Car accident, need advise/to vent

[Flaming]

Today I did the school run, took the small one to the shop on the way home and then headed home.

I turned left at one junction onto a residential street, then went to turn right at the next junction (about 20 feet) and went straight into another car, apparently overtaking me on the wrong side of the road going in the same direction as me. Drivers side wing took a fair bash and did something to my steering so I coasted to where I could safely stop and jumped out of the car.

I asked the man driving the other car if he was ok, and he unleashed a barrage of abuse at me, called me all sorts, criticised my driving/parenting/existence and accused me of not indicating, pulling out in front of him at the last junction and basically bad driving.

I asked him if he was high, he was attempting to overtake me on a residential street when I was turning right. I took photos of the damage to his and my car, noted that in the photos the indicator is clearly lit on my car and went to phone the police. He said there was no point, the insurance would find me at fault so just give him my details.

Then he wouldn’t give me his details, people were stopping to ask if I was ok - a woman being shouted at by a man in the street with two pranged cars - and then a resident called me over. She’d seen it all, gave me her details and would tell the police/insurance the same.

Anyway, angry man left, husband came to take me and the car home and I cried and snivelled my way through all the phone calls I had to make, thankfully nobody was injured. The police and the insurers say that my version of events places angry man at fault, but they’ll need to get his version of events plus the witness.

Right now I’m in shock, my stomachs in knots and I’m wondering what an outsiders opinion would be on this? It’s my first accident and I’m such a baby, I can’t handle confrontation So is it normal to be this anxious?

Is it normal to be this anxious? - yes! Cut your self some slack, being involved in an accident is never nice, nor is being shouted at by a strange man in the street! Sounds like you've done all you need to do now other than to start being kind to your self. Let the police and insurance deal with it now, and give your self some time to get over the experience.

Thank you Sycamore, it helps to know that I’m not being completely irrational. There’s nothing else I can do really

I'm not sure who will be found at fault insurance wise. But...it's mirror-signal-manoeuvre and check your blind spot before moving off.
Drivers side wing took a fair bash and did something to my steering would suggest that he had already started overtaking you and was beside or coming up the outside of you when you started turning?
Either way he shouldn't have so aggressive and should have exchanged his insurance details. Let the Police and insurance company sort it out.

Relax and let your insurers sort it out (and the police if they are involved). If he didn't give you his name and address he broke the law. That isn't decisive as to who is at fault but it won't help him. He did not have to give you his insurance details, however.

On the description you have given this is clearly his fault. He should not have been overtaking a car that was clearly turning right. You'd already done the "mirror-signal" bit so you were entitled to manoeuvre.

You've been shaken up which is understandable. Try not to worry about it.

On the description you have given this is clearly his fault. He should not have been overtaking a car that was clearly turning right.
I know what you mean but he's saying she didn't have her indicator on when he started overtaking. If she had done the mirror and signal already she would have seen him overtaking her. Then she wouldn't have manoeuvred because she would have seen she didn't have a clear path to proceed.

All the same anyway, he will probably be found 'at fault' depending on the location of the damage to both cars and both versions of events. If the police did come, they might be able to see paint on the road where the collision took place to decide the positions even though both cars moved away from the exact spot.

Wow he’s an arsehole. It sounds like it’ll be pretty simple for the insurers and police to sort - with an independent witness you should be fine. It’s really awful when something like this happens and totally understandable to feel so anxious! He’s accusing you of not indicating to try and get himself off the hook for his own mistake. If you were indicating and your witness confirms it, you’re sorted

Almost exactly the same accident happened to us and the other driver was found to be at fault.

it's horrible when things like this happen. be kind to yourself.

for you op hope your okay

If she had done the mirror and signal already she would have seen him overtaking her

I witnessed a similar incident once. The car overtaking did not start to do so until the driver turning right had checked his mirror, signalled and slowed down. It sounds like the same thing happened here. The OP checked her mirror, signalled, started the manoeuvre by slowing down and then the other driver decided to overtake.

Unless the other driver was overtaking several cars or the OP was turning right at high speed, it is very unlikely that the other driver started to overtake before the OP slowed down to turn right.

The man was angry because he knew he was in the wrong.

You have all his car details. The witness will back you up as they told you they would. Your insurers will deal with it.

It is always a bit of a shock even with a small impact and low speed it sounds so much louder. Try to not think about it now and let insurance deal with it.

Thank you everyone, I didn’t sleep last night and a bag of nerves today so finished work early (self employed so not too much of a disaster). I did mirror, signal, manoeuvre, saw the other person behind me when I checked the mirror, had no reason to think he was going to overtake me. Witness said she saw him coming over he hill behind me at speed, obviously she doesn’t have a speed gun so can’t say he was speeding but all I can think is that he’s not seen me indicating and slowing to turn and had to take evasive action to avoid going into the back of me. This all happened in a 20mph zone.

Not feeling too good today, but I guess it’s just the shock, doctors this aft for a check up just in case at the insistence of my husband. Our insurer phoned earlier and said he hadn’t been in touch with his yet so I don’t know what that means. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens, thank you all for taking the time to comment

I hope he was actually insured. Fingers crossed for you it works out. That witness may just be your winning factor.