Hi OzBargain team,
Another new user with a traffic question! I’ve been lurking for years and keep meaning to make an account. This has pushed me to do it.
I’ll preface this question by saying I’m in no way trying to get out of liability for this traffic collision. If my insurer says I’m liable then I’ll go with it. It’s only a $1000 excess and I’ve been driving for over 15 years without any accidents or traffic infringements, including parking fines. I’m trying to gauge whether or not the community sees the lack of care for the road worthiness of their vehicle as a liability issue. You’ll see what I mean below.
Background:
I was driving along the freeway in Perth and traffic was flowing pretty smoothly. There had just been a slower patch but things were speeding back up. All of a sudden the ute in front of me starts to slow down without warning. The key thing here is there was absolutely no warning apart from the vehicle slowing down. The ute’s brake lights were not working. Neither of them. And a canopy fitted meant there was no high mounted brake light either.
I noticed the braking too late and went into the back of the ute. No damage to their vehicle at all but mine sustained a fair amount to various panels and to some items under the bonnet.
Maybe I could have braked harder, maybe not. Looking back I was indecisive because of the lack of warning and didn’t realise how hard they were going to brake. As you’ll see in the dash cam video, the ute in front of the vehicle I hit swerved to avoid the car in front of it. I was also trying to avoid the Mini Cooper behind me from going into me by not jamming on my brakes if possible.
I believe that had the brake lights on the ute been working I would have had at least 1-2 extra seconds to process the scene and come to a stop without hitting anything.
My insurer is going to assess the footage and get back to me but the bloke I spoke to said it will probably still be my fault technically due to safe stopping distances etc. He isn’t in the assessment department though. My argument is that I was at a safe distance had the brake lights been working.
I also question why I should be liable for another persons lack of care and maintenance of their vehicle letting it get to the point of being unroadworthy.
Dash cam video here
Note I have blurred the license plate of the ute but nothing else has been altered. It might look like I got a shove from behind but my best explanation for this is the ute stopped suddenly and I kept going so it seems like an optical illusion on camera. Being there in the drivers seat that is how I remember it.
My question for the community given the background info and after watching the video is should I be liable for the traffic collision (yes 100%, no not at all or yes, partly liable)? In true OzB fashion I’ll add a poll to the post.
Again, I’m not trying to get out of it and this is the wrong place to do that. I’m genuinely curious what the community thinks about the situation.
Have you been in a similar situation? How did your insurer assess your liability? Did you challenge their decision if they did find you liable? I’m curious about this as I’m sure it’s more common than I’d believe with the number of old bombs and lack of vehicle maintenance oversight in most jurisdictions of Australia. I know NSW have yearly inspections for certain vehicles but most other states don’t. In the UK and NZ I believe they have mandatory periodic inspections in order for the vehicle to be registered/licenced. Is this something we should look at across all of Australia too?
TL DR
I was in a traffic collision where I rear ended someone with faulty brake lights that weren’t working. Discussing liability issues around vehicle road worthiness or lack of when in a TC.
Travelling way too close to stop safely… you could see the vehicle slowing down with no brake lights, and instead of backing right off- you got closer again!
You are 150% at fault, and guaranteed that's how the insurers will see it.
Yes front driver can be booked for faulty rear tail lights, but the simple fact is you had ample opportunity to increase braking distance but chose not too.
Pay your excess and learn from the experience. By all means show insurer the video, they may be able to fight it on your behalf and claim back some of their costs- but they won't pass that onto you.
Thanks for posting video though. You've opened yourself up to criticism of your driving, but you've also educated people. Well done (on the later) :).