Ive Been Swiped!

[Vyker]

Gutted!

I was driving up to a roundabout, the road was a 2lane one, with lane 2 splitting into 2 lanes, totaling 3 at the roundabout entry.

I was in middle lane, a 307 on the inside and the lorry on the outside [lane3]... all is well, we were all at a standstill waiting to enter the roundabout, then all of a sudden, the mad lorry driver thought he could make it in time to enter the roundabout ahead of a white van, i would never have wanted to join at that point and im in the IS which is more nimble and quicker.

As he pulled out, the white van slammed his breaks, and the lorry had to swing right round to make the bend in the road with me on his inside :o

I had to pull out with him otherwise i would have been under his rear carriage wheels, i couldn't pull out too far away from him otherwise i would hit the 307 beside me.

He caught me... dented my front wing with a prevailing scratch continuing along the entire length of the car!

We both pulled over and he was one rude *****, he threaten to punch me 3 times, swore at me, the lot!

I claimed it to be his fault, and he I.

I called my insurance and my excess is £350, which is more then the £300 i was quoted by my local garage to repair all 4 panels [2doors and 2 wings] with paint matching.

I was told that i can still claim and get the money repaid to me through my legal cover from the other side, but of all that i have spoken to have told me that id be dreaming if i expect to get the money anytime next year! whats your thoughts?

The lorry belonged to GIST logistics, and i suspect they will hold onto their pennies very tightly, training all their drivers to never admit fault!

If i pay myself i wont have a claimed claim on my insurance and i will be out of pocket £300, if i go through with the claim, i will still have to pay, then battle and hassle with legal cover and 3rd parties to get the money back, after battling over whose is at fault... what your thoughts?

signing out, a sad Vyker :(

[sparkystav]

Have a word with the company first i'd have said,

Gutted for the though mate, i'd have fumed if he'd been like that with me after damaging my Lex.

Good luck with it though fella and sorry again

Stav

[aztecbandit1]

Sorry to hear that matey :( if the other driver had got like that with me after it happend i would of walked away from him and phoned the police being as he threatend to hit you? soon shuts them up the :tsktsk:

[rig-pig]

did you get the police involved or get any witness

[Rsarin]

got his reg?call the police now!tell them he said he would hit you 3 times and he was pushing you around and he said he would hit you if you called the police,thats why you didnt,basically when you speak to the police on the phone,say that you have been scared for life and that you felt your life was at risk-act scared and they will act.Call the company and tell them that one of their drivers has threatened you and that the police are now involved and they are investigating the incident.If you left the scene of the accident without getting him to admit liability and hand over his companies insurance details,then you dont have any chance with money,although you can have this prick involved with the police.He will probably not loose his job,as i personally know two people that i employ who do long distance drving for one of my fathers companies and they both have criminal records longer than my arm,its quite likely this scumbag just got out a few months ago too.

[DJ Wozza]

Really sorry to hear this mate, I'm still waiting on the Police

to sort mine out since 28th August..

There are companies that will chase the other company but it will defo take time,

it obviously helps if there was a witness to back up your side of things.

I will PM you a number you can try tomoz matey, glad u not injured.

Was there any damage at all to his vehicle ?

Did he give you details of his insurance company ?

Did he give you his own personal driver details & the company that owns the Lorry ?

All the above I believe you are legally entitled to, and obviously depending on the

details of what you were given, you can report this all to the Car Insurance Company

Police & also the company that owns the Lorry. Rattle a few cages, and either

use the Uninsured Recovery people you prob have included in your Insurance,

or the number I'll send you tomoz.

[Scorps01]

Companies like that need advanced traing for HGV drivers.....was it a HGV or a 7.5 ton?

Anyway approach the co and explain the driver threatened you and you are getting the police involved, my bet is they will ask you to get a quote and settle without going through the insurance co, its a lot of hassle and paperwork for them if not make sure you follow it up with the police and any witnesses statement.

[WylieCoyote]

That's shocking. I'd inform the Police, then ring the company and tell them you've involved the Police as one of their drivers threatened you. Basically, what Rsarin said! Gutted to hear about that, hope you're ok and your Lex will recover. Keep us posted and rest assured if any of us see Gist Logistics trucks around, we will give them a good old fashioned British two fingers!!!

Keith :)

[TigerFish]

Good luck with what ever you decide to do. I personally don't think you will get anywhere with the driver or the company. a few years ago a HGV smashed half my front bumper off while I was parked outside where I work. Came out and found it hanging off and the wing buckled up. I was there trying to bodge it all back together so I could get home when a guy came over and started chatting to me finding out what had happened. The following day I found a note on my windscreen from a witness who saw the truck hit the car and gave me the reg no. They didn't want to be an official witness as the driver delivered to their place. Turns out the guy who was chatting to me was the cheaky :tsktsk: who had done it. I called the company and police. I then get a call from this guy on my mobile threatening me. Called the police again and he denied all knowledge of the prang or the phone call. The upshot was that with no witness, there was no hope in hell as it was my word against his. I was not a happy bunny.

Edit: Edit of Janey's edit as "cheaky chappie" makes it sound like a happy situation, which it wasn't

Edited October 23, 2007 by TigerFish
Swearing/evading profanity filter

[The Transporter]

GIST (Formerly BOC) do have a good reputation and should take such allegation seriously if you were to contact them. If their driver was abusive then this is a serious matter indeed. When you take your HGV test, the examiner is not only looking for the ability to drive safely but also looking to discount aggressive drivers.. British truck drivers are among the safest in Europe, though that is not to say that some bad eggs do slip the net. It is possible that the drivers poor driving is down to him being inexperienced, this is the time of year where many supermarket delivery companies (Gist deliver for Marks and Spencer) are busy recruiting temporary staff for the Christmas period, many of these agency drivers are not as conscientious as company drivers but are sadly a necessary evil

Speak to GIST and tell them your side, it could be that he has given them problems before

For what it is worth I would have taken both lanes on the entrance to the roundabout to make sure that no one would have been where you were, some of you may have noticed truck drivers doing this, they are not being belligerent but are making sure that there is safe space for the trailer and that car drivers cannot get where the trailer could hit them..

[Unregistered_User]

Gutted to hear about this pal, I really really hope you sort something out very soon and please keep this thread updated.

All the best,

Jamie

[swfcdan]

Sorry to hear that mate, i assume you got his details. I personally would call his compay, go ape :tsktsk:, not only about the damage hes caused, but also about his threatning behaviour.

I personally wouldn't let it drop and let this arse get away with it. failing that, hunt down his truck and set it on fire (yes im an angry person) :D

[Vyker]

Thanks for all your replies guys, Im in a hotel all this week, so no Internet in the evenings, at work now and going to gather up all your comments and work out whats the best approach...

On initial reflection, i think all of you are spot on, its not right what i had to go through, i think i may have been slightly blinded by the height of the situation clouding my judgment. hindsight is a wonderful thing!.... i mean.. he threaten to punch me for petes sake!! [realisation kicks in]

Another worrying point TigerFish has made rings frightfully true, i have no witnesses and it is simply a case of him vs me! :(

Thanks for all the advice!

[Matt Hillyard]

Sorry to hear about this mate, not something any of us want to go through.

I just hope that it all gets sorted very swiftly!

Matt

[Scorps01]

hunt down his truck and set it on fire (yes im an angry person) :D

Thats a bit extreme and not funny......why because if you got lucky and found it parked up at night in a service stn/layby and set light to it, (not that im saying you would) remember lorry drivers sleep in the cab !!!

Having personally seen one ablaze and being woken up by the emergency services at 2 o/c in the morning at no more than 20 metres away aint a pretty sight luckily the driver got out but imagine not being able to.

[Stuart_Wise]

What details of the HGV do you have?

The reason I ask is that (please don't flame me) I work for GIST.

There are 7 main depots though so it would take a while but I could look into it for you.

And i am sorry to hear about it mate, but 'The Transporter' said most Drivers sre very good in this country.

If you need any numbers let me know, I can give you direct lines to people to stop you getting fobbed off.

[WylieCoyote]

That's why I love these forums, all looking out for each other. Decent of you Stuart, top man. :)

[Vyker]

Stuart_Wise, thats very kind of you.

I have his name and license plate, i called their depo and they told me that once his statement comes through they will decide on what action to take.

I then ask how i can get my statement to them as its clearly going to one sided if they read only his statement! i was told to call back in the morning! :S

As it stands right now, i will most likely not chase GIST and not make a claim, i understand too well how the system here works and i know that it will come right down the "him vs me" scenario that floods our magistrate courts. With the almost guaranteed stress and hassle i will have to go through coupled with the already heavy work load im under i will struggle to keep tabs on progress with the legal cover teams. Which leaves me to ask, "is it really worth the £320 to just fix it myself?"

On top of all this, ive been struck again by bad luck with the IS, and this time its a flock of birds...

I was driving down a country lane at about 45mph, the only car around, must have scared a flock of little birds from their tree... very easily 200-250 birds flew out of the tree and into my path.. about 30 odd hit the front of the car and another 30 odd smacked the side of the car.... it left my wing mirror mirror dangling by the heater element cable.... im starting to feel as thought some one has jinxed me in my car!!!

Its too dark outside to check the damage, but im fearful that i might have a load of tiny little dents on the car now, wish me luck that this is not the case.

one thing is for certain though, its covered in blood!

Once again thanks for all your comments, help and advice, i will keep you posted on how i get on!

[DJ Wozza]

bet they hit parts that were not already damaged too.

Darn bad luck matey.

[Scorps01]

Dont let go of the first incident, having a dispute of who hit who is one thing and may only be disputed by the insurance co's, but threatening behaviour is just not on.

I'd like to add that this is not normal behaviour for professional HGV drivers.

[Mike_B]

Yes, that's the sort of thing you'd expect from 'white van man', the HGV drivers are supposed to be the best. And by and large, they are.

I think you might be alright with the little birds, they really are very light and even their beaks aren't anywhere near as hard as a stone. There will be some lonely baby birds tonight... poor little things!