Accident with bus - what's the procedure?

Accident with bus - what's the procedure?

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Discussion

Rabbo

Original Poster:

527 posts

200 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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The missus was overtaking a stationary bus (stopped at bus stop) which then appeared to indicate and immediately pull out whilst she was alongside, taking most of the paint off the side of her beloved Z4. The bus didn't stop and she (bless) didn't get the registration, nor were there any witnesses. As far as I know, if the bus wasn't indicating to pull out when she overtook, she technically won't be liable - correct? Not sure whether to call the bus company or insurers...

allergictocheese

1,290 posts

112 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Call the bus company and explain what happened and when. If everything's denied you may have fun getting anywhere.

And on the bare description you've given, the bus should not be pulling out into traffic if there are established vehicles in its way.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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The bus was stationary. She was moving. It suddenly leapt out from the stop and scraped her car, then continued on it's merry way unhindered...?

Sorry, but that does sound more than a little bit odd. You might need to come up with a better explanation.

When you ring the bus company, you're going to need a lot more details. They should be able to trace which bus it was from the route and exact time, but...

Shilvers

597 posts

206 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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I fully appreciate shock can kick in, but surely pursing the bus was the option? Not exactly known for their prowess to blend in and get away quickly. As has been said though, try and be as accurate as possible so the bus co. can try and track the driver. Good luck.

eatcustard

1,003 posts

126 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Inform the Police, as he failed to stop to give details, if the Bus Co play hard ball.

ging84

8,827 posts

145 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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if you get no joy with the bus company, check twitter, almost no one under 30 would have been on a bus which hit a car and not tweeted about it.


Hooli

32,278 posts

199 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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As said above, you need the exact time & road. The bus company should be able to work it out from there, either with trackers on the buses or the records of ticket sales.

BTW, if it's just a scrape then I suspect the driver doesn't even know. It takes quite a big knock to be noticable & the mirrors on most buses are so st you can't always see contact has occurred.

MoggieMinor

457 posts

144 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Bus companies are usually very good at dealing with things like this. Give them a call. As another poster stated, there is a good chance the bus driver did not know there was a collision, they would have stopped otherwise, or certainly should have done..

StevenB

777 posts

196 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Call the bus company with time etc, they might have CCTV of the accident

asgoo

36 posts

181 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Shilvers said:
Not exactly known for their prowess to blend in and get away quickly.
They also have a tendency to be in the same place at the same time everyweek.biglaugh If you wanted to go down the vigilante route, you could simply go to the bus stop in question at the time of the crash on the same day next week and get on board. Ask the driver if he/she knows anything about it, and if they have a number you can ring. You also have a potential bus load of witnesses as well, so ask the passengers. You might look a bit mad, and it would be a little time consuming, but you'll get somewhere.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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MoggieMinor said:
Bus companies are usually very good at dealing with things like this. Give them a call. As another poster stated, there is a good chance the bus driver did not know there was a collision, they would have stopped otherwise, or certainly should have done..
They're not good in my experience. My late father in law had an incident with a bus and the bus Company did everything they could to, successfully, avoid their responsibility.

On board recordings lost, refusal to communicate, lies. At one time they even denied they had a bus on the route at the time, which they later put down to misunderstanding.

Good luck OP.

s2sol

1,223 posts

170 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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When I was involved in an accident with a bus that had run a red light, the bus company lied and bloody lied. It took 2 years to get them to admit liability. I wish you better luck.

speedking31

3,543 posts

135 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Shilvers said:
Not exactly known for their prowess to blend in and get away quickly.
Isn't that what bus lanes are for?

mizx

1,569 posts

184 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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TooMany2cvs said:
The bus was stationary. She was moving. It suddenly leapt out from the stop and scraped her car, then continued on it's merry way unhindered...?

Sorry, but that does sound more than a little bit odd. You might need to come up with a better explanation.
He did mention she was alongside, I can certainly see how it could happen if that's the case.

I once had a driver pull out on me as he started indicating here; as unlikely as it might sound, I was perhaps only half a car length beside the bus and going slowly enough (approaching the roundabout) to have time to see what was happening and move over.

Chrisgr31

13,440 posts

254 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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What happened to the other PHer who was hit by a bus going in the opposite direction?

Psycho Warren

3,087 posts

112 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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good luck with claiming. It will either be dead easy or you'll be in for a long fight - different companies have different ways of dealing with incidents.

I cant see any situation where a bus pulling out of a stop and hitting a car isnt at fault - unless the car is speeding significantly. Give way rules still apply to buses.

Just because the highway code says we should give way to buses doesnt mean they can pull out without checking it is safe.

Happens all the time around my way. Because no one gives way to buses, they just indicate and swerve forcing cars to stop. Most the time there is no accident, but occasionally it goes wrong.

btcc123

1,243 posts

146 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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I would have thought the bus driver would look in his mirror before pulling out of the bus stop but perhaps he did not.Why did your wife not blow her horn or follow the bus so when it next stopped speak to the driver.

I personally would ring my insurance company,the police and the bus company in that order.Also I would go to the bus station if I knew the number of the bus and wait around for a couple of hours to make sure I saw all the busses with that number.If there was any paint on the side of a bus that matched my wifes car I would obviously take a photo and then you would be pretty sure of a non fault accident by yourself.

CaptainMorgan

1,454 posts

158 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Contact the bus company.

dtmpower

3,972 posts

244 months

Thursday 26th February 2015
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Another example of how useful a dash cam is.

stuart313

740 posts

112 months

Friday 27th February 2015
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Really annoys me when busses indicate and just pull out, why would it be of any interest to me that they need to get somewhere else at a set time. Everyone was taught on their test to indicate and wait for the road to become clear before pulling away yet they get bus lanes all to themselves whilst we wait in traffic yet expect cars to yield for them as well.