FTO vs VW Transporter - not pretty

DeFunkeD · Post by **DeFunkeD** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:08 am

hey, i woke up saturday morning and thought to myself "what a great day to go to the beach!" so i call up my gf and a couple of mates and head off. nice day for a drive so i was enjoying myself. i wanted to change to the left lane to make the exit, and since no-one was letting me through i slowed down. at 80kph now, so i indicate, check mirrors and blindspot, and begin to merge, albeit calmly. halfway through doing so i see a VW Transporter in my passenger side mirror, very VERY close. such was the speed that he was travelling vs my 80kph (note: limit on m2 is 100) that he winds up sideswiping my fto from rear bumper to front wheel. and not just a sideswipe! oh no! but one that is likely to write my fto off, beyond the 14k insured level. and you may be thinking "aww, dude, that sucks", but wait, there's more. the police attend, take the report, and tell me it was my fault and that i would be getting the fine and demerit points. i can see nowhere in my recollection of the events where i did anything erratic or sudden, and yet this guys speeds like a crap out of an indian eating 2 week old curry, hits me, and takes none of the responsibility. im wondering why my taxes go to the police right about now. but worse than any car accident, my gf was in the passenger side. her head hit the glass and we had to go to hospital. i could beat the s**t out of him just for that.

JOeJOe · Post by **JOeJOe** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:16 am

Dude that sucks...

Don't want to make things worse but usually the person merging into another lane would be in the wrong. Even thought you said he was driving wrecklessly, it's your word against his. Since you were merging into his lane the police will look at that.

If you have witnesses to say that he was driving wrecklessly, that would help your case ...

How's your gf doing???

DeFunkeD · Post by **DeFunkeD** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:25 am

yeah, thats basically what the police said, they apparently cant judge on speed and cant do a damage assesment to see how the impact actually occured.
my gf is ok, thank God, just whiplash and bruise. still gets me fired up though.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:31 am

Mate that sux, it must be a pretty hard hit in order for your gf to hit the glass. Was it the front windscreen or the side window? Hope she all fine now. At least all of you are still alive.

The reason why the police said it was your fault is because you were the one who was merging. And as you said, the M2 limit is 100, so the other party have the right to travel at that speed, even thought he mean to slow down according to the "Learner's booklet". Unless you can proof he was traveling more then 100kmph or he suddenly accelerate as he won't let you merge, then you don't have much of a case.

How many people in your car when the accident happen? Does your friends see the accident differently to your or the police? How many people was there in the VW at the time of the accident?

DeFunkeD · Post by **DeFunkeD** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:38 am

she hit the side window. yeah, i it was a freakin hard hit man, that's one of the reasons why i think he was speeding...
my friends were in another car though, way up ahead, so they didn't see. and he was the only person in his car. the only witness we got was a truckie who stopped afterwards. i dont know how he saw anything coz he was a way back and had already merged off the road (we came to a stop just near an exit ramp.)
so it looks like i have no witness. i think im pretty screwed on this one.

JOeJOe · Post by **JOeJOe** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:45 am

You can take him to court, but i think the favour is on the truckies side.

You have comprehensive insurance?? It it's a write off then just take the money and buy a new one.

It's just a car, in an accident if everyone is ok then it was a good accident claim on insurance and forget about it.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:50 am

JoeJoe is right.

You can always pay the fine in installment if that makes you feel better

JOeJOe · Post by **JOeJOe** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:02 am

btw, how much was the fine and how many demerits did you lose?

DeFunkeD · Post by **DeFunkeD** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:03 am

yeah, im definitely glad we're ok. my main concern was for my gf, and now that i know she's ok im just pissed about my car.

it's just annoying, the money that im now going to be spending on excesses (~1000) plus the fine (dont know how much yet) was going towards an engagement ring. so for me its more than just a car.

but yeah, in the end not a whole lot i can do about it exept for wear it and make do.

sublime19 · Post by **sublime19** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 1:34 pm

Damn man that sux... well 14k is a decent amount of money to get yourself a good fto - make it 13k minus the excess.

man that really really sux.. speaking of stupid car rules and this is exactly what i mean.. idiotic drivers NOT taking responsibilities for their actions..

and the stupid thing is, if you had sped up and forced your way in over the speed limit, you wouldn't have crashed, but because you did the right thing and drove patiently and calmly, things go wrong.. it's just so f*cked up!!!!
and this gets me thinking.. i really SHOULD get comprehensive insurance..

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 1:43 pm

sublime19 wrote:and the stupid thing is, if you had sped up and forced your way in over the speed limit, you wouldn't have crashed, but because you did the right thing and drove patiently and calmly, things go wrong.. it's just so f*cked up!!!!
and this gets me thinking.. i really SHOULD get comprehensive insurance..

Back in the good old days when I was a Learner, the instructor actually said, "You either accelerate or brake out of a dangerous situation".

Of course during my P plate time, I choose option 1

and I end up accumulated $5000 worth of fines and got my license suspended once.

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:54 pm

good to hear that u guys are all ok, btw u r ok right? it seems everyone just asked about your gf and no one asked about you lol.

not so good to hear about the car obviously. is there anyway for you to contact the truckie?

since he's the only witness thats not involved in the accident, it would be good to find out how he saw the whoel thing. your gf is the other witness.

how old are you? how is your driving record? what do you do for a living?

was he speeding? are you sure of that? can you prove that he wasnt just in the massive blind spot behind your back pillar?

well.... thats just some of the stuff u'll need to think about if you want to fight this.

i say fight this, but i'm the stuborn kind, i'll fight anything that i deem not right, anything at all. so you may not want to bother but i say do it, if u r really in the right and u keep going, u should win. but i'll cost $$ and time. so before you decide to fight it, sit down think the whole thing over, try to see this whole thing from a 3rd party's point of view.

either way, whether u r going to fight it or not, take photos of the dmg, take photos of anything related to this whole incident at all, gf's bruises, the crap left on the road if there is any, etc....

u'll never know with these kinda things, the VW driver might want to milk u for more, or something else might pop up.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:15 pm

BorepYano wrote: say fight this, but i'm the stuborn kind, i'll fight anything that i deem not right, anything at all. so you may not want to bother but i say do it, if u r really in the right and u keep going, u should win. but i'll cost $$ and time. so before you decide to fight it, sit down think the whole thing over, try to see this whole thing from a 3rd party's point of view.

Is going to be pretty tough to fight since the police already stated its his fault. And since his going through insurance, i doubt the insurance company going to fight it.

sublime19 · Post by **sublime19** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:29 pm

The first thing that had popped into my head was - fight it, but only for a split second as I understood from what he wrote had happened, and Kev wrote it out and i agree a 100% as he admits he was going 80 and the other guy was going faster which is perfectly legal as it's the speed limit.
He has no witnesses, no chance to prove anything so the benefit of the doubt is in favour of the VW driver.

Fighting it will only waste thousands of dollars and way too much time unfortunately..

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:33 pm

Is going to be pretty tough to fight since the police already stated its his fault. And since his going through insurance, i doubt the insurance company going to fight it.

yeah i know

but i guess he could get the cops on the fact that they didnt actually do anything, they just decided to take the VW driver's word over his because he drives a sports car, and is probably younger than the VW dirver.

u r right, but shyt like this just pisses me off you know

i cant afford comperhasive insurance so i dont do stupid sh*t, but when something like this happens it scares me

lol

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:45 pm

BorepYano wrote:they just decided to take the VW driver's word over his because he drives a sports car, and is probably younger than the VW dirver.

This is a very valid point, in accidents people who drive a "sports" car, are usually the one who get the wrong first impression. Its sad really.

DeFunkeD · Post by **DeFunkeD** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:11 pm

FTO338 wrote:
BorepYano wrote:they just decided to take the VW driver's word over his because he drives a sports car, and is probably younger than the VW dirver.
This is a very valid point, in accidents people who drive a "sports" car, are usually the one who get the wrong first impression. Its sad really.

yeah, the cop seemed to have already made up his mind before he even took a statement. i think the comment about first impressions (21yo p-plater in sports car vs 40yo in work van) is definitely right. the cop had already decided that i was doing something stupid before i even talked to him.

i think it would just wind up turning into a bigger drama if i tried to fight it.

i called the police station earlier today, they said i'd be getting a ticket for 'not giving way'. means 3 demerits and $230. add it to the list of expenses i suppose.

i see people driving like freaking idiots all the time, i know plenty even, and yet they dont have accidents and i completely write off a car. seriously, i have only ever had good comments about my driving, even from instructors and rta test supervisors, and yet this happens to me and not the real idiots on the road... i dont get it.

JOeJOe · Post by **JOeJOe** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:36 pm

Life is never fair.

Take it on the chin and move on. Not much you can do about it once it happens, the law have made up their mind either you fight it or you don't.

Could be worse, another feet into the trucks lane and you be totally rear ended .. a truck going 100km/h ramming into the back isn't a good feeling.

Or one feet the other way and you'll totally miss it but have your heart in your throat.

It's sh*t how sometimes things end up.

DeFunkeD · Post by **DeFunkeD** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:30 pm

yeah, true man. thanks guys for your support n everything, its been good to vent all this stuff out.

in the end im just so thankful that my girlfriend is ok. she was on the passenger side and in the most vunerable position from the impact, so im real glad that she's ok. i think i would have gone ape on that dude if something happened to her.

an accident at that speed could have been a hell of a lot worse, what with all the coming traffic and different angles that could have happened.

expensive mistake to make i guess, but as long as you're alive, you live and you learn. thank you God for protecting us!

jonowong · Post by **jonowong** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:16 pm

u exchanged details yeh?

you have his address... ran sack the f**kers house...