My friend was driving along a wide, straight, national speed limit single carriageway, and was being held up by a woman in a 4X4 driving at approx 25MPH. His account is thus- The road was empty, and in any case easily wide enough for three cars abreast so he decided to overtake. There were no indicated junctions in the vicinity so he indicated and pulled out to pbutt her. He drew level and was pbutting her (the nose of his car was almost two feet ahead of hers), and she decided to attempt a right turn into what turned out to be a small private driveway. There was a collision and her offside front corner dented the rear part of my friend's wing, both pbuttenger doors and even the lower part of the bodywork to the side of the windscreen, but surprisingly the windscreen survived.
The car is beyond economical repair (though perfectly safe to drive) - it's a K reg diesel Astra hatch (which I sold to him only months ago!) He intends to continue driving it until its next MOT though.
The way I see it he was enbreastled to overtake her and she attempted a right turn without checking her mirror, or even glancing out of her side window. I fully appreciate it could be argued he should have seen the opening and anticipated she may be about to turn, so at worst I would have thought this would be knock for knock.
Who's to blame 1730Nick Finnigan that's what they tell you what actually happens is a different matter. the last time I was involved in...
However, he made an error of judgement. They correctly exchanged details, but whereas she reported the incident to her insurance company, he didn't bother, which perhaps makes him look guilty. The result is his insurance company (Elephant) informed him they were going to pay out to the woman. Her 4X4 sustained minor damage, and IIRC the damaged item was a bullbar.
He is contesting this (after I had words with him- he's rather *too* laid back!) and has sent pictures of his car to Elephant. The damage to the car certainly back up his claim that he was ahead of her when she hit him- the damage starts near the back of the wing and continues down the side of the car to the back of the rear pbuttenger door.
Based on this info, does the group think he has a case and that the woman should be held at least partly accountable? All opinions most welcome.
Dave
