Collision With a Bus....
Discussion
I could do with a bit of quick advice on an incident last night:
Approaching home I came across a bus stopped in the road, indicating left. Alongside the bus there was a right-turn lane, so I indicated right and overtook the bus. As I was along side the bus indicated right and started to move. At this point the indicator repeater above the front wheel was to my left so I was almost ahead of the bus, but not quite. I judged that because there was no traffic coming, there was plenty of width to the road and the speed differential was enough that I would be OK.
What I didn't realise was that rather than indicating to signal an intention to pull away and continue along the cariageway the bus intended to swing right into a side road, not that I could have altered my course in that moment either way. At the point the bus driver swung right my car was almost entirely ahead and he hit my car just behind the rear wheel. I immediately stopped in a parking space maybe 15m up the road, the bus continued to turn right and then drove off at speed. I know which company it was and reported the incident to the Police last night.
I've not spoken to the bus company yet, they didn't answer their phone last night, but have a further interview with the Police this afternoon. At the time there was light traffic, the collision was relatively minor, so would not have been obvious to anyone else unless they were looking right at it. There were no witnesses around, though I do have a witness to the bus speeding through the Village afterwards.
As far as I can tell I have one panel that needs repainting, but isn't dented and a cracked rear light, it's a 17 year old Lexus (though it was in show-room condition so I'm gutted about this!) so I can get a new light easily enough, so there's maybe £200-250 to fix the car professionally.
Under the circumstances I'd think my insurers would go 50:50 unless the bus driver admitted guilt, so I'd lose more in increased premiums across three cars than I'd get to pay for the damage, does that sound fair?
That being the case, if I speak to the bus company will they immediately involve their insurers and drag mine in as well? If I don't speak to them then I'm stuck with the cost of repair, but that might be cheaper in the end.
What do we think?
Approaching home I came across a bus stopped in the road, indicating left. Alongside the bus there was a right-turn lane, so I indicated right and overtook the bus. As I was along side the bus indicated right and started to move. At this point the indicator repeater above the front wheel was to my left so I was almost ahead of the bus, but not quite. I judged that because there was no traffic coming, there was plenty of width to the road and the speed differential was enough that I would be OK.
What I didn't realise was that rather than indicating to signal an intention to pull away and continue along the cariageway the bus intended to swing right into a side road, not that I could have altered my course in that moment either way. At the point the bus driver swung right my car was almost entirely ahead and he hit my car just behind the rear wheel. I immediately stopped in a parking space maybe 15m up the road, the bus continued to turn right and then drove off at speed. I know which company it was and reported the incident to the Police last night.
I've not spoken to the bus company yet, they didn't answer their phone last night, but have a further interview with the Police this afternoon. At the time there was light traffic, the collision was relatively minor, so would not have been obvious to anyone else unless they were looking right at it. There were no witnesses around, though I do have a witness to the bus speeding through the Village afterwards.
As far as I can tell I have one panel that needs repainting, but isn't dented and a cracked rear light, it's a 17 year old Lexus (though it was in show-room condition so I'm gutted about this!) so I can get a new light easily enough, so there's maybe £200-250 to fix the car professionally.
Under the circumstances I'd think my insurers would go 50:50 unless the bus driver admitted guilt, so I'd lose more in increased premiums across three cars than I'd get to pay for the damage, does that sound fair?
That being the case, if I speak to the bus company will they immediately involve their insurers and drag mine in as well? If I don't speak to them then I'm stuck with the cost of repair, but that might be cheaper in the end.
What do we think?
Buses in our region are all fitted with CCTV for precisely this kind of event.
Get them to review the footage.
If they accept driver is at fault (he is by your description) they may make a payout rather than go through insurance.
You might find that they also self-insure if a large enough organisation and again would pay out directly.
It's certainly worth pursuing further with the bus co.
They will be 'disappointed' that the driver didn't stop as a minimum.
Get them to review the footage.
If they accept driver is at fault (he is by your description) they may make a payout rather than go through insurance.
You might find that they also self-insure if a large enough organisation and again would pay out directly.
It's certainly worth pursuing further with the bus co.
They will be 'disappointed' that the driver didn't stop as a minimum.
Yipper said:
For such a minor incident, it woulda bin better not to report it. The future increased insurance premiums plus possible no-claims loss (if applicable) plus having a black mark of being involved in a hit-and-run are probably going to exceed the cost of a ~£200 repair.
Insurance fraud always works out cheaper in the long run, doesn't it?TooLateForAName said:
Just thought - many people get the same bus every day - try getting on that bus and asking passengers if they were in the bus and saw the accident.
It was a coach, rather than a regular bus service and close to it's depot so as likely to have been empty as full and obviously no way of identifying witnesses like that unfortunately.Hadn't considered that CCTV might be available to the bus company, that's a good point.
langtounlad said:
Buses in our region are all fitted with CCTV for precisely this kind of event.
Get them to review the footage.
If they accept driver is at fault (he is by your description) they may make a payout rather than go through insurance.
You might find that they also self-insure if a large enough organisation and again would pay out directly.
It's certainly worth pursuing further with the bus co.
They will be 'disappointed' that the driver didn't stop as a minimum.
All good points, thanks. The Police rang to clarify a couple of details this morning as they are pursuing it with the bus company. They're calling me later this afternoon to take a proper statement, so I might get an idea of what the bus company have said then.Get them to review the footage.
If they accept driver is at fault (he is by your description) they may make a payout rather than go through insurance.
You might find that they also self-insure if a large enough organisation and again would pay out directly.
It's certainly worth pursuing further with the bus co.
They will be 'disappointed' that the driver didn't stop as a minimum.
Had two incidents with buses in the last year.
1 - Wifes car parked at the side of the road, bumper scuffed by the bus, bus company paid for the repair after reviewing CCTV
2 - guy who works for us driving down the road, a bus comes onto his side of the road to move around a parked car, our guy had right of way but the bus driver thought he could use his size, then tried to blame my driver for it, complaint to the bus company and they admitted full liability.
Get them to check their CCTV and they will most likely organise a repair, doubt the police will do much once insurance details are exchanged
1 - Wifes car parked at the side of the road, bumper scuffed by the bus, bus company paid for the repair after reviewing CCTV
2 - guy who works for us driving down the road, a bus comes onto his side of the road to move around a parked car, our guy had right of way but the bus driver thought he could use his size, then tried to blame my driver for it, complaint to the bus company and they admitted full liability.
Get them to check their CCTV and they will most likely organise a repair, doubt the police will do much once insurance details are exchanged
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