Insurance Implications - Car accident where at fault driver fled the scene and unable to be identified

Lebola89 on 22/06/2019 - 20:25
Last edited 22/06/2019 - 23:43

Hi OzBargain,

I was recently involved in a car accident where the other driver was at fault but fled the scene of the accident, I have dashcam footage of the accident which shows they are responsible but it is not clear enough to read the rego.

I have filed a police report and after a period of time investigating the matter, the police were also unable to identify the other vehicle.

I have RACV comprehensive insurance but they are saying that I have to pay the excess because I do not have the other driver's details.

What are my options, specifically because I have footage showing the accident was not my fault?

Thanks

EDIT: Thanks everyone for your comments so far, here's a download link for those who want to view the footage:
https://dashcamownersaus.wetransfer.com/downloads/7bb834f20d…

Automotive

Comments

  • solidussnake on 24/06/2019 - 15:47
    +11

    Man your reaction times are pathetic lol

  • elonmusk on 24/06/2019 - 16:37
    +4

    It was me.

  • Butt Scratcher on 24/06/2019 - 17:39
    +9

    Farr, that's some slow as reaction. You were driving in a 40 zone too

  • ratoloko on 24/06/2019 - 17:40
    +4

    It seems like you were looking to the sky or bloody mobile phone.
    That was beyond 100% avoidable.
    I hope you learned the lesson.

  • funnysht on 24/06/2019 - 18:49
    +3

    that's some slow reaction time mate. did you ebola or something

  • Lexan on 24/06/2019 - 19:58

    Driver fled the scene did not have insurance. How come people are still taking a risk driving without insurance

    • Cliche Guevara on 25/06/2019 - 10:53
      +1

      You don't know that. Unless you're the driver of the Getz…

  • Rohangiga on 24/06/2019 - 20:09
    +1

    Lol just watched, its hardly even their fault, you have the slowest reaction time ever lol… that or you were distracted.

    • lockmc on 26/06/2019 - 14:51
      +1

      Its definitely the white cars fault. How is it not? He pulled across incoming traffic and even had pedestrians crossing the road.
      100% agree that the reaction times were the slowest in history.

  • prinsenhof on 24/06/2019 - 20:27
    +3

    Yeah i think your lucky the police didn't charge you with negligent driving.

    The other car slowed/stopped accelerating to avoid two pedestrians who crossed on the red signal in the middle of their turn. It's a pitty the OP was in the passenger seat watching a movie, could have lightly put their foot on the brake and saved a few thousand dollars for everybody.

    • Mokr on 26/06/2019 - 14:11
      -1

      You have to give way to all pedestrians while turning, the driver turning was clearly wrong.

      On reaction times - 2.3 sec is the avg reaction time in a car, and states give up to 3 seconds at lights.

      Given the crash tooth around 2 seconds, to occur I wouldn't say OP did as horrible as everyone thinks.

    • Whisper Quiet on 03/07/2019 - 10:40

      They were walking on flashing red walk sign genius. So still fine to cross especially when they're half way across.

  • CalmLemons on 24/06/2019 - 21:06
    -3

    It's 40km/h in the CBD for such reasons, such as idiot pedestrians, cyclists and uber eats deliveries.

    That car was turning right and proceeded as the pedestrians had nearly finished crossing, it's unfortunate the (profanity) pedestrian does not know the rules and proceeded to cross after the red man started flashing.

    You could have easily stopped to avoid that accident.

    To be honest, if this was dragged into court, you should find that pedestrian as they caused the accident (looking at this from a different perspective) and it can be argued that you failed to react in time to a road hazard.

    But all this for the cost of excess, unfortunately that is the case.

    • kurisu on 24/06/2019 - 23:26
      +3

      But the pedestrian light was green at the start of the video and all the pedestrians were already on the crossing when it was green, so they are allowed to finish crossing. It only started flashing red at around the 0:01 mark in the video, and the car had already started its turn by that point.

  • CalmLemons on 24/06/2019 - 21:07

    BTW, you need to change the date and time on your dashcam, I'm not sure about america but it may be deemed invalid as you have the wrong date and time.

  • gimme on 24/06/2019 - 21:13
    +3

    Not your fault but a classic example of people driving on the assumption that being right in the eyes of the law and being a good driver are the same thing. I would have slowed down as soon as I saw the shitbox creeping forward and not assumed they had half a brain. Sadly that's goung to cost you 700 or whatever and some inconvinience.

  • 2ForTheMoney on 24/06/2019 - 21:39
    +4

    You definitely had right of way but confused as to why you drove into the other car when you had so much time to stop

  • dlakers3peat on 24/06/2019 - 21:39

    You should check if there's CCTV either on the street or from a local business.

  • Herbse on 24/06/2019 - 22:14
    +2

    If I were you I would hold off on finding the other driver. It can be argued easily, especially with your own footage that your car was the cause of the accident.

    You're lucky all you have to pay for is the excess.

  • Homr on 24/06/2019 - 23:03

    I've reviewed the footage a few more times. Does the pedestrian take some sort of blame since they started crossing after the red man flashing??

  • nimnomnimy on 24/06/2019 - 23:04

    is that the full resolution video that was recorded?
    i was going to adjust the exposure and such to see if i could get the plates but this is unusable.

    • DazMon on 26/06/2019 - 15:41

      Yeah coz its from 2000.

  • lukelegend on 25/06/2019 - 00:16
    +1

    Just had a similar thing happen to me, although I was parked. Car backed into my drivers door and as I got out he took off. I tries to take a photo but it got blurred. Called insurance and they said I need a name. So I tracked down the cctv footage from servo and they could see it and gave me the rego. Lodged police report and just waiting now. I would ask the local shops etc if they have cctv at the time of accident. Good luck

  • lonewolf on 25/06/2019 - 12:28

    I had an issue where Even though i didnt have the details of the other driver as my mum got into an accident and both parties felt they were both at fault as they both didnt see each other. Anyway so the other driver left and we made a claim and paid the excess But NRMA were only willing to fix the damage caused by the fence and not the other side of the car where it had been hit by the other driver..because we didnt have the other drivers details even though we explained the situation and that we were both at fault and that we were paying the excess anyway…

  • WaterMark on 26/06/2019 - 06:52

    I would contact the Yarra trams and explain the situation noting the date and time down to the minute. The trams will have cameras to the front and the driver can be of witness too. You did the right thing reporting the hit and run to police. If you do happen to obtain the number plate in the future (ie from the trams) then report it to the police again and the driver will be fined for reckless driving and leaving the scene of a crime.

    • WhyAmICommenting on 26/06/2019 - 07:24
      +5

      Op did the hitting. Other car did the running.

      • Yummy on 26/06/2019 - 07:45

        Hence I said both at fault, but some people don't get it lol.

      • WaterMark on 26/06/2019 - 10:19

        I know that. Hence why I said contact Yarra trams to see if they have a recording of the car that ran away. I never said OP was the one that ran.

      • WhyAmICommenting on 26/06/2019 - 10:21
        +3

        My point is its hardly a traditional "hit and run" with the OPs terrible reaction time :P

  • bobbified on 26/06/2019 - 07:41
    +5

    Are you one of those drivers who reaches for the horn first because someone else is "infringing on your right of way" instead of going for the brakes to avoid an accident?

    I watched your video about 10 times and I found the slow motion collision to be quite comical. Im actually really stumped! What exactly were you doing at the time to not be able to stop and avoid that collision? And what exactly did you do after to not even be able to get a numberplate? Traffic isn't exactly moving fast!

  • AEKaBeer on 26/06/2019 - 08:01
    +1

    Love dashcammers, never been tailgated or had inattentive drivers drift lanes so much until the advent of the dashcammers of Australia sticker made it to the roads.

    Op sorry mate, your video might give you the technical win of who's at fault, but your lack of situational awareness is what caused the accident.

  • khomeini on 26/06/2019 - 08:49
    +4

    I'll try to be as constructive as I can.

    1. Did you get out of the car to inspect the damage and did you actually talk to any witnesses (ie. the car behind the one which was turning - I think it was a blue Subaru?). Perhaps they had a dashcam which would've helped your situation - perhaps worth a lookup of their rego if your dashcam caught their rego and try to talk to them (unsure how you can but I'm sure there are ways).

    2. Please do some defensive driving or something (you must improve your reaction time) - the thing to do in these situations is avoid any vehicles, not careen into them hoping for the best. I had something like this happen only 2 days ago, the car I could see wanted to get into the lane - for whatever reason didn't see me (it was near dusk and I have a black car)… same distance as yours but I was going at 60kmph. I braked & swerved as soon as I saw it start moving - that got it to stop immediately and apologise. A few horns & swear words later, everything was okay.

    3. Some insurance companies will do their darndest to get out of paying. Some are better & actually help (but you end up paying more for them). Looks like you got the former. Judging by your reaction time they may have an excuse to not pay.

    Good luck with it but please see point 2 & improve your driving skills. (Unless you have an excuse for why you did not brake in time).

  • Excelsior on 26/06/2019 - 09:01
    +1

    That's a bummer mate. Looks like this happened on the cnr of Exhibition and LaTrobe.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 26/06/2019 - 09:08
    +4

    OP a little unsure why you drove into them. It did look like you were travelling at low speed and had adequate time….

    Anyways there's a tram with a plum view of the Getz. Lodge a FOI request with PTV / Yarra trams ASAP. You only have 30 days to do it.

  • kaleidoscope on 26/06/2019 - 11:08

    If you’ve got a mate good with image enhancements / editing, you can try your luck with it to see if anything comes up.

    But if not just have to pay the excess sadly.

  • DazMon on 26/06/2019 - 15:38

    Why didn't you go after him/her?
    Didn't your car still drive?
    Also, how come you didn't even attempt to slow?

    • Yummy on 26/06/2019 - 16:10
      +1

      This is a troll post. OP will never replies.

      /thread close

  • aussieolfaction on 26/06/2019 - 16:39

    Could you possibly go talk to the shops or other establishments in the area that may have a CCTV where this was captured? It would be unfair if your premiums were raised, and/or you had to pay the excess for the idiocy of some incompetent driver.

  • blitz on 26/06/2019 - 19:36

    OP, you must understand that the insurance company is likely protecting themselves against insurance fraud. They're probably wondering why you didn't brake, why you got enough evidence of the crash but not enough evidence to identify the other car, why you didn't give chase to get a shot of the number plate, why you didn't catch the number plate at all even when well lit, etc.

    Requiring you to pay the excess helps convince them that it's not insurance fraud.

    • gimme on 28/06/2019 - 16:36

      Highly unlikely it has anything to do with preventing fraud. It's about recovery.

  • Chubbsmcfatflabs on 02/07/2019 - 13:25

    Had a similar thing happen. My wifes car got hit from behind. Driver of other car speeds off. No footage from nearby CC's. Police report lodged. Nothing they can do. Excess paid, car fixed.

    Have to suck it up unfortunately. Its rubbish but they way it is.

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