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Post by daz66 on Nov 26, 2014 11:13:20 GMT
Coming home Monday night at 5:30 I was driving along in traffic when a car to the left in a side road looked like they were pulling out behind the car in front.
I thought to myself "their not pulling out, No stay put, NO NO STOP, oh bugger!"
I pulled across onto the oncoming traffic in the hope that they would stop half in half out, so I could drive around the front BUT NO they kept going straight into ME.......
Result is the left front wheel and steering is knackered, the wheel arch is dented along with the passenger door (only slightly but will need replacement) and I don't know what else is wrong with suspension etc.
The young female driver immediately said it was her fault and she didn't look or see me, I was fully lit up as I was returning from a site visit in Brentwood. She also said she did not want to go through insurance and would pay for everything!
I told her that the wheel alone is £500 plus £250 for the tyre let alone the damage we could not see, the bumper on her BMW would be a £1,000 on its own before paying anything on mine!!
I managed to drive home the remaining 2 miles very slowly with very wobbly steering, where I discovered that the nearside wheel points in a different direction to the offside wheel, track rod arm with a very BIG bend in it!!!
Anyway I phoned her about 20mins later to let her know the car was un-driveable and I wanted a hire car etc. when she said that it would be best to go through the insurance.
Long story short her insurance company have admitted liability and arranged everything, collection and repair and the hire of a Volvo XC60 for the next few days/week!!
Now I know there are lots of scams around for compensation BUT my shoulder and neck are hurting a bit, I have had a right shoulder injury for a while but not been to the doctors about it because it didn't stop me doing anything and was localised to my shoulder. However now my neck hurts and the shoulder is hurting more than before.
Do I make a claim for these as well?
I worked from home yesterday to wait for the cars to be exchanged and am at work today but feel a bit rough, the impact was slow around 10-15mph but she did hit the wheel and the shock was felt through the steering wheel.
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Post by Cheggy on Nov 26, 2014 12:44:34 GMT
My personal opinion and please take this as only one persons opinion is that there are too many people who jump on the "where there's blame there's a claim" bandwagon.
If you're able to carry on in life without any loss of earnings then that's what you should do.
A minor bit of discomfort should not be reason to push everyone else's insurance up.
Put it this way, if I accidentally pushed a trolley into your ankle would you consider suing me or would you accept an apology and limp away?
Edit:
You'd probably not win a case due to having an existing problem and not having it seen to.... Unless of course you neglected to provide that information to the insurance company.
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Post by Harold on Nov 26, 2014 12:46:32 GMT
If your making a claim on the insurance anyway and if you are genuinely hurt, then make a claim I'm sure if you had been at fault she would have had the claims form filled in before you came to a halt. Her insurance premium will be loaded anyway. Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb  Hope your feeling better soon Daz. |
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Post by stevegbr on Nov 26, 2014 13:01:00 GMT
My opinion is get checked out at your doctor first.and see what he says. That's what I would do.
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Post by daz66 on Nov 26, 2014 13:19:44 GMT
Cheggy I do tend to agree with you, there are so many fraudulent claims kicking around nowadays but it won't be a big payout, they would likely give me a grand to settle so nothing further can be said.
I have had previous experience with claims, one good one bad, the good one was when I came of my bike on ice and the local water authority paid up very quickly to shut me up and another where a big claims company got involved in my ruptured Achilles tendon and promised thousands and thousands of pounds and after 4 years and the loss of my business I ended up with £1,500 after paying off the insurance company. I was promised £10 - 15K !!!!.
The main thing is that the car will be sorted out, that's what I'm interested in however we all know that the garage will be raking in BIG bucks for this and the insurance will pay out without checking whats been done!
I have been honest already with the insurance company and told them that I was recovering from an unspecified injury, probably repetitive strain from using my kindle in bed (no not for that!!) but they said to monitor the situation and let them know which I will do.
In all likely hood I won't loose days but I was almost recovered (went bowling last week with no ill effects) and now its probably set me back a month or so!
Still no one was badly hurt and the girl and insurance company admitted liability straight away!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2014 15:05:58 GMT
Existing complaint or not- if due to this accident your condition has been made worse or your recovery put back you may have a valid claim. At least record the fact that you are injured before it is too late. It will probably go no further if happily you recover. I'm with the suggestion to see your quack and take it from there. This is different to feeling you should be compensated for the accident by waving the whiplash flag to make some money out of it.
I deplore the ambulance chasing and the where there's blame there's a claim culture as much as anybody. But the whole idea of insurance is to put you and your car back to the condition it was in before the accident.
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Post by scania on Nov 26, 2014 20:19:42 GMT
I have let several things go over the years where I could have clamed but I didn't, it's just my nature.
I hate having anything to do with solicitors or courts, I have never sued anybody.
If someone was to intentionally ram me with their car then I would sue them for personal injury or sure, but when it's an accident I do my best to come to an agreement without going near insurance and making solicitors and courts wealthy. I'd tend to put myself in their shoes, what if I was the one that hit into them. The first thing I would try to figure out is, are they a genuine person who made a mistake or a consistently reckless careless person who needs to be thought a lesson to respect others, that would effect how I would deal with them more than anything else. I'm not advising you what to do here, just describing how I approach things.
On a bigger note, if she could not see a car full lit up, what hope would you have had on a bike with her!
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Post by kickstart on Nov 26, 2014 20:39:03 GMT
If your neck hurts , consult a doctor , I know someone that had a minor smash , they had neck stiffness and a bit of pain when moving their head , she had a broken neck , best to be safe than sorry mate !!
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Post by Cheggy on Nov 26, 2014 20:39:41 GMT
Daz, the problem with forums etc is that what is posted can too easily be interpreted differently by different people.
From what I have read it sounds like a lot of blame on her side for simply not waiting for a gap but it also sounds like you maybe had enough time to realise she was moving and then to react.
I'm not trying to be a twat but why didn't you just stop? It sounds like a bit of blame lies on you assuming that just because you had right of way that she would give way.
If you had been on a bike would you have ended up in a collision or would you have avoided it at all costs?
Please be honest, I may be interpreting it all incorrectly.
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Post by daz66 on Nov 27, 2014 14:09:40 GMT
Daz, the problem with forums etc is that what is posted can too easily be interpreted differently by different people. From what I have read it sounds like a lot of blame on her side for simply not waiting for a gap but it also sounds like you maybe had enough time to realise she was moving and then to react. I'm not trying to be a twat but why didn't you just stop? It sounds like a bit of blame lies on you assuming that just because you had right of way that she would give way. If you had been on a bike would you have ended up in a collision or would you have avoided it at all costs? Please be honest, I may be interpreting it all incorrectly. Cheggy I was driving home, about 2 miles out in a stream of traffic about 5 lengths from the one in front, speed about 20-25 as its a highly populated area and 100 yards on the are pedestrian lights. I saw her approach the junction, its at an angle to the road and not 90 degrees, she was evidently looking left for a gap to pull into (she was turning right out of the road) and she simply didn't look right if she did she would have seen me. I saw her making the move and slowed, pulled onto the other side of the road and hoped she would see me and stop and I could then drive around the front of her, she didn't stop!!! It all happened in 20-30 yards. Had I been on the bike I probably would have been making more progress than in the car, I tend to stick with the traffic in the car rather than try and get away from it as I do on the bike. There was very little else I could have done to avoid the accident except choose a different route home or not go out that day, I was returning from Brentwood in Essex without any incident. She didn't wait for a gap she just looked one way and not the other, she admitted this at the scene. I'm not trying to apportion blame, I don't need to, she did it, she admits it, she's a young lass (early 20's) we live and learn is all. We all have, and continue, to make mistake in life luckily this one was fairly minor and no one was seriously injured. I can't see where I was to blame other than not consulting my crystal ball that morning before leaving for work!! |
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Post by Cheggy on Nov 27, 2014 14:36:03 GMT
Like I said, written text can be interpreted differently, that's the crux of forums unfortunately.
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Post by daz66 on Nov 27, 2014 14:50:53 GMT
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Post by Cheggy on Nov 27, 2014 16:41:34 GMT
Impossible to say, there is no way of knowing wether the biker was using a technique called defensive driving.
Was he checking the mirrors of the vehicles he was passing? The helmet cam showed no sign of him doing shoulder checks or any other movements, it looked as though he was fixated on what was directly in front of him with little regard to what he was filtering past.
Does the rider understand that there is more indication of a vehicle manoeuvring than a little flashing light?
It's actually a fairly poor video to assess who was at fault.
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Post by Cheggy on Nov 27, 2014 16:47:53 GMT
I know where my thought lay what about yours? My thought is the same as it's always been, treat every road user like they are stupid, don't rely on coloured lights, big signs and white lines to keep you alive. |
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Post by daz66 on Nov 28, 2014 9:39:41 GMT
I know where my thought lay what about yours? My thought is the same as it's always been, treat every road user like they are stupid, don't rely on coloured lights, big signs and white lines to keep you alive. I tend to agree with you, don't give anyone the benefit of the doubt and steer clear as much as possible. I feel the guy is 90% at fault, he pushed ahead beside the bus when he would have been better off waiting as he pushed the oncoming cars over against the kerb and then when he had the room he was still too close to the waiting vehicles. When I overtake stationary traffic I will use the as much of the other lane as possible, even getting close to the opposite kerb to keep a good distance from the line of traffic in-case someone decides that they need to open the door for some reason. Had he been further over and riding slightly faster, even though its a no-no to overtake at a junction, he would have had the space and speed to pass in front of the lorry without an effort. |
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Hope your feeling better soon Daz.
