Rock beat scissors, Scissors beats paper, Truck beats Subaru

smoov · Post by **smoov** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:51 am

wow 8O

sorry to hear about man.

here's to a speedy and quality recovery!

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:58 am

Anyone got a good smash repairer in brisbane?

Insurance gives me choice of repairer.

dwayneb · Post by **dwayneb** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:10 pm

Southside Body Works, 8 Dan St Slacks Creek QLD 4127, ph: (07) 3208 3399.

These guys fixed my Commodore from an almost write-off, back to as new condition.

midnight · Post by **midnight** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:57 pm

Good thing you had the bullbar.
I reckon the damage would have been worse if it hadnt been for that bullbar.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:47 pm

Yeah i reckon!! It's actually quite scratched and gouged a bit ( can't really see that in the photo ) so I should be able to get the insurance to replace it as well ( and keep the old one :P ).

midnight · Post by **midnight** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:53 pm

Hey stinky

What is the difference between your mudguard and a single headlight guard.
If you want, I have a guard and small blinky thing.
Dont have a big blinky as I gave that to jordan when he pranged his.
I even have a sheep bar (alloy bullbar), Not replacement type.
I even have the bumper bar.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:20 pm

I actually have everything I need to fix it on my spares car .. it's even got the double front headlights. Insurance should fix it for me, just gotta convince them it's not my fault.

They're trying to pin the blame on me so I've just faxed off a report I wrote up on the incident and appropriate road rules that the truck broke and images etc ... so that should shut them up.

I'm through Shannon's too which are supposed to be the bees knees, but they're just another bloody insurance company. I had less trouble through NRMA a few years ago for a not at fault claim.

midnight · Post by **midnight** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:22 pm

Damn.
I wanted to sell some of my suby stuff.
I dont have a suby so I have no use for most of it.

Yeah I hate insurance companys as well.
They try to get out of not doing it for nothing anyway they can.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:25 pm

The Accident
I was stopped at the lights in the left hand lane of Ivory St on the Ivory St / Brunswick St intersection. Beside me in the right hand lane is a truck. I should note here that the truck had indicators along it's side but they were not flashing so my assumption was it was turning right as there were no arrows on the lane allowing him to turn left. Being a truck he is allowed to turn left from the right hand lane, however the road rules clearly state it needs to be safe for him to do so ( see road rules below ) also as I saw no indicators flashing I believed he would be turning right as everybody is supposed to do in that lane.

The light turns green and I move off turning left. I notice the truck beside me is also coming left and I immediately stop and quickly realise I could not do anything to avoid the truck. I definately didn't have time to beat him around the corner and it wasn't safe to reverse. I beeped my horn and stayed where I was in the hope the truck would see me and stop, or manage to get around me. Unfortunately the truck continued on into my lane and hit the front right hand corner of my car.

The truck driver immediately gets out of his car and starts cursing and swearing at me telling me I should have given way. I told him I had no idea he was turning as he wasn't indicating. He said that he was and sure enough I looked and his indicators were on. However The indicators down the side of the truck weren't flashing. The truck had a small trailer and the indicators that were working were :

* front left ( could not be seen from beside the truck )
* rear left ( again could not be seen )
* rear left of trailer ( again )

The truck driver also claims to have seen me beside him. He obviously would have known that I was going to turn ( you have to in the left lane ) and therefore in knowing I was there could have waited for me to go, or proceeded with suitable caution. Had he done this very common sense thing the accident would have easily been avoided.

A few minutes later a police officer comes up, I wave him down and he stops. He tells me that he's a Crime Scene guy and has called through for a local officer. He waits with us until two officers arrive after about 5 minutes.

The Reports
The officers ( Const John Fletcher was the senior officer ) ask us to move our vehicles. After a bit of discussion on best way to disentable them I pull the subaru out ( they were wedged together ) and pull up onto the footpath as per instructed.

While the truck driver was moving his truck the Const Fletcher gives me the option to let insurance settle it or have a police report written up. I said I'd think about it. The truck driver arrives back after moving the truck and the Constable gives him he same options. He immediately says he wants a police report as he's had issues before after not getting one and copping all the blame. The Constable makes a comment along the lines of "You don't honestly think this is your not fault do you?" to the truck driver.

The other Officer takes me aside and takes my statement which is pretty much what I have stated above and Const. Fletcher took the truck driver aside for the same thing.

The officer taking my statement ( I have forgotten her name ) also mentions that it looks to be the truck drivers fault. After the statements we go on our way.

The Road Rules

From the Qld Road Rules:

I have marked in bold the rule I believe the truck to have broken. According to the road rules book the Maximum penalty for breaking this rule is 20 penalty units.

Part 4 Making Turns
part 28 Starting a left turn from a multi-lane road

(2) A driver may approach and enter the intersection from the marked lane next to the left lane as well as, or instead of, the left hand if --

(a) the drivers vehicle, together with any load or projection is 7.5m long, or longer; and

(b) the vehicle displays a do not overtake turning vehicle sign; and

(c) any part of the vehicle is within 50m of the nearest point of the intersection; and

(d) it is not practicable for the driver to turn left from within the left lane; and

(e) the driver can safely occupy the next marked lane and can safely turn left at the intersection by occupying the nexr marked lane, or both lanes.

The aftermath

At about 9:45 Constable Fletcher calls me and says he has written the report and it needs to be approved by his superintendent before it can be released. However he did volunteer the fact that he believed the truck driver was at fault as he should be more aware of his vehicle and how big it is and what is around it. He gives me the Traffic Incident number which is 05/287 06.

Armed with this information I call my Insurer Shannons and make a claim. I gave a brief description of the accident gave the TI number and finished the call. About an hour lated I got a message to give them a call and Lisa claimed that it would be deemed my fault as I should have given way to the truck.

I again made it very clear that I had no indication that the truck was turning and therefore was clear to turn. If I had of seen his intention to turn I would have definately left him to go. Lisa had no interest in this information and just kept repeating that I should have given way.

I have just faxed a copy of this information along with images to Shannons. Hopefully this should be enough to prove that I am not at fault.

BaronVonChickenPants · Post by **BaronVonChickenPants** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:46 pm

Nice clear report, good luck, I don't think it looks good though.

Jordan.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:06 pm

You're on the money. Just got a call back from insurance and after the report being revised they tell me that they still see it as my fault as I should have given way to the truck. The faulty indicators and disregard for the road rules don't seem to matter.

All I can do now is hope the police report is in my favour, but apparently that can take weeks.

I'm in a quandry, I can fix it myself with parts I have as I don't want to pay an excess if they do find it as my fault so I can not make a claim. I doubt the truck will make a claim as it didn't do any real damage.

However I don't want to fix it myself and then have the police report clear me and lose the option to have the insurance fix it properly...

BaronVonChickenPants · Post by **BaronVonChickenPants** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:23 pm

If the damage doesn't effect the driving of the car I would leave it untill everything is finalised.

Admitedly it's a hideous blemish on a beautiful car but it could still work out for you.

Jordan.

Wilbur · Post by **Wilbur** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:46 pm

Hhhrrrmmm, unroadworthy truck....did the cops do anything about that ?

Fury · Post by **Fury** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:55 pm

The police report shouldn't take weeks, keep on it and they'l get sick of you

.

About 4 years ago, my Vortex was torched, and police couldn't find any evidence. Their report was inconclusive, but high probability of arson. It only took 2 days to get the police report (with only one chase up call) and only 2 days further to get paid out by aami.

I do have 1 question, which may affect the way someone else perceeves it. Who was at the intersection first? If it was you, you would definately be in the clear, If it was the truck, someone could say that if the truck was indicating a left turn, that you knew it was turning and should have remained in a defensive position. Are there any witnesses that you can call on?

Good luck

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:56 pm

Hhhrrrmmm, unroadworthy truck....did the cops do anything about that ?

Not as far as I know, I'll be talking to the officer involved tomorrow ( he was gone home by the time I tried calling this afternoon ). I just need to get a positive result out of his police report and that should override the insurance, so I'm gonna be super nice and polite.

redskin · Post by **redskin** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 8:56 pm

Bad luck Stinky, l had the same thing happen to me years back, the truck was indicating right but decided to turn left instead, technically he did turn right l s'pose, right over the engine bay of my HQ ute, he didn't stop, just kept on going and when the cops caught up with him he denied ever hitting me, hope you get justice, l didn't.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:52 am

The jury is still out on whether or not I get justice .. but it's not looking great ... nothing much to do other than wait for the police report before I can do anything more.

midnight · Post by **midnight** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:00 pm

So how is it going so far stinky.
I hope justice is served.....

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:06 pm

Insurance is still saying I have at least partial blame. I haven't heard from the police report yet. I have however managed to talk insurance down to paying excess but not losing no claims bonus which is good enough for now. Hopefully the police report will get me a refund of excess.

I've got quotes for repairs and an assessor is coming on monday.