Car Accident query

Zenbaas

Zenbaas

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Hi guys
My wife was in a car accident this morning. The guy in front slammed on his breaks for no reason, there was no car or anything in front of him. His back lights also didn't work at all.

He admitted that it's his fault and that he accidently hit the breaks. Now of course this all depends whether he stick to his word, but if not who is guilty by law...?

Thanks
 
2 second required following distance is going to screw your wife more than you ever did.

It's almost always a F'up for person A who drove into person B - even if person B skipped a stop street, person A is 'supposed' to keep a safe following distance. Hope she has insurance.
 
Technically I imagine your wife is still in the wrong for not keeping a good following distance.

Did she smash out the tail lights? I think she'd need some sort of proof that the brake lights weren't working.

And accidentally slammed on brakes? :/
 
Voicy said:
2 second required following distance is going to screw your wife more than you ever did.

It's almost always a F'up for person A who drove into person B - even if person B skipped a stop street, person A is 'supposed' to keep a safe following distance. Hope she has insurance.
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Isn't it actually 3 seconds?
 
he probably did it so you could pay for his already-damaged tail lights
 
Fudzy said:
Technically I imagine your wife is still in the wrong for not keeping a good following distance.

Did she smash out the tail lights? I think she'd need some sort of proof that the brake lights weren't working.

And accidentally slammed on brakes? :/
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Exactly, how the hell do you accidently slam on brakes...? No I don't think the tail lights were smashed out. 3rd seconds or not if someone with no working brake lights with no cars in front brakes hard you're pretty ****ed. It wasn't the highway. Just normal roads on the way to work.
 
thats the point of having a proper distance between you and the car in front of you, because you need it to react to any type of emergency / idiots / dumb@ss reactions......
 
If she has witnesses to the fact of his admission shes in luck, if not it can turn into a he said she said, except if she recorded it (which is usually the last thing one thinks of to do)

Please note, a accident on a public road needs to be reported to the police in 24 hours, or you may be fined.
 
Zenbaas said:
Exactly, how the hell do you accidently slam on brakes...? No I don't think the tail lights were smashed out. 3rd seconds or not if someone with no working brake lights with no cars in front brakes hard you're pretty ****ed. It wasn't the highway. Just normal roads on the way to work.
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How fast were they going? Unless the weather is quite bad (misty/heavy rain) it's usually quite easy to see that an object in front of you is deaccelerating even without brake lights. What if it was a cyclist? They don't have brake lights.
 
supersunbird said:
If she has witnesses to the fact of his admission shes in luck, if not it can turn into a he said she said, except if she recorded it (which is usually the last thing one thinks of to do)

Please note, a accident on a public road needs to be reported to the police in 24 hours, or you may be fined.
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Also there is a limit for the reporting for insurance purposes. They might not pay if the case is not reported today maybe tomorrow. Best to get it done today though.
 
supersunbird said:
If she has witnesses to the fact of his admission shes in luck, if not it can turn into a he said she said, except if she recorded it (which is usually the last thing one thinks of to do)

Please note, a accident on a public road needs to be reported to the police in 24 hours, or you may be fined.
Click to expand...

We'll do that this afternoon.
@Fudzy: The cyclist is a stupid example to use. If you brake hard enough without warning then most people will drive into the back of you. There is a difference between slowing down and breaking to a dead stop.

Apparently he said he was going for the accelerator and accidently hit the brakes. He's a doctor at jhb gen and probably just came off his shift.
Will see of he changes his story later on.
 
Your wife is at fault, need to keep a safe following distance.

I have been in the same situation, cow in front of me just stopped in the middle of the road, went into the back of her.
 
All has been said already, but if the doc's insurance gets hold of this they would probably not easily admit guilt, and would go after your wife / her insurance company for damages.
 
The car behind should follow at a safe distance.
A safe distance is so far back that you can stop in time should the vehicle in front comes to a stop.
What some people wants to see on the vehicle in front's backside I will never know.
What are they going to see 2 or 3 or 4 seconds earlier what they wont see later?
Beats me.
It is usually followed with:" I didn't see him" in a tearful voice.
Sorry. Follow further back.
 
What speed was she going at? Did he come to a complete stop or just slow down suddenly through braking?

99% likely he'll change his tune. Your wife should not have been so close, too.

People all over Joburg do that, its even worse on the highways where your speed is a lot higher.
 
Does it really matter whose fault it is? If you're insured then let the insurance sort it out, they have to pay the claim regardless (assumng your car was roadworthy and you are licensed and sober!).

Tell your story on the forms you have to fill in and don't let it bother what the other guy says. At the end of the day whether you are at fault or not the insurance will still up your premium just for claiming. And if you don't have insurance then perhaps next time you will, in the meantime expect some pain from people/insurers wanting to sue you.
 
Ancalagon said:
What speed was she going at? Did he come to a complete stop or just slow down suddenly through braking?

99% likely he'll change his tune. Your wife should not have been so close, too.

People all over Joburg do that, its even worse on the highways where your speed is a lot higher.
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He came to a dead stop on a bend apparently. She never drives fast. We both always adhere to the speed limit.

The car is insured and roadworthy. There isn't massive damage, just seems like the bumper is completely stuffed.
 
It is your wifes fault, happened to me 9 years ago, a guy cut across three lanes of traffic and slammed his brakes on right at the off-ramp. Clearly his fault even from the damages which was the drivers side being more damaged then the rest of the front. Cops still said I should've kept a decent following distance. Rear-ends are 90% of the time the one who hits the other drivers fault, regardless of details
 
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