Your bad driving encounters/irritations

Mekrel said:
The girl who crashed into me is thankfully an honest person, she admitted liability there and then, and also said so to her insurance.

What's frustrating is, I'm insured through a broker and I called them to start the claim. After giving them all the details they needed (the bazillion questions of when, where, description of the person behind the wheel etc), they then informed me they're not the broker I'm talking to, but an accident management company...

I've told them to forget the claim and I've gone direct through their insurance. I'm annoyed that this broker uses an accident management company a) because these guys tend to add costs and b) they basically were pushing a credit hire agre on me in the most sly of ways. I've heard horror stories of people falling foul of this, the repair/hire costs ballooning that the 3rd party insurer won't cover, resulting in them coming after the client for any shortfall.

Third party insurance has confirmed OEM parts and a LFL hire car (premium 4 door saloon).
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I had the same when I reported the accident to my insurance (RAC).
I refused to have a hire car or sign anything (from the accident management company) until I knew that the other parties insurance had admitted liability, which they did, and are now dealing with everything.
I had a horrible experience years ago after an accident where I ended up paying an eye watering sum for the hire car the management company gave me.
 
Is the use of accident management companies normal? I.e. if I was not insured via a broker, but direct with say a well known multinational insurer such as Admiral. Would they also use a accident management company?
 
Trifid said:
Having seen the video, you'd be stopping all the time on a normal road if you 'predicted' this driver not stopping and probably end up getting rear ended with how close people drive to the car in front.
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Which would be their fault (although nobody most people don't want to crash).
 
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Trifid said:
So still being involved in a crash? Couldn't you have predicted getting rear ended?
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That's why you drive at 20mph everywhere (except then you get people aggressively tailgating you and performing dangerous overtakes, which will also likely eventually result in a (predictable) crash) :p )
 
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Resident said:
Yesterday

Thick fog for most of the morning.

Lost count how many cars were driving WITHOUT any lights on at all.
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I was doing a group litter pick on a B road and I say about 40-50% cars had zero lights on. Worst ones are the grey cars as look invisible.

Two of those cars are driving school cars with pupils. The driving instructor should make their pupils aware of this simple thing.
 
cheesefest said:
I was doing a group litter pick on a B road and I say about 40-50% cars had zero lights on. Worst ones are the grey cars as look invisible.

Two of those cars are driving school cars with pupils. The driving instructor should make their pupils aware of this simple thing.
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Driving instructors are getting beyond incompetent.

I would say that at least twice a week I have a near-miss with one, usually allowing their pupil to put themselves erroneously into my path (whilst driving a double deck bus)
 
I was actually surprised the other day, I was purposefully looking out for it as I was testing to see under what conditions my headlights were triggered by the automatic wipers (turns out only wiper speeds above intermittent and normal activate the headlights) and only saw one car without any lights on at all and only a small number with just DRLs.

I have to admit it is something I struggle with a bit to think about in daytime driving as a large amount of my driving is at night where my lights are on anyway in adverse weather.
 
I'd have thought most modern cars, even 8-10 years old have an automatic light option where the conditions and light level decide when the lights come on? I've had it on most past two cars, from 2012 and 2015? The DRL's on my current car (the 2015 one) are pretty bright, but generally if it's any way gloomy and I have the wipers on the headlights come on too.
 
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MissChief said:
I'd have thought most modern cars, even 8-10 years old have an automatic light option where the conditions and light level decide when the lights come on? I've had it on most past two cars, from 2012 and 2015? The DRL's on my current car (trhe 2015 one) are pretty bright, but generally if it's any way gloomy and I have the wipers on the headlights come on too.
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Dunno what the situation is like in general but anything I've owned from approx. 2013 onwards has had automatic headlights with the headlights linked to the automatic wipers. Though as I've found out recently the relationship between the wipers and triggering headlights is not something you can depend on in the rain never mind fog (generally I've not relied on it anyhow so wasn't sure if it was working/actually implemented on one of my vehicles despite being so on paper).
 
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5pm - it’s dark and saw three cars without any lights on, driving the 5 minutes from my parents. All these cars were 16 reg or younger. All should have the auto lights option.
 
My brother was an absolute disaster behind the wheel.

He was the personification of road rage mixed with the reactions of SpongeBob SquarePants.

I could detail some of his exploits, but, honestly, you would be shocked.
 
MissChief said:
I'd have thought most modern cars, even 8-10 years old have an automatic light option where the conditions and light level decide when the lights come on? I've had it on most past two cars, from 2012 and 2015? The DRL's on my current car (the 2015 one) are pretty bright, but generally if it's any way gloomy and I have the wipers on the headlights come on too.
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They do but you can switch the automatic function off (at least in my car).

Driving home from work the other week I met a car at one of those ‘give priority’ points and there was a car with no lights on so flashed them (with my car headlights :p) but think they thought I was just thanking them for stopping. :D
 
cheesefest said:
5pm - it’s dark and saw three cars without any lights on, driving the 5 minutes from my parents. All these cars were 16 reg or younger. All should have the auto lights option.
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I disagree with the auto-headlight thing. It breeds complacency.

What I would like to see is the light level sensor hooked up to an in-cabin 150Db siren. Light level falls sufficiently to need headlights, siren goes off and deafens the driver. It would very quickly remove any complacency.
 
Well just had an interesting morning to say the least.

On the way to work, dual lane A road, couple lorries in left hand lane ahead of me, I am in right hand lane going about 75 with a few cars nicely spaced between, all of a sudden I see one lorry on the left go for full emergency brake and the lorry behind crap it and shifted right into my lane about 2 foot in front of my bumper.
Why I hear you ask, a sodding fiesta sitting on the dual carriage way going 40mph. My turn off was up ahead, so once everyone had calmed down and getting back up to speed, I pulled behind the fiesta to wait for my turn, what do I see, a very large mobile phone sitting within pinky touching distance of having your hand on the steering wheel. So I sat behind this fiesta waiting for my turn which was less than 400 yards away, it took forever!
I dont care what any of you say, if you are going 40mph on a dual carriage way, when there is no traffic around and the rest of traffic moving at regular speeds, you are an absolute risk on the road and should not be driving.
So then heading down the slip road to a round about, 2 lanes. left hand lane for 1st and 2nd exit, right hand lane for 3rd and 4th, the Feista sits in the left hand lane, no indicators, missing around 5 chances to move and leave the roundabout and carry on but does not, I can see them prodding at their phone with a finger.
Eventually they see a space large enough to pull a tractor out in and decide to pull out, then cut across the other lane of traffic, no indicators, no look, no care. As I watched them go round the roundabout and head for the 4th exit.

Then I get to my clients this morning, speaking to one of them and one of their cars got written off last night (daughters bf driving, insured), by a diver who did not want to leave their details, did not wait for police, drove off and headed into a retail park where they then proceeded to go do some quick and immediate shopping in a tooling shop, before leaving the area, again.

Resident said:
What I would like to see is the light level sensor hooked up to an in-cabin 150Db siren. Light level falls sufficiently to need headlights, siren goes off and deafens the driver. It would very quickly remove any complacency.
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Sounds like a proper stupid way to provide an unnecessary distraction and panic in a driver in charge of a motor vehicle potentially causing distress and other issues, rather than tech complacency just doing its thing, logic.
 
Yup people doing 40 on a dual-carriageway are a menace, granted sometimes there is a good reason, especially the ones who want to take a right turning and sit in the outside lane for like a mile before hand...

I'll never understand people who can't leave their phone alone when driving - I don't even personally use handsfree, etc. unless it is for work purposes and only then as strictly necessary, nominally goes in my pocket and I don't touch it, unless I need it for navigation purposes (mounted).
 
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