Pillock on Phone - Light Scrape

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 15:41

When going to visit my grandparents on Friday evening, a van driver who was on his phone, crossed the lane line into my car. The Tesla Autopilot kicked in and avoided it mostly but there was a light bit of contact causing a minor cosmetic scratch.

After it happened, I beeped him and flashed him to pull over but he refused, him still being on his phone.

The damage is minor and probably ~£50 for a mobile chip repairer to fix so I don't really fancy going through insurance as it will put up my costs most likely.

Is it reasonable for me to contact this company with the footage to report the driver and ask for the chip to be repaired?

Dashcam footage? - https://imgur.com/a/sym3ltL

Minstadave · 22 Aug 2021 at 15:44

Yup seems legit to me.

Impressed by the dashcam functionality.

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 15:54

Also can't seem to read the last 3 digits of his number plate. Looks to be YB20 WUL

Kenai · 22 Aug 2021 at 15:59

I'd expect them to deny there was any contact from seeing just those angles/clips.

Whilst he obviously drifts over and your car clearly takes evasive action, unless there are clips with sound where you can hear contact, that doesn't look particularly conclusive in terms of him hitting you.

hurfdurf · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:05

That’s very impressive dashcam footage. I’d report it to the police via their website for a failure to stop rtc and then contact the company see if they’ll make it right.

Uther · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:07

I think you'll need more than that to prove he hit you.

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:08

Kenai said:
I'd expect them to deny there was any contact from seeing just those angles/clips.

Whilst he obviously drifts over and your car clearly takes evasive action, unless there are clips with sound where you can hear contact, that doesn't look particularly conclusive in terms of him hitting you.

That's why I cba to go via insurance for £50-£100 for a mobile repair company to fix it. More hassle than it's worth then the likelihood of premium increases etc.

I will just tell the company and not ask for money but stating the costs and then asking for this driver to be more careful as it could have been much worse. I definitely wouldn't have reacted as fast as the autopilot system did and could have been much worse, especially with 2 small children in the car.

Dis86 · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:12

I'd report it to the company. He clearly can be seen to react.

Demon · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:28

I’d report him, it’s probably worth them settling on a small repair figure than taking that through insurance..

Homer-Simpson · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:51

Have you got the footage leading up to the incident? They were already in your lane in that video rather that swerving into it. It doesn't really show the incident as a whole. If you have, report it to the company but from that footage they could easily argue you were just pushing your way past them.

Slam62 · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:58

Firstly, was he on a hands free, I can't see him holding a phone?

Secondly does the sound give anything away?

If neither of the above you'll struggle

Mr.Cookie · 22 Aug 2021 at 16:59

Would the police not have access to motorway cameras, I'm sure they'd show him on phone and a better view of incident.

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 17:03

Homer-Simpson said:
Have you got the footage leading up to the incident? They were already in your lane in that video rather that swerving into it. It doesn't really show the incident as a whole. If you have, report it to the company but from that footage they could easily argue you were just pushing your way past them.

Yes, see here https://imgur.com/a/c14FLDX

The problem is which I never knew before is that the Tesla stores all video files in smaller video clips and there was a small gap in the saved record. This one is the clip immediately before the front facing captures in the orignal clips.

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 17:04

Slam62 said:
Firstly, was he on a hands free, I can't see him holding a phone?

Secondly does the sound give anything away?

If neither of the above you'll struggle

Tesla cameras don't record sound.

You can't see in the video recorded but he was on his phone when we were flashing and beeping him to pull over.

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 17:05

Mr.Cookie said:
Would the police not have access to motorway cameras, I'm sure they'd show him on phone and a better view of incident.

I will report to the police but no motorway cameras that I can see.

HoneyBadger · 22 Aug 2021 at 17:09

I’d report it to the police and the company. Rinse the ****, might make them think twice in future.

koolpc · 22 Aug 2021 at 17:15

Cant see in the video him hit you.

Cant see the police doing anything from what you have shown.

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 17:18

koolpc said:
Cant see in the video him hit you.

Cant see the police doing anything from what you have shown.

Hard to tell in the video as it happens just forward of the wing mirror where the camera is located pointing backwards. It's a very light clip and very minor scratch.

kitkat9933 · 22 Aug 2021 at 19:08

That was a fast response..

Temujin · 22 Aug 2021 at 19:34

That's a quick response with a good outcome for you, hopefully it gets resolved nicely!