Had an accident in the car...

As I was driving home from work last night in the car (yeah i know, bloody fairweather bikers! ) I had an accident on the East Lancs heading out of Manchester

For those that know the road, it was at the traffic lights at the junction with Moorside Road in Swinton, just before the M61 turn-off.
I approached the lights in lane 3, and the lights had just changed to green ahead, but there was some stationary cars in lanes 1 & 2 at the lights. Some pr*ck at the back of the queue in lane 2 suddenly decides to jump out into the 3rd lane, forcing the taxi in front of me to do an emergency stop. I saw this happen so straightaway I braked hard, but my wheels locked & I slid right into the a*se end of the taxi, probably doing about 15 mph (couldn't have been more cos the airbags didn't go off). Thankfully everyone was ok, the taxi had a fare with him at the time & she was ok too. I've got some pain in my back but I'm not sure how serious it is, probably just whiplash.

I've just phoned the insurance company & they don't seem to want to know - it's as if they've made up their mind it's my fault without even speaking to the driver or passenger in the taxi. I got the contact details of the taxi's passenger & the incsurance co. said there wasn't any point contacting her cos the car that jumped into the 3rd lane & caused the accident wasn't hit by the taxi & drove away, no-one got a reg number for it so they can't claim liability from anyone but me, which seems ludicrous to me. I know it's a case of what they can prove in court but surely they should represent the facts as I gave them?

Basically in return for my honesty I'm going to be saddled with the excess for the claim, lose my NCB, and they told that even if the condition of my back worsens and turns out to be something serious & I end up off work or anything, I can't claim for any losses cos the accident will be deemed my fault.

To make matters worse, the police officer that attended the accident said my car seemed perfectly driveable (even though I had seen fluid p*ssing out from underneath the engine and offer to call the RAC to recover my car) and advised me to just 'take it easy' on the motorway & take it to a garage in the morning. I made it as far my usual junction on the motorway and the car died, so I had to call the RAC anyway!

On which note - hats off to the RAC, they were brilliant & i'd recommend them to anyone - the mechanic that turned up was a biker too & was a really top bloke. He even mentioned that his mate had just passed his test & bought an SV so I told him about the site & may have recruited a new member!

Sorry about the long rambling post but I'm pee'd off and in pain this morning & I was hoping one of the helpful .Org'ers might know if there's anything I can do about the insurance company & the attitude they've taken towards the incident?

Also, I've got the standard 7-day producer from the police, but i can't find my counterpart licence anywhere (i keep the photocard in my wallet), has anyone else had this happen? Can i get a replacement sent out by the DVLA in time to produce my docs at the police station?

Any advice appreciated guys, thanks in advance

Bad luck their fella, but good news that everyone is OK.

Unfortunately because, as you say, the driver that actually caused the hard braking of the taxi drove off, I can see why the liability lays with you.

If you had of been tucked up in bed for example, the taxi would of hit the brakes, and the car that cut the taxi up would of driven away. No-one would of hit anyone else.

If this ever went to court, the taxi guys insurance company will argue this point in a heart beat. They can't recover costs from the driver that pulled out, so they'll argue that you were simply too close to the taxi for the situation. They'll basically be saying that you didn't leave enough room in front of your car to stop in the road you can see to be safe.

We all know what the court decision would be from that perspective. So on that basis, it doesn't make any business sense whatsoever for your insurance company to fight it, only to have to pay legal costs too. Sad fact of life unfortunately.

You could try to argue that the initial car driver (the one that drove away) didn't stop at the scene of an accident that he "caused." At worst, he contributed to it, he didn't cause it. But then, it could also be argued as I've already written, or even that he simply didn't know that an accident had happened.

If you could find the driver, and get them to admit some liability, I fear it would still be loaded at least 60% against you, for the simple fact of distance.

T'is a hard pill to swallow I know, but that's just my 2p on it as you've explained it. I'm no lawyer or accident speciailist, so I could be completely wrong.

Maybe as an alternative solution, because the taxi driver knows what happened, get in touch with them, and raise the idea of not going through insurance at all (if this is an option). I'm sure the taxi drive wont give a rats behind how his car gets sorted, so long as it gets sorted.
Hopefully it'll all get sorted out quick enough.

Cheers Baph, I think you've summed up pretty much what I suspected anyway. When I think about it in those terms it makes sense that the insurance co will choose their battles and there's no way they could prove liability on anyone else's part in this case.

Guess the best I can hope for is that the car gets sorted with the minimum fuss as possible.

Glad I wasn't on the bike though, i shudder to think...

Some pr*ck at the back of the queue in lane 2 suddenly decides to jump out into the 3rd lane, forcing the taxi in front of me to do an emergency stop. I saw this happen so straightaway I braked hard, but my wheels locked & I slid right into the a*se end of the taxi, probably doing about 15 mph (couldn't have been more cos the airbags didn't go off).

The Highway Code would argue you still have a duty of observation, and if you were unable to stop, then either you did not count out a two second break in road space between the taxi and yourself, or you weren't concentrating on the road which led to the error and reaction time delay.

It's just as well you were in the car, because if your brakes locked up, then you probably panic-braked, causing the brakes to lose their effectiveness. This happens a lot of drivers who for some reason, hit the clutch at the same time as the brake, disengaging the engine and causing the car to coast as well as trying to brake, causing a skid.

A motorcyclist locking the brakes that way would have ended up in a low-side.

Sorry it doesn't sound good. Glad to hear you're okay and good luck with sorting the car out.

[anna]

I'm sorry to hear about this ... dont take any chances with your back though go and see someone to get an assesment on it ASAP you really dont want that to get any worse...

oh and a very big

Bad luck mate.
Is there no way you can blame stretchie for this?

Re. the licence, I doubt you'll get a replacement in time. I reckon have another good look round when you've had a bit more time.

[timwilky]

Sorry to read this Andy, and have to agree with others that it sounds as if you are responsible.

Good luck finding your licence. I once got a producer from Greater Manchester police in Leigh, I couldn't find my licence and ended up summonsed to Leigh magistrates court. The annoying thing was that the summons actually stated "On further investigation, it was established that Mr Wilkinson did hold a full licence for the class of vehicle he was driving". Still didn't stop them from fining me £25 for non production. My replacement licence arrived 3 days after the deadline for producing.

Originally Posted by anna

I'm sorry to hear about this ... dont take any chances with your back though go and see someone to get an assesment on it ASAP you really dont want that to get any worse...

oh and a very big

I'll get myself checked out, don't worry. Thanks for the , i needed that!

Originally Posted by mac99

Bad luck mate.
Is there no way you can blame stretchie for this?

Where there's a will, there's a way!

Originally Posted by mac99

Re. the licence, I doubt you'll get a replacement in time. I reckon have another good look round when you've had a bit more time.

Found it now, thank god! It was stashed away in my filing system*



*a big box in the corner of the room with years worth of paperwork stuffed into it in no discernible order

sorry to hear this matey