going into the back of you'

If you had had to do an emergency stop then you'd have stopped suddenly, when driving you have to be prepared for the driving in front of you to stop suddenly (be that stalling or stopping or breaking down) thats why you are told to leave enough space to allow you to stop if this happens

Totally his fault. He's raging because he's a prick and he's the one who shouldn't be driving if he doesn't know when to brake.

As others have said, it’s 100% his fault. You stalling is irrelevant, and I wouldn’t mention it on your claim to be honest. You had stopped to wait for a space to turn, and until you had turned, and the road was fully clear, the van should have stopped behind you. Just because he saw you’d started to move doesn’t mean he can assume you’d have vacated the carriageway by the time he got to you. You could have stopped mid turn for any number of reasons - breakdown, pedestrian in the road, another car on the other side approaching at speed etc - and he has to stop until he can see the way is clear.

How badly damaged is your car? I suspect that when the van driver reflects, he’ll probably want to avoid an insurance claim because he’ll realise it’ll go down as a “fault claim” for him.

Don't give him anything. But please contact your insurance company. That's really important if you haven't done it already.

There's a similar set up near me that I have to do regularly. It's a left turn at the bottom of a hill, where about halfway down the speed limit changes from 40 to 30 but most carry on at 40 regardless. Every time I slow down to make the turn I wonder if someone is going to run into the back of me. I try to slow down earlier than I need to, and obviously signal in good time, and hope for the best.

My brother once did the exact same thing to someone in similar circumstances. They started to go, he was looking right. He put his foot down and found they had stopped (either stalled or changed mind) He was 100% liable.