What do you actually do if a car runs into yours and it's not your fault?

S.G.M.

First off, this is all hypothetical. I've never been in a situation where I've run into another car or had them run into me Thank God.
However, I don't actually know what is the best course of action were it to happen.
What do you actually do if a car runs into yours and it's not your fault.
Is it much different if it is your fault?
Thanks

Bagpipe

Turn off your car and pull the handbrake, then the usual check that you aren't injured, check that it is safe to get out of your car. Don't move either car. Get details from the other driver, call the Gardai and then take pictures of damage to both cars and their respective positions. Possibly make an overhead sketch of the scene because AFAIK some insurance companies will ask for it if you go to claim, and possibly ask the other driver to do the same.

Of course theres always the possibility that the other driver wont want to involve the Gardai/Insurance companies and may settle with cash but I don't know how I would handle that.

But I hope that helps!

Del2005

Bagpipe wrote: »

Turn off your car and pull the handbrake, then the usual check that you aren't injured, check that it is safe to get out of your car. Don't move either car. Get details from the other driver, call the Gardai and then take pictures of damage to both cars and their respective positions. Possibly make an overhead sketch of the scene because AFAIK some insurance companies will ask for it if you go to claim, and possibly ask the other driver to do the same.

Of course theres always the possibility that the other driver wont want to involve the Gardai/Insurance companies and may settle with cash but I don't know how I would handle that.

But I hope that helps!

There's no need to call the Gardaí for non injury crashes. Takes plenty of pictures of the vehicles and then clear them off the road, if possible, then exchange details and report to your local Garda station later.

coylemj

Bagpipe wrote: »

Of course theres always the possibility that the other driver wont want to involve the Gardai/Insurance companies and may settle with cash but I don't know how I would handle that.

I'll tell you how to 'handle' it, you immediately assume that he has no insurance. Or that he has drink or drugs on him.

Even if he is insured, a typical driver in this situation (the innocent party) drops ther natural caution when the other guy is fierce apologetic, admits liability and says he will get it all sorted - doesn't want to lose his no-claims bonus etc. Then when he gets the estimate to fix the damage, he denies that he was at fault, claims that the accident was all your fault and some will even have the brass neck to lodge a claim for whiplash against you. Don't believe a word you hear at the scene, adopt an adverserial attitude and assume the other guy has no insurance or if he has, he is out to screw you.

Rule#1: Take a photo of his insurance disc - even he insists that he wants to settle outside of the insurance.

S.G.M.

coylemj wrote:

Even if he is insured, a typical driver in this situation (the innocent party) drops ther natural caution when the other guy is fierce apologetic, admits liability and says he will get it all sorted - doesn't want to lose his no-claims bonus etc. Then when he gets the estimate to fix the damage, he denies that he was at fault, claims that the accident was all your fault and some will even have the brass neck to lodge a claim for whiplash against you. Don't believe a word you hear at the scene, adopt an adverserial attitude and assume the other guy has no insurance or if he has, he is out to screw you.

Rule#1: Take a photo of his insurance disc - even he insists that he wants to settle outside of the insurance.

This is the kind of stuff that I was thinking. Another thing would be if they reverse into me and then just have the brass to flip it immediately.

TimHorton

Del2005 wrote: »

There's no need to call the Gardaí for non injury crashes. Takes plenty of pictures of the vehicles and then clear them off the road, if possible, then exchange details and report to your local Garda station later.

Not True , I was told by a Garda that I should have called from accident as other party could simply deny everything even after details were exchanged.

Witcher

Then that's for the insurance companies to deal with, it's not a Garda matter unless someone is injured or one of the parties won't provide details.

coylemj

If there is no personal injury, there is no legal obligation to either call the Gardai from the scene or to later report it at a Garda Station.

In a lot of instances, people phone the Gardai and when they disclose that there is nobody injured, they're told to exchange details - Goodbye!

The obligation to report it is covered by S.106 1(d) of the 1961 act, as inserted by the RTA 1968 ....

“(d) if—

(i) injury is caused to property other than that of the driver of the vehicle and for any reason he or, if he is killed or incapacitated, the person then in charge of the vehicle does not at the place of the occurrence give the appropriate information to a person entitled under this section to demand it, or

(ii) injury is caused to a person other than the driver of the vehicle,

the driver of the vehicle or, if he is killed or incapacitated, the person then in charge of the vehicle shall, unless he had already given the appropriate information to a member of the Garda Síochána, report the occurrence as soon as possible to such a member and, if necessary, shall go for that purpose to the nearest convenient Garda station and also give on demand the appropriate information to the member.”

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1968/act/25/schedule/enacted/en/html#sched

Del2005

TimHorton wrote: »

Not True , I was told by a Garda that I should have called from accident as other party could simply deny everything even after details were exchanged.

No offence to our Gardai but they have a very limited knowledge of our laws. They tell people that you need a 4x4 to tow a twin axle trailer when all you need is a vehicle rated to tow the MAM of the trailer and have the correct licence.

That's the reason why you take plenty of pictures before moving the vehicles, it's hard to deny something happened when the other party has photo evidence.

LorelaiG

S.G.M. wrote: »

This is the kind of stuff that I was thinking. Another thing would be if they reverse into me and then just have the brass to flip it immediately.

This is what dash cams are for.

punisher5112

Dash cam is the most valuable tool one could ever have.

monkeysnapper

I bought a dash cam from amazon a year ago ...€35 euro and that includes card ..... so worth it and quality is ok ... why would anyone not chuck one up in their car that could possibly save them thousands ....

S.G.M.

LorelaiG wrote:

This is what dash cams are for.

Good thinking. Im thinking of upgrading to a better car from my my basic one atm. Must get a dash cam.
Any ideas of a good quality one?

punisher5112

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I bought a dash cam from amazon a year ago ...€35 euro and that includes card ..... so worth it and quality is ok ... why would anyone not chuck one up in their car that could possibly save them thousands ....

Had a taxi do a crash 4 cash on me and it was amazing as the insurance company happened to be the same for us both.

They were siding with him until I showed the assessor the footage.

He told me the other driver was absolutely vile and rude and had previous.

Got sorted within weeks.

punisher5112

S.G.M. wrote: »

Good thinking. Im thinking of upgrading to a better car from my my basic one atm. Must get a dash cam.
Any ideas of a good quality one?

Honestly I've had expensive ones and not last and cheaper ones last as long if not longer.

I'd say spend anywhere from€35 upwards.

All you want is it to show your road position and how you weren't moving when they reversed into you etc etc....

The ones with WiFi and connect to your phone are handy though.

monkeysnapper

S.G.M. wrote: »

Good thinking. Im thinking of upgrading to a better car from my my basic one atm. Must get a dash cam.
Any ideas of a good quality one?

This is the one I bought , check out reviews , they seldom lie , I bought 3 of them since for family and friends and all are happy .... it does the job and does it good enough and at 23 uk pounds it's a bloody steel.

My wife has a 120 euro dash cam and theres little difference really.

My advice tho is to get a good card ...

Update .... I see in reviews theres a few video reviews and I can confirm the quality.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Upgraded-Dashboard-Recorder-Recording-Detection-Black/dp/B07DPFSSJN/ref=pd_bap_m_rp_1/258-0700617-7040608?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07DPFSSJN&pd_rd_r=ba9659fb-b045-4cab-a6eb-9d29ffab9011&pd_rd_w=xC6im&pd_rd_wg=AjmWT&pf_rd_p=eb1582af-2036-4e7b-ad05-f606ea909bdd&pf_rd_r=6CC1PABBCEC3RT3K5R9C&psc=1&refRID=6CC1PABBCEC3RT3K5R9C

S.G.M.

monkeysnapper wrote:

This is the one I bought , check out reviews , they seldom lie , I bought 3 of them since for family and friends and all are happy .... it does the job and does it good enough and at 23 uk pounds it's a bloody steel.

Perfect, thanks a million. Do you need one for the back window as well?

punisher5112

S.G.M. wrote: »

Perfect, thanks a million. Do you need one for the back window as well?

No but obviously more the better.

monkeysnapper

I've thought of this , the only reason I didnt is I have 2 dogs in boot every night for walk , I have an estate ... they're like egits all excited to go for walk and I doubt it would be in 1 piece ....might give it a shot tho ...

Another thing I might add , I've seen a few cheap dash cams around that money and they are complete trash , and wouldn't touch them ... this dash cam I have in link is decent ...

Del2005

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I've thought of this , the only reason I didnt is I have 2 dogs in boot every night for walk , I have an estate ... they're like egits all excited to go for walk and I doubt it would be in 1 piece ....might give it a shot tho ...

Another thing I might add , I've seen a few cheap dash cams around that money and they are complete trash , and wouldn't touch them ... this dash cam I have in link is decent ...

With relatively little effort you can remove the trim and run the cable, you can buy trim removal tools cheap, or if you don't want to pop the trim off you can run the cable under the carpet.

Treppen

If it's a bad bang you might have a head injury without realising it at the moment (with adrenalin pumping it masks the pain).

It's not up to you or a guard to say there are no injuries and just exchange details etc.

Del2005

Treppen wrote: »

If it's a bad bang you might have a head injury without realising it at the moment (with adrenalin pumping it masks the pain).

It's not up to you or a guard to say there are no injuries and just exchange details etc.

What will the Gardai do for you at the scene of a crash when the symptoms don't develop for several hours or days?

Treppen

Del2005 wrote: »

What will the Gardai do for you at the scene of a crash when the symptoms don't develop for several hours or days?

I dunno is there a procedure when they come upon an accident?
Throw their hands in the air and shout 'civil matter' and drive past?

What if you suspect the other person was intoxicated?

Del2005

Treppen wrote: »

I dunno is there a procedure when they come upon an accident?
Throw their hands in the air and shout 'civil matter' and drive past?

What if you suspect the other person was intoxicated?

Yes that's what the Gardaí do the vast majority of the times they arrive at a crash as it they haven't witnessed it they can't do anything other than note that 2 or more vehicles had a collision at x location, usually they also give out to the people for blocking traffic.

Then you call the Gardaí for a suspected DUI not a crash. But they won't do anything about the crash as that's still a civil matter.

timetogo1

My missus had somebody go into her on a roundabout. Their insurance were faffing about and told us to claim off our insurance while they "investigated" which would take up to three months.

Then at the end of their investigation they might pay our insurance company.

I printed off a series of stills from the dash can and went to a solicitor. He took it all over. The three months became three days and they paid for the repairs without us having to touch our insurance.

runawaybishop

TimHorton wrote: »

Not True , I was told by a Garda that I should have called from accident as other party could simply deny everything even after details were exchanged.

The other party can deny everything even if you call the Garda, unless a Garda witnesses it he has no evidence to bring really.

Triangle

coylemj wrote: »

I'll tell you how to 'handle' it, you immediately assume that he has no insurance. Or that he has drink or drugs on him.

Even if he is insured, a typical driver in this situation (the innocent party) drops ther natural caution when the other guy is fierce apologetic, admits liability and says he will get it all sorted - doesn't want to lose his no-claims bonus etc. Then when he gets the estimate to fix the damage, he denies that he was at fault, claims that the accident was all your fault and some will even have the brass neck to lodge a claim for whiplash against you. Don't believe a word you hear at the scene, adopt an adverserial attitude and assume the other guy has no insurance or if he has, he is out to screw you.

Rule#1: Take a photo of his insurance disc - even he insists that he wants to settle outside of the insurance.

You can protect yourself and at the same time not have an adversarial attitude. But agree 100% with the rest. Take pics of the accident and disc.
Also a dash Cam can help loads in some situations (if you have it)
It's also worthwhile notifying their insurer anyways. If they pay for your damages themselves, it'll get closed and won't affect their bonus.

italodisco

I had some halfwit drive into my car, he was a few inches across the white line on opposing side coming towards me and his car rubbed the whole drivers side of mine
Cheeky fecker took off at speed, I did a u turn and powered after him and got him outside the big tree pub in Dorset Street.
I got out like a bull, he got out with his bloody hands up pretending to cry, said he panicked etc etc. Please don't call the garda etc.
I took a pic of his licence, I went to the car to see if the wife was okay and the garda turned up. Taxi driver saw it and rang them.
Well talk about lucky, turned out to be a fake licence.
Guy was on a ban. Also had a bench warrant.

After that I'd trust nobody in a crash situation. Ring the coppers every time.

Treppen

Del2005 wrote: »

Yes that's what the Gardaí do the vast majority of the times they arrive at a crash as it they haven't witnessed it they can't do anything other than note that 2 or more vehicles had a collision at x location, usually they also give out to the people for blocking traffic.

Then you call the Gardaí for a suspected DUI not a crash. But they won't do anything about the crash as that's still a civil matter.

So they take a record of the locations. Do they ask the drivers any questions?

Del2005

Treppen wrote: »

So they take a record of the locations. Do they ask the drivers any questions?

No they say that a crash happened on x road, they don't note the locations of any vehicles and if they are blocking traffic they'll give all parties a bolloxing for not clearing the road.

I'd assume they ask have you exchanged details. As said unless the Garda witnesses the crash they can't do anything. If it serious they being in forensic investigators but for the vast majority of crashes they do nothing.

punisher5112

I was t boned at M50/ sandyford roundabout and only for the Gardai asked the lady what happened and she answered 1st she didn't know it worked in my favour and I thank that Gaurd as they would tend to believe the older person involved but she ran a red and unfortunately nobody behind me stopped so it was one word against the other but I won and got the money but it still took 3 years so I was stuck with over €4k damage and couldn't sell either or would have got nothing as they checked to see if still had the pajero.