Crash - Help Needed Please!

[Mbay]

Right,

I had a crash last Sunday and heres how it happened (in my opinion)

I was driving up a main road within the speed limit.

The car in front was a reasonable distance in front of me.

The car in front pulls over as if to stop.

I go to overtake the car.

As I approach to overtake it pulls out to make a u-turn.

I slam the brakes and hit the car in the drivers side rear wheel area.

Damage to my car is front end body work damage. Bonnet is buckled, paint damage, reg plate broke, and the bar were the air intake starts is bent a bit.

Damage to the other car was side body work damage and the rear driver side wheel had buckled in at the top.

My car still drives fine as it did before the crash, just looks a mess. The other car had to be lifted.

Now, I did not see any indication from the other car that it was going to pull out yet he was adamant he did. I have a witness to say he didn't.

Also, surely he should have checked his mirror to make sure it was safe to pull out?

And I remember him saying he was making a right turn into another road. But I thought a day or so after it happened that if you make a right turn, you don't pull over to the left to pull out, and he was past the right turn junction.

We exchanged details, no injuries caused, and we went on our ways. I reported it to my insurance and its in their hands to decide who's at fault.

Now I'm worried about losing my no claims of 2 years which I've worked hard for. Theres no point me claiming for repairs on my insurance as my excess is too high. If they decide split liability then I don't think it'll make a difference with my high excess.

What are your opinions on the incident? Can my no claims be saved? If it can't then the Lex may have to go.

How much do you think it would be to repair from my back pocket? I think someones parnter on here is a traffic cop as they gave me advice on someting else, so their help would be great.

I've put some pics of the damage to my car up.

TOP VIEW 1

TOP VIEW 2

SIDE VIEW

BONNET CLOSE UP

TOP VIEW 3

BONNET CLOSE UP 2

FULL FRONT

[lexynik]

sorry to see this mbay - i think in the battle of 50/50 you will lose as effectively you were coming from behind,HOWEVER WITNESSES TO PROVE THE GUY PULLED ACROSS YOUR LANE WITHOUT INDICATING WOULD COUNTER THIS - i had someone do the same kind of thing to me when i was on a motorbike many years back and it was a painful lesson - i would hound the police by email and make them acknowledge when they have taken any witness statements-keep the details of the officer dealing with its name and badge no safe - sorry i couldnt be more help,,at least no one was hurt

[Rory]

unlucky, i'm hoping your witness is a reliable one and gives a decent statement, ur premiums may increase next time as its another statistic for insurers, altho if all goes well u'll keep your no claims, if it was just a case of u hit the car in front then it would be clear cut and u would be at fault, but since this guy pulled over and then moved into your way then thats a good point to argue

I nearly hit a bin lorry who pulled over to the left and then swung to the right with no indication and clearly no usage of mirrors, he was doing it to reverse into the side road on our left, I had no time to stop and just went round him on the path

looks very similar to the damage to mine that i did recently, I managed to straighten the bar out actually quite well where the bonnet catch is, but will try and acquire another, also had the bonnet off and stood on it from the underside to straighten it out (see link below) I will have to get another bonnet tho

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=68352&view=findpost&p=730900

[TommyH]

Sorry to read about your bump mate. It's Omri's wife who's the traffic cop, maybe drop him a PM.

Hope all works out for you.

[DaveEdin]

Ormi's wife is a traffic cop, and so is relatively new member PCThug, so you could PM him as well...

[J3NKO]

Not trying to be clever but where was this witness when it all happened to testify the other person was not indicating?

Even if that were the case and the other car wasn't indicating, theres nothing to say it wasn't your fault from an insurance perspective. If you don't give way on a roundabout and the the oncoming car isn't indicating, its still your fault kind of thing.

As for road position, did you take post crash pics to prove he/she was to the left?

If it were me, I'd be waving bye to the NCB. I really hope I'm wrong mate and am pleased no-one was hurt but its just my view.

[Rory]

Not trying to be clever but where was this witness when it all happened to testify the other person was not indicating?

Even if that were the case and the other car wasn't indicating, theres nothing to say it wasn't your fault from an insurance perspective. If you don't give way on a roundabout and the the oncoming car isn't indicating, its still your fault kind of thing.

As for road position, did you take post crash pics to prove he/she was to the left?

If it were me, I'd be waving bye to the NCB. I really hope I'm wrong mate and am pleased no-one was hurt but its just my view.

indicating or not, it seems the other car has started a manouvre without checking for oncoming traffic, still well worth arguing

[kenfoxy]

I think that if the damage to his car was at the side, he was cutting across your path. Even if he was indicating, why did he cut across you. Under either scenario (indicating or not) he failed to look behind.

As far as your excess is concerned, does your insurance have the option to recover it.

I think your chances are good, especially with your witness. Sadly, even if you win, your insurer may still put your basic premium up because their stats show that accident victims are more likely than average to be involved in an accident even if it is not your fault. Disgusting, I know.

[J3NKO]

Not trying to be clever but where was this witness when it all happened to testify the other person was not indicating?

Even if that were the case and the other car wasn't indicating, theres nothing to say it wasn't your fault from an insurance perspective. If you don't give way on a roundabout and the the oncoming car isn't indicating, its still your fault kind of thing.

As for road position, did you take post crash pics to prove he/she was to the left?

If it were me, I'd be waving bye to the NCB. I really hope I'm wrong mate and am pleased no-one was hurt but its just my view.

indicating or not, it seems the other car has started a manouvre without checking for oncoming traffic, still well worth arguing

He wasn't oncoming, he was behind the guy.If he was oncoming, its a totally different ball game.

It is the duty of following drivers to observe the traffic in front.

Think of it from the perspective of a motorbike driving down the middle of the road past stationery traffic in its travelling direction and a car turns right and the bike goes into the side. Who's fault is that? The bike. Mbay admits to overtaking so insurers I'm sure will see it in a similar light. He didn't indicate to turn right but he didn't indicate to park either so why assume one and not the other?

The guy in front has no obligation to check mirrors for overtaking traffic on a town road (its not dual carriageway I'm guessing) even though I do because of motorbikes etc. I wouldn't expect to be overtaken on a 30mph street

I'm not saying don't argue the point but he's asked for views and this is mine.

Sorry Mbay :( not trying to paint you as a bad driver! If he'd of indicated then it all could've of been avoided. It is bad driving on his part but think you'll be footing the bill.

[lexynik]

mbay you havent posted up on the subject for a while-hope you are ok and have contacted/informed the police of the accident as if they dont know about it they can hardly investigate or take statements - even with legal cover im not sure if this is a job your insurance co would be in a position to do - make sure you keep a record of incident/accident no and officer in charge (oic)

jenko your point about the bike highlights what happened to me - i was on a bike - i went into the side of someone doing a manouevere from nowhere - i went over his car the hard way - i was at fault for presuming he wasnt an idiot - it hurt phsically and guttingly financially