Liability - someone rolling back into you in traffic?

flaneur

I was sitting in traffic earlier on in suburban Cork and all of a sudden my proximity sensors on the front of the car stated beeping. The car in front of me was rolling backwards.

I blasted the horn and flashed and he didn't seem to comprehend what he was doing. So I had to reverse to keep clear of him.

A few seconds later, another beep and the guy was rolling back towards me again. Once again I blasted the horn and flashed the lights. This time I absolutely stood on the horn as I couldn't reverse back any further into the car behind me!

A passenger in the back fo the car started giving me the finger out the back window. I continued to blast the horn and thankfully he didn't hit the bumper.

In a situation like that, would I likely be liable for a crash?

Alanstrainor

Not a chance. Car in front would be liable. But perhaps it could prove hard to prove without witness... A reversing car has no right of way, you must yield to all other traffic when reversing.

If you don't have a dashcam, get one. Take this as a sign.

givyjoe

flaneur wrote: »

I was sitting in traffic earlier on in suburban Cork and all of a sudden my proximity sensors on the front of the car stated beeping. The car in front of me was rolling backwards.

I blasted the horn and flashed and he didn't seem to comprehend what he was doing. So I had to reverse to keep clear of him.

A few seconds later, another beep and the guy was rolling back towards me again. Once again I blasted the horn and flashed the lights. This time I absolutely stood on the horn as I couldn't reverse back any further into the car behind me!

A passenger in the back fo the car started giving me the finger out the back window. I continued to blast the horn and thankfully he didn't hit the bumper.

In a situation like that, would I likely be liable for a crash?

Assuming you had left reasonable space between your cars in the first place (thats usually being able to comfortably see the bottom of their rear tyres - not sure there is an official required distance) and the genuine facts of the incidents could be proven, i.e. a witness or dashcam, then they would. No witness or dashcam, your word against theirs and mostly likely you on the hook for the damage.

Had the same thing happen to me a while back, bought a dash cam for that very reason. Gob****e on this phone at a roundabout, slowly but surely starts rolling back from a large gap between us.. beeping, flashing, still oblivious and boom. Luckily no damage.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Car in front would be liable, but you would need to prove it. As said above, dashcam, dashcam, dashcam.

selous

As the above say.....he had 2-3 witnesses, who felt you hit them, (sore necks etc) you had who to witness him roll back into you?

H3llR4iser

Dashcam - I had a near miss a while ago (SUV on a uphill stretch of road nearly rolled back into me) and still haven't got one. I know I'll regret it.

A family member down in Italy was "done" this way a few years ago - car in front of him with 3 people inside, just engaged reverse and crashed into him. He was alone, they said he rear ended them, insurance obviously believed them...

flaneur

I had left quite a normal distance, was no where near his bumper.
He seemed to be just allowing the car to roll back rather than engaging reverse i.e. stopped on a slight hill with no foot or handbrake engaged.
He had rolled back at least 4 feet without noticing and activated my front sensors.

twin_beacon

flaneur wrote: »

In a situation like that, would I likely be liable for a crash?

No, you are not liable, unless the guy in front claims that you rammed him. Then it gets messy. In that case, your best independent witness is a dash cam.

flaneur

I must invest in one!

Sue Pa Key Pa

flaneur wrote:

I must invest in one!

Because I see the benefits that dashcams have on a daily basis, I don't understand why insurers fail to offer an incentive for people who have them fitted. Some are starting to offer discounts to large haulage operators who fit advanced cameras, but there is a benefit if every road user had one installed.

grogi

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Because I see the benefits that dashcams have on a daily basis, I don't understand why insurers fail to offer an incentive for people who have them fitted. Some are starting to offer discounts to large haulage operators who fit advanced cameras, but there is a benefit if every road user had one installed.

I honestly don't understand why a dashcam functionality is not an option... The cars come with parking cameras, but you cannot get the footage out of them.

Kent Brockman

This happened me years ago in a queue going uphill. The driver in front was oblivious and when I got out to check for damage she tried to say I bumped her. By then the traffic in front had moved & she drove off.

Thankfully there was no damage and tbh I'd say it's very unlikely that car rolling back a few feet from stationary position & hitting bumper to bumper would cause any damage

DaveyDave

Make sure you get a decent dashcam too, not some cheap crap of AliExpress or Amazon. It needs to be reliable and get a good SanDisk SD card because it will be writing to the memory every single time you drive.

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Because I see the benefits that dashcams have on a daily basis, I don't understand why insurers fail to offer an incentive for people who have them fitted. Some are starting to offer discounts to large haulage operators who fit advanced cameras, but there is a benefit if every road user had one installed.

The UK has discounts for certain brands of dash cams, but they also have insurance discounts for cars with collision detection. Irish insurers didn't have a clue what I talking about with collision detection.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I always follow the rule 'Road and Rubber' when stopping behind someone, as in I'm too close if I cant see road and the tyres of the car in front of me. I also have a dash cam.

Micky 32

Reminds me of the time a woman drove right into the back of me and when i got out she asked me why did i reverse into her LOL