Car Accident!

[J888HNT]

Hey Guys,

I had a car accident back in April. I was stationary at the traffic lights on a one way ring road and some **** head rammed me up the rear causing about £3500 worth of damage. I suffered whip lash and had to take time off work.

Immediately after the crash I took the guys insurance details and registration number (note he did not disclose his address or phone number) and moved on. He did not even ask for mine. There were no witnesses that came forward at the time. It was also my first ever accident after 8 years of driving. I didnt have the presence of mind to take pictures and stop passing drivers, of which were pretty disgruntled as we were causing tail backs in a pretty busy part of London.

Anyway, I contacted my insurers almost immediately and made an appointment to see my doctor. My insurers advised me that it was clearly not my fault and so on. They recommended me a repairer and provided me with a hire car. The insurance company tracked him down with a DVLA search on his Reg Number and issued a liabilty claim on my behalf for damages to the car and my injuries.

Now the culprit that smashed into the back of my car is claiming that I reversed into him and that he has a third party witness.

It looks like it may go to court but all I have is a statement of what really happened. i have no witnesses. Am I screwed??

Please help!!!!

[Parthiban]

I'm really sorry to hear about this - having been subject to similar situations in the past, I know how frustrating it can be.

Potentially, this is something that could go very wrong. At the end of the day it's your word against his, and his (obviously fake) witness is definitely not going to help things.

I would recommend getting a good lawyer who specialises in motoring accidents to help you with this one, from what you've described it's definitely not something I'd try and tackle on my own, or simply leave in the hands of your insurance company.

Having said that, it might be worth getting a statement from the garage that repaired the car that states that from the damage caused, it had to be caused by a rear impact, or something along those lines. You might also be able to use the fact you had whiplash to help strengthen the rear impact case.

I really hate the fact that our roads are littered with this scum nowadays - good luck with it though, hope it works out ok.

[sparkystav]

Gutted to hear this mate,

Its a pity you didnt take pictures as the scid marks would have shown him wrong.

If it does go to court then his "witness" will have to lie for him under oath so just hope he doesn't have the balls to.

Hope you get it sorted anyway matey.

Stav

[Gord]

Play him at his own game, go back to where you had the accident, make some skid marks, take pic, then say you took them at the time of the accident/just after. i bet he will back down, and you will not even have to show the pic's.

[J888HNT]

I'm really sorry to hear about this - having been subject to similar situations in the past, I know how frustrating it can be.

Potentially, this is something that could go very wrong. At the end of the day it's your word against his, and his (obviously fake) witness is definitely not going to help things.

I would recommend getting a good lawyer who specialises in motoring accidents to help you with this one, from what you've described it's definitely not something I'd try and tackle on my own, or simply leave in the hands of your insurance company.

Having said that, it might be worth getting a statement from the garage that repaired the car that states that from the damage caused, it had to be caused by a rear impact, or something along those lines. You might also be able to use the fact you had whiplash to help strengthen the rear impact case.

I really hate the fact that our roads are littered with this scum nowadays - good luck with it though, hope it works out ok.

I have a lawyer on the case already. She says it should be ok. But I'm just worried that this could go all horribly wrong. If I lose then I will lose my NCB and also risk huge financial loss. Im going back to the area to take pictures and hopefully get CCTV footage. Im just in a state of anger and shock that this scumbag would turn around and say this!!!

[boddamloon]

Sorry about this but how bad of an impact was there on your car and how fast was he going? Would it be possible to drive fast enough in reverse to cause the damage that was done while reversing through traffic lights?

[J888HNT]

Sorry about this but how bad of an impact was there on your car and how fast was he going? Would it be possible to drive fast enough in reverse to cause the damage that was done while reversing through traffic lights?

I estimate about 30mph. The front end of his car was totalled. My car didnt look too bad from the outside. The o/s rear lamp was smashed, the bumper cracked. The real damage was that there was a huge bulge in the boot floor. Needed a whole rear panel and boot floor replacement. The impact was so hard that the spare whell/tyre was trapped and unremovable.

[WylieCoyote]

Getting hold of any CCTV tapes is a wise move. Even if you can't get any, go back to the spot, see if there is a camera there and if so, you can always give him the heebijeebies by saying you have a tape. I'm not a big one for lying when it can come back and bite you but when needs must.

Think about it, if it goes to court, it will come down to the old favourite 'beyond reasonable doubt'. Think about it in a logical way. Why would you possibly be reversing down a 1-way street? Why would you be reversing at traffic lights? What possible reason would you have for doing this? A good defence lawyer will pick up on points like this and throw them at him in court, to which he'll be stumped for an answer - that's how liars get caught out. Is it beyond reasonable doubt you are reversing in a 1-way street at red traffic lights? Hell no. Is it beyond reasonable doubt that a vehicle drives into the back of yours whilst stationary then doesn't disclose any details (craftily) and then claims it's your fault? I'd say that's beyond reasonable doubt personally.

I know what you're going through, my father had a similar incident earlier this year when a taxi backed into him and then claimed my father had driven into him - needless to say courts have a knack of picking out people who are lying and it went, without question in our favour.

Wish you the best of luck matey, I can understand what you're going through and I'm sure things will go your way.

Keith :)

[DJ Wozza]

I'm sorry to say you will have litlle or no chance whatsoever of CCTV helping you out,

tapes get wiped after 28 days. I found that out to my cost as Lewisham Police coundn't

be bothered to look at the tapes until it was too late.

I hope his witness hasn't got the balls to lie in court, good luck !

[lexuslexus]

Hi - can you get hold of the bulbs from your reverse lights and brake lights. It is easy ( for an expert) to tell if they were lit on impact if the filament was then broken. Clearly if your reverse lights were not lit you can prove you did not reverse into him. It is also quite hard to have your brake lights on while reversing ( but possible). You would need to get an avadavit sworn by your vehicle repairer that these were the actual bulbs. The Police use this as evidence regularly to prove accident history. PM me it you need more. Regards.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Surely your solicitor / insurance can ask for a copy of the third party witness written and signed statement? Six months on you have virtually no chance of proving anything unfortunately :( Too late now but after an accident, stop, witnesses + any registrations, then photos, then worry about exchanging details. Also "I hold you entirely responsible for the accident" and if they agree get them to sign it and to say how they will settle ( also take a picture of the driver ;) ).

[HUMAN-ERROR]

Hi - can you get hold of the bulbs from your reverse lights and brake lights. It is easy ( for an expert) to tell if they were lit on impact if the filament was then broken. Clearly if your reverse lights were not lit you can prove you did not reverse into him. It is also quite hard to have your brake lights on while reversing ( but possible). You would need to get an avadavit sworn by your vehicle repairer that these were the actual bulbs. The Police use this as evidence regularly to prove accident history. PM me it you need more. Regards.

problem you have with the bulb issue is that the cops dont do bugger all regarding sending bulbs off to be examined if they werent called to the scene in the first place. there was an accident involving a car driving into the back of another car, because the front car had no working brakelights, but the back car was found as liable because obviously it ran into the car infront, and tried to use lack of brakelights in his defense

[snowman]

thought of something, you will need a fair distance to "reverse" and make his front end looks totalled or bad. can you prove or show them it cannot happen from where u were?

its just a thought.... :P

[ibby]

thought of something, you will need a fair distance to "reverse" and make his front end looks totalled or bad. can you prove or show them it cannot happen from where u were?

its just a thought.... :P

and cause that much damage on your car ;)

[WylieCoyote]

It will all boil down to why. WHY would you reverse at traffic lights? WHY would you reverse up a 1-way street? WHY would you reverse that fast that it caused that much damage? WHY, if you actually did all of the above did the other driver take no action? WHY did he not give his details? All of it points to him as at fault.

[T7RY B]

Get your solicitor to find out exactly "When" he notified them of this incident. If he telephoned his insurers on the DAY of the accident and told them he had been in an accident and that somebody (you) reversed into him. Then his insurers would have got on to you.

If he did nothing until YOU notified your insurers of the accident then Why would he wait if it was "YOUR" fault.

[WylieCoyote]

Get your solicitor to find out exactly "When" he notified them of this incident. If he telephoned his insurers on the DAY of the accident and told them he had been in an accident and that somebody (you) reversed into him. Then his insurers would have got on to you.

If he did nothing until YOU notified your insurers of the accident then Why would he wait if it was "YOUR" fault.

^^^^^ What he said!

[J888HNT]

Get your solicitor to find out exactly "When" he notified them of this incident. If he telephoned his insurers on the DAY of the accident and told them he had been in an accident and that somebody (you) reversed into him. Then his insurers would have got on to you.

If he did nothing until YOU notified your insurers of the accident then Why would he wait if it was "YOUR" fault.

Hey mate. Thanks for the advice.

When the accident actually happened it was he who disclosed his insurance details to me. He didnt disclose is address or phone number. Just his insurance companies address. I took a note of his Registration plate. I called almost immediately to notify my insurance that I had been in an accident and gave them his name and insurance details. They got the DVLA to search his address on their databases and tracked him down. It was my insurance company that made the first point of contact with him and his insurance company claiming liability!!!!