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Original poster

How do I prove kids were in car?

185 replies

Icantstopeatinglol · 27/08/2013 07:52

Hi, I just wanted some advice really. A (stupid) woman drove into the back of mine and dh car a few months back when we were on the way back from an afternoon trip with our 2 dc. She has lied all the way along saying there was no damage to the cars....which has now been sorted as garages have shown there was £2.5k of damage over both cars. She has also stated no dc in car!? To be fair she was very shook up but was only interested in herself as all she went on about was how she'd had such a bad day and this was going to affect her insurance badly! We do have rear tinted windows so she probably couldn't see them anyway though she has stated she noticed a pushchair in her statement. My ds banged his head and was quite upset afterwards and dd was thrown forward so much it woke her up and consequently she has woken up screaming quite alot since (this has never happened before). Anyway, the other insurance company are now saying they have received a 'statement of truth' or whatever from said woman saying no children in car?! What do we do now? Why is it upto us to prove our dc were in the car when this woman has lied all the way along?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

OP posts:
LolaCrayola · 29/08/2013 08:28

I am not suggesting you should call an ambulance for a sore neck. I am merely stating that you appeared OK at the scene. Which is all she was stating.

Terrorvision · 29/08/2013 08:39

Oh FFS, when you are in a car that is in a collision you tend not to think straight. I can easily imagine not rushing apparently fine DC to the doctor immediately. When I was hit by another driver I didn't go to the doctor or take Dd or realise I had to call the police or take photos or look fior witnesses.

Pity, because the woman who admitted rushing and said she would pay for repairs so she didn't have to claim on insurance proceeded to lie her arse off to my insurance company. And no, the fact she hit me in the rear did mean she was automatically at fault.

And then she went quiet and refused to respond when I gave a great deal of detailed evidence about the incident - but I was still held partially liable despite her refusing to engage and clearly being a liar. But actually my insurer didn't care and were more than happy to settle the case and put my premiums up. I has to fight tooth and nail - bit I went through the stress as a matter of principle.

News flash: RTAs are not black and white and people are lying bastards. I hope all you judgy mumsnetters are lucky enough to live on in Ignorance of that

Rooners · 29/08/2013 08:45

I don't mean to criticise arbitrarily. I just fail to understand how a crash that causes 2 and a half grand's worth of damage to two cars cannot be cause for getting the occupants of the car examined asap.

It makes no sense to me.

I've had incidents with a tree causing about a hundred quid worth of dent. We were travelling at approx 2mph, reversing out of a parking space many years ago. Obviously no one was hurt.

Being hit on a slip road at potentially 40-50mph? from behind by another car, while stationary, causing 2 grand of damage - I would get everyone checked out because it's what you do, never mind the fact your car was seriously damaged which would tend to indicate some level of damage to the occupants.

It sounds so crazy.

Pozzled · 29/08/2013 08:46

Can I just highlight for the benefit of anyone reading that car seats should always be replaced after an accident OP, please get them replaced straight away, don't wait for the insurance. It sends a chi

Rooners · 29/08/2013 08:47

ESPECIALLY children. You may have an existing medical condition but children are the most vulnerable in an accident by far. There could have been unseen injuries, delayed effects.

Is it not just common sense - also is it not obligatory to inform the police of a RTA? Sorry if I have missed this.

lljkk · 29/08/2013 08:48

If carseats were in the car at the time of accident then they need replacing regardless of whether children were strapped in. So if the seats are normally in the car, you should be covered for replacement costs.

OP isn't claiming for injuries to the kids just cost of seats.

I'm not sure how being strapped correctly in would prevent whiplash, since heads can still bend forward when strapped in, no way to absolutely prevent being thrown back forcefully.

I think you've had a very unfair time on here, OP. Whiplash is a hidden injury that takes a while to manifest (I get serial whiplash) and I would never have taken DC to doctor to verify "no obvious harm", either. Whiplash is difficult to accurately objectively diagnose, too.

Sorry the bad news is that whiplash is a ligament injury, and like any ligament injury incurred when young, there's a high risk of it recurring easily thru rest of life. Hopefully they'll be like me and get used to managing it.

Pozzled · 29/08/2013 08:48

Sorry, it sends a chill down my spine thinking that you've been driving around for months with car seats that wouldn't offer full protection if you were in another accident.

Original poster
Icantstopeatinglol · 29/08/2013 08:49

Thank you terrorvision, I have never been in an accident before and we didn't know what the procedure was. We knew noone was seriously injured and phoned our insurance company as soon as we got back but apart from that we were t really sure. It was only a few days later the pain really started and a few months down the line I'm still suffering so don't appreciate others making me out to be claiming fraudulently. We were hit at a junction, we were all hurt to some degree therefore I'm not claiming fraudulently. If she hadnt been in such a hurry and took some notice of the cars in the road I wouldn't be writing this now.

OP posts:
LEMisdisappointed · 29/08/2013 08:49

Your ds hit his head. Not once but twice and you didn't take him to the doctors?? Unbelievable!

Original poster
Icantstopeatinglol · 29/08/2013 08:51

Rooners, who said 40-50mph?? Have you just plucked that number out of thin air? I think the main reason it cost so much is because she had a flash car.

OP posts:
Sirzy · 29/08/2013 08:51

My thoughts exacrtly LEM!

And I can't believe that people still don't realise that car seats need replacing immediately, not months down the line. That is quite worrying when you think of how important car seats are in protecting children in an accident.

Sirzy · 29/08/2013 08:52

Why would the type of car she had impact upon the damage to your car? Confused

Rooners · 29/08/2013 08:53

Look OP you made some mistakes at the time through ignorance.

I don't think you are necessarily trying it on. I would want the facts to be correct too.

And yes it was the woman's fault.

But when it comes down to it, it was very stupid not to get the children checked out immediately, and not to inform the police of the accident, and not to replace the seats.

and in the light of this, well there is really no way you can prove anything, though the point is more that your children have been put at risk first of all by the accident but secondly by your failing to have them seen by a Dr (head impact in an accident? Seriously? Did you not think this was a red flag?) andthen by your driving them about in seats that have survived an impact from another vehicle and could have unseen damage.

I despair that you can't see it's your own fault you've got no leg to stand on here.

Rooners · 29/08/2013 08:54

Yes, I plucked it because that is the usual speed someone coming off a dual carriageway onto a slip road will be doing - well it's about the lowest tbh ime.

And because you refused to answer when I asked about her speed.

Rooners · 29/08/2013 08:58

By the way isn't it illegal to park on a slip road? What on earth were you doing there?

OhDearNigel · 29/08/2013 08:59

OP

I won't lecture on legal reporting requirements in the event of an injury RTC. But you must report to the police within 24 hours of the RTC occurring. In fact, it's always safest to report an RTC, injury or no injury.

I haven't read the thread in great detail - if you are trying to prove that there were children in the car, did your RTC occur in a car park or a junction where there might be CCTV ? You could approach the police or council if it's on public land or the business if you were in a car park. The other way to prove that there were children in the car would be if you had any independent witnesses.

Pozzled · 29/08/2013 09:00

Thinking about this more, I'm really struggling to see how it wasn't entirely obvious that your DCs were in the car, even with tinted windows. One of them hit their head, the other woke up- so they must have been crying, you or your DP would have gone to them immediately and was presumably inside the car, comforting them for a while, making sure they were ok- even if you didn't get them out of their car seats.

Dealing with an accident takes time- talking, exchanging details. With young children, you'd surely have had to keep talking to them/reassuring them?

If it all happened as you say, it doesn't seem even remotely possible that she didn't know- so her lie would be utterly ridiculous.

Rooners · 29/08/2013 09:02

244: You MUST NOT stop on the carriageway, hard shoulder, slip road, central reservation or verge except in an emergency, or when told to do so by the police, an emergency sign or by flashing red light signals.

OhDearNigel · 29/08/2013 09:02

Why would the type of car she had impact upon the damage to your car

Someone in a massive Range Rover is going to do a lot more damage rear-ending you than someone in a Daihatsu Sirion. Surely you can see that ?

Rooners · 29/08/2013 09:04

Yes Nigel and likewise to the occupants, making it a moot point.

InMySpareTime · 29/08/2013 09:05

If you suspect the woman was on the phone at the time of the collision, her phone provider should have call records, surely?
Also, was there CCTV in the car park of the place you visited? That would show you getting DCs out of the damaged car on the date of the accident.

Rooners · 29/08/2013 09:06

What the OP is saying is that the repair cost was high as it's a high end automobile. Not because the damage was significant.

I can see that's plausible.

But still - she took out the rear crash bar according to the OP, which in itself would be enough for me to think,

'shit the car is pretty fucked. There will be possible damage to the children'.

OP herself furthermore had a delayed response but still didn't think it vital to get the kids checked out.

Sirzy · 29/08/2013 09:06

but she said it was because of a flash car not a big car.

There are just so many strange parts to this story. Just doesn't make sense!

Rooners · 29/08/2013 09:07

If the police had been informed you'd have a record of the times involved, they could have investigated fault, they would have checked her phone records.

This iswhy it's daft not to inform them. They deal with this stuff every day and know the ropes. What possible reason not to tell them? I don't get it - unless the OP was actually parked illegally, but I'm not sure if she was as she is a bit short on detail.

LEMisdisappointed · 29/08/2013 09:08

Try injury lawyers 4u im sure they'll bag you some compo