Just had an accident...

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The Ming

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So I just had a small accident earlier today...

I was driving and about to move into a new lane, checked my blind spot for cars on the right, looked in front and the car in front of me has suddenly stopped for no apparent reason, I hit the brakes but ended up banging into him.

I jumped out to check if he was OK, an elderly man who regularly does his shopping in my shop. We had a look at the cars for damage, worst thing on both cars is minor cracks on the number plates and, thankfully, no one was injured.

I agreed to pay for a new license plate if the old fella decided to get a new one and he agreed. Jumped in the car and drove off.

No details were exchanged, the old man seemed happy enough with the agreement we made, the police came literally seconds after he drove off and asked me was everyone OK, I said yes and they left just as quick.

Now... Can this come back and bite me somehow? The man knows where I work and see's me at least 3 times a week. If he shows up with a crooked neck and some more damage 'appears' on his motor? I've heard horror stories of accidents like this happening, and then someone ends up getting prosecuted even though they left the scene on good terms!
Even though it was his fault for stopping for no reason in the middle of the road, at the end of the day I bumped into him so I know I could be liable!

Just stressed out over a little bump as my insurance is already high enough without any claims! :worried:
 

da.murf

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Taking pictures is always best option, but hope u are lucky enough.

Fact he is older gent would hopefully led him to be honest. Diff generation and all that!!
 

Jason

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Yep he has quite a while to come back to you lol but AFAIK he has to go to hospital straight after to be checked out or something
 

The Ming

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Taking pictures is always best option, but hope u are lucky enough.

Fact he is older gent would hopefully led him to be honest. Diff generation and all that!!

As soon as he drove off I slapped myself for not taking a picture with the phone. I hope he is honest he seems pleasant enough and he's near 80.

Jas Lad I'll prob see him tomorrow in a neck brace haha!
 

Andy044

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^^^^^^
If you see him in your work sneak out an take a look at the car, if no more damage has been done then take a pic,

With any luck you should be fine,
A young lad in a saxo drove into the back of my elderly neighbour last year,
He gave her the money to buy a new bumper and no more was said (y)
 

stevieturbo

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More that likely a man of that age wont really care, and will be decent and honest about it.


Although why on earth did the police attend ? They didnt give a damn when I called them about my accident !!
 

FAKER

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Police intervention has gone the moment both parties agreed that there were no injuries and minor damage only, police are not obliged to attend for damage only RTCs. you have nothing to worry about, so long as no-one was injured, and it was as slight as you say, and it was only minor damage only - and the vehicles were moved from the scene then it comes down to the individuals involved and their respective insurance companies, if it goes that far.
 

avo5021

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I think they just turned up Stevie..

Police will only attend a damage only RTC if there is an allegation of offences committed etc etc.

They will however attend if the RTC involves an injury, be it either Minor or Major.
 

Gaz

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So I just had a small accident earlier today...

I was driving and about to move into a new lane, checked my blind spot for cars on the right, looked in front and the car in front of me has suddenly stopped for no apparent reason, I hit the brakes but ended up banging into him.

I jumped out to check if he was OK, an elderly man who regularly does his shopping in my shop. We had a look at the cars for damage, worst thing on both cars is minor cracks on the number plates and, thankfully, no one was injured.

I agreed to pay for a new license plate if the old fella decided to get a new one and he agreed. Jumped in the car and drove off.

No details were exchanged, the old man seemed happy enough with the agreement we made, the police came literally seconds after he drove off and asked me was everyone OK, I said yes and they left just as quick.

Now... Can this come back and bite me somehow? The man knows where I work and see's me at least 3 times a week. If he shows up with a crooked neck and some more damage 'appears' on his motor? I've heard horror stories of accidents like this happening, and then someone ends up getting prosecuted even though they left the scene on good terms!
Even though it was his fault for stopping for no reason in the middle of the road, at the end of the day I bumped into him so I know I could be liable!

Just stressed out over a little bump as my insurance is already high enough without any claims! :worried:

It could go either way to be honest. I had a similar bump many many years ago just after I started driving and the guy was nice as pie, didn't want any insurance hassle, etc .... was going to sort it out between us.

Of course, a letter from his solicitor landed a week later. Never underestimate the power of family and friends when they hear about the accident and sniff a bit of money.

Only thing you can take from it is to keep your distance from cars in front - I know he stopped abruptly, but you always have to expect the unexpected and allow for it.
 

jadeybaby

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same happened to me in my first year of driving went into the back of an elderly couple completely my fault, theyre car was completely fine maybe a wee scratch cause they had a tow bar and my clio didnt stand a chance lol the elderly man was lovely he asked if i was ok i apologised about a million times, his wife wasnt as nice tho standing telling her husband to call the police and saying her back was sore straight away etc exchanged details and my mum rang them that night the man just said dont worry anymore about it just aslong as she is ok and wished us all the best in the furture so sweet! so hopefully he is as nice as they elderly man i went into :grinning:
 

Reno_LV

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I had a similar accident a while back, where I drove into a back of a lady who decided to stop in the middle of a junction. The damage was next to none, she wanted to exchange details etc. When I started taking photos, she said it's all fine etc. I offered her to pay for a full valet if she wants as there was no damage as a sign of apology, she said she isn't going through insurance as there is no damage etc. After 2 months received a call from insurance company saying she is requesting a courtesy car and car will be brought to garage to fix (to fix what??). So I said to my insurance company I refuse to pay out anything - i had photos, text message from her saying there is no damage, injury, so I refuse to do anything. And it stopped there. Fingers crossed you will be fine, but be prepared in case as mention before family starts saying you can claim millions here...
 

The Ming

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Thanks everyone! Feeling much more reassured.

I've heard of people getting home and then being bullied by family that they should put in a claim! Let's hope the old guy I hit doesn't have a lawyer son or anything.

Oh and I think the police just happened to be passing by, no one had phoned the police and there was a station just round the corner, wishing I gave them a statement though just in case.
 

Karlos Da Jackle

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Taking pictures is always best option, but hope u are lucky enough.

Fact he is older gent would hopefully led him to be honest. Diff generation and all that!!

Agree, the older ones are nicer people, not all into this claim culture of today. Take the hit and get on with it, as long as teh car has been sorted.

More that likely a man of that age wont really care, and will be decent and honest about it.


Although why on earth did the police attend ? They didnt give a damn when I called them about my accident !!

As said above different generation, when times were nice to live in, people could trust people, and be friendly, and not worry about having the bollicks sued out of them for nothing serious.

I think they just turned up Stevie..

Police will only attend a damage only RTC if there is an allegation of offences committed etc etc. Eg metro plates, Tinted windows, loud exhaust, driver on phone, bald tyres, no insurance anything where we can give them a fine and give them points.

They will however attend if the RTC involves an injury, be it either Minor or Major.

Fixed it for you mate,lol.:p:party: Only joking mate. Thats baxter i'm talking about, not you.lol
 

giarcr

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My mum's Astra was hit recently and cracked the number plate, the guy agreed to pay for a new number plate and that was it. She would never dream of putting in a claim. Some bloody dishonest people out there.

That's the thing I always wonder about with blind spot-checking: there is that spilt second when you aren't really looking where you're going
 

The Ming

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The Ming
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That's the thing I always wonder about with blind spot-checking: there is that spilt second when you aren't really looking where you're going

Exactly, you move a large distance without looking where you are going and anything can happen. My mum, who was in the car with me, blames me for 1. Driving too fast and 2. being too close to the car in front. She won't listen to my side of the story and now I feel like a bad driver :worried: lol

Anyway, the old fella came back today and the cost for the number plate was just a tenner. I gave it too him, shook hands and that was it. Thank fack for that.
 

Graham

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good job, but what i find, is that if you are alert and check your mirrors enough you will know whats round you and have no need to check blind spot...
 

therock

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Sounds like you've collided with a decent spud to be fair!

Thank your lucky stars, and keep a good distance between the driver in front at all times
 

Coog

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good job, but what i find, is that if you are alert and check your mirrors enough you will know whats round you and have no need to check blind spot...

Thats true but theres some circumstances that even if you're aware you'll need to check blindspot. Like the slip off to Westlink just past the Odyssey. Been near caught out there a few times...
 

_James_

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More that likely a man of that age wont really care, and will be decent and honest about it.


Although why on earth did the police attend ? They didnt give a damn when I called them about my accident !!

I disagree, An old man(and customer of my shop) hit into the back of me, agreed that it was totally his fault and said he would pay for the damage as it looked very minor. After getting my car checked out, my boot floor has been well and truly wrecked. Next thing, I'm hearing that he thinks the accident is my fault because he thought I was going to run the red light, then apparently it was ICE and now he's told his insurance I wasn't even driving my car.

As it stands now, he wont contact his insurance and they aren't willing to pay until they have had the liability forms sent back to them from him and I've had to get CRASH involved and get solicitors involved.

I geniunely felt sorry for the old guy when he hit into me as he was very shaken up by the matter and he even thanked me for how i dealt with the situation. Now I think i've be duped.:worried:

Also Quinn Insurance (my insurance company) are the biggest waste of time ever. Refused to help me as I wanted Larne Coachworks to fix my car and as they aren't who Quinn prefer to deal with they didn't want to know and roughly told me to sort it out myself.
 

giarcr

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Also Quinn Insurance (my insurance company) are the biggest waste of time ever. Refused to help me as I wanted Larne Coachworks to fix my car and as they aren't who Quinn prefer to deal with they didn't want to know and roughly told me to sort it out myself.

I'd like to hope that, as insurance is compulsory, the companies themselves might at least try to sort you out sometimes.
 

steve_yfzracer

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Yep he has quite a while to come back to you lol but AFAIK he has to go to hospital straight after to be checked out or something

You dont need to go to the hospital straight away, in fact something tells me whiplash isnt a instant pain, more so a pain that comes a while after the accident occurs??

Not 100% on that but I know all he has to do is be seen a few days after and say that he is only starting to get pain, or say that the pain isnt going away and wants it checked out..

But he does sound like a decent guy, hopefuly youl be okay!

Even though it was his fault for stopping for no reason in the middle of the road, at the end of the day I bumped into him so I know I could be liable!

As much as you might think its his fault, you went into the back of him your at fault, if it was to go any further you would be to blame unless the other guy admitted slamming the breaks on for no reason..
 

rollinstone

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You have just hit one of the very few decent motorists on the road! Box of chocolates me thinks?

Edit: Didnt mean this to sound condescending by the way, could happen anyone!
 
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