I spent an hour yesterday on my daughters Toyota straightening out her front splitter reinserting her fog light and clipping the front arch liner, undertray andd wing back in.
The only paint damage were small stress marks in the paint and a very small dent near the splitter. About 4 plastic arch liner poppers needed (good stock of Mazda ones, they fitted) and a bit of duct tape on a small crack on the undertray.
When she arrived at our house the front bumper was hanging off from the wing clips and it was covered in blood and something not very nice.
She hit a young deer on the A38, a glancing blow could not avoid it, that disappeared and she just had to carry on, busy road nowhere to stop.
Hope we’ve avoided an insurance claim for her, poor deer though.
I am not being flippant, I assure you . I enjoy driving my MX5 but as it’s an inanimate assembly of metal and plastic if it were damaged I’d be annoyed , but not emotionally upset. At a time when families are being blown to pieces in Ukraine, polio is breaking out in Gaza and many of us have to deal with the death or illness of family and friends , a minor -but irritating , yes - bump to a sports car seems to me to be a classic first world problem . I hope your car gets fixed soon but , y’know , it’s just a damn car ?
Fair enough, and you are totally entitled to your position, viewpoints and opinions etc. Freedom of speech etc.
You might not be emotionally upset because you maybe you aren’t emotionally attached to yours. I am. One may call that sad, silly etc if they like, but if they don’t get it, they don’t get it. It might be just a damn car to you, to me it isn’t. Nothing wrong or right about that.
I’m not playing emotive straw man cards, such as comparing to wars, disease, illness etc. I’m fortunate enough not to experience them personally (for now), hence a non issue in comparison.
I’ll leave it at that.
I don’t see a lot of difference between handling a phone (illegal) and handsfree, besides a government has declared one use to be illegal and the other, for the moment, legal.
My cars are all old, so I don’t have anything like that. NDs I think, and I suspect most owners take advantage of the hands free installation, despite that being as dangerous and distracting.
I’m pretty sure the other driver didn’t mean hit a car, and it was basically a mistake. Move on. This is when your legal cover included in your insurance kicks it. Gets the car fixed, according yo your schedule, with as few calls as needed. Let your insurers get that going, pay the excess. Legal cover will then make sure your costs are recovered.
While other driver has been charged, he can still plead not guilty. A police office has no power to put points on a licence, or extract a fine. Thats for the courts.
I was once attached to cars, not any more.
In 2000, my first MX5 was stolen from a MX5 Owners Club meeting. It was found about 30 minutes later on fire. Yeah, I was incredibly upset. I was upset when the police said they knew where the suspects were. They were sitting in a Loyalist pub down the road (Northern Ireland). Then I stopped being upset. I didn’t want any officers hurt over a car.
Within the club, a retired police officer told me of some grisley anecdotes how it used to be. There had been a spate of thefts from cars in a predominantly protestant area. Two kids were caught, from the other “side”. They were taken away and dumped in a Loyalist area. The kids ended up in hospita;, broken limbs. Thefts stopped. The retired officer wasn’t involved, but he was angered how fellow officers had acted.
About the same time, as SAZ9826 was taken, a car thief was found nailed to a farm gate outside of Lisburn. That’s not right. Its just a car.
After the police told me where the smoking wreck was, I was emotional. My MX5 buddies took me to take a pointless look. So there I was kicking 5 bells out of the car at midnight on a country lane, with other blokes in hoodies (it was cold) hanging around. No wonder the locals looked frightened as they cruised by. Probably thought we were paramilitaries extracting a toll.
Looks like your car needs a new back box. They might find more damage when they strip the car down. Hold your breath. In my experience, insisting on a particular repairer just leads to lengthened repair times.
What got me over it was the insurance settlement; I was able to get another car, and make it better.
Nice write up.
I know what you mean about insisting on a particular repairer, but he’s the only Mazda approved place for miles and i know a couple of people who have used the place for insurance (one person who had a soul red ND, and the other my brother, who’s got a Mazda3, and who’s into cars/detailing like I am) and they said the job was great in each case.
I’d prefer that to someone for some big company saying ‘Ceramic what’ etc etc .
Yes, I thought that too with the back box.
I agree with you too about hands v hands free driving; rest assured, I never even turn mine on when in a car (and it’s an old style phone anyway).
Regarding the points/court/booking etc, I see what you’re saying, but he admitted he was on his phone to a policeman/woman. Who then issued the ‘booking’. I’m hardly conversed in law (thankfully), but I think Houdini would have a job of getting out of a fine and points after he admitted doing it to a policeman.
On the bright side it still can be driven until you get a booked repair?
Perhaps we need to avoid talking to passengers to?
I think it can. It was ok after I drove for a while after the hit. I did hear some plasticy sounding moving, but I reckon it was the broken tail reg plate lights. I’ve put clear gorilla tape over them, to at least try to stop water going in the empty holes. I’m also fortunate that there are other cars in the family.
Regarding talking to passengers, I know what you’re saying (or maybe joking about), and of course that’ll never be banned, but I was only thinking earlier, I can’t think of anything really where if I multi task, I’m ‘better’ at each of the tasks than if I did them singularly.
If my Mrs is talking to me in the living room and I’m on the computer, I’m neither hearing what she’s saying (she’d argue I never do lol) nor concentrating what’s on the computer ‘better’ than individually. Ditto cleaning my teeth while doing some other task. I’m not cleaning my teeth as good as when I soley concentrate on them.
I’m totally out of touch with Traffic Law these days and maybe this only happens in Criminal Cases and someone pleads Not Guilty ???
But it’s a shame you can’t submit a ‘Victim Impact Statement’
My very first experience of ‘walking the beat’ [WPC 1978-81]
Was reporting someone for ‘parking within the confines of a zebra crossing’ - a lady who kept shouting ‘You can’t book me I’m a magistrate’s wife !’
She appealed and from memory it went to Crown Court where the judge doubled her fine and put even more points on her licence 
Let’s hope he appeals 
In my experience working later in life in Probation Service - offenders break the law because they make the thinking error of believing they won’t get caught. Hope the 6 points and fine will cause him to stop and think about using his mobile and he won’t shunt anyone else in future
Today, many think that rules and regulations shouldn’t apply to them. But when they fall foul after not complying with them (as in this case here), they don’t want to take any responsibility for their actions.
Years ago, although I had full respect for the law, if I did transgress, I was more concerned about what my father would do.
Agreed.
I too hate phone user/drivers after being Tboned by one a few years ago. He came straight out of a side road in London, completely ignoring the give way signs/lines and hit me right in the drivers door. He was going so fast that my van was tipped up onto two wheels and forced into a parked vehicle. The van was written off and my mate and i ended up in hospital and guess what?..he tried to deny responsibility by saying “They were going too fast” …15mph roughly. I see phone users talking and texting EVERY day! As an ND owner i can tell you that i would NEVER use my phone whilst driving, not least because driving the car requires my 100% concentration. Having never owned a car as nice as my ND, i would be mightily pi***d off if it got damaged, particularly if it was a phone user that did it, and may well react in the same fashion as ND12 even though it’s “only a car”.
Nice write up and understanding.
Thanks
That’s upto you, but studies indicate that talking to a passenger is safer than chatting to you on the phone.
3. Talking on a hands-free mobile phone is no different from talking to a passenger or listening to the radio.
Listening to the radio or talking to a passenger is safer than chatting on a phone, even if it is hands-free. Passengers are in the same driving environment, so they tend to stop talking or point out hazards when driving is difficult. It is also more mentally demanding to hold a conversation on the phone than with a passenger. This means that more of your mental resources are taken up with the conversation than with driving.
4. Talking on a hands-free mobile is a safe alternative to talking on a hand-held device, as your hands are on the steering wheel.
This is not the case. While having both hands on the steering wheel is of course important for safe driving, this doesn’t remove the dangers associated with talking on the phone, as it is the act of speaking on the phone that is dangerous. The risk of crashing is as high when using a hands-free mobile as when using a hand-held one , and merely talking on a mobile phone can slow reaction times of a twenty year old to that of a seventy year old.
…
8. Using hands-free mobiles while driving is not illegal, so it must be safe.While it is not illegal to use hands-free mobiles while driving, it is illegal to drive dangerously, carelessly, or when failing to exercise proper control of a vehicle. So, people can be prosecuted for using a hands-free mobile. The main reason that it is not currently a specific offence is that is difficult to enforce, although the technology to help enforce it is improving.
9. My car has an integrated digital system, so it must be safe.
These integrated systems create the illusion of safety, but this is not the case. They should only be used when the car is stationary …
…A recent campaign by Kent County Council addressed the issues of hands-free mobiles directly. They found that 55% of respondents used hands-free mobiles whilst driving. They also found that at 70 mph a driver at the drink-drive limit will take at least 35 metres to react in an emergency, but a person talking on a hands-free mobile will take at least 39 metres. A report by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) supported these results, as it found that driving is impaired more during a phone conversation than when blood alcohol level is 80mg (the UK legal limit).
There are some recent threads on insurance black boxes that suggest smart phones have enough sensors built, and constantly collecting data, integrating and talkiing to car sensor systems (microphones, seat airbag sensors) that it is possible to determine if its the driver or a passenger is using a phone, hands free or not.
In the OP’s crash, what would be the reaction be if the other party had gotten out and said “sorry for hitting your car, but I was on the old hands free”. A shrug and that’s ok?
or
“sorry for hitting your car, but I had just dropped my kebab and was reaching down to get it.”
or
“sorry for hitting your car, but I’m running a bit late for work so was having a quick shave”
or I dropped my cigarette on my trousers!
They can appeal, and unless there is direct witness corroboration they were using the phone, it might well be thrown out.
In this case, the police officer spoke to the driver twice, there was some confusion. He could probably try that he was shaken up after the crash, and got mixed up.
Will the police seize his phone, access phone records to prove exactly when a call was placed? No, but what the court will ask is the driver to produce evidence that he wasn’t using the phone, and issue a Witness Summons to the phone company (without which the phone company will not release data). I’m not sure what data is collected; phone calls made, but does it collect data on WhatsApp calls, or if someone was using the phone for some other purpose (listening to a recording etc). Its an interest flip to the usual innocent until proven guilty, rather than guilty until proven innocent.
Years ago, I was conducting some survey work, and borrowed the uni Seat van. It was a really cold day, and I was driving down a minor road. A downhill section was literally an ice rink. I paused, and chose poorly. In a low gear I proceeded, but gravity took over and I slid into a parked car. The owner came out aggrieved and insisted the RUC be called. A police patrol turned up. The officer got out and promptly fell over. He asked what the problem was. I lost control on an icey ungritted section of road. He asked was any one hurt. No. So why was I called? He lectured the other car owner for misusing his time.
Or sneezed because of hay fever. I cannot take hay fever medication due to the potential effect such medication has on the operation of machinery.
Or other driver threw lit cigarette through my window, I managed to catch it, and threw it out, but I didn’t see you. Where is the cigarette. Somewhere on the road, verge 20 yards away.
Cheers, nice outlines.
I called my own insurance (LV) as 1) I’ve found them great up to now in any communication I’ve had with them (on anything) and 2) I’m going with who I want working on my car (a Mazda approved one with a really good reputation). I’m not having some big chain accident repair company who does cars like Lucy’s PCP one all day, touching my pride and joy. So i rang my insurance company to get in early. This is massively stressful to me, dammed if I’m not having it repaired by whom I want. Not an unreasonable expectation.
I also wondered about any careless driving ‘addition’. As I thought, surely it’s careless driving to whack a car from behind due to being on a mobile. I mean, there certainly was no ‘care’ to my car of I exhibited by the driver in this instance. It’s kind of careless by definition of the word!
Considering in-car talking to a passenger verses so-called ‘hands free’ communication via a mobile, I’m with ast’s PDF above. Point 3) just makes so much sense and point 9) is frightening. I just really wish they’d ban/technology to stop all forms of mobile phone use in a vehicle. I’ve been passionate in my detest for this sort of stuff for years, and it’s almost beyond satire what I get thumped in my ND involving a freaking mobile. I see so many people using them when ‘driving’. Are they obsessed with the things.
Regarding insurance company repairers. A Dutch HGV driver did this to my van last year.
This is how it looked after a “dodgy” insurance repairer fixed it.
This is how it looks after i went ballistic at the insurance company.
Needless to say the insurance company tried to save money by getting a cheap job done, and if anything happens to my ND, i will certainly be insisting on a Mazda approved repairer.
The woman he is having an affair with?