Truck spilled debris, where do I stand?

Bobjims

A couple of days ago, while driving against an articulated lorry at 80km/h, some heavy wood chip from its trailer spilled out and hit the front bonnet, bumper and windshield of my car taking multiple chips out of it.

Thankfully I caught all of this on my dash cam (including the registration plate) and have tracked down the truck owner to engage them over the incident.

Is the truck responsible for damage caused like this? What's the normal procedure for dealing with this in terms of insurance/repairs?

(I'll post the dash cam and update on the story as soon as it's all finished)

Some images of the damage can be seen at the following link:

http://imgur.com/a/Ad7S9

finnharpsboy

Yeah.
Its the truck drivers responsibility to ensure the load is secured and nothing falls off.

Contact the owner and let him know you have the dashcam footage, let him know the damage caused then get some quotes and give them to the owner. Ask him for his insurance details and notify your insurance company too.

Truckermal

finnharpsboy wrote: »

Yeah.
Its the truck drivers responsibility to ensure the load is secured and nothing falls off.

Contact the owner and let him know you have the dashcam footage, let him know the damage caused then get some quotes and give them to the owner. Ask him for his insurance details and notify your insurance company too.

+1 drivers are responsible for securing the load so you will have to be compensated lucky you have it on camera though..

Bobjims

Truckermal wrote: »

+1 drivers are responsible for securing the load so you will have to be compensated lucky you have it on camera though..

Yeah its the first time I've actually needed that camera thankfully. Got the truck registration and contacted the operator to report what happened. (Colleague of mine recognised the truck and knew what contractor was operating it luckily!)

whatnext

Bobjims wrote: »

Yeah its the first time I've actually needed that camera thankfully. Got the truck registration and contacted the operator to report what happened. (Colleague of mine recognised the truck and knew what contractor was operating it luckily!)

Hi Bob.

How did you get on with your report? I had my car sprayed with stones of a Concrete truck this morning. It there are multiple chips to the windscreen, bonnet and wing of my car. I'm devistated, after 20 years of driving bangers with out incident this is my first ever new car, only weeks old...:(:(:(:(

neris

If you got the reg and company or brand on the truck? The likes of Roadstone & Kilsaran dont own their trucks theyre usually subbies they get in on contract so you,ll need to find out who the operator is from them. Keep a record of exact location, time of day, the reg number and even a description of the driver if you saw him. Dashcam footage be handy aswell. The operator could have vehicle tracking or know which truck was on a route today so they may play ball with you if you have all your things in order.

If you cant find out who the operator is but you have the reg number go to www.rtol.ie then down to search licensed operator and put in the reg number and it should give you details of of the operator

savagethegoat

I'd stand well back personally

whatnext

neris wrote: »

If you got the reg and company or brand on the truck? The likes of Roadstone & Kilsaran dont own their trucks theyre usually subbies they get in on contract so you,ll need to find out who the operator is from them. Keep a record of exact location, time of day, the reg number and even a description of the driver if you saw him. Dashcam footage be handy aswell. The operator could have vehicle tracking or know which truck was on a route today so they may play ball with you if you have all your things in order.

If you cant find out who the operator is but you have the reg number go to www.rtol.ie then down to search licensed operator and put in the reg number and it should give you details of of the operator

Have the time and location, and the brand. couldn't get the reg. I slowed down to 50kmph on the Motorway to try get it but he kept about 50m back so I couldn't see. To be honest, because I always drove bangers I had no idea of the extent of the damage until I got out of the car. I'm bloody sick. Other cars must have been pelted too. I had a meeting to go to and couldn't hang around, but if I knew what the damage was I'd had skipped it.
When the stones started hitting the car I just moved to overtake by instinct, I couldnt break as there was a car right up my tail and it was pissing rain.

shietpilot

Welcome to the reality of trucks on motorways. I had to replace the windscreen on my Focus because a truck merged in front of me and it looked like it just came out a construction site covered in muck and a few stones hit my windscreen and cracked it in multiple areas. There are still a few stone chips on the bonnet.

I didn't realise it was cracked until it started to spread a month or so later...

neris

Without the reg it,d be very hard to find the truck in question and I,d say the cement company wont be that helpful or bothered chasing their subbies or transport guys to find out which truck it was. It may be worth getting on to your insurance company and just saying what happened and see what they advise

Henry Ford III

Without the reg you haven't a hope of getting any compensation for damages.

Bobjims

whatnext wrote: »

Hi Bob.

How did you get on with your report? I had my car sprayed with stones of a Concrete truck this morning. It there are multiple chips to the windscreen, bonnet and wing of my car. I'm devistated, after 20 years of driving bangers with out incident this is my first ever new car, only weeks old...:(:(:(:(

I haven't gotten anywhere to be honest. I contacted the owner directly and have been strung along now for a good few weeks. He admitted liability but has since become uncooperative on the phone. I got a quote for the damage and have failed to get this paid by the owner to date. I'm being ignored now.

I'm not really sure what to do next. Should I report this to the guards? Are they able to provide insurance details for making a claim since the owner will not provide them?

Truckermal

Bobjims wrote: »

I haven't gotten anywhere to be honest. I contacted the owner directly and have been strung along now for a good few weeks. He admitted liability but has since become uncooperative on the phone. I got a quote for the damage and have failed to get this paid by the owner to date. I'm being ignored now.

I'm not really sure what to do next. Should I report this to the guards? Are they able to provide insurance details for making a claim since the owner will not provide them?

Definitely report it you played game ball so fcuk him now..

Seth Brundle

Can the Gardai do anything? Is it not a civil matter?

CarrickMcJoe

Gardai won't do anything, no accident or injuries. Best go to a solicitor with cam evidence. As stated above, civil case that probably will be cleared up when he gets the solicitors letter.

Bobjims

kbannon wrote: »

Can the Gardai do anything? Is it not a civil matter?

What would happen in the event of a minor collision with no injuries where the responsible party refuses to provide insurance details?

A truck shedding its load and causing damage is an accident.

Do the gardai deal with this?

Del2005

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

Gardai won't do anything, no accident or injuries. Best go to a solicitor with cam evidence. As stated above, civil case that probably will be cleared up when he gets the solicitors letter.

Gardai can get the insurance details, as there was an RTI where a vehicle with an unsecured load caused damage to another vehicle. Once the Gardai get the details submit a claim on their insurance.

Kristopherus

kbannon wrote: »

Can the Gardai do anything? Is it not a civil matter?

Well, if they were worth their salt, they could contact the truck owner and get his insurance details. They'll surely have a car passing the owners location before too long.

FishOnABike

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

Gardai won't do anything, no accident or injuries. Best go to a solicitor with cam evidence. As stated above, civil case that probably will be cleared up when he gets the solicitors letter.

I'll beg to differ. The driver could face prosecution under road traffic legislation. I've seen a driver successfully prosecuted for failing to secure a load where the load had shifted leaving it pushing against the side curtain. Nothing had fallen out if the lorry, the load had just shifted and was in danger of ripping through the side curtain.

The truck owner / driver would be wise to play ball here. If it becomes necessary to report the accident to both the gardaí and insurance they could find themselves in more trouble than they bargained for.

Seth Brundle

Kristopherus wrote: »

Well, if they were worth their salt, they could contact the truck owner and get his insurance details. They'll surely have a car passing the owners location before too long.

...and do what then? I don't know but if it's a civil matter surely they'll refer the OP to a solicitor? Also would they give out the insurance details for the other party what with data protection and all that?

Del2005

kbannon wrote: »

...and do what then? I don't know but if it's a civil matter surely they'll refer the OP to a solicitor? Also would they give out the insurance details for the other party what with data protection and all that?

The OP makes a complaint that a vehicle caused damage and left the seen. The Gardai provide the person with information which should have been exchanged and the other party then has to provide evidence to their insurance company that their vehicle wasn't the one in the video shedding it's unsecured load.

seagull

If you report it to your own insurance and provide them with all the details of the truck, then they'd probably be able to get their insurance details.

FishOnABike

Del2005 wrote: »

The OP makes a complaint that a vehicle caused damage and left the seen. The Gardai provide the person with information which should have been exchanged and the other party then has to provide evidence to their insurance company that their vehicle wasn't the one in the video shedding it's unsecured load.

The driver of the truck could then face a charge of leaving the scene of an accident in addition to being charged for failing to secure the load properly. I'd take it the courts would look less favourably on this behaviour coming from a 'professional' driver. The driver is doing himself no favours if he messes the OP about.