Accident repair bill dilemma

Teamhair

Hi guys- bare with me here.

About 3 months I was involved in a very minor accident with another guy on a roundabout. I was going around (signalling as such) and he cut across me, bursting my front rightside tire and really messing up the front driver's side of the car, which has since been replaced. His car (a Merc) suffered very little. Anyway, as I was driving on a provisional, (no L plates, unaccompanied) and not wanting to get cops involved, I capitulated to him, thinking the damage would be minimal. A couple of hundred quid at most. He got back to me a few weeks later saying he had been quoted something like €1,100 for the repair!!! Which really shook me, so he offered to get a second quote. And I haven't heard anything since. Now I'm wondering if too much time has passed- if he were to turn up in a couple of weeks with a repair bill, should I pay? Could he legally pursue this? He has my insurance details.

Doolittle51

Why are you paying for his car to be repaired? It sounds like the accident was his fault or maybe 50/50. Can you explain the accident in more detail?

Also, the cops & ins co. don't give a damn if you're on a provisional.

Teamhair

Okay, it was the Cherrywood Roundabout, just outside of Dell. I had just picked up my partner at the bus stop on the road leading up to the roundabout. I signalled, pulled out into the road and continued on to the roundabout. I remained in the outside lane as it was too congested to move into the inner lane. I signalled continuously as I moved around it and all a sudden, crash! This Merc pulled out from the inside late and tore off up the exit, leaving me with a mangled car and burst tire. I was pushed into the direction of the exit he has just taken and I managed to get the car safely onto the side of the road a little bit up the exit, so as not to block access. He kept going for some distance before stopping, pulling over and walking back to meet me. And that was that. I was pretty certain it was his fault, but I also knew I really shouldn't have been in the outside lane going all the way around a roundabout. But I was clearly signalling.

Doolittle51

Sounds like it was his fault alright. You may have been in the wrong lane, but at the end of the day, he crashed into you.

If anything he should be paying for the damage to your car. He probably knows this and took advantage of your inexperience in such situations.

I dont really know what to advise you to do! Perhaps someone else will have a suggestion......

Zynks

As far as I know, the car in the inside lane has the right of way, sorry to say.

But, if he failed to indicate that he was about to pull, he gains part of the blame - for reference purposes, I've heard of cases where one car crashed nto the back of the other and the split was 50-50 because the driver of the front car couldn't justify why he slammed the breaks....

But then, this is just an opinion.

Did you get a picture of the damage on the merc? You might be able to get an opinion from someone in the car repair business.

Teamhair

Yeah, I kind of felt that as well, and I was kicking myself for not sticking to my guns. I'm more of the opinion that if he does want to pursue it, its really too late at this stage. There was a traffic cop on the scene who was really nice and just took both our details and our versions of what happened. He didn't ask for my license or anything. Should I let him try to claim through the insurance? Surely they'd say it was too late?

liamo

Teamhair wrote:

I really shouldn't have been in the outside lane going all the way around a roundabout. But I was clearly signalling.

There's a bit of confusion here. Inner = left. Outer = right. If he struck you from the right then you were in the inner lane and he was in the outer lane.

Without knowing the road-markings on the roundabout I can't say for sure but it sounds like his fault.

1. There's no law that says you can't be in the left lane all the way round a roundabout. On some roundabouts, like the M50 roundabout at Tallaght, there are unbroken lines in the left lane approaching the exit which indicates that you must take that exit. Other than that it's a matter of using your judgement. Take the Walkinstown roundabout as an example - there are three lanes and six exits. You can't legislate for that. It's a matter of judgement.

2. Why wasn't he in the correct lane? He moved from the right-hand lane across you in order to exit the roundabout. He struck you.

3. You're not supposed to change lane except for a good reason and then only if it's safe. Sounds like he made a last-minute decision without looking over his shoulder to check his blind-spot.

I would have thought that he is fully responsible for the accident. Don't pay him a red cent!!


Regards,

Liam

Doolittle51

Its probably best to let the ins co. sort it out. I dont know what they will say about the delay in reporting the accident.

You should be claiming from his insurance for the damage to your car.

Bloody Merc drivers!

Teamhair

Thanks for that- its kinda cleared things up for me a bit!

TempestSabre

I would say they'll say its 50-50 or each fix their own. Which would suit you to be honest. I'd say its his fault, depending on the road markings as others said. That said maybe paying his bill might be cheaper than getting done for driving on the prov etc.

There was something in the paper yesterday (indo) about someone in Cork up for driving unaccompanied on a prov and there was something about there being no charge for that so they had to charge for driving on invalid licence. You might want to look the details on that.

Teamhair

I've since scrapped the car- I'd rather just forget about it at this stage. I'm just worried he's going to come back to me any day now with this bill and I'd love to be able to tell him to get lost. Surely my insurance company would contact me if someone was trying to claim on my policy? I have photo's of my car, but nothing from his- I wasn't thinking, being slightly in shock. First accident and all that.

cee_jay

Your insurance company may not necessarily contact you - it happened my brother before - some guy reversed into him, and left a hole on the side of his car with a tow bar. At the scene, the guy who reversed took all the blame, it wasn't until a month and a half later when my brother went to renew his insurance that he found out that this guy had a claim in against him!
You can still submit a claim against him though - from the sounds of it he was in the wrong

dubstub

I'm confused. You were in the left hand lane and not exiting at the first or second exit? He was in the right hand lane and exiting at the second exit?
Was there two lanes exiting the roundabout at the second exit? If so, then you were in the wrong lane and he was in the correct lane. I'd say you were to fault.
You may try and argue that he should have ensured his blind spot was clear before completing the manoeuvre but I don't think it will wash and may not be worth the risk of a fight.

Teamhair

Its a pretty big roundabout- three lanes in width with 5 ways on/off. I was on the outside lane moving around to the third exit- this guy pulled out from the inside lane across me to grab the second exit (from behind me as well, I should say- bit of speed involved) and smack! That was that. As I said, I didn't want to get into any trouble, but it probably was 50/50. I shouldn't have been there, but there's no way he couldn't have seen me. And I was signalling properly.

mik_da_man

To Be honest I'd say it's more your fault than his, but not much

You were in the wrong lane going a fair bit around the roundabout, he was in the correct lane to take his exit.

He could eaqually say that you flew around the outside lane and he was only trying to take his turn. It will be quite hard to prove exactly what happened.

I'd say pay up and treat it as a lesson learned, if you tell him to p1ss off it could get nasty and you will end up paying for it more in your insurance in the next few years

VeVeX

There is a decent precentage of people who don't actually know how to use roundabouts in this country. As said above, its by and large down to judgement alot of the time.

The rules of the road say you can't change lanes on a roundabout without a clear path. This is how insurance companies view these cases. Doesn't matter about right/wrong lanes...if he CHANGED or CUT INTO a lane without a CLEAR path, its his fault.

If there is no gardai report to back up this incident, its unlikely an insurance company would take major interest in it. They wont care about provisional license, unless you told them you had a full.

I will also add, just because you cant SEE the damage, doesnt mean its not there. I've seen cars which had been hit from behind, left a minor enough dent in the bumper, but cost €2000 to repair, as the boot floor is creased/suspension damage.

The only thing your insurance company would say to you is you are in breach of policy conditions for not reporting the accident in a resonable time. Usually 14 days. They could just tell you that you're on your own, pay yourself...and depending on mood, terminate your policy.

TempestSabre

A lot of roundabouts are marked differently too. Some have the two lanes going straight through, some have a turning lane that ends at each exit and some have lanes which randomly go from say 2 to 3 lanes suddenly with no warnings. I didn't know that about needing a clear path, but its common sense, I never assume someone else is going to do what you expect and I always try and avoid a collision even if that means me missing a turn.

Keith C

Even if the other person is 100% at fault, always report an accident to your insurance company, the other person may try to sneak thru a claim against you.

markirish22

just had to post in this that if you go around to the right in a left hand lane unless specifically states so the person in the inside lane can smash into you all he wants and is totally your fault as your cutting him up not the other way round even though he hit into your side it was really you crashing into hiim as you pulled accross him