Advice needed - two car collision on narrow road

Dubh73 · 14-11-2018 08:46PM #1

Yesterday while driving into the school a car came against me quite quickly. I stopped because the road is quite narrow and both of us would not fit but the car continued to drive towards me and ploughed into the side to me.

I said to her immediately how could you not see me and she said her foot slipped off the pedal she said this numerous times and my husband was in the front seat of the car to hear it.

we got out to look at the damage and discovered that there wasn’t that much done to hers but I had quite a significant number of scratches on mine.

she was very eager that I would not contact her insurance she’s on her first insurance and her first job as a teacher in the school so she is quite young and offered to pay for it herself.

This morning I had numerous warning lights on the car with regards to the steering as I live very close to the school this did not come on last night. This meant the car had to go into the main dealership. I text The Girl to let her know, she thanked me and a few hours later I got a call from the guards who said please show my insurance and license at the station. He proceeded to tell me that she had made a statement and that as it was only to mirrors that had collided we should sort it out ourselves. As soon as I corrected him and the fact it was not two mirrors he hesitated and said he’d said far too much, it was not a legal issue for him to get involved. Shortly after I had a call from her insurance company asking would I accept that we would all pay for own damage and I said no and then they Said my only choices are that and the 50-50 rule. Does anybody know what the legal standing is in relation to this matter of the private narrow road one car stationery one ploughing in, she claimed liability to us and then backtracked

Samuel T. Cogley · 14-11-2018 08:56PM

Well worth investing in a dash cam, you'll just have to let the insurance companies hash it out I'm afraid. Just stick to your guns.

amdublin · 14-11-2018 08:58PM

Merz?
Mars?

I can't really make sense of what you're saying.

Can you edit your post to have sentences and full stops?

Samuel T. Cogley · 14-11-2018 09:00PM

amdublin wrote: »

Merz?
Mars?

I can't really make sense of what you're saying.

Can you edit your post to have sentences and full stops?

It's more the lack of paragraphs tbh but it's fairly straight forward what happened. They stopped the other car didn't, story changed later by driver at fault.

Rows Grower · 14-11-2018 09:04PM

Happened to a couple of my friends driving in opposite directions on a narrow road with no white line in the center and they were both advised by the Gardai that called to the scene that because there was no white line on the road there was no point in either of them trying to bring a case against the other.

Samuel T. Cogley · 14-11-2018 09:05PM

In fairness here on car was stationary, that might go in the OPs favour.

Rows Grower · 14-11-2018 09:11PM

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

In fairness here on car was stationary, that might go in the OPs favour.

I read what you read Sam, just telling the OP what I know happened.

drunkmonkey · 14-11-2018 09:15PM

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

In fairness here on car was stationary, that might go in the OPs favour.

Prove it, surley the husband as a witness isn't credible.

Samuel T. Cogley · 14-11-2018 09:17PM

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Prove it, surley the husband as a witness isn't credible.

It's perfectly possible for one party to be believed over the other.

Dubh73 · 14-11-2018 09:18PM

amdublin wrote: »

Merz?
Mars?

I can't really make sense of what you're saying.

Can you edit your post to have sentences and full stops?

Sorry for any offense. I was putting kids to bed and trying to get this done as well, I didn’t notice the predictive texts etc

Dubh73 · 14-11-2018 09:20PM

Do any of the text messages count??

listermint · 14-11-2018 09:23PM

Em..

Have you considered your steering fluid level is low and had nothing to do with the scratches on the car ?

Samuel T. Cogley · 14-11-2018 09:23PM

Dubh73 wrote: »

Do any of the text messages count??

It's going to be a case of being firm with your insurance company and saying you have X and Y evidence. They may very well decide it's not enough to contest it. As has been said before sadly it's a no claims bonus not a no fault bonus so you may just have to pay yourself.

Sucks but you'll need to look at this from a practical standpoint rather than a legal one.

Dubh73 · 14-11-2018 09:31PM

listermint wrote: »

Em..

Have you considered your steering fluid level is low and had nothing to do with the scratches on the car ?

Thank you for your thoughts car serviced last month and wheel damaged where she hit me.

listermint · 14-11-2018 09:32PM

Then you'll have to leave this with your insurance company to determine.

Unfortunately that's where you at. It's also what premiums are for.

14-11-2018 09:36PM

listermint wrote:

Unfortunately that's where you at. It's also what premiums are for.

Also as the damage is small it might not effect the no claims bonus.

billcullen1 · 14-11-2018 09:38PM

Dubh73 wrote: »

Yesterday while driving into the school a car came against me quite quickly. I stopped because the road is quite narrow and both of us would not fit but the car continued to drive towards me and ploughed into the side to me.

I said to her immediately how could you not see me and she said her foot slipped off the pedal she said this numerous times and my husband was in the front seat of the car to hear it.

we got out to look at the damage and discovered that there wasn’t that much done to hers but I had quite a significant number of scratches on mine.

she was very eager that I would not contact her insurance she’s on her first insurance and her first job as a teacher in the school so she is quite young and offered to pay for it herself.

This morning I had numerous warning lights on the car with regards to the steering as I live very close to the school this did not come on last night. This meant the car had to go into the main dealership. I text The Girl to let her know, she thanked me and a few hours later I got a call from the guards who said please show my insurance and license at the station. He proceeded to tell me that she had made a statement and that as it was only to mirrors that had collided we should sort it out ourselves. As soon as I corrected him and the fact it was not two mirrors he hesitated and said he’d said far too much, it was not a legal issue for him to get involved. Shortly after I had a call from her insurance company asking would I accept that we would all pay for own damage and I said no and then they Said my only choices are that and the 50-50 rule. Does anybody know what the legal standing is in relation to this matter of the private narrow road one car stationery one ploughing in, she claimed liability to us and then backtracked

Are you going to accept 50:50 even though you're not at fault ?

Dubh73 · 14-11-2018 09:54PM

billcullen1 wrote: »

Are you going to accept 50:50 even though you're not at fault ?

It will be the last resort because 50/50 will still be worth something to me. There isn’t much damage to her car at all. I am guessing the 50/50 means both costs are added together and halved?? Is that correct or is it a case of I pay 50% of her costs she lays 50% of mine

Eggs For Dinner · 14-11-2018 10:08PM

With 2 different versions of events, no independent witnesses and no dashcam, this will be settled 50/50. What other choice is there? 50/50 means you pay half her loss, she pays half your loss.

Duffryman · 14-11-2018 11:34PM

For what it's worth, almost exactly the same thing happened my wife (while I was a passenger) on a narrow road near us almost two years ago. We were stationary, other car hit us, she admitted at the scene that it was her fault, then changed her story later. We felt exactly the same way as you, but ended up having to settle 50/50. Probably not what you want to hear, but that's our story anyway...

ct5amr2ig1nfhp · 14-11-2018 11:42PM

Did the accident occur on school grounds? You mention turning into the school and being on a narrow road.

I'd be rightly pissed. A friendly reminder to her that you'll be making a complaint to the principal of the school might make her remember what happened. Inform the principal that one of their new teachers was driving dangerously near the school and caused an accident. Could have been a student on a bicycle... The principal may suggest she settle the issue before the complaint is recorded on her record.
Otherwise the principal will have to be investigate. If you're not happy with the response, you can always direct the complaint to the board of management.

KevinCavan · 14-11-2018 11:50PM

It’s a very unfortunate accident. Unfortunately nobody wants to accept blame in most accidents. The other driver was clearly in the wrong, but you’ll probably get slapped with the fifty fifty b.s.

Ginger83 · 14-11-2018 11:58PM

Find a witness.

Caranica · 15-11-2018 12:01AM

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Prove it, surley the husband as a witness isn't credible.

Passengers are not treated as independent witnesses by insurance companies as I learned when I had my car damaged by a third party. Was still glad, for my own safety, that I had passengers though!

The HorsesMouth · 15-11-2018 12:06AM

OP this exact same thing happened to me earlier this year. Narrow road, no white line..I was entirely faultless as I had actually stopped my car and pulled over while the other car was going too fast and couldn't stop in time. They ploughed into the side of my car and it ended up being a write off. We ended up just settling with our own insurance as they said its extremely rare that anyone will accept liability when the road hasn't enough room for 2 cars and has no white lines. So frustrating and annoying but thats the way it is. I've invested in a dash cam since!

TheChizler · 15-11-2018 01:07AM

Any chance there was a school CCTV camera around?

Or could the position of the damage on the two cars imply that they drove into you? Did you take pictures at the scene? You mention the wheel was damaged, it's very hard to damage a wheel (beyond scratches maybe) side on by driving into another car. That could help your case that they drove into you? If it is just scratches the pattern of scratches on the wheel could prove you were stopped - straight scratches if you were stopped, curved if the wheel was rotating.

RoamingDoc · 15-11-2018 01:38AM

Makai Purring Office wrote: »

Otherwise the principal will have to be investigate. If you're not happy with the response, you can always direct the complaint to the board of management.

This goes far beyond the remit of a school principal.
A principal who acts in such a manner would likely be subject to disciplinary action themselves.

You may be thinking of the teaching council? But again, they would be very unlikely to go near such a case.

billcullen1 · 15-11-2018 02:34AM

Dubh73 wrote: »

It will be the last resort because 50/50 will still be worth something to me. There isn’t much damage to her car at all. I am guessing the 50/50 means both costs are added together and halved?? Is that correct or is it a case of I pay 50% of her costs she lays 50% of mine

Are you going to settle it privately yourself ?

Dubh73 · 15-11-2018 06:25AM

Exactly what we were thinking. I mean at the time I thought she was a bit arrogant and put it down to shock. I was anxious something would happen on the drive home and told her it could have been worse it could have been a student (since she was saying her foot slipped) it was well inside the school grounds.

Dubh73 · 15-11-2018 06:29AM

You are correct. My car is worse as she travelled down by me. The fact it’s mostly her mirror and front wheel arch shows she drove at me.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp · 15-11-2018 07:33AM

No, a principal must investigate any complaint against a teacher.
You must follow school complaints procedure before going to the teaching council. Typically it will be in order, Principal -> board of management -> teaching council.

RoamingDoc wrote: »

This goes far beyond the remit of a school principal.
A principal who acts in such a manner would likely be subject to disciplinary action themselves.

You may be thinking of the teaching council? But again, they would be very unlikely to go near such a case.

Advice needed - two car collision on narrow road

Comments