Minor Bumpish Question

russ9898

russ9898

russ9898

Associate
Joined
27 Dec 2004
Posts
1,696
Location
Staffordshire
Hi,

Let me start by trying to explain the situation as best as I can...

About 4 weeks ago I was driving along a road, approaching a junction at which I was going to turn right at, I had just finished college for the day and a "friend" was behind me in his car, as I was turning the corner he decided to try and overtake me (he was also turning right)...so to summarise a little so far "the friend" was on the wrong side of the road overtaking me at a junction whilst we were turning right, he cut me up once we had completed the turn and forced me into a kerb, which tired a shred from the sidewall of my tyre and damaged my alloy wheel.

I later text the "friend" and said he'd damaged my tyre, he apologised and asked if I wanted any money to cover the cost to which I replied yes.
He then backtracked slightly and said that I tried to out accelerate him on the corner which whilst I wasn’t hanging about I had no idea what he had done until he was near enough past me. Anyway he then said he’d go halves with me as he said it was half my fault to which I reluctantly agreed, my thinking being half is better than nothing.
The friend also said that he wouldn’t be able to give me any money for a few weeks as he is skint.

So after 3 weeks I asked what was going on, he said "I get paid tomorrow."
Great I thought.

A week later he’d not been in touch, so when we were at college I asked him about it to which he sheepishly replied im skint and have bills to pay. So I explained im not too flush either and im £90 out of pocket as I had to replace a tyre and have my tracking done. He didn’t reply.

I tried to phone him tonight, he answered but hung up. I then got a text saying that it was as much my fault as his, other people wouldn’t pay...so neither is he.

I thought the other driver was a decent lad who wouldn’t screw me over like he has, I now wish id reported the incident and claimed of his insurance immediately, however he has only been driving a few weeks and the cost of the excess and rise in premium hardly seemed justified for him after such a minor bump, just goes to show you cant trust anyone I guess.

I’m furious about this and would like to know what my options are as im sure they are limited with not reporting the incident immediately. I did however have a friend in the car from college who is both friends with me and the driver of the other car who has said he will be a witness to the incident if I wish to contact my insurance company. The other driver was on his own in the car and has no witness’s

I know very little when it comes to legal situations and would appreciate any help any of you guys can offer me.

Thanks, Russ
 
To be honest he should have his license taken away. Anybody pulling stuff like that should not hold a license.

You should have (and probably still should) report it.

I've had a smiliar situation where I was driving down the road a smallish road, wide enough for a couple lorrys but no white lines, and someone came down a hill more on my side than theirs, I moved left to get out of the way and avoid bumping my car, hit a pothole and blew a tire, which also ripped a chunk out of my alloy. Now the car made enough noise for them to notice, I stopped sharpish and they'd buggered off. Sod all I could do, ended up having to get a whole new set of tyres (thread wasn't bad, but you can't run uneven tyres, so was best for a dull set) which set me back £200, luckily the alloy wasn't too badly damaged and could be used.


InvG
 
unless he touched you he didnt "force" you into the kurb

sounds like your where both playing silly buggers and will probably sound like that to the police too :(


bit of a harsh thing to happen , yeah but i dont think youl get the money out of him
 
The_Dark_Side said:
sorry but that's incorrect.

and it's kerb, not kurb.
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how was he "forced" into the kerb/curb if he wasn't touched ?

he either steered towards it himself or lost control

no "force" involved ,he choose to go that way


legally the OP wont stand a chance of getting his tyre paid for , sadly if hed of let the guy drive into him hed probably have a good chance of claiming

still sounds to me like they where both prating about , happens all the time outside my college
 
I think your being a bit unfair on the lad, sounds like he had to drive into the kerb to stop a collision. In which case he is pretty much forced. Sounds like the other bloke was being the silly bugger to me. Give him a couple of slaps.
 
maybe so

and i apologise if im completely wrong ,

its just it happens nearly every day outside my college , they even had to put speed bumps at the exits to try and stop it , been a few good collisions
 
i see where your coming from andy, and can understand how youve reached that point of view.

However... Whilst I see people driving like clowns around my college all the time. I am not one of them, im not a 17 year old whos just passed my test, im 21 and have been driving almost 3 years now. I like to think the reason i still have a clean license and have not crashed yet is because i dont drive like a tool.

Lets be honest though, what would your gut reaction be if someone had overtaken you on a road but had misjudged the situation or whatever you want to call it.

Would you hold your position in the road and cause a crash or be doing your damn best to stop the collision?

Btw...This was a few streets away from the college not actually on the campus
 
andy said:
how was he "forced" into the kerb/curb if he wasn't touched ?
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if you're driving along a road and i suddenly jump out in front of you from the pavement you would almost certainly swerve out of the way, possibly colliding with another car/tree/lampost etc.

at no point did i physically push your car into said object therefore by your logic you're to blame as only you and i were involved.
 
The_Dark_Side said:
if you're driving along a road and i suddenly jump out in front of you from the pavement you would almost certainly swerve out of the way, possibly colliding with another car/tree/lampost etc.

at no point did i physically push your car into said object therefore by your logic you're to blame as only you and i were involved.
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i get what you mean

morally speaking he is to blame

but prooving that the blame lies with him legally without any form of evidence or witness is going to proove problematic

say you claim on your insurance against him. He files a *false* report stating that you lost control and hit the kerb yourself

You say otherwise.

who'se correct ? the answer is that the insurance company wont accept liabillity, the other cant proove it, so you'll have to claim on your own insurance.

I suggest you settle this away from the authorities. The insurance company wont listen, and i doubt the police will as well. Again, no proof, no witnesses and he is known to you. You'll just get put down as a pair of boy racers

Im not suggesting you threaten him or anything, but you need to find a way, as mates to sort it out.
 
lol im sure the part of my message were i said i have a witness is invisible.

The witness is friends with both of us, so not sure whether he can make a statement or not, but he has said he will act as a witness. i also have texts saved from the other driver admiting liability.
 
russ9898 said:
lol im sure the part of my message were i said i have a witness is invisible.

The witness is friends with both of us, so not sure whether he can make a statement or not, but he has said he will act as a witness. i also have texts saved from the other driver admiting liability.
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sorry

forgot to mention "impartial"

insurance companies (rightly) take the view that if the person was in the car with you, they are more likely to agree with your side of the story, whether or not it was true.

I was hit by a woman on the wrong side of the road, i was on my own, but she claimed i was on the wrong side of the road and had "a witness" to proove it. Insurance companies settled it 50:50 (ie i had to claim on my insurance and she had to on hers) as there were no impartial witnesses

same thing when my dad was T boned when the other party ran a red light. Both parties said there lights were green. No impartial witness' so it was settled 50:50
 
yeah, thats fair enough, and i fully understand the point that your making.

The witness, is friends with both of us. Weve all known each other the exact same amount of time and are in the same group at college. Is he likely to still be classed as being biased as he was in the car with me at the time?
 
You and your mate were knobbing about and you broke your car. Can't say I have much sympathy with either of you, and besides, if the roles were reversed would you really be falling over yourself to pay for his damage? I think not.
 
russ9898 said:
Is he likely to still be classed as being biased as he was in the car with me at the time?
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unfortunately yes

you wouldnt believe who cast iron it has to be for the insurance claim on the other person to go through. I was hit on the wrong side of the road, and had photos of skid marks, the debris from the accident, straight after it happened, but that still wasnt enough to proove it wasnt my fault.

insurance companies definition of the word "impartial" usually means that they are nothing to do with you and were bystanders. Not friends of yours in your car.

We know that person is likely to tell the truth, but because that person is a friend of yours,and travelling in your car, as far as the insurance company is concerned, they arent impartial.
 
Akira said:
You and your mate were knobbing about and you broke your car. Can't say I have much sympathy with either of you, and besides, if the roles were reversed would you really be falling over yourself to pay for his damage? I think not.
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Who the hell do you think you are? For your info i wasn’t knobbing about as i have stated before, if you don’t believe me or think im lying then why don’t you keep it closed and not post at all.

Yes i would pay the damage if the roles were reversed, whilst that’s easier said than done. I believe hand on heart that i would.
 
MrLOL said:
unfortunately yes

you wouldnt believe who cast iron it has to be for the insurance claim on the other person to go through. I was hit on the wrong side of the road, and had photos of skid marks, the debris from the accident, straight after it happened, but that still wasnt enough to proove it wasnt my fault.

insurance companies definition of the word "impartial" usually means that they are nothing to do with you and were bystanders. Not friends of yours in your car.

We know that person is likely to tell the truth, but because that person is a friend of yours,and travelling in your car, as far as the insurance company is concerned, they arent impartial.
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I thought as much tbh. I guess i can only hope that the threat will be enough to make the other driver pay up.
IIRC the other driver is fronting using his mum as the policy holder on his car to bring the price down on insurance...whilst this is illegal im not planning on reporting him for it...im hoping that when he realises his mums premium will rise if he looses her no claims he will be a bit more of a man about things and face upto it.
 
russ9898 said:
Who the hell do you think you are? For your info i wasn’t knobbing about as i have stated before, if you don’t believe me or think im lying then why don’t you keep it closed and not post at all.

Yes i would pay the damage if the roles were reversed, whilst that’s easier said than done. I believe hand on heart that i would.
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Why didn't you sensibly sit at the junction until your stupid mate had passed you then? You said you went round the corner together then he cut you up. It's your fault as much as his, I'd keep quiet if I were you. If you involve the authorities you may well find yourself charged.
 
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