First accident...

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Rolyan
Posts: 660
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:45 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby Rolyan » Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:24 pm

I was browsing.

Was this ever resolved, or is the 'interesting case of stories substantially altered' still ongoing?

TheInsanity1234
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:03 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:11 pm

Nope! Still ongoing!

The passenger is now claiming the taxi driver hit a post AFTER I hit him, when he was moving the taxi off the road.

This would be a significant point in my favour regarding the damage to the front bumper, so my solictors are making enquiries about that.

So far, it seems like I'll be off to court, no mention of settling outside of court.

I'm already resigned to my fate, and if my insurers still have to pay out compensation then I'll take it on the chin and just be happy it wasn't worse, and chalk it up to experience.

TheInsanity1234
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:03 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Mon Feb 18, 2019 10:07 pm

There was an update of sorts a month or so ago. My solicitor emailed me a court date, 5th of June. The solicitors hope it won't go to court, but I've yet to hear anything otherwise.

I apologise for my lengthy lack of presence on these forums, life has been very chaotic, and unfortunately I became yet another point in crash statistics for young drivers, and managed to have another crash! I shall not divulge too much detail as it is the subject of an ongoing police investigation, partly into the crash itself and the cause, and partly into the assault on me that occurred after the accident by the other driver, which has impacted on me quite a lot.

Suffice to say, it has had a very profound effect on my confidence as a driver, and it has become more of a chore than a pleasure to drive, due to the anxieties that I now have to manage. Put simply, I drive like a granny. :mrgreen:

In a weird roundabout way, the first accident did me a favour in making me install a dashcam, as the police now have honest and frank evidence of the circumstances leading to the accident, and a few clips with audio supporting my assault allegation.

I do hope to regain my ability to enjoy driving, and I can foresee Advanced Driving being a part of that process, but for now I shall be putting driving pleasure on the back burner whilst I complete the next two years or so of my life. This is because they will be bloody busy - I will be graduating from my degree this summer (ended up doing a BSc) and I aim to be enrolled in a teacher training course in September, which will then lead into a busy (but hopefully rewarding) teaching career.

martine
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Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:26 am
Location: Bristol
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Re: First accident...

Postby martine » Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:16 am

Thanks for being so honest. Driving is a continual learning process.

Hope you get a good BSc result and good luck with your teaching career...keep us posted!
Martin - Bristol Advanced Motorists: IMI National Observer, Group Secretary, Masters (dist), DSA: ADI, Fleet, RoSPA (Dip)

Triquet
Posts: 526
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:32 pm
Location: Occupied North Berkshire

Re: First accident...

Postby Triquet » Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:11 pm

That I think is sheer rotten luck. Don't kick yourself about too much, and try and get in some relaxed "driving only" drives. On the long distance stuff, leave yourself hods of time and don't rush. Don't granny drive on DCs or Motorways, that way lies madness.

TheInsanity1234
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:03 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Fri Mar 01, 2019 3:29 pm

martine wrote:Thanks for being so honest. Driving is a continual learning process.

Hope you get a good BSc result and good luck with your teaching career...keep us posted!

Well, no point lying about these things, I have an awful memory and I'd be bound to catch myself out :lol: It's easier to just be honest and let the consequences of the truth take place! My partner also tells me I'm the world's worst liar as I invariably end up fabricating a story of such complexity and detail that it ends up sounding 'too true' if that makes sense! :mrgreen:

Triquet wrote:That I think is sheer rotten luck. Don't kick yourself about too much, and try and get in some relaxed "driving only" drives. On the long distance stuff, leave yourself hods of time and don't rush. Don't granny drive on DCs or Motorways, that way lies madness.

In the time since the accident, I've become more confident at driving again, but I still find it hard to suppress the rising sense of panic that invariably seems to happen when someone's following a bit too closely behind now. I will say however, I've noticed my perception of how fast I'm going has taken quite a shift towards over-estimation. Before I used to be pretty spot on in terms of guessing how fast I was going without looking at the speedometer, but now I often will accelerate up to a comfortable speed for the road I'm on, and then look down only to find I'm doing an indicated 5 mph below my estimation (which when you factor in speedometer error is probably a total of 5-10 mph difference). It's a very strange change that's resulted in me probably annoying other drivers more than intended.

TheInsanity1234
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:03 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:48 am

So, the case was heard at Liverpool Family and Civil court yesterday, 10:30 start and didn't wrap up until aboyt 5:30! Bloody long day but I felt it was a very good result.

My barrister absolutely tore the taxi driver's case to pieces whilst questioning him and threw doubt on all elements of the claimant's case, and argued that because of all the errors and disreprecancies, that the taxi driver must've been fundamentally dishonest, and that the case should be thrown out. His evidence was very vague and inconsistient, and the only proof of him having paid out for repairs was a hastily scribbled "receipt" dated "March 2018" for the sum of £585 or thereabouts, and his medical examination report was just nonsense and didn't line up with his GP records. Furthermore, his own passenger contradicted his story that I had shunted the taxi into a post.

The taxi driver's barrister then questioned me for about 40 minutes, repeating the same question 4 times regarding me saying that I "had passed the row of parked cars" in my statement at a few points, and then saying "having passed an indicating car" at a different point, and his argument was that I wasn't being very clear as to whether I was passing one parked car or a row, and that I wasn't being very clear regarding my estimates of distances and speeds, and therefore my recollection of events couldn't be relied on and thus I should have my entire defence thrown out based on a few minor details which didn't quite line up. I explained that I had meant an indicating car, which was indicating to pull out of a row of parked cars, and that I was absolutely certain there was in fact, a row of parked cars that I was passing at the time I saw the taxi driver.

I then explained that English was my second language, and my primary language was British Sign Language, so whilst I may say and write things that make perfect sense to me, they may not be quite the correct way of phrasing things. His barrister started looking quite panicked after the judge interrupted him to say to me "just to be clear, am I correct in understanding that you are trying to say that you are trying to describe events to the best of your ability, but you are somewhat hindered by the fact English is your second language, and so you may make minor mistakes with your language whilst describing said events." When I replied "yes", the judge then turned to his barrister and simply told him to stop asking me the same question and move on!

In response to the estimates which weren't exact and thus threw doubt on my speed etc I firmly explained that I wasn't equipped with a measuring tape at the time and thus I couldn't offer anything more accurate than estimates, and that I was basing a "car length" on the length of my short car, which may explain why I appeared to over estimate how far away I was from the taxi at the time I saw him.

The judge then summed up after all the formal proceedings etc were done and awarded the taxi driver £385 for his rear bumper repair, as I was liable for that, and awarded him small claims court costs of approximately £1k and £150 for the engineer's report that the taxi driver had to pay out for. The personal injury claim was rejected as the taxi driver had been involved in a "terrible accident" just three months before and thus it wasn't clear enougn that I had actually caused his injuries, as he was already injured from the previous accident. His loss of earnings was also thrown out as it had no proof at all that he would've earned £200 for the three days that he was forced to take off. Overall it was about £1.5k which is a fair award and roughly what he would've got if he had just accepted the official repairs offered to him for the rear bumper initially and got a couple of hundred for loss of earnings due to time off work whilst the taxi was being repaired.

I was very satisfied with the outcome and felt the judge was very fair and impartial, which was lovely to see. At last, this sorry saga can be put behind me!

The most bizarre thing that occured during the court hearing was the fact the taxi driver kept repeatedly saying he wanted to avoid going to court as he was trying to be reasonable and get what he was owed, but thing is, at no point did we say we wanted to go to court, we had always accepted liability for the rear bumper, it was him that forced the case into court by making up his personal injuries and demanding that we repair the front bumper too.

martine
Posts: 1016
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:26 am
Location: Bristol
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Re: First accident...

Postby martine » Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:01 am

Phew - well done for attending court and undergoing questioning. I've never been to court but I'm sure it's a very concerning and worrying time. It's good you are pleased with the process as well.

So what can you learn from the collision itself and when are you going to do your advanced test?
Martin - Bristol Advanced Motorists: IMI National Observer, Group Secretary, Masters (dist), DSA: ADI, Fleet, RoSPA (Dip)

TheInsanity1234
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:03 pm

Re: First accident...

Postby TheInsanity1234 » Thu Jun 06, 2019 5:27 pm

martine wrote:Phew - well done for attending court and undergoing questioning. I've never been to court but I'm sure it's a very concerning and worrying time. It's good you are pleased with the process as well.

So what can you learn from the collision itself and when are you going to do your advanced test?

The main thing I learnt is... Avoid hitting other cars! :mrgreen:

But the main cause of the accident was I became fixated on one hazard and failed to take note of other developing hazards, so in the future I should try to (for want of better phrasing) "sweep" my view across/along the road as opposed to just staring at something that may or may not end up in my way!

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Horse
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Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:20 am

Re: First accident...

Postby Horse » Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:07 pm

That's called 'target fixation', and anyone can be caught out by it.

It can work in at least a couple of ways. One is probably your crash situation, you are concerned about one thing so overlook others. They other happens in 'panic!' emergency situation, when your vision narrows down, you tense up, etc.

The first can be overcome by keeping a scan going, research shows that more experienced drivers have shorter fixations on 'things' as they look around.

The second needs planning, mental preparation, and expectation. e.g. If you meet an obstruction half way around a corner, it's too late to think "ummmm ... what was it I saw in a YouTube vide about swerving?'. Instead, you need to enter the bend prepared to meet, and deal with, the obstruction.
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.


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