Broke My Windscreen Avoiding a Car Merging into Me

I was bringing some timber home from Bunnings, I had it in the inside of my station wagon laying over the passenger seat through to the boot.

On the way home a car merged into my lane with no notice and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid them. The timber went flying forward and cracked my windscreen.

If I hadn't slammed the brakes they would have been liable for repairs to my car. Given that I did slam my brakes, I've copped a broken windscreen.

Like in another post, I considered following the car and confronting them, but as I'm not a nutjob I settled for beeping them for a good while.

What's everyone's take in the legal, moral and ethical approaches here? Should I have done anything differently? If I had my time again I'd let them hit my car and they'd obviously be liable.

Comments

  • +318

    You did not appropriately secure the load in your vehicle. Simple as that.

    • +17

      My loads are always secure….

      • +2

        iykyk

      • +12

        username doesn’t checkout

      • -1

        This man makes use of ozbargain’s condom deals.

        • -2

          Poppa condoms
          Proper condoms

          Pop a proper condom on

    • +15

      Yep. Should have secured it and perhaps covered the ends with a towel or something so it doesn't scratch your car interior.
      Seems the timber had way too much movement available to it.

      • +50

        You may feel unfairly done by because their poor driving caused damage to the interior of your vehicle but unfortunately IMHO you're up shit creek without a paddle because you didn't safely secure your load

        • +5

          Yeah I agree with this assessment!

        • Wasnt driving safely either (ie SPEEDING) …

          "I had to slam on the brakes to avoid them"

          And engaged in ROAD RAGE as well

          "I considered following the car and confronting them…… I settled for beeping them for a good while."

          • +2

            @HeWhoKnows: I don't think having to slam on your brakes due to someone merging without proper indication is speeding.

            • +1

              @[Deactivated]: I was going about 20km/h, wild speeds!

            • @[Deactivated]: Considering this happened whilst the other driver was "changing lanes"….

              "Slamming on your brakes" indicates OP is going significantly faster than the other traffic around them.

              So either the other driver was underspeed or OP was overspeed.

              I think the latter is more probable given the "aggressive attitude"

      • +7

        See "Contributory negligence"

        In future, the simple way to do this is to fold/move the passenger seat , so the front end of the timber can go into the footwell.

        • -1

          Good tip on using the footwell!

          Totally agree I was "contributory", but the other car was too and got away with it!

          • +1

            @Bren20: But just to be clear, your contribution to the repair cost of both vehicles, if you had rammed them, would have been more than replacing your windscreen.
            Plus you'd probably be going to criminal court if you took an action like that. You actually have an obligation to use your brakes when necessary.

        • no in all cars, in mine it does not fully fold to either back or front. Soci move it as forward as possible and fold to front as possible :/

      • +10

        Definitely report them to the police.

        I'm looking forward to the next post

        Help! I self reported myself carrying an unsecure load and got a fine, how can I make the driver in front of me pay the fine, along with the damages I caused to my car?

      • +3

        But it isn't as "simple as that". If I had of done nothing to avoid the crash I wouldn't be out of pocket, but the overall damage and financial culpability would be far greater. Hence the ethical side to the question

        You misspelt stupid.

        Remember what everyone got taught in high school.

        Unless you are ready for the consequences, always secure your load.

      • You're exactly right… if you'd hit them there's a possibility they'd be liable for everything but as it stands… the risk you accepted by not securing the load, and having to conduct a defensive manoeuvre of sorts.. is a very foreseeable risk and one you're wholly liable for.

        • The car behind would be the liable party in an accident
          ?

          • @entropysbane: Generally yes.

            Even if they've done something illegal by pulling out in front of you in your lane…liability is apportioned on on the basis that each road user owes a duty of care to each other road user.

            If someone pulls out in front of you illegally or not.. You still need to do what you reasonably can to avoid the accident.

      • +1

        You are lucky the timber didnt go through the window and actually cause harm to other road users. In all honesty, you messed up and payed the price. We've all done dumb stuff with loads, similar to yours, I can't condemn you, but take responsibly for your actions.

      • You're not considering opportunity costs of not having your vehicle due to repairs and the hassle of dealing with repairers and insurance claim if you had not hit the brake. You're also not considering the fact that a collision could've resulted in yourself or other driver or passengers getting hurt.

        Shit happens - university of life teaches lessons which aren't always free - If you have windshield cover in your roadside or comprehensive, just claim on that and be happy as it could have been much worse.

    • +2

      Yep, this.

      OP was lucky the timber didn't go into the car in front (i've seen this happen on the freeway with pipes) speared through the passenger headrest of the car in front. If there was a person sitting there they'd be in a bad way/dead,

    • -2

      Alternatively OP did not load the timber safely / correctly….

      The end of the timber could have been placed down in the foot area of the front passenger seat, or OP could have padded the end of the timber and rested it against the windscreen, which would have avoided the windscreen damage.

      So its obvious OP is trying to blame someone else for thier own error.

      And making erroneous claims such as….

      "On the way home a car merged into my lane with no notice"

      Obviously Op wasnt paying atttention to the cars around them.

      and furthermore SPEEDIING!…

      " I had to slam on the brakes to avoid them"

      Then we have OP's admission of ROAD RAGE as well…

      " I considered following the car and confronting them, but as I'm not a nutjob I settled for beeping them for a good while"

      And OP says they are NOT A NUTJOB????

      I suggest that OP pull down this very embarrassing post for themselves before everyone on OB puts OP in thier rightful place place

      • lol road rage

    • What about if he had some laundry detergent in a bag he just bought from a shop?

  • +13

    Everyone's looking for an easy handout

      • +4

        Nah, you saved yourself a lot of hassle and learned a valuable lesson.

        It isn’t a kindness to drive defensively, it’s self preservation.
        Unfortunately your self preservation doesn’t include avoiding replicating a miniature version of some final destination stuff 😂

  • +24

    I fixed it for the OP

    I was bringing some timber home from Bunnings, I had it in the inside of my station wagon laying over the passenger seat through to the boot.

    On the way home a kid ran into my lane with no notice and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid them. The timber went flying forward and cracked my windscreen.

    Should have ran over the kid

      • +33

        same concept applies though. If that had happened, you would've broken your windscreen.

        You need to secure your load

    • What is interesting is if you have the choice between hitting a child and hitting a Tesla, it is actually a sound financial decision to hit the child if you only have the insurance that comes with rego.

  • +18

    If you had not braked, the unsecured timber would have broken your windscreen too.

      • +18

        The damage from hitting the car in front may have only damaged your bonnet and not the windshield, however the force could’ve led to the timber coming loose and smashing your windshield. Therefore in that scenario you’d still be liable for the windshield.

      • +16

        Explain the logic?

        Not logic, Physics.

      • +5

        Car stops, anything unsecured keeps going.

        • +1

          who are you who is so wise in the ways of science?

        • Does this include loans? If so, I think I've got a new way for people to evade debts. Just make sure you've got good brakes and wave goodbye to what you owe!

      • Seriously?

  • +18

    You could have been fined for not securing your timber correctly.

      • +28

        What if you hit the car & the timber went flying through your windscreen and into another car and injured or killed someone? what’s your excuse gonna be?

        • No excuse, I would be liable.

          • +11

            @Bren20: Exactly, so you are therefor liable for the damaged windscreen in this case.

      • +2

        Cops could've just pulled you over anyway. Cannot find a YouTube clip, but there was an elderly lady on Highway Patrol moving house and got fined for an insecure load inside her car.

      • +3

        Random breath test, hey, why have you got unsecured lengths of timber wedged in your car?

      • +1

        Because if you ram me because I cut you off, I'll be calling the police and have no doubt you'll be done for multiple offences.

        hypothetically - I was not the other driver

  • +1

    Need MS Paint diagram.

  • -4

    Could of, should of, would of, but didn’t

    • +6

      Could of have, should of have, would of have, but didn’t

      • +3

        Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve, but didn’t

        • +2

          Coulda, shoulda, woulda, but didn't.

  • +5

    Sometimes you just have to cop it sweet.
    Everyone drives like over-caffeinated bastards these days, following too close is standard, merging quickly without indicating in common.
    This is not fair but it 'just one of those things'.
    There nothing you can do, just fix the windscreen and move on

  • +5

    I was bringing some timber home from Bunnings, I had it in the inside of my station wagon laying over the passenger seat through to the boot.
    On the way home a car merged into my lane with no notice and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid them. The timber went flying forward and cracked my windscreen.

    If the timber went flying forward and cracked your windscreen, it was unsecured, illegal, and potentially dangerous. Depending on the height and angle, it could have cracked your skull, or the skull of the front seat passenger, or, at high speed, it could even have gone through the windscreen and hit somebody outside your car.

    If I hadn't slammed the brakes they would have been liable for repairs to my car. Given that I did slam my brakes, I've copped a broken windscreen.

    If you had hit them and the collision stopped your vehicle, the timber would likely have hit your windscreen even harder. If your car had been sideswiped by the merging car, it might have pushed you into another lane, causing a collision with another car.

    What's everyone's take in the legal, moral and ethical approaches here? Should I have done anything differently? If I had my time again I'd let them hit my car and they'd obviously be liable.

    Are you saying you would have deliberately allowed a car accident involving your car to happen on the off-chance that it would save you some money?

  • +8

    A) secure your load
    B) claim a windscreen under insurance if you have free windscreen replacement
    C) if you don't have insurance and thought that letting them hit you would be a better outcome, it wouldn't

    • -3

      I've got third party, they were driving a BMW so I'd assume they'd have insurance.

      • +6

        Silly assumption. You are also assuming that their insurance would side with you with bot much evidence. The entire issue goes away of you had your load secured though. Imagine copping that in the head in an accident.

        • Wouldn't put a dent in OP's thick skull haha

      • +13

        I've got third party, they were driving a BMW so I'd assume they'd have insurance.

        Then you should have assumed that being a BMW, they wouldn't have used their indicators and kept your distance.

  • +1

    Unsecured load. Its on you.

    As for 'if I'd hit them I would have been covered by insurance' well, no. Becasue you wouldn't have driven into someone because you thought the wood was going to hit the windscreen - becasue you were not expecting it to happen.

  • This is why I enjoy driving a car that has already got some light scratches and bumps all around it. If anyone wants to change lanes into me… go ahead. Dash cam all ready to go back and front.

    I will beep and brake where it's safe to do so. But I won't dodge them by running the curb and mess up my tire, rims, suspension, and allignment…. and have the other driver driver just speed off leaving me in a mess.

    Also go with Shannons insurance, 1 free windshield repair per renewal I'm pretty sure.

    • Most offer free windscreen per renewal.

      • Never knew that. I was with NRMA for a long time and never heard anything like that

        • +2

          It's an option with nrma

        • I have it with NRMA for years, it's there. Log in online and you can add it

  • +15

    but as I'm not a nutjob I settled for beeping them for a good while.

    that still makes you a nutjob

    • Maybe we can agree that this is on the lower scale compared to the other post…

  • +5

    Why are you looking to blame someone else when you were travelling with an unsecured load?
    Lucky you didn’t get busted for failure to secure your load.
    Another entitled OzBargain troll post

  • hahaha

  • +1

    I had a similar thing happen to me before, except it was a table that moved forward when I braked hard and it destroyed my fold-out screen on my stereo. It was a $3,000 media unit with a fold out monitor.

    There was nothing I could do because there was no actual collision, so I had to fork out from my own pocket to replace the unit.

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