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Head on collision

Miss OMMC

I was involved in a head on collision this morning.

I was driving home and was 50m from my house. I was travelling straight approaching a blind bend and the other car was on the bend travelling in the opposite direction. This road is a narrow, rural road so only room for one car.

I saw the car and broke hard. My car stopped in time but other driver didn't break (at least not until the last second) and drove straight into me. No one was injured thankfully but my car is seriously damaged. The other driver is not accepting liability.

I'm wondering if there is any point in trying to claim against her insurance or should I just claim through my own. My car is quite possibly a write off.

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CeilingFly

flatty wrote: »

I'd imagine she will say very much the same thing as you to her insurance company. It'll be your word against hers, and the companies will just accept that you were equally at fault. This may not be what happened, but with no witnesses, unless she accepts blame, the insurance companies will likely be unable to make any other call. Still, stranger things have happened.

No it won't. A half decent insurance assessor will be able to tell almost immediately which car was stopped and which was still moving on impact

skallywag

Just wondering OP, was the other driver a local to the area?

I know exactly what you mean, there are plenty of roads near my own place which are well short of space for two cars to pass comfortably on a bend, but in the case of the locals at least they will have this in mind when entering, and be ready to brake or move as far possible to the side if required. Non locals of course are at a disadvantage here, though that said such bad bends are pretty well pointed out in terms of signposting.

That said if both cars are keeping well in, and are driving at a reasonable speed, then it would be highly unusual for one of the two to drive head first into the other, i.e. you would tend to put the car into the ditch (which of course could itself cause a lot of damage in it's own right!) before hitting someone head on.

I have to smile at the story changing when the mother turned up, I'm guessing the other driver is relatively young?

Concerning the insurance, I would also say that it will be called 50-50, although I can see how you might be dissatisfied with that. A lot to be said for dashcams (-:

amcalester

dpvh3ejxtgk26l wrote: »

I know it's not your fault, but if you claim, it's likely your premium will go up.

I had a recent claim that wasn't my fault, and it had no effect on my premium.

I got the renewal letter in the post the day after the collision and the price stayed the same.

ouxbbkqtswdfaw

Unfortunately with the lack of witnesses, the insurance will probably look at it 50:50.

daheff

amcalester wrote: »

I had a recent claim that wasn't my fault, and it had no effect on my premium.

I got the renewal letter in the post the day after the collision and the price stayed the same.

wait till next year. your renewal was most likely already posted by the time the collision happened.

also if you accepted the renewal without confirming to them that there was an accident since your insurance may be invalid (for non disclosure).

Kenny Logins

CeilingFly wrote: »

No it won't. A half decent insurance assessor will be able to tell almost immediately which car was stopped and which was still moving on impact

How?

amcalester

daheff wrote: »

wait till next year. your renewal was most likely already posted by the time the collision happened.

also if you accepted the renewal without confirming to them that there was an accident since your insurance may be invalid (for non disclosure).

It was issued before the collision, but I only renewed once I had confirmed with them 2 weeks later that the claim (which had been open and closed as a non fault incident) would have no impact on my renewal.

I have this in writing so hopefully next year should be OK too.

It actually fell by 10% versus last year.

ednwireland

if theres no white line isnt it a 50:50 whatever you think ?

boombang

CeilingFly wrote: »

Insurance assessors can work this out fairly quickly

I don't doubt that they can, but I'd be interested to know what techniques they use to achieve this.

Thanks

Glass fused light

Not anyway mechanical but as I understand it if the car was stopped and it's a modern car the black box recorder if installed and active should be able to support your claim. So check with the main dealer or brand HQ on this.

flatty

From a relatively slow head on with both cars moved? Doubt it.

bmc58

wexie wrote: »

You need to get out more :eek:

More than a few roads like this one all over the place.

This photo bears no resemblance to the instance described by the poster.This road is clearly a bridge over a river.What has this to to with the incident?Or were you trying to be smart?

Odelay

listermint wrote: »

Thats a 21 seater bus. Jesus wept is that the best you could do....

It's not 21 seats wide.

Yawns

currently in the middle of an on-going saga over this issue. Other driver admits fault at scene etc, parent arrives and story changes. Insurance company just rule 50/50 if no witnesses. Claim off their insurance and move on. That's what the other party will be doing.

paleoperson

listermint wrote: »

Sounds 50:50 to me. Even on rural roads there is space for 2 cars.

Was someone in the middle of the road ?

I nearly fell off my chair when I saw this, is it a serious post or an attempt at trolling? "Even on rural roads there is space for 2 cars". In your life with over 17,000 posts you have never seen a place only 1 car can pass? There are rural roads where one single medium-sized can scarcely get through it without going into the ditch nevermind two, and I'm talking about 10 miles outside the city not the middle of nowhere in kerry. In the outskirts of cork city there are plenty of roads where only one car can get through and the other side has to wait every single time they go into the city. Apologies if it was just a misjudgement on your part, but I have to take a while to recover for that, could there really be someone who has never seen that.

Turbohymac

As of Seamus previous post contact your insurance company asap. Also it was good that gardai were present..did they give any indication as to person at fault... don't mind what type of banger the other driver was driving main issue is who's to blame. Or is it 50/50 either way your damage will be paid by one of the 2 insurance companies but if it's yours well that won't be good for your next renewal .. nobody hurt. Cars are only tin take care oh and the newer vehicles are only plastic damage may only be minor looks are deceptive.. if its badly damaged then airbags would have gone off

ouxbbkqtswdfaw

Maybe you can avoid the insurance company. Get a quote from your local panelbeater. Maybe as previous poster said, the damage might not be too expensive to repair. Pay for the damage if not too much. Ask your neighbour to get her own car repaired herself. Thus you both can remain neighbours, even though she was in the wrong.

paleoperson

dpvh3ejxtgk26l wrote: »

Maybe you can avoid the insurance company. Get a quote from your local panelbeater. Maybe as previous poster said, the damage might not be too expensive to repair. Pay for the damage if not too much. Ask your neighbour to get her own car repaired herself. Thus you both can remain neighbours, even though she was in the wrong.

Why are you all believing this woman's story straightaway? You don't think there might be another side to it? Like the other driver is going to keep going like a game of chicken and not bother braking, does that make sense?

Once I saw a woman passing out a line of cars on her way towards me (coming over to my side of the road to do so) and it would have cause me to brake abruptly. So instead of doing that I thought I'd keep going, she should also have to brake. And we both kept going until we had to brake sharply to avoid collision and were very close to hitting each other by the time we had both stopped. Just because this lady says that the other woman was in the wrong don't make it so lol.

CeilingFly

boombang wrote: »

I don't doubt that they can, but I'd be interested to know what techniques they use to achieve this.

Thanks

Fairly simple by analyzing the impact marks and the direction of damage.

lawred2

Miss OMMC wrote: »

Wow thanks for the flurry of replies!

The guards were called, insurance details swapped etc.

When the other driver got out of the car she was very upset and kept apologizing but once her mother arrived on the scene, the story changed.

My insurance company wanted to know if I was going to claim that she was at fault and if so, I would have to put a claim through her insurance company myself.

What does 50/50 mean exactly? My car is 171 Tuscon with the front totally mangled, her car an 08 megan with a lot less damage

Her little Megane mangled your SUV?

MAJJ

Op i suggest you take some ibuprofen if you can and is suitable for you and go to your GP in next few days, good chance you will be stiff and sore. I say this purely for your health and not in relation to claims.

Odelay

CeilingFly wrote: »

Fairly simple by analyzing the impact marks and the direction of damage.

But the insurance accessor usually only sees the car in a garage after it's brought there by recovery truck. How does it work then??

lawred2

paleoperson wrote: »

Why are you all believing this woman's story straightaway? You don't think there might be another side to it? Like the other driver is going to keep going like a game of chicken and not bother braking, does that make sense?

Once I saw a woman passing out a line of cars on her way towards me (coming over to my side of the road to do so) and it would have cause me to brake abruptly. So instead of doing that I thought I'd keep going, she should also have to brake. And we both kept going until we had to brake sharply to avoid collision and were very close to hitting each other by the time we had both stopped. Just because this lady says that the other woman was in the wrong don't make it so lol.

You knew you should brake but kept on going?

Odelay

lawred2 wrote: »

Her little Megane mangled your SUV?

Can happen, depending on impact angle and crumple zones.

kirving

lawred2 wrote: »

Her little Megane mangled your SUV?

Absolutely to be expected. The bumpers on newer car will almost certainly be softer than an older one to minimise injury to pedestrians. My car is nearly soft to the touch, I can bend the headlight with my finger.

Once you pass the bumper and mashed plastic though, the newer car will be far stiffer in a high speed collision.

paleoperson

lawred2 wrote: »

You knew you should brake but kept on going?

I didn't say I knew I should brake. I said that it would have caused me to break abruptly and give her space to come out, so I kept going in her direction (my right of way) to make a point. Then we both braked fast and ended up feet from each other but it was better than just leaving her power through.

Now I wouldn't mind having to slow a little to let someone else pass a group of cars. But to make me stop, and I have the right of way, that's hardly right. Oh come to think of it it might be sometimes but not here, you'd have to see the situation.

Blazer

paleoperson wrote: »

I didn't say I knew I should brake. I said that it would have caused me to break abruptly and give her space to come out, so I kept going in her direction (my right of way) to make a point. Then we both braked fast and ended up feet from each other but it was better than just leaving her power through.

Now I wouldn't mind having to slow a little to let someone else pass a group of cars. But to make me stop, and I have the right of way, that's hardly right. Oh come to think of it it might be sometimes but not here, you'd have to see the situation.

you don't play chicken in a car.
Any accident and you would have been equally at fault, more so if a passenger in your car had got hurt. They wouldn't have been long saying what really happened.
And PS...people like you shouldn't be on the road with that attitude.

Mooooo

Claim thru their insurance, and let the insurance companies battle it out.

Prospectors

Odelay wrote: »

But the insurance accessor usually only sees the car in a garage after it's brought there by recovery truck. How does it work then??

If needed, the event data recorder can be viewed which will show vehicle speed, engine revs, steering angle, brake pressure, accelerator position etc at the time of impact.

CeilingFly

Odelay wrote: »

But the insurance accessor usually only sees the car in a garage after it's brought there by recovery truck. How does it work then??

Impact marks and direction of damage on the vehicles not on the road.

If cars were towed away, tyre wear will show what car was in motion going forward and which car was being pushed.

Same with physical damage. Analysis will show easily and clearly the vehicle that was in motion at time of impact.