Road rage and subsequent accident - any suggestions appreciated...

mad__llama on 22/09/2014 - 23:45
Last edited 24/09/2014 - 16:54

My mate was involved in a road rage incident which resulted in a accident.

She was driving a one lane road last week and was tailgated for a number of minutes by hoon. She claims that she slowed down to let the hoon past, but at the same time a car pulled into the oncoming lane from a driveway and the hoon wasn't able to overtake. Hoon got furious and tailgated ever closer while yelling abuse from behind.

As soon as it was clear to pass the hoon overtook my friend, re-entered the lane directly in front of her (a few metres max she says) and slammed on the brakes. My mate was so shocked that even though she she braked hard there was no way she could stop in time and rear-ended the hoon.

Hoon got out, yelling abuse and threats and tried to open my mate's car to pull her out, then put their hands through the window to try and open the door (luckily my terrified mate had the presence of mind to lock the car). Hoon then pushed and rocked the car, my mate started calling the cops on her phone and the hoon freaked out, got back into her car and sped off. My friend luckily managed to record the plates.

Long story short: my mate reported the incident to the cops, who got onto the hoon - she has now provided her details for insurance. She also claims that there was no road-rage, she was simply rear-ended by my mate who she claims is at fault (and lying about how the accident happened!).

My mate's insurance company has told her that she (my friend) will likely be considered at fault (as she was travelling behind) regardless of the circumstances of the accident (road rage, hoon leaving without providing details etc).

Is there anything my poor friend can do?

UPDATE: So the insurance company assessor has determined that my mate is at fault for not allowing sufficient stopping distance and they are unwilling to fight a she said/she said case. She has not been able to find a witness to the incident and isn't happy to start an extended legal fight over the matter, she's just going to pay up her excess and move on. She has asked me to thank the OzB forums for all the suggestions.

And I think I'll be getting her a dash-cam for Christmas :)

A quick recap of the issues raised below for TLDRers (or to save redundancy in comments):

  • I am not the victim here, this is a second-hand story (happened to my buddy)
  • Both victim and perp are female (there seems to be some confusion about this)
  • Victim was travelling at least 55 km/h in a 60 zone before the incident - dusk conditions etc
  • Incident occurred in a residential area, no other cars or witnesses present (or CC cameras from a business)
  • Police report was made on the day
Automotive

Comments

  • pebee47 on 23/09/2014 - 18:28
    +1

    On no account put common sugar from any supermarket in the petrol tank.
    It really screws up car motors

  • Ughhh on 23/09/2014 - 18:54

    Wow. On the topic of rear end accidents, if you drive a shitbox that cant attract any buyers or your car needs a new rear bumper etc., you could just cut someone off and break suddenly to become a 'victim' of the accident. Then just wait for the cheque or free repairs. Is that possible? Not that Im recommending anyone do this, I hope no one does this.

    • Azn310 on 25/09/2014 - 10:21

      Anythiing on the internet is a recommendation my friend :P

  • smpantsonfire on 23/09/2014 - 19:26

    Technically they did a hit and run, they fled the scene of an accident which is against the law.

    Why would they do that if they wanted to have a smash just for insurance.

  • YouLIKEyouLICK on 23/09/2014 - 19:39
    +1

    Everyone should get a "dash cam" for their cars! I had a speeding driver cut into my lane and hit the side of my car, now he is disputing it, people like this really pisses me off!

  • cookie2 on 23/09/2014 - 20:24

    fyi- it is illegal tp ;eave the scene of an accident without swapping drivers licence details.The fact that you dont have thir drivers licence details AND that you contacted the police, is a good win for you and should strengthen your argument if you go to court.you can still push the cops to charge the driver with leaving the scene of an accident because I thought it becomes a hit and run if they leave without providing details.

    • lplau on 24/09/2014 - 11:53

      Proof is the problem.
      The other person who left the scene could say she had the music up and didn't feel the bump…

      Sadly in Australia who ever hits the back of the car = the loser even if you are technically correct.

      e.g. You going forward and somebody runs a red light, which means the front car needs to emergency stop, then all the cars behind need to emergency stop, lets say it causes all those 5 cars behind you to crash.

      Car 1 < Car 2 < Car 3 < Car 4 < Car 5

      Car 1 gets away with being innocent pays no excess.
      Where as Car 2, 3, 4, 5 pays excess as they are "Technically in the wrong"

      They cannot get the person who ran the red light to pay all the excesses even though morally he is in the wrong.

      Get a Dashcam people…. They help in plenty of cases. Could have saved you all your time and grief if you just had the footage. Even if you get 2 dashcams one for front and back for lets say $200, the time you spent trying to sort this out and all the grief well exceeds the cost of $200.

      You may be able to get the other driver on hit and run, but you may still need to pay the excess. As you should have slowed down if you saw him cut in, once they cut in = you slow down. It will come down to the same reason for why Car 2,3,4,5 had to pay their excesses, since they should have kept a reasonable distance to allow them to stop without causing an accident.

  • DiscoJango on 23/09/2014 - 20:42

    dash cam = indisputable proof.

  • FiDad on 23/09/2014 - 21:41
    +1

    This thread has convinced me to get a Dash cam; how do you rate below listing. Am i being too cheap as usual? I have no idea about dash cams and have pretty much spent all my shopping budget for 2014 thanks to recent ebay sales
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-4-TFT-LCD-720P-HD-Portable-Car-…

  • shaiguy on 24/09/2014 - 10:17
    +1

    Can't do much as there's not much evidence. BUT make sure you get your friend to write a statutory declaration to explain everything that happened and get the other woman to do exactly the same thing. Make sure both are advised by the cops that it is a criminal offence to make a false declaration with criminal penalties. I know this has scared off people in the past given the implications of providing a false declaration. At least then you would have something conflicting and as mentioned above if the hoon did drive off then there would be a big question mark over why they did this.

    We all get frustrated at people driving too slow but I think everyone just needs to be more patient… at the end of the day you're only going to save a few minutes. I was surprised how relaxed people are driving in many southeast Asian countries compared to us. We are a country of angry drivers for some reason and really take things personally on roads (I will put my hand up being guilty of this in the past).

    • lplau on 24/09/2014 - 14:05

      Lol, you can't make somebody do a stat dec…
      A police officer can get a statement off them which acts almost the same as a stat dec.

  • bocca on 24/09/2014 - 10:22

    Seek legal advice.

    Because when you rear end someone you are 'pretty much automatically at fault'.

    edit- past experience
    you are at fault even if the guy is trying to turn right in the middle lane (straight only lane)….thanks AAIMI

  • nadan on 24/09/2014 - 10:41
    +3

    I nearly ended up with the same predicament and as a result I have bought two dashcams. There are clowns on the road, last night a woman hurled abuse at me for absolutely no reason as she was turning left at the traffic light.

  • umoddbro on 24/09/2014 - 11:50
    +2

    Time to invest in a dashcam. Seriously every car should have a dash cam, best investment yet.

  • mangoman on 24/09/2014 - 12:10
    +1

    In Sydney, I thought driving away from the scene of an accident was automatic disqualification of license?

    Its very hard to not feel bump in a car from the rear is there is significant damage. But there would be no reason to drive away if you werent at fault (unless you think its funny having people damage your car).

    Im not a lawyer or insurance person, but i think that driving away would be very hard to justify reasonably and a definite sign of guilt.

    • lplau on 24/09/2014 - 14:02

      Depends, it could be because you panicked and left the scene. Even if you were right or wrong.
      There is still benefit of a doubt in this case though, its not a simple open a shut case saying "He ran away therefore he must be guilty".
      A semi-decent lawyer could easily wiggle their client's way out of something like this.

  • joeflacco on 24/09/2014 - 13:30
    -7

    Tell your friend to drive faster next time.

    I get pissed off at slow drivers too.

  • Mumbles on 24/09/2014 - 13:41

    If the details in the original post are correct that means the Police's handling of this is poor. The Police officer would have asked the offender for their version of events, what the agreed outcome was after discussion between the two drivers. If there was no discussion the officer definitely should have asked a reason for leaving an accident.

    I'd recommend you get a copy of the Police statement that your friend gave. Request the statement given by the offender. It will give you, your friend and the lawyer a better idea.

    If your friend is the victim, she would be unhappy with the Police officer's decision and should report the officer and request a review of their actions.

    There is already three sides to this story, your friends, the offender, the Police officer's. Your friend and the insurance companies shouldn't have problems requesting them from Police.

    • lplau on 24/09/2014 - 13:58

      Sadly it all comes down to he said she said or in this case she said she said.

      It all boils down to why did the car race off without leaving details, but the person who ran off could easily make up some excuse and get off of it.

      Then the roadrage stuff, there is no proof of this.

      Only thing you can pin the other person on is the hit and run, but not the damages to the vehicle since by default you are in the wrong. In reality you are right but technically you are wrong. Sadly without any footage of the accident, you will be taken by the technicalities.

      You should have taken down the plates of the people driving near you too, so you could hand those in and try to get a eye witness, but since you only have yourself and the driver of the other car, there is no proof of the roadrage incident.

      • Speckled Jim on 29/09/2014 - 10:35

        Then the roadrage stuff, there is no proof of this.

        Orly?

        tried to open my mate's car to pull her out, then put their hands through the window to try and open the door (luckily my terrified mate had the presence of mind to lock the car). Hoon then pushed and rocked the car

        DNA and fingerprints are considered evidence on this planet.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2014 - 14:00
    +2

    Get your friend to go straight to the police and file a report. Sooner the better since the events are fresh in her mind. This is assault and will be treated seriously, especially since there was an incident. It's also quite likely that this person will be known to police already if they behaved in this way. I once encountered a road rage incident and left a statement with the police for this purpose only - to let them know that this person has a habit and is likely to cause trouble with others down the track.

    Anyone commenting that the aggressive tailgater was a victim is a moron of the highest order. There are no situations where this behaviour is excusable. Zero.

    • lplau on 24/09/2014 - 15:30
      -2

      Ozbargain seems to be getting more and more topics like this, we should be renaming ourselves WhineBargain after Whinepool.

      Asking for advice on a bargain site is almost as bad as asking advice from a cheap off the street bogan lawyer.

      • Davo1111 on 24/09/2014 - 17:16

        oh come on, you don't find it mildly interesting commenting on other peoples problems?

      • Azn310 on 24/09/2014 - 21:10

        If the friend gets the right advice, she is potentially saving hundreds off the insurance companies. That is a bargain to me.

  • Azn310 on 24/09/2014 - 21:09
    +1

    For those wondering about dashcams, if you have iphone for samsung galaxy, there are apps that allows you to record like a dashcam, or even higher quality than most dashcams on the market. My sis is on samsung s4, she plugged it in a usb to power the phone ( battery runs down quick ) and uses it as dashcam,GPS and music player all at the same time. Just dont use phone call bluetooth on top of all that because phone runs out of ram.

    • lplau on 25/09/2014 - 15:47
      +1

      Not really any better, as the S4 doens't have a wide angle lens. So you cannot really see what is happening to the far left and right.

  • skeptik on 24/09/2014 - 23:48

    Which insurance company was she with?

  • [Deactivated] on 25/09/2014 - 13:28

    Did your friend file for assault against the other driver? She needs to put that on report to the cops, thats messed up.

  • altomic on 26/09/2014 - 07:38

    similar thing happened to my brother on the great ocean road. however he had 2 witnesses who provided stat decs that the hoon had sped past and then slammed on his brakes.

  • Kkuba on 26/09/2014 - 11:27

    Wow, this is crazy. I had the same thing happen to me the other day! But luckily the guy who overtook me brake checked me with enough room for me to react.

    Scary to think that it could have ended very differently (in terms of costs to me)…

    Straight away I recorded the numberplate and reported them to the hoon hotline. It was a Ford Transit van, so hardly a 'hoon' by definition, but they said they would check back against the car's history in case there had been any other similar reports in the past.

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