salsa-king

he went over the bonnet hittin' the screen, bounced on the floor!!!
he's ok, just sprained ankle!!!!!
thank God!!!!!!!

i hav now a duff bonnet! cus of a kid who was in the road.

i papped my horn 4 a group of kids to move out of the way, all of them ran away apart from one that ran in front of my car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i was not speeding! i had just pulled off a main road into a side road, where i had already seen the kids in the road!

i feel really good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Police man said i should contact my insurance company incase they put a claim in!?!?

FOR WHAT??????
skool uniform!
if the mother has time off work to look after him!!
etc etc!!!!!!


so do i/would i claim off them for a new bonnet??

or do i not do anything about it and take the brunt of the insurance claim 4 my car being fixed???????


Phil

Squizz

Tough break!

Do you have any independant witnesses? Surely as the police are satisfied, then you could contact the parents of the child about recompense?

Solicitors letter about the Small Claims Court?

Why should you be out of pocket because of an unsupervised child?

I dunno, any bright ideas anyone?

Regards,
Squizz

salsa-king

lets just say that the people who saw it, i would think, would SAY IT WAS MY FAULT!!!!!
hmmmmm
fast car.......he must be speeding!!!!!!
poor child being hit by a speeding maniack!!!

think i will wait and see 4 now, how bad does it meke me look, asking for my bonnet to be fixed???????


Phil

Gastro

SK,

You need a witness (if at all possible) !
Tell your insurance company ASAP - the likelihood is that he/mother will put in a personal injuries claim against you & if you dont have a witness - its his word against yours.......
Vica versa is also true - if you want to make a claim for the bonnet - you will have to prove your corner (hence witness required) - that the boy ran out in front of you etc. The fact that the Police were happy merely saves you from a criminal prosecution.
Hope this helps & good luck,

Gastro

logiclee

Phil,

Hope is doesn't come in threes after your break in last week.

I would seek legal advice, I had some damage on a caravan a few years back and the local Solicitor's had a first appointment free scheme. May be worth ringing a couple.

How bad's the damage to the Bonnet? Will it need a new one or can it be repaired do you think.

Lee

craigamungos

Phil, I'v spoken to a mate of mine who works in the body shop at arriva ford, He said he'll look at it if you want it fixing.
I had the same happen to me last year wrote off the wing, headlight, indicater, foglight.
I had plenty of witnesses (luckerly) and the police told me to make a claim on there house insurance. Never did as the boy spent 4 days in hospital so felt it wasn't right.
But why should we motorist have to pay for it, would we tell some one who drove into us not to worry about it because he/she wasn't insured Not fair we get hammed every possible way.
Very sorry to hear of your bad luck anyway hope it all turns out ok.

pslewis

I have just been to court after a 3 year battle with a pedestrian who ran into the SIDE of my car!!!!

He dropped his mobile phone while running across the road in front of me, he decided that he could make it and ran back out into the road to grab his phone - straight into the side of my car!!!

I had an independant witness - he had his mate.

My witness later suffered a nervous breakdown - but her statement was allowed in court.

The pedestrian was absolutely cr4p in court - he couldnt (or wouldnt) understand the questioning from my counsel - his mate was a lot, lot better.

I was quite articulate as I tend to be and having been in court many times (a different story altogether!!) I wasn't fazed at all by the proceedings.

The result was 50/50 - yes - 50/50!!!

At the end of the day there is a driver with the full weight of his insurance company behind him against a poor little pathetic pedestrian who only has his lawyer!!! the driver is shafted basically - he was on a no win no fee - I counter claimed so won 50% of my uninsured damages, by the way.

The net result is 3 years of worry for nothing basically - I would NOT claim against the 3rd party as this would fire off a counter claim against you and that claim will be far far worse than yours - a child? a driver of a fast car? insured? hmmmmm let me see how the cookie will crumble?!

Smile, pay for your damage, tell your insurance Co., hope they dont claim, if they do - counter claim and prepare to get mean - really mean.

Pete

boomer

Phil,

you should have kept your foot down, with the the little tyke hanging out of the sunroof. A bit of community service and you are back in circulation (so a recent incident implies).

But seriously though, does your insurance include legal cover? Get _them_ to chase things up - after all, if was not your fault.

mb

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

There was a case just a few weeks ago where a lad who was crippled some years before after running out in front of a car which was under the speed limit, was awarded something around £3.5 million! It was claimed, and accepted, that due to the type of road, time of day (kids likely to be about) parked cars etc. that the speed the guy was doing, albeit under the limit, was still too fast for the conditions.
Tell your Ins. Co., get your car fixed and keep your fingers crossed, you`re in no win city?

Good luck mate - JohnD

Ari Max

Sorry to hear about your`e problem .
My missus had a similar occurance a couple of years back ,kid ran out into road etc , big mess of screen , bonnet etc .
Thing is kids are covered on their parents domestic home insurance in most public liability cases `LEGAL FAMILY COVER`etc.
The kid my missus ran over cycled out into the road without looking . Two witnesess saw what happened made a statement to the police
I went round to see the parents as they lived locally swapped details and direct line handled the rest of the problem . I realise your`e motor is probably not insured with same company however it does prove there maybe some light at the end of the tunnel . BEST OF LUCK .

KF

Mr Salsa,
The moral of the story here is, get witnesses.

My parents were the *only* witnesses to an motorbike vs old lady incident. The biker was knocked unconcious and lost memory. The woman was also injured. It was 100% the womans fault (she walked directly in front of him - nothing he could do).

Magically at court, witnesses (the old woman's family) appeared, despite not having been present at the accident. For some reason my parents were not called upon to testify (they attended court in the public viewing gallery), and the chap on the bike had no memory of the incident.

Result: he was banned and royally shafted.

Just cos you are a good bloke, don't assume everyone else is.

KF.

pslewis

Boomer - the insurance company will NOT take kindly to a claim - I have been there and lived the last 3 years of this kind of hell, and thats what it is.

Fight if you want but be prepared for a long, long battle - all the way into court if its anything like mine.

I had legal expenses cover as an extra on my policy - that took care of my counter claim. BUT they will only pay if the insurance company wants to fight .... and vice-versa, the insurance company will ONLY fight if the claim (in the case of you starting the claim) is going to be persued. Let me just say that I know of NO legal team that would take your claim on ... as I said, an insured driver sueing a child on his parents household insurance - that aint the kind of case anyone will take on, beleive me. And what about if the family has no insurance? are you going to sue still?? and if you lose (and you will!) you will have to pick up the legal bill.

As a rough guide to that bill - mine came to £7,000 (for a return of £285!!!!!!) - the pedestrians bill came to £16,000 (for a return of £5500!!!!!)

Only the lawyers win

Pete

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Phil

It $hits you up doesn't it? Happened to me - bunch of people waiting by side of road, aware that I was there when kiddy shot our from the middle of them & straight into the side of the car I stopped but she was already running on (to class? to home? to swiming?)

Tell the insurance without doubt, if only to CYA. You can (if you feel you are gonna win win ) make a claim against the parents & their insurance (General Household inc Public Liability normally).

Good Luck

pslewis

Slightly biased but my wife is a plaintiff PI lawyer (good too) & she gets little reward for the stress & cr@p she has to put up with from the clients (sometimes)/defendants/courts/system. She fights as best she can for her clients (quite a few of them are my couriers) but it is a thankless & stressful job most of the time. I know - I get to suffer for it too

Nigel Bowles

INFORM YOUR INSURANCE.
My step brother was involved in a similar accident, nothing broken. He was hit by a woman on a pedestrian crossing outside the school whilst she was dropping her son off.
Anyway, over the period of two weeks his injuries got worse and the bruising came out, with several visits to the doctor/specialist.
Due to the woman not reporting the accident to the police or insurance our solicitor is going for a big pay out!!!!

RB170

Sorry to hear about your "incident" Phil

My ride to work used to take me right through the city of London which was a complete nightmare for people just walking out it front of you. I used to jest and say that pedestrians should have insurance cause what would happen if one of the gimps walked out in front of me and I hit them!!!!! Would I have to take the hit for the damage?

This kind of thing happens to often...even if you are driving around at 10mph and someone runs out in front of you, you seem to not have a leg to stand on. Cyclist should have insurance aswell.....

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Mike

chiark

My only advice would be to get the names and addresses of all possible witnesses.

I had a similar, though not as extreme, incident. I was passing a school doing (literally) 5mph. A kid ran from behind a parked car, and I clipped his ankle. He was fine, I was shocked... Found 3 adult independent witnesses on top of the two friends in the car, all of whom backed me up that I couldn't have done anything better. The police ended up praising me for my driving (!), and I had a phonecall from the boy's father offering to pay for any damage. Of course there was none.

I didn't get the name of one of the witnesses at the scene as he drove off, but he was in a van marked with his trade name - he was a painter/decorator. Found him in yellow pages. See if there's anything like this that sticks out in your mind too.

Back to your incident: I wouldn't hold out hope of getting your bonnet repaired. Not wishing to be a merchant of doom, I'd be more worried about a claim against you, hence find witnesses.

Regarding insurance, your legal protection normally comes with a free, confidential advice line. Use them as a sounding board for the situation before deciding to formally notify the insurance company.

fast bloke

Salsa-king,
Approach the police again about an "Obstructing the highway" or similar caution for the kid. Talk to the kids parents and tell them you are prepared to drop it if they pay for repair. It seems like a ****ty thing to do on a kid, but if it comes to claim time this caution would be taken into account. It is probably not worth your while claiming off their insurance. You would more than likely win in the end and be a couple of thousand pounds out of pocket. Your insurance policy might have legal cover, but they will stiff you at renewal time. I've just finished a three year fight with a bimbo who pulled out in front of me at a T junction. I've been driving for 12 years, and had a police motorcyclist as a witness. She passed her test 6 days before the 'incident' and had a passenger on a bus as a witness. So one professional driver and 1 experienced driver's word against one inexperienced driver and one bus passenger.... Her story was that the sun was shining from behind me and she couldn't see me!!!!!(So she pulled out anyway) The final result was that the accident was 50% my fault as I should have eased off when I saw someone sitting in a side road when I knew the sun was shining on my back. I got 4k in damages, the barristers and solicitors involved got between 5 and 8k each. After the settlement the policeman apologised to me and told me that with hindsight he should have prosecuted her for dangerous driving. Had this been the case her insurance company would probably not have contested the case.


p.s. Sorry for the life story type post Harj..

ChrisB

Not a lot more to offer other than it's probably worth while trying to write down everything you can remember whilst it's fresh in your mind.

Perhaps draw a couple of sketch maps on where the kid ran from etc. Maybe even pop back to the scene and take a couple of photos.

If anything comes up in the future, you've got some notes to refer to.

Chris.

Bajie

Inform your insurance or you might find yourself getting a call from Claims Direct.
A friend of mine has been contacted by them regarding an accident which happened two years ago when he didn't own the car
Amazing how a ten grand pay-off can make those old wounds play up ....

DavidBrown

Salsa, consider countersuing for the damage caused to your vehicle (I think parents are liable for their kids actions). That should balance things out.

The legal system is not the same as justice.

I've lost a court case to someone who just blatantly lied, but I couldn't disprove their claims. So it was my word against theirs. Judgement went in their favour and I lost £2,000 for NOTHING.

So.. if anyone comes up to you in the street and wants to mug you for your wallet, stand your ground. If they say they'll SUE you for your wallet, just hand it over there and then.

matt_d

Unlucky there salsa-king - I'd recommend not trying to claim. You may be claimed against, so I would recommend hiring a lawyer immediately. And don't expect justice in the courts - lawyers are not interested in fairness, they are interested in making money and winning cases. Some magistrates and jury members will be prejudiced people, and a performance car hitting a kid may not get a fair trial.

On the subject of accidents - I would recommend always carrying a camera in your car. At least then you can photograph witnesses & the surrounding area/crash damage etc. Photo evidence in court works wonders and makes opposing evidence look dubious. Also the other party will be unlikely to tell barefaced lies if they know you took pictures. I'm even thinking of getting a digital video camera and mounting it on the dash so that in an accident I can prove if the other party was at fault - I usually drive alone so wouldn't have friendly witnesses most of the time.

The second thing is that if you drive expecting people in junctions & pedestrians to maybe run out in front of you, then you will avoid them. If you don't expect it, eventually someone will do it and you'll hit them. Do you want that to happen? If not, drive accordingly when other traffic/pedestrians are around.

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

Bad luck Salsa-king,

Pretty much the same thing happened to me in 1999. I got my windscreen fixed off the insurance (didn't count as a claim but £50 xs) and there was possibly a mark on the bonnet but v. minor so I left it well alone. Whatever you do you will have to report it to your insurance and they will really go to town. They will send out accident investigators to photograph the scene and to interview you because there are so many huge pay outs made to pedestrians lately. I had the whole thing hanging over me like a bad smell for months. Shat me up as well i don't mind saying. I had the added complication tht the boy who came out in front of me was from a council home and aged 17. Therfore responsible for his own actions but with no money / parents - no chance of a claim against him. Anyway as has been said trying to sue orphans/school childeren does not go down too well. Even though the police present were fairly satisfied I was doing nothing wrong it was not immediately apparent the lad would turn out to be basically unhurt and I was held for ages whilst they did skid testing, photographing, measuring etc. (I have now had two roads closed in my honour!) The other bad thing was that my car was taken away by the police and they were prepared to get it stipped down to find any minor fault I could be blamed for which also cost me >£200 for the privelege(I thought that was what the taxes were for.) Luckily news came back from the hospital that the lad was OK and then the whole thing was dropped give or take the odd highway code lesson given to this guy.

Luckily there were cars following me that backed up my version of events (this was on a dual carriageway and I had sounded the horn and emergency stopped and the guy ran out from behind parked cars etc Despite this it could easily have come down to a my word against his scenario if he had wanted to get malicious.

None of it was very fair and left me with a bad impression of police / insurance/ the world.

(PS Obviously you don't go into too much detail about your accident but I believe that if you turn off a main road into a side road and there is a pedestrian crossing that side road it is in the highway code that they have right of way.)

[This message has been edited by Boost II (edited 30 January 2001).]

DrEvil

Phil,

Mate i hope you find yourself a witness...

The only thing you should be glad of is that you were not doing 30mph (judging by your comments).. remember that guy that got done for inappropriate speed recently

I hope nothing comes of the above, and I'd push for 'obstructing the highways' as by the sounds of it, the kid was trying the 'play chicken with a car' thing...

All the best mate, Alex

craigamungos

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pslewis:
[B]I have just been to court after a 3 year battle with a pedestrian who ran into the SIDE of my car!!!!

He dropped his mobile phone while running across the road in front of me, he decided that he could make it and ran back out into the road to grab his phone - straight into the side of my car!!!

pslewis, He was probably looking at your CR4P Silver wheels If you had Gold ones He'd of been looking at there great looks and therefore of see you coming LOL
(private joke ref jap or uk thread)

Orville

Hold on a second. We have only heard one side of the story and it has been stated (by the driver) that children were clearly seen and that the horn was sounded before the accident. My question is, if you knew children were playing in the road why did you not slow down to a safe speed. For someone to bounce off the windscreen and cause damage to the car you must have been going reasonably fast anyway.

When I was younger, I was hit by a car infront of my school gates. I got up and walked home, only later discovering I have broken several ribs. At the time (15 years ago) going to court was not the thing to do, but nowadays things have changed. Imagine it was your child who was hit and possibly injured by a driver of a fast car who had clearly seen children playing in the road and had even given audible warnings before impact. If ut was my child I would take it all the way without thought for personal compensation. I would just try to get what I would see as a dangerous driver off of the road.

I am not saying it was completely your fault, but from what has been said you should have been more aware/precautious.

No doubt I'll get flamed for this, but it always annoys me when people pick sides after hearing only half of the argument.

[This message has been edited by Orville (edited 31 January 2001).]

fast bloke

Orville - get the flame suit methinks. As far as I was aware, roads are basically bits of ground with tarmac on top so that cars/buses etc can get from a to b. Playgrounds are bits of ground with grass on top and a fence round the side so that kids can play safely. If Salsa King had knocked down a kid playing in the playground, then I would definately take the kids side. As it is, either the kid is to young to have any road sense, in which case his parents should have been looking after him or else the kid is old enough to have road sense in which case he couldn't be arsed getting out of the way. The "you could have stopped if you had been a better driver/paying attention" attitude really bugs the **** of me. Are you implying that SK knocked the kid down on purpose or that he isn't a good enough driver to be allowed on the road. If you read his post he says one ran in front of the car. If you where to slow down to a reasonable speed every time you saw a kid/adult/other car which had the potential to be involved in a collision with you, I don't think you would ever get above 5 MPH or more than a mile from the car dealer where you first bought it.
As it stands now, SK will probably get shafted by the parents who take the same attitude as you. Maybe he should report the family to social services on the basis that they were not caring for the kid properly and are repeatedly putting his life in danger by allowing him to play unsupervised on the road. Obviously SK wouldn't recieve any compensation for this, but at least he would have helped remove the child from dangerous family....

Orville

I am not saying that SK is a bad driver or that he has definately done something wrong. I am merely raising the point that we have heard just one side of the story. I sincerely hope that the child is perfectly ok and that SK can will not suffer further.

logiclee

From what Phil (SK) has said to me he saw the group of children who were spilling onto the road, he slowed as he went by when one kid ran in front of the car.

Dont forget the kid got away with a sprained ankle, at 30mph most are killed. Iv'e been in a car that hit a teenager at 10 - 15mph in a field type car park, the lad broke his leg and the car had bumper, grill and bonnet damage!!! It doesn't take a lot of speed to cause damage, if SK had hit him at 30mph this would be a totally different thread!!


Lee

pslewis

Craigamungos - I was trying to be serious on this thread and you go and ruin it!!

Had the bloke who ran back into the road been a gold wheel lover he wouldn't have dropped a mobile phone - it would have been a handbag!!

By the way?? what the hell is a car security installer??? do you put alarms into cars?? or, more likely, do you instal cars in a car park and only get to look after our Scoobies??

Anyway, sorry for hijacking a serious thread, but I didn't start it

pete

salsa-king

ORVILLE........
as lee says!!! i had already slowed down cus i has seen the kids!!!!!!!! sounded my horn to let them know i was about as they wrre toooo busys chatting amongst themselves!!!
if i had been going anyfaster i think the 13yr old would hav come off a lot worse than a sprained ankle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
don't you???????????????
so do yoiu stop the car completly when you see kids in the road, then get out and asked them to move over to the pavement.. then get back in your car and drive on?????
NO, I DON'T THINK YOU DO!!!!!! or YOU might do!!!!!!!!!! lol

if any of you have had that feeling that you have just ran someone over!!!! you know how i felt/feel now!!!! when it happened!!!! it all felt like slow motion!!!! i could not stop any quicker than i did, but that was not quick enough!!!!!!!! i saw him turn away from me and run in to the line of my car!!!!!! he had not even looked to see me driving down the road! when i entred it! let alone when i gave an audioble warning that i was there!!!!


I hav rang the Ins comp. they will take it up if need be!
but
the family come from a poor area of Nottm!!!!as i might say! so getting blood out of a stone, could be the line that i'm thinking at the moment!!!!!!
you know what i mean????

Witnesses.......were other skool mates, who told the copper i was doing 120mph!!!!!!
say no more!
and another guy who came over looked like he wanted to put a Mashetti/knife in my back!!!!
do i need to go on????
so i don't think any witness's would be on my side!!!!!!


Phil