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  • Had a crash today, opinions?

    Firts if al NOT in any of te Audis, they are safe but in an older Camper we own (non VW) but that's bad enough. So on a longish straght bit of road temporary traffic lights had been placed, I stopped at the red light and we sat for a few seconds. I glanced in the mirror and a MOndeo was tearing towards us, I tried to move forwards but was too late and the last little look in the morror I saw two guys, wat looked like smoke all around them and both airbags in the Modeo deployed, Bank we were pushed through the lights, back and N/S quarter look to me like it will be written off. So we exchanged details (while since I have had to do that), eveyone was OK, apparently the passenger in the Mondeo was sleeping and woke up to the airbag in his face. I was surprised his wheels locked up so badly and started to look at the skid marks on the road. I paced them out, the right wheel must hahe locked first, 27 metres of rubber on the road and the left 23 metres (approx of course). Surely ABS should have prevented this? I am guessing he was going at fair old lick and he says he "didn't see me". Any one got any thoughts, am I wrong?

  • #2
    Sounds like the driver was sleeping too, how can you not see a camper van stopped in front of you. ABS cannot have been working either, was it taxed and MOT'd?
    91CQ20v - Gone to a new home
    93UR-S4 - The Magic Carpet
    94S2Bus - The Emerald Express

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    • #3
      Yep Cops came, checked everyone and all fine, there was nearly another accident when they arrived as by that time there was loads of traffic and people trying to squeeze past, althogh we moved the cars in as far in as we could. ABS not working would surely put a light on in the dash though, maybe he just ignored it. I had a look at his tyres, they were OK for tread but were cheaper tyres, I usually buy some reasonably well known brand but I know not everyone does and they will be legal. I think everyone agreed it will be his fault, which is good but if the vehicle was unsafe, does that make a difference?

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      • #4
        My advice, for what it's worth, is DO NOT try to handle the claim yourself and DO NOT rely on your own insurance company to act on your behalf. They will shaft you big time if they can.
        Engage a firm to handle the claim against the third party insurance company, for example, Crash, though I think they have got too big now too. I used a company called Alpha Accident Management in Northern Ireland. This is how it goes. You give them the details names reg numbers, establish not your fault etc etc they give you a courtesy car and deal with the third party insurance company to get your car repaired. They know all the dodges that the insurance companies use to screw you and the insurance company pays the bill for the hire car you're driving so they want it sorted asap. If you go to your own insurance company they will do a deal with the other insurance company to offset some other claim in the opposite direction and both companies bump up the premiums. You might have your no claims bonus protected but you don't have the actual premium protected which is what everyone assumes!
        By keeping your insurance company out of the dealings, other than to advise them that you've had a accident, your premium shouldn't be affected.
        PM me your phone number if you want a chat.
        Davy
        1996 S2 ABY Coupe silver
        2003 S3 8L dolphin grey
        2014 RS4 B8 prism silver

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        • #5
          I'm no expert, but a similar event happened to me several years ago, and a friend advised me not to pursue the (Obvious!!) lack of maintenance on the vehicle that hit me from behind, as his insurance company may decide not to pay out as his vehicle probably wasn't legal; in which case, I would have to sue him personally!

          Just a thought.

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          • #6
            Easy. Notify your insurer. You have to legally. Then speak to 3rd party insurers to deal with your claim. Clearly his fault and they will most likely bend over backwards to help as its keeps their cost minimal. Speak to police and see if they are going to report him for due care and attention?. Rear end bumps happen all the time but when he ploughs into you at speed etc it may highlight a considerable lack of concentration. ( we are all guilty of a loss of concentration at times I'm sure at times)
            Most likely the Police service will opt for a driver awareness course. Although this may be different in Scotland.?

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            • #7
              Cheers for the replies guys, very interesting stuff and much needed as it must be more than 10 years since I had any kind of accident. My Broker has been very good actually and recommended an Accident management company (Easidrive) and they are now dealing with eveything, hire car, repair, claim etc. I don't think the Police are very interested, was just the local bobbies, who were nice enough and said they would file a report, if anybody cared to read it, apparently Insurance companies rarely do! I take the point that if I prove he shouldn't have been on the road I may be shooting myself in the foot, so won't push that one. I did wonder if he had fell asleep actually but he had just came through a town about a mile back with another set of temporary traffic lights. He was planning to do another 200 miles or so to get to his destination, so surely he should have been up to the task. Literelly he would need to have been straight off an night shift or something, heading home and really should have been sleeping. it's not impossible......
              I wa interested in teh mechanical side, my experinces of ABS are that you couldn't get it to lock up if you tried, unless I have never tried hard enough. Conditions were warm and dry ( one off probably in Scotland) and he has skid marks of uneven length but both a considerabe distance and basically we still stopped him, cheers for that

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              • #8
                The Police have fed you a load of rubbish seemingly. They should submit a report and the accident and process department woul send out pro forma statements and potentially advise the officer to interview the driver and report for any offences. Insurance companies rarely pay the fee for the accident book as its irrelavant to the claim , unless you are looking at fatalities serious injury etc.
                As for his insurer not paying you of you prove his car is not road worthy that is also tosh. Yes quite rightly they could turn round and refuse to settle his claim from an underwriting point of view. Eg failed to maintain his car etc. However they would never penalise a 3rd party when their client is at fault. How on earth can you be accountable for him not maintaining his abs.
                Finally it's unlikely he would have left skid marks with ABS as even anchoring up at 100mph the idea is it prevents the wheel locking to allow the driver to steer rather than continue on a fixed course in a skid. E
                Regardless of ABS he clearly was not paying due care and attention.
                I worked for 3 years in insurance and nearly 18 years as a Police officers so have experience from both sides.
                My only dislike for these claim handling companies is they run up unnecessary costs by inflating everything.
                An example. My friend had a minor scratch on the wing of her TT done by an elderly neighbour trying to park. £700 quote to replace wing at Audi. It went through the insurance. My friend had one of these claims handlers settle it instead of the 3rd party insurer who admitted fault. In short she had an Audi TT s line for 7 days at a cost of £200 per day. £1400 bill for the hire car alone!! For a £700 bill. She didn't need to have a TT, a Ford Fiesta at £50 a day would have been adequate. And who pays the cost of such things ?? We all do. Rant over.

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                • #9
                  More interesting infrmation and nothing wrong with a good rant. The term "Due care and attention" has come up in discussion already (not here) and is interesting, as is the fact that ABS prevents the wheels slipping and allows you to steer, because none of that happened. I was kicking myself a bit for not hitting the accellerator as soon as I saw him coming but I had others in teh car and took a split second to try to give them a verbal warning of what was going on. This guy not only had a major lock up but he didn't even try to steer away from us, sleep seems a possibility, looking at his phone another but I doubt I will ever find out.
                  At the moment I am hoping, as our Broker who we feel is trustworthy, recommended the Accident management company, then they too should be trustworthy, fingers crossed, time will tell!
                  I agree with everything otherwise you say, another modern system I don't agree with but just have to live with.
                  Incidentally, I looked at the MOT History of the car, a familiar story, only fixing what absolutely needs fixed. Lots of poorly worn tyres, bulges and so on. It was MOT'd just one month ago, so officially "Roadworthy".
                  As a bit of an aside, my Wifes's car had a dash light came on a couple of years ago, I looked it up online found it was a common fault, Audi would replace he entire ABS pump which involves the new one requiring coding to the car, no way this was a DIY job but we found a local specialist who could repair them at a fraction of the price and got that done, it wasn't cheap but no issues since.
                  I am guessing there would be no dash lights on his car or this would have been questioned at the MOT (Manually cancelled light?) and also I don't think there is a way for an MOT tester to test ABS, or is there?

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                  • #10
                    The common Audi fault you refer to is the mk60 teves G201 sensor failure requiring a new hydraulic block to be fitted. It affected many cars with the teves unit not just VAG. As for ABS and mot, ABS systems are extremely sensitive and any fault will bring on a light. The mot tester has to see the light come on and extinguish.

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                    • #11
                      OK, car is going for inspection tomorrow, keep you posted

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