Had a car accident on the way to school

[Zaina89]

Was on the way to take my kids to school this morning, exited a roundabout 2nd exit with my left indicator on. I assumed my indicator had turned of because I had turned and I have played back the dash cam footage and can’t hear any indicator. Neither when I was driving could I hear the indicator hadn’t switched off.
was driving 40 on a 40 road. This was 1/2 minutes approx after putting my indicator and exiting round about.
next thing I know driving down this 40mph road a car on a give way on my left with his indicator on turns out in front of me, immediately as I see him turning I slam my brakes on and beep my horn. Because of my high speed you can hear on the dash cam footage the noise my brakes are making because I slammed down. He didn’t even attempt to move back and he hit into the left side of my car. The man wasn’t even getting out of his car he just reversed back. I got out of my car shouting “ what have you done?” “ why did you just do that?”
only then he got out of his car and even then didn’t check his car or mine and just stayed at his drivers door. When I kept asking him “ why did you do that?” He just remained calm, smiled weirdly and said “ you had your indicator on to turn left, I’ve got it all on camera”
my indicator wasn’t on when I immediately got out to check my car, he didn’t even bother to check for any damage on his car and didn’t bother to see mine.
I asked him for his phone number and details and that I would be going to drop my kids off at school because we are now late and they are in shock and upset and he refused and said “ it’s a company car, just take a picture of my reg” and got back in his car. He didn’t even move away from his drivers door, didn’t check the damage, didn’t make any pictures or videos of our cars or the damage. Refused to give me his name and phone number and just said take a picture of my reg and got back in his car and drove away like nothing happened.

im just in complete shock, my son was sat in the passengers side and im just getting a panic attack thinking if I wouldn’t have slammed the brakes as soon as I saw him doing what he did it would have been a bad accident. No one is hurt, my car isn’t badly damaged mostly just bad scratches.
I genuinely did not know my indicator was on ( if it even was!) I can hear when my indicator is on and I couldn’t hear anything even looking back at the dash cam footage you can’t hear the indicator just me and my children casually talking and then you can hear me beeping and slamming down on the brakes and then the collision. If my indicator was on, I’m not sure why it hadn’t turned off or made noise because I exited the roundabout a minute or 2 before the collision.

surely by my speed going 40mph and not slowing down or intending to turn he should have known I was not turning and shouldn’t have pulled out! Trying to remain calm but it’s just so strange he refused to give me his name and number and also very strange he didn’t seem concerned to atleast check his own car and any damage, didn’t even take any pictures or videos!

Have you contacted your insurance company?

He will be at fault, even if you were indicating to turn he shouldn't have pulled out. Send everything to your insurer and let them deal with it.

So I'd report him to the police. You legally have to stop and exchange details at an accident. He does have 24 hours to report to the police but you won't know if he has or not. Cover yourself and report to the police.

Also pretty sure he will still be found at fault. You can't solely rely on an indicator to enter moving traffic. Its something that has always stuck with me when learning to drive so I never do it.

Bad quality as I just recorded this from the dash cam to show my husband, will be downloading the video in a bit and sending over to insurance company.
but as you can see when he came out and hit me I was already past the line/road he was “expecting” me to turn into. So I clearly wasn’t going to turn.

Ah-understood. I know it’s been a shock but try not to overthink it…report the incident and the other driver and try to move on.

The insurance will find him at fault for pulling out. Years ago dh turned right across the road as there was a car a good distance away, he didn't appreciate how fast it was going though. The fire service and paramedics on the scene estimated the other car was doing about 70 in a 30 but still dh at fault as he pulled out in front of the car regardless of what it was doing.

If you watch the dash cam footage whilst you were on the roundabout can you hear the indicator cancel as you exit?

This could be a scam, sometimes they cause an accident then flee the scene. Next they make a fraudulent claim. The fact you say he was unflustered and grinning makes me suspicious. I would report to police and insurance company immediately

It is clear that he is in the wrong. I wonder if he was driving without a licence or insurance because he refused to give his name. Thank goodness you have a dashcam.

Don’t worry about the indicator.

Also it’s horrible to be in a collision, even when it’s not your fault. Take care of yourself.

It sounds like he will be held liable as he failed to 'give way', the indicator would explain why he did it, but won't save him from liability.

You saying he should have moved back out of your way is just daft though, if your left indicator WAS on, at 40mph he would have a second at most to realise that you weren't actually making the turn, at which point he was already committed (and presumably also checking his left side to make sure it was clear to proceed), then turned back to realise you were in his path.

Incidentally, I hate it when people start shouting and yawping at an accident site, there is no need to keep going on at someone, distressing your kids by shouting and carrying on. It's happened, it was an accident, that is what insurance is for.

Report to your insurance company and the police (you have to report the accident as he wouldn't give details). insurance will find him at fault regardless of any dashcam footage proving his point.

When I said I shouted, I literally just meant I raised my voice a bit and asked “ what have you done” “ why did you do that”.
I understand I could have handled it better but I wasn’t being violent or rude in any way or shouting in his face. I literally just was upset, in shock and shaking and asked him with a slightly raised panicked voice “ what have you done and why did you do that” My son was in that side of the front of the car that was hit as well and how he came out at me and the speed he could have been really hurt. I was in a lot of shock and worried about the children as well.

This. I wait until I actually see them start turning as I’ve had a couple of vehicles not turn in the past just as I’m about to make a move.

I hope you and your son are OK - that is the priority. Cars are just things / metal - as annoying as the claim etc is.

One piece of advice (I learnt the hard way) do NOT use a 3rd party eg Accident group as they are SLOW at claiming. They reckon they streamline the process but do not.

That's nonsense - driving at 40mph in a 40 limit is nothing to scold her for and act as if she should have been driving at a slower speed 'just in case'

She's already said that she's reasonably sure she didn't leave her indicator on and has said she couldn't hear it ticking on the dash cam.

And even if it WAS on, a PP has posted the relevant section from the Highway Code which shows quite clearly that the other driver was in the wrong. You never assume another driver is going to do a manoeuvre until you actually see them do it.

The main thing is everyone is OK.
On the face of it, it seems that the other driver was in the wrong.

When you’re in shock you might act in a way that you wouldn’t normally and I probably would have raised my voice a bit just because I would have been imagining the worst case scenario for my kids. It’s strange that he didn’t ask if you and your kids were okay. Also seems like something he’s experienced before or, like someone else said, setting up an insurance claim. If he’s got dashcam footage as well then that could be useful to match up with yours.

There are learning points for the OP, without scolding her or telling her she was wrong. It's prudent to be aware of side roads when driving and to anticipate the possibility of people misjudging and pulling out, so maybe reducing speed a bit and being prepared to break. No big deal, just focussing on anticipation. Particularly if you know the roads well and it's a busy time which morning school drop off usually is.

It's not what you put in your OP, but fair enough.

You asked him why he did it. He told you why he did it. There could be something in what he said as why would he calmly say your indicator was on if it wasn't. People don't routinely pull out on other people on a 40mph road, knowing they will automatically be at fault for failing to give way.

Either way he was wrong to pull out, and will most likely be held liable, most people learn the hard way about indicators being left on and will only pull out if they are certain the car is turning in, even then I don't go in case there is a motorbike etc behind that you can't see, but at school run time a lot of people are in a rush and that is prime time for accidents to happen.

He must have stopped too when he realised you weren't turning, and you stopped too when you realised what he was doing, just neither quite in time to avoid a collision unfortunately.

Your road positioning is so far right it’s clear your not turning.

I'd say he was in the wrong for moving onto the main road without being certain it was safe. This individual may not be a scammer, but certainly, waiting on a side road and then suddenly pulling out to cause a crash was a common scam in my area for a few years.

I agree with others, you need to report the incident to the police, because he failed to provide you with his details. It's entirely possible he isn't insured, has no driving licence or MOT/Tax. Or the car could be stolen or cloned of course, which may be why he didn't seem bothered.

There is also the chance that he was trying to crash into you, there are people who set up crashes in order to claim for injuries. Obviously no idea if this was the case, just for awareness. You need to give this one to the insurance company, send the details you have, speak to them about what to do about him not sharing his details. As he was the one crossing a give way line, I would hope that he is the one in the wrong (he certainly should be!). I would never pull out of a junction purely based on someone indicating, at the very least wait until its very clear they are slowing down.

Take a breath, its obviously been a sh*t morning, but don't assume you did anything wrong. If you did, or if you can't prove you didn't, there is also nothing you can do. At least you have a dash cam. Keep meaning to get one as hear these horror stories too much! Best of luck getting it all sorted

Report to the police. It’s an offence not to give details and it sounds like a scam to me.

The only thing that an indicator flashing tells you is that the bulb works. The guy is a moron and is about to have an unhappy realisation