Dh crashed the car a bit. He wants to appeal to the MN jury...

[edam]

Wondering whether MNers can help. Neither dh or the other driver want to lose their no claims so hoping we can sort it out ourselves! Dh thinks you'll be able to tell us who is at fault.

Sorry explanation will be long but hope someone will be patient enough to read it and chip in.

Dh was pulling out from a side road. There were cars parked at the junction where it joined the main road so he had to nose out to see if it was safe to go IYSWIM. But he was stationary, in order to see whether it was OK to pull out.

The other driver was on the main road dh was trying to get onto. He was on the same side of the road as dh. Didn't see us until too late because he came round a corner too fast, (a corner on the main road before he got to where dh was - so it was impossible for dh to see him).

He didn't have enough time to slow down or stop in order to avoid dh. He tried to swerve round behind our car (as in, he aimed for the side road - could have injured any pedestrians) and ended up hitting the rear of our car on the driver's side.

Our car is fine but he broke his rear headlamp. He wants £70 to repair it. But I'm not sure if the accident was dh's fault, or his.

Of course you shouldn't pull out until you can see it's clear but dh had stopped so he could check that was the case - he'd had to pull out far enough to see round the parked cars. Other guy should have slowed down anyway as there was a pedestrian crossing at this junction.

A man came over to dh and offered to be a witness. He was sure the accident was the other driver's fault. We have his details. But was it? Should we pay the other driver the £70 or not?

Let MN decide... and thank you for reading this very long post. Hope it makes sense!

148: The approach to a junction may have a 'Give Way' sign or a triangle marked on the road. You MUST give way to traffic on the main road when emerging from a junction with broken white lines across the road.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10(1), reg 16(1) & 25

That is an excerpt from the Highway Code regarding give way junctions. Obviously Mr Edam circumstances mitigate his actions so it comes down to who makes the best argument. An insurance company wouldn't bother arguing it and attempting to prove Mr Edams innocence is going to cost far more than £70.

For clarification btw the Road Traffic Act 1988 contains the legalese on "thou shalt give way" that is used when a driver has commited an offence and the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions gives details of the sign markings and their specific siting to make them legally enforceable.

You were staionery and hit by a moving car - other persons fault IMO

As a previous employee of Churchill Insurance, and dealing with motor claims like this..... my verdict.....

In the situation, I would probably have fought for 75/25 in favour of the other person. Yes, your DH was satationary, but the other person had right of way, was established on the road, and speed cannot be proven unless recorded by speed camera.

For the sum of £70 I would offer £50 and be done with it. As it probably falls under the standard excess amount of £100, the insurance company wouldnt pay it anyway.

All in my opinion of course.

Oooh thanks Jarm that is really helpful ie might convince dh.

The only proviso I have Edam, is, was he stationary when the other guy came round the corner, OR was he moving forwards as the other guy was already in the road but stopped before the other guy hit him? If the former, I am 100% on his side, if the latter, less so!

I bet he's not sure - we had a bump from behind in the summer, when I had been going quite slowly and then braked, and we couldn't remember immediately afterwards whether I was still moving or had stopped when the other car hit me.

I would hate ever to be called as a witness in a court case

I would be hugely suspicious of anyone who said they didnt want to go through the insuance company. I would assume they didnt really have any insurance.

Maybe this other chap hasnt got any? Or maybe he has and he genuinely doesnt want to affect his no claims.

Either way I would call his bluff and insist on going through the proper channels. I wouldnt be suprised if you didnt hear from him again after that.

Update - dh has pointed out there was a 'no entry' box painted on the road with the words directed at drivers coming from the other guy's direction, ie facing the other driver so he could read them. Although I suppose that probably means dh shouldn't have been there either, dunno.

Yes, he was stationary (I was in the car with him - he'd pulled forward enough to see round the parked cars and paused to see if it was safe to go).

Anyway, dh says he's going to hand it over to the insurance people and let them take care of it. Excess on our policy is £50 apparently. Think dh just doesn't want to speak to the other guy again.

I do believe the other driver about the no claims thing - don't know why, I suppose because he was quite reasonable until he got riled by us having a witness. And he had his wife and kids in the car. I hope he's ruddy insured, already been run over by one driver with no insurance, will be very depressed if we've managed to tangle with another.

A wise decision I think.

Good luck with it. It's such a hassle isn't it?

Main hassle for me is listening to dh get wound up about it, tbh. I'm just very, very grateful the guy swerved and didn't plough straight into us as he'd have hit ds (his car seat is on the side of the car the guy hit).

I had this happen to me in similar circumstances and the claim went against me as I was pulling out onto the carriage way even though I was stationary and trying to see round a blcak cab parked on the corner.

Sorry but your dh is in the wrong..He's pulled out into the path of an oncoming vehicle even though he had to do it to proceed further and to see if the path was clear..

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I had to cross a lane of traffic to go in the opposite direction iykwim. Due to the road always being busy everyohne would pull out to stop traffic on the right and wait in the midddle of the road for traffic coming from the left to let them go..I did this...and someone came from my right at FULL speed as not 100% focussed on the road and hit me side on..Sadly my fault. Even though it was my only way to get out of the junction sadly I was in the wrong as trying to access a road that was already occupied iykwim.

Never done it since..not worth it.

BTW my claim when thorugh my insurance com pany as both cars were badly damaged...I WAS ALSO STATIONARY but apparenlty coming from a side road onto a main road the main road driver has right of way..the side road is usually a "give way"..

I would ask for the quote from the driver to see proof and pay it. Not worth it for £70 esp given the rise in premiums. I would make your insurance company aware though JUSt incase this driver tries to persue it further ie Whiplash etc..