Dangerous Driving - Causing minor injuries.

Sully

Hypothetical situation here... Looking to see what actually would happen in a case link this.

Right so lets say a friend of mine was driving in Dublin and came up to a busy junction, controlled by traffic lights. She was given the green light and as she progressed a car came straight for her (from the forward direction, where the lights would have been red). She swerved to avoid it and on doing so - hit a cyclist beside her - who fell on a set of bollards (of some sort). Gardai and Ambulance arrived. Witness (and she does to) claimed that the car coming against her broke a red light (a foreign national) - he was arrested -, and she had no choice to swerve and that only for the bollards the cyclist would have been seriously injured. Her car is a write of but her insurance company replaced it.

She is worried that the cyclist might take her to court. If she didn't move, there could have been a serious fatality. Could this happen?

Iv always wondered. So many cars break red lights these days.

Cheers.

cast_iron

I'd guess the cyclist claims off you, you claim off your insurance company, and your insurance company claims off the foreign national's insurance company.

Font22

would the motor insurance bureau not cover any claims if made by the cyclist? my mum was involved in an acident involving a foreign national with no insurance, no tax, over the limit on drugs and alcohol and didnt own the car and the MIB covered the cost of the damage done to our car. but i suppose it all depends on whether the foreign national has insurance or not.

Our man in Havana

MIB handle all claims involving foreign nationals whether they are insured or not.

Font22

aha! so my suspicions were correct! thats interesting tho, i never knew the MIB existed until my mum was in that crash.

wingnut

Yes the MIB. When you pay your insurance a nice portion goes to the MIB to cover those who don't bother. Slightly unfair but such as life - why penalize the insurance payers. Fairest way would be a levy on petrol because even the non insured drivers would be paying it.

My sister has an ongoing claim with them. An uninsured driver (before you all say foreign national it was a Limerick scumbag) wrote off her car. She had to claim off her fully comp because the case has to go to court. She ended up loosing her no claims after being told it wouldn't affect her too much.

Bottom line: if someone crashes into you without insurance your screwed!!

cast_iron

I think I misread the OPs post. Even though we all pay for it, at least there is some recourse with the MIB when foreign drivers are involved.
Do they cover travellers too?;)

What would be the situation if the guy wasn't a foreigner, and was insured?

precedents

In the circumstance where A hits B [cyclists] as a result of C an uninsured driver, B would sue A for damages who in turn would apply to MIB to cover costs. Any case where a motorist is uninsured you are in practice screwed. If insured no problem. Being uninsured is a criminal offence, you may sue the driver in a civil action but your increase in no claims bonus is more economical

Sully

Interesting. I believe tho the insurance company gives out money and replaces the car. The non-national "claims" to be insured, but would be investigated to make sure.

Jo King

In the case of an untraced or uninsured driver the MIBI deals with the claim if the claim is made within one year of the incident. Where there is a payout the MIBI may attempt to recover from any party it believes to be responsible. A copy of the MIBI agreement is available from the Dept. Of Transport website.

Victor

There is no evidence of the other driver not having insurance.