car accident insurance question?

[Grogshla]

Hey there everyone.
I was waiting behind 1 car at the traffic lights waiting to turn into my street when i got smashed from behind by a lady talking on the phone via blu tooth. She hit me and I hit the dude in front. Would me and the dude both claim off her insurance? Or do I claim of her insurance and the dude claims off me?
Thanks heaps. This is my first accident and am unsure about this sorta stuff.

 

[Ned_fisch]

You would both get her insurance claim. She made the initial accident, which caused you to hit the guy infront. She was on the phone, so it's all on her.

I hope you weren't injured and your car is up and going soon!

 

[Grogshla]

thanks mate.
I appreciate the speedy response.
The car is driveable but the front bar is smashed and the bonnet is sorta pushed up. The rear bar is smashed good and the boot is sitting crooked.
Not injured really just got a really good jolt.

 

[elogov]

Yep as ned_fisch stated both off her insurance, Hope you are okay.

 

[ianinoz]

From what I have been told, if your had stopped (completely) and was the shunted into the vehicle in front of you, and you can prove it to the police when they attended the accident , IMO it pays to have the police attend and take statements and assign fault by fining someone and issuing demerits to who they assess is the at fault driver, the you should be fine, the insurance company should repair your vehicle and you shouldn't have to pay any excess.

It's all on the driver who rear ended you.

People who insist on using their phones while driving are idiots and IMO the fine and penalties are not harsh enough.

 

[Smithers]

How scary glad to hear your kool though Adam.

 

[user 16446]

Always good to have a camera or camera phone handy if the police don't attend. A fresh set of skid marks under your car should prove you were pushed, and didn't roll or hit the next car yourself.

Even then, and I do it myself, most people only put enough pressure on the pedal to stop the car from moving. A sudden jolt from behind would be just enough to take that pressure off the pedal momentarily, and you would effectively roll into the car in front. This would make it hard to prove you were not also at fault. Two solutions: Either put considerable pressure on the pedal, or leave considerable room in front and keep an eye on your rear vision mirror....just in case.

Food for thought!

 

[junglepython2]

Depending on your set up it isnt illegal to talk on your phone via blue tooth.

 

[ianinoz]

Always good to have a camera or camera phone handy if the police don't attend. A fresh set of skid marks under your car should prove you were pushed, and didn't roll or hit the next car yourself.

Even then, and I do it myself, most people only put enough pressure on the pedal to stop the car from moving. A sudden jolt from behind would be just enough to take that pressure off the pedal momentarily, and you would effectively roll into the car in front. This would make it hard to prove you were not also at fault. Two solutions: Either put considerable pressure on the pedal, or leave considerable room in front and keep an eye on your rear vision mirror....just in case.

Food for thought!

That works fine IF you kept your foot on the brakes once you stopped.
That's not always necessary unless there is slight or steeper grade at the intersection (and only to stop your car from rolling up or down (forwards or backwards) into other cars.

FI I usually take my foot off the brakes once stopped, if my car starts to roll then I apply a little handbrake. I don't ride the clutch if it's uphill if I've stopped. (This annoys ********s behind me who are too impatient and toot their horns at me if I'm a little slow getting going when I get the green).

In most cases if my car was shunted in an accident like described, I'm unlikely to show any skid marks on the road.

 

[user 16446]

Depending on your set up it isnt illegal to talk on your phone via blue tooth.

But it is still proven to be distracting.

Now, generally speaking, a lot of us can't multitask, and the car is one place NO ONE should be trying.
As a train driver, it is illegal for us to even have the phone turned on, and in the states it's illegal and criminally punishable just to have it with you, and train drivers don't have nearly the same distractions on the rail as road users. It's just the consequences that can be far more catastrophic.

Personally I wreckon it should be illegal even to sing in the car. And as a motorbike rider, hit me if you've been talking and I'll make sure it never works again. Oh, that's if you havn't killed me for that important call.

 

[hissnbits]

Best hing is as already said to get police involved then there should be no disputing what happened. If polive attend someone has to be fined as someone must have been in the wrong for something to go wrong! The usual is careless driving on the part of the driver whom hit you. This is good as some insurance companies will try and suggest that it is your fault. To elaborate they may claim that you hit the car in front, and that their insured driver then hit an accident (that you caused) and so then try and blame you. Next important thing is statements from all drivers as this and police report will put insurance companies straight. Last thing is it also depends on which insurance company cover whom. Lets say same insurance company for all three drivers then they gotta pay no matter what, just a matter of who pays excess. If it was same company for yourself and the driver that hit you then again little worry as they have to pay for all three as well, again just who pays excess.

If police didnt attend (and often they just cant be bothered doing so unless some one is injured to which they are then compelled to attend), then statements from other drivers would be the most important thing. The driver at fault's insurance is spose to cover all damage caused by their driver (within limits dictated by the policy such aas public libility etc). Often most insurance companies just get their clients vehicles assessed/fixed and then then sort out their finances with each other.

Good luck and hope you arnt inconvienienced too much.

Cheers

 

[sammie-leigh]

you will both need to make a claim, you will claim off her insurance and the person you hit will claim off yours.
Even though it was because someone else hit you, because your car that you were driving het the person in front of you, you will be deemed at fault.
As much as it sucks, its the way the insurance industry works. the only person who will not be deemed at fault is the car in front of you.

 

[ianinoz]

^^
Which probably means that you've blown your excess and some of your no-claim bonus unless the cops attended.

You will probably have to take the clown who was using their mobile phone whilst driving to court to recover your excess, probably not worth the cost or bother and there is no guarantee you'll win or not have to pay court costs and legal fees as well.

 

[sammie-leigh]

depending on either your driving/claims history or years of insurance history your insurance may be offering you a no-claim bonus discount for life-so you may not lose it due to an at-fault accident. In regards to the other driver recovering your excess,You will most likely end up having to pay your excess yourself, it is a slim chance that the driver will be told to pay your excess they will already be paying an excess due to them being at fault as well. The driver may not want to go through an insurance company to get the cars fixed or may not want to co-operate in the matter, which makes things difficult for you.
Hopefully everything goes smoothly and you wont lose your no-claim bonus discount. The main thing is that there were not any injuries from the accident and not a large amount of damage. Glad to hear that you are ok though,

 

[Notorious_Guf]

I've been involved in a situation like this, and it will be the last person in the queue who is deemed at fault of the whole accident, unless you hit first, then they hit after. The simplest way for you to prove how the accident occurred is to go to a Police station and make a statement as you saw it. They should thoroughly investigate it including asking everyone involved in the accident to make a statement. So long as the first person in the queue agree's with your statement that you did not hit first, then you are sweet! You should have the details of all involved, so once you have passed this onto the Police, they can then get in contact with the others involved. You insurance will generally need you to have submitted a Police report & will also advise you of who is responsible in this situation. Glad you are ok & hope it all gets sorted out, accidents are a right pain in the bum no matter how small they are.

 

[AUSHERP]

You are meant to leave adequate space between you and the car in front in case something like this happens. it really depends on her insurance company.

 

[ianinoz]

^^
I was in similar situation once (lucky for me I had crested the hill and was on the downhill slope so in this case I had my foot on the brake peddle and kept it there after I'd stopped because the queue of cars in peak hour traffic in front of me had stopped for a red light.
An idiot who I believe was using his mobile phone who claimed he never even saw me before he tailgated me and shunted me about 8ft down the road. Made a hell of mess of the front of his sedan, which virtually exploded and disintegrated on impact.

I stopped short of hitting the car in front of me (he must have been travelling in excess of 80kmph when he ran up my ****.

I insisted on calling the police and having them attend.

My pajero had minimal damage, couldn't even see any obvious damage initially as the spare and my tow bar and shassy taken the full force of the impact. Bent tail gate, badly bent towbar, dent in rear bumper bar, cracked reflector, and I felt very lucky and was very impressed with the strength of the structure and body of my Pajero. ind you I was well and truely shaken up my the impact and sported a bruise from the seat belt and sore shoulder.

I have a habit of stopping at least a car length from the car infront of me. This paid off for me.