2006 Houx Annex crash

[ol' dirty]

Glad you are on the road to recovery

Were you camping at Karting Nord???
I remember seeing a red speedster replica (I thought it was a rep anyway) parked up under the trees by the karting circuit.
Looked nice

I can't think there would be too many red speedsters about.

[bernhund]

heebeegeetee said:

Christ on a bike, what a story. One thing i'm not clear about, who actually had right of way?

according to the french law, where there are no signs, you give way to the right. But does this include drunk or un insured drivers? Was she driving? Was she pissed from the wedding? Its difficult to say. But if this is true, I've lost my health and a lot of money!

[bernhund]

ol' dirty said:

Glad you are on the road to recovery

Were you camping at Karting Nord???
I remember seeing a red speedster replica (I thought it was a rep anyway) parked up under the trees by the karting circuit.
Looked nice

I can't think there would be too many red speedsters about.

Yep, that was me. Same place 2 years running.

[ol' dirty]

Ahh, we were camping just opposite, with a Red Audi S2...Sorry to hear about that, looked really nice- albeit a little dusty!

[heebeegeetee]

bernhund said:

I would love to prove that I've been stitched up. I've turned down a big personal injury claim to protect my mate,

I don't understand this - why do you think you've been stitched up, and what do you mean by turning down the personal injury claim - oh, just realised, you mean by not claiming from your mate? The 13k you had to pay, you had to pay that to the french couple?

[Matt H]

I didn't see anything despite being in Annex, but it was after the race and I had drunk a little bit

Glad you are on the mend. Remember the lost car, money, time of work, etc it's just gravy

[fatspud]

bernhund said:

heebeegeetee said:

Christ on a bike, what a story. One thing i'm not clear about, who actually had right of way?

according to the french law, where there are no signs, you give way to the right. But does this include drunk or un insured drivers? Was she driving? Was she pissed from the wedding? Its difficult to say. But if this is true, I've lost my health and a lot of money!

one thing i could'nt figure out was were you coming from the annex roundabout and if you were how did the picasso pulling out of the campsite hit you on the passenger side

[heebeegeetee]

Then again, doesn't the driver paid the claim? - but then its your faulty vehicle he's helping you with? Jeez, doesn't it get complicated?

have i read right, you were the passenger? Were you belted in?

[Driller]

The right priority thing over here really pisses me off. People are so arrogant about it. They drive out at high speed deliberately into major junctions just to "assert" their right of way, not giving a st about the consequences. The guy that gets forced to slam on his brakes then goes and does exactly the same thing to someone else when he comes out of a right priority side road. I'm sorry about your accident and if it was caused in this way then it's absolutely sickening.

Edited to add, even if you know it's your priority, what kind of muppet deliberately drives at high speed out onto a main road on which he knows people will be travelling at high speed. The really stupid thing though is that because he's turning, he then has to slam his brakes on to avoid skidding over the other side of the road and mounting the pavement after he/she has "asserted his priority". Makes me mad

Edited by Driller on Saturday 29th March 20:06

Edited by Driller on Saturday 29th March 20:07

[sniff petrol]

This thread along with 10 Pence Short's have slowed me down on country roads. You just never know what's going to happen.

[Tam]

Good to hear you're OK, the rumours were flying around Le Mans that made it sound much worse. I was camping opposite you, so have pictures of your car when it was in one piece, nothing of the accident though.

[bernhund]

heebeegeetee said:

bernhund said:

I would love to prove that I've been stitched up. I've turned down a big personal injury claim to protect my mate,

I don't understand this - why do you think you've been stitched up, and what do you mean by turning down the personal injury claim - oh, just realised, you mean by not claiming from your mate? The 13k you had to pay, you had to pay that to the french couple?

Correct, its a bit difficult to explain in great detail without boring you.
The bottom line is that the french had the right to pull out in front of us, so my driver is guilty. However, because it appears she was possibly driving and lied, then maybe she is guilty. Its not the money that matters, but its the possibility of her being pissed, nearly killing me and being paid to do it.

[bernhund]

heebeegeetee said:

Then again, doesn't the driver paid the claim? - but then its your faulty vehicle he's helping you with? Jeez, doesn't it get complicated?

have i read right, you were the passenger? Were you belted in?

An accident is an accident, I'm very cool about this. Money is not my God and we all cock up. We weren't being partcularly reckless either. We assumed my mates full comp insurance would cover him 3rd party, it didn't. So, I've taken it on the chin(in more than one way)see pics!)But nearly 2 years down the line, I find witnesses saying the woman was driving. Why would she have lied, except if she wasn't legal? This puts a different slant on it. I was the passenger in my own car and as far as I know we had our belts on. To be honest, had I not, I might have had fewer injuries.

[bernhund]

fatspud said:

bernhund said:

heebeegeetee said:

Christ on a bike, what a story. One thing i'm not clear about, who actually had right of way?

according to the french law, where there are no signs, you give way to the right. But does this include drunk or un insured drivers? Was she driving? Was she pissed from the wedding? Its difficult to say. But if this is true, I've lost my health and a lot of money!

one thing i could'nt figure out was were you coming from the annex roundabout and if you were how did the picasso pulling out of the campsite hit you on the passenger side

We were coming from the roundabout, they pulled out from the right. Their exit is in the inside middle of a 45 degree right hand bend. Which in itself is insane.They pulled out to turn towards us, so were pretty much head on, so my mate attempted to turn in towards their exit or he would've possibly hit on coming traffic. So we ended up sideways on to them.

[bernhund]

Driller said:

The right priority thing over here really pisses me off. People are so arrogant about it. They drive out at high speed deliberately into major junctions just to "assert" their right of way, not giving a st about the consequences. The guy that gets forced to slam on his brakes then goes and does exactly the same thing to someone else when he comes out of a right priority side road. I'm sorry about your accident and if it was caused in this way then it's absolutely sickening.

Edited to add, even if you know it's your priority, what kind of muppet deliberately drives at high speed out onto a main road on which he knows people will be travelling at high speed. The really stupid thing though is that because he's turning, he then has to slam his brakes on to avoid skidding over the other side of the road and mounting the pavement after he/she has "asserted his priority". Makes me mad

Edited by Driller on Saturday 29th March 20:06

Edited by Driller on Saturday 29th March 20:07

Its a crazy rule us Brits don't understand. It's illogical and apparently to do with when vehicles were horse and cart! I believe its the older generation of French that refuse to change, but you might know different.

[bernhund]

Tam said:

Good to hear you're OK, the rumours were flying around Le Mans that made it sound much worse. I was camping opposite you, so have pictures of your car when it was in one piece, nothing of the accident though.

Thanks for reading the story. Perhaps remember it next time your at LeMans,very real possibility it could happen to anyone.

[Deva Link]

bernhund said:

This puts a different slant on it.

Does it?

I don't see that you're going to get anywhere with this except to get yourself worked up. If their car had priority then it had priority. End of story.

You allowed your car to be driven uninsured - usually a hanging offence on PH. Did you and the driver get done for that? You almost certainly would have been in the UK.

Presumeably the priorité à droite rule must regularly cause carnage in France/

[bernhund]

Deva Link said:

bernhund said:

This puts a different slant on it.

Does it?

I don't see that you're going to get anywhere with this except to get yourself worked up. If their car had priority then it had priority. End of story.

You allowed your car to be driven uninsured - usually a hanging offence on PH. Did you and the driver get done for that? You almost certainly would have been in the UK.

Presumeably the priorité à droite rule must regularly cause carnage in France/

Don't get me wrong. I know where our responsibilities in this lie. My mate works for me and is insured on my works vehicles. He has 2 of his own full comp policies on his vehicles. We both wrongly assumed he would be covered 3rd party on mine. I accept he was irresponsible with his right foot. I accept I shouldn't have let him drive, even though we were trying to sort out a problem with the clutch. However, it does appear that the woman has lied and there must be a reason. I can only think of illegal reasons. But she has walked away with a payout, which I am more than happy about if she was legal. Deep down I know this is going nowhere, but knowing the truth makes a difference to me. Even if I saw a photo of her at the wheel, its improbable that I would pursue it. Its a harsh lesson learnt!
P.s Neither of us were prosecuted and having spoken to a lot of people, the majority can quote a story regarding a priority to the right scenario.

[heebeegeetee]

The purpoes of the priority a droite (sp?) is to slow traffic down. If the junctions to the right have priority, it means you have to slow down to the point of being near to stopping at every junction, because any vehicle that comes from the right has right of way over you. So therefore, you simply cannot travel at any speed at all on these roads. Don't get me wrong, of course i've had problems myself on these roads, but that doesn't necessarily make them a bad idea.

Bernhund, the terrible accident you had so easily could have happened to me. I went to Le Mans for 18 consecutive years, and jeez, i misbehaved at times. Quite a few times. I've read your story with a degree of horror - it could have been me, and i really feel for you and your family, because i could have so easily inflicted all that distress onto my family.

BUT - i strongly feel that if you were to walk into a court of law over this, you'd be ripped to shreds, and forget nationalities and other distractions. I don't think you should worry about any possible illegalities over the other party because, let's face it, you were both operating highly illegally yourselves. And i think you should bear in mind that clearly you ruined somebodies wedding.

It's time to move on. You're alive, and without any exaggeration you're obviously bloody lucky to be alive. From what you've described i too believe that if you'd had that accident in this country you wouldn't have survived.

I know its very easy for me to say these things, but i say them in all cordiality and honest friendship as one car enthusiast to another - you've got to move on, forget the past, and get on with the rest of your life as best as you can.

[bernhund]

heebeegeetee said:

The purpoes of the priority a droite (sp?) is to slow traffic down. If the junctions to the right have priority, it means you have to slow down to the point of being near to stopping at every junction, because any vehicle that comes from the right has right of way over you. So therefore, you simply cannot travel at any speed at all on these roads. Don't get me wrong, of course i've had problems myself on these roads, but that doesn't necessarily make them a bad idea.

Bernhund, the terrible accident you had so easily could have happened to me. I went to Le Mans for 18 consecutive years, and jeez, i misbehaved at times. Quite a few times. I've read your story with a degree of horror - it could have been me, and i really feel for you and your family, because i could have so easily inflicted all that distress onto my family.

BUT - i strongly feel that if you were to walk into a court of law over this, you'd be ripped to shreds, and forget nationalities and other distractions. I don't think you should worry about any possible illegalities over the other party because, let's face it, you were both operating highly illegally yourselves. And i think you should bear in mind that clearly you ruined somebodies wedding.

It's time to move on. You're alive, and without any exaggeration you're obviously bloody lucky to be alive. From what you've described i too believe that if you'd had that accident in this country you wouldn't have survived.

I know its very easy for me to say these things, but i say them in all cordiality and honest friendship as one car enthusiast to another - you've got to move on, forget the past, and get on with the rest of your life as best as you can.

I have pretty much accepted the situation and deep down know that nothing more will come of this. I suppose because I was the one with all the injuries and financial loss it makes it much harder to accept. I wasn't driving either car but have picked up the tab! I coud have claimed a personal injury compensation from my driver, but simply would not do that. I think my driver was tripped up by the right hand exit as it isn't a proper road and in addition, having been back myself to look at the scene a year later, its barely visible as there are bolders along the road side. I too understand that this makes exiting tricky. Just one of lifes lessons I guess.
I think its all been redeveloped around Houx since