Minor accident - majorly annoyed!!!

[peterdoherty]

In truth was sort of forced off the road....

Driving up a street at around 10-15mph (75 miles from home near a relatives I was visiting) with some remnants of snow with another driver right up my rear end. Came to near the top of the street where there is a shaded bend (around 70-80 degree bend). I tried to slow down genlty to take the bend (thought it may be slippy) and the idiot behind didnt and nearly went into the back of me - result being I didnt make the corner, whacked the kerb on passenger side and mounted the kerb. Other driver drove round and on (and through a red light at end of street 50m away).

Initially just looked like 2 serverly kerbed wheels (where were in perfect condition beforehand). Drove it on a further few meters and tried to turn onto the main road and heard grinding/crunching and stopped - thought it was a flat trye I hadnt noticed. Nope - both front wheels pointing diff direction. Front passenger suspension/wishbone or whatever mus have sheared (i'm no mechanic but there is still some movement in wheel when steering). Dash lit up like a chritmas tree with ACC, TPMS, ABS errors to name a few. I think the front bumper may be a bit pushed in but cant be 100% (no apparent bodywork damage luckily although hard to 100% tell in the weather - told insurers that).

Anyway insurers rang, recovery organised, picked up in 15 mins and droped by to relatives (via the scene) and pubic transport back home. Hire car organised for the morning and was told I'd get a call from enterprise in the morning as not open currently. Car will be dropped to local VW garage (Isaac Agnew in Boucher Rd Belfast tomorrow) All ok.
Got a phone call from enterprise at 18.30 today - great I initially thought until she told me I'd be getting a manual mondeo and that thats what direct line had requested (I've a GTD DSG). Insurer now closed and have to wait til the morning to fight for a better car thats an auto (told them during claim its an auto about 5 times - I dont mind a manual but I'm paying for upgraded car hire cover). Will be a fight for something of equal value and an auto - best case may be a c class merc auto but I've hired these a few times and not a fan.

Insurer asked which garage I wanted it taken to so give them my local VW. Not sure if there were any better alternatives in Belfast/NI?

Insurer is Direct Line,
Incident happended 75 miles from home (near a relatives I was visiting).
As there was no contact with the other vehicle apparently I am fully liable and having to pay a £400 excess (as it cant be reclained from another party).

Whilst checking out the initial damage 2 other cars done full 360s at the same spot (luckily didnt hit me).

Absolutely fuming.

Getting forward and rear dashcams fitted once she is back.

[monkeyhanger]

What are 2 dashcams going to do in future? I might be getting the wrong end of the stick here (so please do correct me), but it appears that due to your concerns that the car behind might rear end you, you spent more time looking in your rear view mirror and not enough looking forward on a bend, ending up colliding with and then mounting the kerb, causing the damage we see below.

The other driver didn't hit you, and rear view "intimidation" will be a hard defense unless it was persistent (that's where the dashcam might have saved you).

Sorry for what is a crappy situation, but officially, with and without the dashcam, i'd say that one is all on you.

If he'd tried to overtake you and forced you off the road when a car was coming the other way you'd have a case.

Anyway, 2 shagged wheels, some front suspension/axle/steering column damage, possible ACC sensor misalignment and possible front bumper/underside damage was never going to be a "i'll pay for it myself to save my no claims discount" situation. You'll have to chalk it up to experience and worry about what's ahead of you rather than what's behind you in future.

If they had forced you off the road, perhaps the red light he went through (if there was a camera servicing it) might've saved you (it would still likely end in your word against theirs, although proof of jumping a red light might go in your favour for them giving you the benefit of the doubt that the other car was driving recklessly).

[peterdoherty]

What are 2 dashcams going to do in future? I might be getting the wrong end of the stick here (so please do correct me), but it appears that due to your concerns that the car behind might rear end you, you spent more time looking in your rear view mirror and not enough looking forward on a bend, ending up colliding with and then mounting the kerb, causing the damage we see below.

Youve got the wrong end of the stick here..
Firstly I wasnt using the rear view mirror more than normal (in this instance a glance before braking and a regular glance whilst driving).
Secondly I know the road extremely well (lived on it for 25 years - parents still do) therefore I know the bend and am always cautious on it in conditions like they are at the minute. Road is dead end (approx 100 houses with cul de sacs on it). Accident happened at top near main road entrance. Given the conditions I was trying to slow (from around 15-20 to less than 5 or so [crawling pace]) from long before the bend on clear roads but everytime I touched (gently) the brakes I was almost rear ended. The other car didnt appear to break at all in response to my braking as they were not anticipating the future road conditions. On the initial part of the road I was pushed up to near 20 mph by the other driver by their intimidation of sitting on the rear bumper - this part of the road was clear from snow/sleet/ice) and is straight but hilly. I would normally only being doing 15 or so as there are normally kids playing on it and parked cars etc...
You could clearly see the white on the bend which hadnt melted due to the shade.

I am still unsure how they managed to swerve around me and continue. Although a pedestrian did come along later (as they were walking up the street) that didnt see the accident but did note how closely they were driving etc... They didnt note a reg.

Lesson learned next time to have a shunt up the rear and take it from there rather than trying to avoid one accident only to end up in one with no other party involved and me bear the financial brunt (£400 excess but protected NCD as long as I'm not claiming again before renewal in Nov).

The photo where you can see the road (tow truck one) is a cul-de-sac off the road where the incident happened. The road itself it generally clear of slush/snow/ice as its only until near the top where the bend is shaded that there is compacted snow/ice which caused the side.

The intimidation would have been persistent.
Dashcams would be useful in the future - The general idea is to protect myself from the idiotic driving of others. Also would be one which can partially record when static. Whether anything could have resulted from the footage of this incident is negligable but if I would have hit a child or a pedestrian on the footpath there would be a whole new level to this which a dashcam could only serve to validate my story and facilitate a proper police investigation (admitedley may result in being placed at fault but gives me a chance wheres with no dashcam and no trace of the other party theres no hope).

No red light cam unfortunately but its onto a 4 lane 30mph main road which is normally really busy so they were lucky not to have been t-boned.

In this incident the dashcam footage may have been able to be given to the police for further investigation and possible charges for dangerous driving/runnign red lights etc (debatable as the legality of the footage may be questioned but even a quiet word to the other driver from the police may result in them not causing a further, potentially more serious, accident later).

[Booth11]

It rarely pays to post about accidents or near misses on forums as no one else can ever know the full set of circumstances and in most cases the poster will be biased in favour of their own actions, that's human nature.

Anyway, unfortunate about the damage to the car, it can be sorted, at least nobody got hurt.

[caprigreen]

Not much sympathy on this forum Pete ! 
No one hurt thats the main thing
I would not have dash cam as we can all make mistakes and could be used by the Police against you you were having a "spirited drive" and had a accident.
Hope all goes well with the repair

[monkeyhanger]

Youve got the wrong end of the stick here..

I thought that was a possibility, hence me mentioning it.  It's always a long post that states every detail to completely clarify the situation so it cannot be misinterpreted.

Lesson learned next time to have a shunt up the rear and take it from there rather than trying to avoid one accident only to end up in one with no other party involved and me bear the financial brunt (£400 excess but protected NCD as long as I'm not claiming again before renewal in Nov).

I think you hit the nail on the head there (and the point I was trying to get across) - legally (if not morally), if you allowed yourself to be intimidated and sped up a little, it will be your fault. Some people will feel intimidated easily (too easily in the eeyes of the law) - it's hard to quantify how much intimidation is too much, whether teh intimidation was intentional etc.

Do what you feel is right for the conditions and if they hit you then so be it - it's their fault. It's a very rare circumstance that a rear shunt isn't completely the fault of the car behind (crash for cash reckless braking for no apparent reason is pretty much the only reason it would not be the shunters fault - dashcam or witness needed).

Anyway - hopefully you'll have your car sorted soon (although it took 7 weeks for my repairer to source a new tailgate that wasn't damaged when my car got shunted at the end of Nov). Wasn't trying to appear unsympathetic, just in your case as I read it, it would legally appear to be your fault, likely outcome even with a dashcam, although you'd have been able to submit the other party's going through a red light.

Not sure if the Police could even be arsed to view it TBH if you had the footage, unless there was an injury. Lesson learnt for me and my rear shunt where the other party are playing silly buggers maintaining a wall of silence with their insurer and delaying the apportion of blame. They scarpered quickly, barely giving me enough time to take a few photos. Next time I will claim a minor injury (not enough to waste an ambulance's time) so the Police are in attendance, the other party will have to hang around and the Police will have their opinion of events to back up my photos (assuming I don't cause the next one!  ).

Perhaps their better road holding was them having winter tyres, have you? Not saying you should've had them (I don't have them on mine - just don't have the storage space so I am very wary of ambient temps, whether a patch of road has been in shadow all day and not had a chance to defrost etc) - might be something to consider next time.

Anyway, if you have the recovery place take your car to an approved VW dealer (one with a good reputation, VW approved is not always a guarantee of a job well done) and there will be no skimping on the parts that need replacing rather than repairing.

[peterdoherty]

Well things just dont get any better..........

Recovery agent was supposed to drop car to main VW dealer today (before lunch). Called dealer at just before 6pm to check things and warn them not to wash - no sign of car and closing. Called recovery and they don't know where the car is. 75 miles from recovery to dealer.

To top it all off Direct Line told Enterprise to give me a manual group D car (a Ford Mondeo) even though they knew and I told them several times the car I have is Auto (can drive a manual but its the principle and the cost to me). I have guaranteed hire car plus with them which guarantees a 'similar' car so should get an auto at least. Called them this morning and got bumped to a group F auto (standard type car - bit bigger than a golf - reference car is a Vauxhall Insignia).
Enterprise couldnt get me a car (have 3 depots within 15 miles - 2 within 1.5 miles of home). Had to call them twice after speaking to them at 8am and being told a car would be ready after 10am, they said I would get collected from work at 16:00. Called at 15.50 to say enroute. Stood outside in -1 temp for an hour before the eventually turned up at 5pm (depot is 1.4 miles from work - could have blooming walked it). Traffic was very light - 5 mins return journey to depot.
Arrived at depot and no car. Waited over 1 hour for a 13 plate Citroen DS5 auto to turn up with 20k on the clock.
Car is terrible to drive, think there is a pull to the left, if so will be asking for a replacement. Visibility is terrible and feels like a bus.

Anyways let hope for some more positive news tomorrow.