Can you claim off insurance of someone who hasn't hit you?

[snowdude2910]

Evening all, could anyone settle a discussion for me? A guy at work has dropped his bike. He was in the left lane of 2 lanes of traffic approaching a set of traffic lights, driver in right hand lane has flashed a car coming from the other direction who is waiting to pull into her driveway on his left. This car has pulled halfway accross his lane they've both seen eachother and braked. She's stopped safely halfway accross his lane and he dropped the bike about 3ft short of her car, the police made the other driver give him her insurance details but I'm of the opinion that he can't claim off her insurance anyway as although she's caused him to perform an emergency stop it is his fault he dropped the bike. So what's the deal do we think? Just to add I'm not claiming I wouldn't have dropped the bike I'm just saying from 10mph and with 3ft left to spare there are plenty of bikers out there who wouldn't have dropped it, from what I gather he stopped and then fell over if that makes sense.

[snowdude2910]

Rubin215 said:

V8forweekends said:

Slightly o/t (and honestly not having a go) OP - you are using that new past tense that the Police seem to have invented - I find this fascinating, anyone know if there's a name for it? (like past imperfect etc)

It's called historical present tense, you probably hear it in use much more often than you are aware of and it's been around for a loooooooong time:

"He took me by the wrist and held me hard;
Then goes he to the length of all his arm;
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face
As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so;
At last, a little shaking of mine arm
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
And end his being: that done, he lets me go . . .."

(Ophelia in Act One, scene 1 of Hamlet by William Shakespeare)


Pistonheads, where tenses matter...

I'm not sure this applies does it? "The police made her give him her insurance details" is all past tense isn't it? If I'd said "police are called and police make her give him her insurance details" that would be historical present tense wouldn't it or am I not getting it?
I'm interested to see how it works out then as it seems people have won in similar situations, it seems the police have decided she's to blame and so she has accepted liability to her insurance but from what I gather if he had swerved slightly instead of braking he'd have avoided dropping it but he wasn't to know she was going to stop in time when he made the decision so another rider may have avoided it but then he could have equally just had a bigger crash.