This is my first post and a bit nervous but the feelings of despair is even more . After reversing into a tight spot and making sure I am clear of all obstacles I was told straight away by the tradie vehicle in front that I had hit him. I told him I didn't feel a thing but he claims i have indeed bumped into him. He showed me a slightly bent corner which I definitely would have ignored if it was me and that you wouldn't even can tell if it wasn't pointed out to you. He proceeded to ask me for my details and took photos of my truck registration. I tried to get details off him but he just told me to get the rego from his vehicle. Now that i think of it, I have nothing except his rego number. I feel uneasy because he made a big deal out of it and considering he was driving a run down vehicle with the other corner badly damaged and rusting it appears now that he wants something and wants to take advantage out of this. At the time i felt like i had nothing to hide from. Did i do the right thing by giving my details to him? If i think i didn't do it should i have denied my details? Would this mean now i have admitted to hitting him. This is my bosses truck and its insured. I can't think properly now. Would you have done something different in such a situation. Thanks so much for your input.
Truck incident. Don't know if I did the right thing.
Comments
Giving him your details is pretty much admitting to the accident, tell your boss what happened, its easy not to 'feel' that you have hit someone in a truck, a car will feel like a sponge at slow speeds..
Giving him your details is pretty much admitting to the accident,
lol no it isnt
Agreed, no it isn't.
I'm pretty by law you need to provide your details when requested if there is an accident.
The fact that he refused to give his is a bit concerning?
So I'm assuming there's corresponding damage on your own vehicle, and he's not just trying to pin you with something you didn't do?
By giving him your details (you have to do so by law, as already mentioned) you're not admitting to anything.
Did you take pics of the damage to his vehicle?
Firstly, I am not a lawyer so this is not legal advice.
You were obliged to give him your details, so you did the right thing. Hopefully, you did not admit to anything. Likewise, he was obliged to give you his details, which he refused to do. Technically, he has broken the law. However, since that's so easily fixed, I doubt it will make any real difference.
Write down exactly what happened from your point of view as soon as possible, in plain language and with details of both vehicles and the date and time. Include that the driver/owner of the other vehicle refused to provide their details. Don't embellish any of the details, and write the truth as you see it.
Give this report to your boss - he's the owner and holds the insurance.
Wait for the other driver/owner to contact you. The driver/owner may not even take things any further. They say you hit their vehicle, you say they didn't. Can either of you prove it? Photos can only prove that there is some damage, not who caused it.
Your boss is probably obliged to report the accident to his insurers, but he does not need to make a claim. If it were me, I'd wait to find out what the other owner/driver is going to do.
So, here's what I would probably do, based on the vague details you've provided.
The damage (from your vague details) is unlikely to cost more than $500-600 to properly repair, including painting the panel, maybe a lot less. If the other owner/driver has insurance, that will likely be less than their excess, so they won't be wanting to make a claim on their insurance. Same with your boss's insurance.
So, absolute worst case for you is that your boss decides to accept their claim, and makes you pay for the repair. It'll be a "cash deal", so I'd offer them half what they ask for. If they refuse, tell them to take it up with their insurance company - your view is that you didn't cause the damage anyway.
If they do accept your offer, get some help to write up something for them to sign that absolves you from any further liability.
Practical and and to the point - great.
Firstly, calm down and write down everything that happened in order, maybe even draw pictures of happened.
Is your truck damaged where you would have collided? Usually in a collision, there's a transfer of paint.
When making a report, definitely mention there were existing damages on the car.Thanks everyone. I went to the police station afterwards and explained the situation. Officer says I didn't have to report incident unless someone's hurt or vehicle needs to be towed away. I said I didn't get their details but he says you only need it if you want to make an claim. Furthermore insurance company would give them to me when he makes a claim. So I left. The truck that I'm driving is no where pristine to begin with so I got no idea if any is caused here. I think this might be the case for other party as well. The damage in question is a bent fin of bare aluminum at the bottom corner of a step which could easily be bent back by some pliers or hammer requiring no paint at all while his existing damage on the opposite side is badly torn and rusting away. He's behavior of making a big deal just makes no sense to me except makes me think that he wants to claim in the hope to fix the whole bumper in the process. Am I thinking too much?
He's behavior of making a big deal just makes no sense
i seem to come across people like this more often lately. make a huge thing out of nothing just for the sake of it. just forget about it unless you hear from them again which by the sounds of it you wont.
Am I thinking too much?
yup :)
The point you are missing completely is that you can not drive around bumping into other peoples vehicles. The condition of the other vehicle is of no relevance at all… you cannot just freely damage other peoples property.
Next time remember to whip out your mobile phone and start snapping… if you accidentally get a pic of the other driver then its even better. :-)
For now… sit tight.
Yep! There's no real reason to doubt that you DID hit him, and if you were not aware of having done so, you know now that you need to alter the way you park, ie, give more clearance.
If he thinks he can fix the whole bumper, I think he is dreaming. Insurance has a condition that says, if your vehicle after the repairs ends up with more value or in a better condition than it was before the accident, you will need to compensate them :) so hopefully you have pictures of his bad conditions!!
I don't know the exact words that my insurance used, but pretty much that's what is implied.
After reversing into a tight spot
Okay. So it was a tight spot. Reversing is tricky enough in a wide bay. That pretty much dissolves any remaining plausible deniability you have. I'm NOT saying you hit him. I'm saying it's a more likely outcome in that particular situation. Anyway, you admit you're unsure if you hit him or not. If you were sure, you'd say outright "I did not hit him."
If you hit him and damaged his vehicle, it's his call whether to seek redress, not yours. If you didn't hit him then there's nothing to worry about. He would have to prove you did it — and unless he has a witness or he photographed paint transferred to your vehicle then he can't.
My personal belief is, reverse-parking is more trouble than it's worth. In future, consider not reversing into tight spots if you can avoid it. Best of luck to you.
you need to call the police, advise them of the situation, get a case number from them.
do not admit guilt if you believe you did not him the other driver's vehicle