Deleting content as is irrelevant now and enough has been discussed. Thanks to those that actually provided helpful tips over not reading the OG post.
Brake Checked - Car Written off
SitarBoy on 23/10/2024 - 14:26
Last edited 24/10/2024 - 18:00
Last edited 24/10/2024 - 18:00
closed Comments
If you can't brake in time, you were too close.
Agreed. In normal circumstances, you want to maintain enough distance to be able to anticipate the car in front of you slamming their brakes. In circumstances where a driver has just recklessly merged into your lane and given you the finger, you probably want to extend that distance by an extra car length or two.
In hindsight, I should have kept a longer distance from him given his actions.
With witness and dashcam, you have a decent chance. Do you have a written statement from the witness yet?
You can either take the other driver to court (after letter of demand etc), or try to persuade your own insurer that the other driver was at fault.
or try to persuade your own insurer that the other driver was at fault.
A police report can help here…
Police were at the scene, decided it wasnt any criminal activity and left.
If you had dashcam footage of the brake checking, they would have charged them.
Suppose the car didn't brake check you; but a cat ran out infront him and he slammed the brakes to avoid killing the cat - very unlikely you would have seen the cat coming onto the road; would you have had enough time to stop and not hit him?
I can understand this argument. And I will fully take ownership if that was the case. But in that case the other driver had a reason to stop or do avoiding action.
I am specifically talking about reckless driving and endangerment. He recklessly switched into my lane as I was approaching the intersection, proceeded to give me the finger and then brake check me as I got close.
reckless driving and endangerment
Tailgating is considered a traffic offence across all Australian states and territories
I wasnt tailgating, Witness can confirm that as well.
Other driver slammed the brakes…..Could not stop in time <insert random excuse>
Tailgating is the action of a driver driving behind another vehicle while not leaving sufficient distance to stop without causing a collision if the vehicle in front stops suddenly.
@randomusername2017: Was the "insert random excuse" part necessary? I am done replying to you, I am a safe driver otherwise and I know my road rules well.
For your sake, I hope you never have to go through something similar. Have a good life.
I hope you never have to go through something similar.
Please forward your driving itinerary and I will make every effort to avoid yet another ❄️❄️ reckless driver.
I wasnt tailgating, Witness can confirm that as well.
First rule of OzBargain.
Never post about an accident you have been in. The know all, self righteous morons that think they are perfect drivers will tear you down.
@CurlCurl: Thank you, I feel like I have been told I am an awful driver who tailgates at every opportunity I get lol. It is what it is, I am sure most of these people have broken some road rule at some point but would never hold themselves to the standard that they uphold others to.
@SitarBoy: Hopefully the camera recorded the accident well. Something you could say is that you actively scan the area in front prior to getting cut off and did not reasonably expect any reason for the car in front to stop suddenly.
@Caped Baldy: Yeah let's see, i dont think ill take it to court if the insurance company just says at fault and doesnt investigate it. Cant do much other than take it as a learning opportunity.
@SitarBoy: I have a friend in Highway Patrol.
He says EVERY driver breaks traffic rules EVERY time they hit the road. Not just one but multiple.
Two that he mentions are STOP signs, and RUNNING red lights.
@SitarBoy: will you say you have maintained a 2-second distance with the car in front of you? If yes and you still hit the car then your reaction time is very poor…. either way, you are at fault lol
For how long did you continue driving straight after he merged in front of you?
I often have people pull in front of me at the last minute, while I am travelling at the speed limit, only for the other driver to sit at 40km/h - and to then brake check me!
yeah…..
The other driver is at fault for break check.
You are at fault for driving too close.
Both contributed to the crash, but he is walking away free.
So make sure you keep your distance next time.
Life is unfair… =(
I don't know the actual road rule but I recall if you have to take severe action to avoid hitting an animal, and cause an accident with another vehicle as a result, you may be liable for that accident.
This feels like a pretty big [citation needed]
Getting a dash cam for the next car?
My other cars all have dash cams, this one didnt :(
The driver can emergency brake for a number of different reasons, i.e. bottle fell near the pedals so "panicked", health reasons, saw something running across the road… how you going to prove otherwise?
If you hit the rear of the car, you're at fault (most of the time).
I am aware. I am not fussed this is what insurances are for. Given that I have a witness who can definitely see he braked for no good reason. I just thought there might be a chance that insurance may feel I was not at fault.
Could not stop in time, tram tracks made it harder to stop
Don't mention this ever again. To anyone. Ever.
You need to drive to the conditions.
Thanks for the advice, I have learnt my lesson for sure.
I understand your perspective but thats usually how it unravels.
Anyway, like you said, insurance will cover it. Its annoying but life goes on.
You have this licence right? maybe a brick goes through his window…. randomly…
Thank you for being reasonable and not rude like others just blaming me. I didnt expect the post to blow up so much.
At the end of the day, yes its just a car, I wasn't fussed knowing its a write-off. Just a frustrating experience to deal with insurance especially in this scenario.
Thank you for being reasonable and not rude like others just blaming me. I didnt expect the post to blow up so much.
You must be new here.
It's illegal to brake check and intentionally cause an accident. Driver should be arrested
I hope your insurance sees it in you and your witness favour. As intent to brake check and cause an accident.
Reported post. Reason: holds insurance.
the driver literally slammed the brakes in front of me.
OR
Other driver recklessly merged into my lane at an intersection (have video footage of this)
I honked at him
Continued going straight (initially indicated right but turned off my indicator to go straight)
Other driver gave me the finger
I maintained speed and distanceBoth cannot be true… If you maintain speed and distance you must be able to stop! unless you were not paying attention. again your fault!.
Witness also confirms I wasnt tailgating.
Simple witness is wrong.
Quote directly from your linked article (which is a random opinion piece from site that sells cars)
"but the laws are open to interpretation, and they vary across jurisdictions."
Writing stuff in bold caps doesn't make it more true.
Quote directly from your linked article (which is a random opinion piece from site that sells cars)
"but the laws are open to interpretation, and they vary across jurisdictions."
Writing stuff in bold caps doesn't make it more true.
HOPE THIS LINK EDUCATES YOU but I doubt it.
https://www.jeffjoneslawoffice.com/blog/2018/11/brake-checki…
@CurlCurl: Ok, even I'm tempted to jump in here.
Why would you post a link to an American Law Firm advising you of your rights in an accident.
Pretty sure we don't follow American laws here.
It's illegal to brake check and to try to cause an accident. Report to the police with the evidence you have.
For everyone saying that you should keep such a big distance just in case someone decides to slam on their brakes and come to a complete stop for no reason… Or worse… To try to cause an accident, so therefore it's your fault… This is why we can't have nice things.
For everyone saying that you should keep such a big distance just in case someone decides to slam on their brakes and come to a complete stop for no reason
It's called following the road rules…. jfc
The other driver taught you a lesson.
That some people are just (profanity)?
Thanks for the victim blaming, I am sure you would have said the same stuff if i had life threatening injuries caused by his reckless actions and intent to harm. Wish you well in life.
Wasn't referring to the brake checking. You honked him (illegal use of horn) for what YOU deemed to be a reckless merge. Consequence was you now have an at fault claim and a written off car. Was that worth honking instead of defensively driving?
Using my horn to make other drivers aware of my car's position is literally within the legal definition of using your horn. And it was a reckless merge.
In hindsight, no none of it was worth it, and yeah you're right in that sense!
Oh you're one of those people who think that road raging is acceptable response to being called out over your shit driving.
@jorf: OP is the one road raging by honking. Braking and giving the selfish driver some room is another response.
Poor take.
Wasn't referring to the brake checking. You honked him (illegal use of horn) for what YOU deemed to be a reckless merge
Think you best brush up on the traffic rules. This may help you.
You must not use your horn or any other warning device, unless: you need to warn other road users about the position of your vehicle. you need to warn others that you are approaching. you need to warn animals to get off the road.
There was a TV show on Netflix called Beef. It starts with a road rage incident just likes yours and escalates to them destroying each others lives in the end. No winners, both severely lost because they couldn't let it go and rage took over.
Seen it, wish I learnt my lesson from that alone haha :(
SPOILER ALERT
didn't they get together in the end though?
Wasnt at fault, rear ended at a red light! At least I didnt brake check the poor guy!
Yeah, I know. Sadly I think you will be screwed in this case. Annoying, I hit a Kangaroo 3 months ago and FINALLY just got my ute back. Sadly had to pay the excess even though I wasn't at fault. The Kangaroo jumped in front of me!
Yep sadly Kangaroo's dont have insurance haha. But glad you got your ute back in the end.
If the other driver has deliberately caused a collision, then it's not just a matter of liability - it's a criminal offense.
However, proving intent is difficult, and the police are unlikely to pursue it. The driver could easily claim they had a reason for braking suddenly, such as thinking they saw a child running out, which turns the incident back into an "accident," and now you're at fault for following too close.
Don’t follow so close, especially when you've already noticed the other driver is acting aggressively toward you.
Yep my situational awareness should have been better and definitely learnt my lesson.
I’m going in with the mindset of being at fault (as usually is the case in these situations)
Not sure if it has been said at all.
1) Pay attention and don't be a (profanity), it doesn't excuse other people's behaviours but be better, be smarter.
2) Post footage.I don’t understand how I am being victim blamed. How am I being an a$$ if I literally went about my business after the honk and he brake checked me.
I don’t have footage of the crash.
Stop using the words 'Victim blaming'.
You're being blamed for contributing to the accident, rather than maintaining a safe distance and driving to the conditions (e.g. tram tracks, bald tyres etc).
While some, in rare cases, brake check accidents are unavoidable, the majority are and the driver in the rear definitely has some liability regarding the accident, regardless of insurance.
Honking your horn and sitting up their clacker doesn't help, which I'd assume you should've been able to guess, but maybe not.So I shouldn’t use my horn to advise the other driver of my cars location? That’s the purpose of the horn. Why is everyone going at me for this?
How do you know if the brake checking was avoidable or not. Were you there? I understand people saying safe braking distance in my honest opinion I felt I had a safe distance. I cannot stress this enough. I know no one will believe me and without footage can’t prove my innocence either. So I guesss that’s how it’s gonna go with insurance as well.
@SitarBoy: lol.
I'm not falling for the bait.
Especially after seeing your post history about you brake checking others.Good luck!
@Darude Sandstorm: Where did I ever make a post on brake checking someone else?? That’s straight up false lol.
@SitarBoy: Honking the horn is 100% the reason this asshat brake checked you. Check out all the dashcam videos online.
@SitarBoy: fyi the two-second rule is a safe driving technique that helps drivers maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them
How do you know if the brake checking was avoidable or not. Were you there? I understand people saying safe braking distance in my honest opinion I felt I had a safe distance.
Sorry, but your feeling is wrong. You rear-ended him, which means a) your car wasn't roadworthy (e.g., bald tyres), b) you weren't driving to conditions (e.g., rain), c) you weren't paying attention (e.g., on your phone), or d) you didn't leave safe distance (AKA TAILGATING). So what is it?
All this 'he said, she said' about brake checking is effectively moot. He could be brake checking you for days, but if you kept safe distance and drove defensively, then this wouldn't have happened. As the rear driver, this is on you.
Since you have insurance, you may just have to make a claim and pay the excess.
No dash cam footage + questionable that you won't be deemed 100% at fault, suggests it may not be worth pursuing.
Yeah whatever happens happens. I honestly just wish I could delete this post lol
You obviously don't want to take the blame, otherwise this thread wouldn't even exist. Reasonable doubt exists in your mind and that's why you're questioning it.
Let the insurance work it out and take it as a life lesson to let things go.
Yep learning to let go, won’t be honking or getting involved again in any way
I think honking is fine, just keep your distance or go another way to avoid people doing stupid stuff.
while we don't know any of the circumstances leading up to this event, without clear dash cam footage of the person coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road, you're out of luck and even then…. they could argue they had a medical emergency and had to stop, to which you'd still be at fault for not traveling at a safe distance. I've been in a few road rage incidents in my time and I can honestly say the best thing you can do is let them drive off and forget about it, if that's not an option, you take a detour and avoid anymore conflict. You've essentially written off your car now cause a guy trolled you by giving the finger…. bravo.
Other driver recklessly merged into my lane at an intersection (have video footage of this)
I honked at himI get why there would be the temptation to honk someone out of frustration or anger, etc, when people do stupid shit. But if they've already completed the merge, honking does nothing other than potentially inflaming the situation. You never know what crazy d*head(s) could be in the car in front so I always just let things be. Can't do shit about it and there's no point getting worked up over it.
I'm living in a place where cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles just come out of side streets and cuts everyone off. Everyone just slows down, stops, or goes around. No arguments, nothing.
Lesson learnt for sure. What’s funny is that I lowkey stopped doing this. But I let this one slip. Will be more cautious next time.
You never know what these people can do. As evidenced by my own experience.
Tough luck on this one sadly… These rodents exist in society and we gotta be cautious and patient… You can convincing through the witness that the front drivers act was reckless and intentional, but that can only go so far in your favour. Good luck!
So many people talking about dash cam footage. It would not make a difference.
You are at fault. I feel sympathy for you, but that is how it is.
For example:
I had someone take off at the lights in front of me, at night time, brake for no reason, without brake lights (making it very hard to react in time), and I hit her car.I had dashcam showing she stopped at night for no reason without brake lights. I was still deemed at fault.
So many people talking about dash cam footage. It would not make a difference.
Well, maybe, maybe not. It would help possible though. A bit like this video https://youtube.com/shorts/wKtxYCNmHgU?si=FeObILf5hKH5weXM
I had dashcam showing she stopped at night for no reason without brake lights. I was still deemed at fault.
Did you go the police? She should've been given a fine for driving an unroadworthy vehicle, at least there would have been some sort of penelaty for her.
Yes I did. They didn't care.
Hello OP,
It seems like you were driving too close to the person in front of you.Perhaps they brake checked you, perhaps they saw a bird land on the road. You really couldn't see what was in front of them, so I'm not sure why you're deeming their behaviour as unsafe.
Like, you were literally less than half a second behind them, or you were texting, or you shouldn't be driving.
Whatever excuses such as tram tracks slowed your braking down also would've also slowed them down.
Good luck with your injuries lol.. If you were one of my friends and did this and seriously injured.. and then responded by trying to blame the other person like this I would probably start phasing you out of my life.
EDIT 4 - I am not looking to be lectured on my driving . ……victim blaming here
Why didn't you lead with this 🤔
Oh you poor dear 👸
Edit 4 suggests you haven't learnt your lesson and its likely to reoccur, take it on the chin, it is your fault, learn from it
I’ll definitely be keeping’s larger distance between cars. I still don’t agree with reckless driving like brake checking. That’s intent to harm and should be illegal the same way tailgating is.
Op keeps saying he had maintained a safety distance but he never replied when I asked him if that is a 2 second distance lol
Didn’t see your message lol, I believe I kept around 2 seconds. I could feel my car slide on the tram rails on braking. I should have kept a larger distance factoring this in.
OP, feel your pain. Amazing how Ozb is degrading. Everyone loves lecturing here. Finding fault is a past time for some.
People lack sympathy what can you do, all these people claiming tailgating I can say for sure probably haven’t kept a safe distance from time to time.
I don't think police would buy 'tram tracks made my brakes fail ' as an excuse for rear ending someone. You could try it though.
I seriously doubt a random business is going to have given you footage from their cameras… Without dash-cam of the incident it's your word against his, and seeing as you hit him, insurance will likely find you at fault. It also sounds like you changed your mind on which way you were going to go to follow him. Best thing to do in these scenarios is just let them go, be the bigger man and leave it be. Otherwise things like this (or worse) can happen.
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