I was driving along a country road tonight and a ford transit van was comming at me in the opposite direction slammed on the brakes and banged into me.

My car has a cracked bumper and bent wing and smashed indicator and at the scene was told this is knock for knock as the road dioesnt have any markings or signs.. Is this true.

The driver was foreign and diidnt understand english and the local farmer backed me up saying that he was driving to fast and had been all day (going backward and forwards to variousjobs) but unfortunatley for me he didnt want to give me his details and just drove offf as he says he doesnt want to get involved.

After speaking to a few walkers in the same area they confirmed that its knock for knock and nothing can be done apparently they see it all the time.

I will post pictures tomorrow

Never mind walkers and farmers, you want to be talking to the police! Did you get the reg of the van?

My guess is that he'll be driving on an expired foreign license, and have no "Hushnurance"

get his details and report him to both the police and your insurance.

Never mind walkers and farmers, you want to be talking to the police! Did you get the reg of the van?

Yes i took a pic of the van with my phone and have reported it to the police as i couldnt understand him to get his details. I also got told off on the phone as they said i should of got his details at the scene :eek:

Its not worth me claiming on my insurance as i can source a bumper, light housing and wind cheap its just that i know he was in the wrong, Just wish the bloody farmer would back me up

Yes i took a pic of the van with my phone and have reported it to the police as i couldnt understand him to get his details. I also got told off on the phone as they said i should of got his details at the scene :eek:

It's your call whether you report it to your insurance Co. Most policies state that you must report all accidents to the Ins Co. If the repairs wont cost a lot more than your excess, then it's worth just getting the repairs done yourself. If it's gonna be megabucks, then report it. They will be able to tell if there's any insurance on the van by checking the plate on the Motor Insurer's database. All the police can do is try and trace the van, interview the driver, and if necessary, prosecute for document offences. They usually only prosecute for driving offences of there is a glaring lack of due care, serious injury, or extensive damage.

I was told by the police that if no njuries were caused at the scene then it doesnt need to be reported but they did take both vehicle details over the phone.

Just wish this farmer gave me his details as he seemed to be going hell for leather at him for going to fast all day.

will post the pics tomorrow - thanks guys

Edited 20 April, 200917 yr by justinbarrow

I was told by the police that if no njuries were caused at the scene then it doesnt need to be reported but they did take both vehicle details over the phone.

Just wish this farmer gave me his details as he seemed to be going hell for leather at him for going to fast all day.

will post the pics tomorrow - thanks guys

Just a tip, and will probably offend him, but next time take a photo of the driver too

With so many of our foreign friends over here, it may help the police if you have his photo.

And I wouldn't worry too much about offending him anyway, seeing as he just smashed ur car up......

This will probably interest no-one, but Knock for Knock was an old agreement between insurers regarding subrogation rights (the insurer's outlay) and nothing to do with 50/50 settlements.

I know how you feel mate, similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago driving down a country lane (works car), driving nice and slow, when I come round a corner and see an old Nissan Cabstar bearing down on me.

I managed to stop before the other driver even saw me; then she looked up in abject horror (probably thinking "Oh crap, I'm going to crash head on into a police volvo"), braked hard, skidded on a fresh pile of horse poo and crashed into the hedge, missing my car by a good ten feet.

The annoying thing is, because I was in a Police vehicle, it gets recorded as a "police vehicle incident" and stays on MY driving record!

...and that's even with her admitting she was going too fast because "I never see other cars down this road"

Hope you get it all sorted fairly cheap!

Fro hwat you have described, this is a non-reportable RTC as damage was only caused to both vehicles. Had either party been injured then this would have been classed as an injury RTC and thus you would both have had to report the incident to the police.

There is still a requirement under the Road Traffic Act to exchange insurance details at the scene no mattter who's fault it was and no matter if it is just a damage only or injury RTC. Thus the other party has commited an offence of failing to furnish his insurance detials after an accident.

It is your decision whether or not to claim on your insurance and I won't discuss insurance declarations as you won't like the answer to that one and i think that it is obvious;o)

If some foreigner damaged my car by driving like a tw4t he would have been injured as a result of the accident for certain

he wouldnt of got back in the van, thats for sure! only the ambulance van lol

cops would of been called and he would be gettin CPR of someone!

GOD help the person to hit me, mind how come you let him drive off, should of called cops and not moved, get him done for fleein the sceine lol.

Just a tip, and will probably offend him, but next time take a photo of the driver too

Yep. I've had someone deny it all after rear-ending me. A visit from the coppers changed his mind.

From what I read it was the farmer who drove off and he was wanting the farmers details as a witness?

how come you let him drive off, should of called cops and not moved, get him done for fleein the sceine lol.

The farmer who was backing me up pi)_ed off quick aswell and when he heard it was knock for knock he laughed (about the only thing i could understand about him) and got in his van, this is when i took the pic of the back of his van.

Of all things it was a christian aid charirty van!

As for the location the nearest poilice station was 35 miles away honestly i wouldnt of liked to have a heart attack in the area by the time anyone got to you you will have been long gone.

I later found out that there was 2 other "proper road" routes i could of taken but it was the bloody sat nav that took me on the route i had taken.

Wouldnt of minded but it was to get some computer gear off ebay, networking stuff etc and it i saved around £120 from buying the stuff new only to have this happen, I just may as well of bought the stuff new and had a damage free car.

Edited 22 April, 200917 yr by justinbarrow

Forgot to say, I had 2 quotes and the cheapest was £400 what i didnt realise untill a body shop took a look he has pushed my drivers side wind up into the drivers door (only by a few mm) but enough to catch the door when you open and shut it hense a loud creaking noise on the door and scrubbing of paint.

Can anyone let me know if a 51 plate octavia has the same front side indicator case as my MK 1 S reg octy.

They seem to look very slightly different.

Cheers everyone

Can anyone let me know if a 51 plate octavia has the same front side indicator case as my MK 1 S reg octy.

They seem to look very slightly different.

Cheers everyone

They are different. The older ones aren't crystal lenses (ie they are slightly "frosted")

They'll still fit though...

They are different. The older ones aren't crystal lenses (ie they are slightly "frosted")

They'll still fit though...

Thanks i got 2 of the crystal type yesterday for £5 but they seem to not fit, at first i thought it was because of the damage where its bent the wing but i tried fitted this type of indicator housing and it didnt fit either, its like slightly out where the bolt goes into it at the top and the angle seems very slighty different where it meets the front wing so you have a slight gap.

i always advise to get a photo of damage, location, vehicles, tax discs and all passengers+driver (just fit them in on a wide scene photo and normally as they inspect their damage and run their hand over the damage looks good).

Are you going to post some pics of the damage? It might help with assessing whether or not you have the right indicators (£5 is pretty cheap for facelift ones which is why I'm still running with old ones on my car!!)

I will post some pics soon, Have reported it to my insurance company now and they have logged it as infomation only. I have contacted the Clothes aid charity who the van belongs to and explained how disgusted i was at their drivers driving, They said they were sorry and will be doing a full investigation with the driver concerned.

When he gets asked what happed it will all be down to me I explained that i couldnt hardly understand his english and this person said yeah we have quite a few drivers who struggle with english, Obviously roads aswell.

He said that the driver will be dealt with and i will get a letter of apology so will have to wait and see but thought i would mention it to my insurance just incase he says he has whiplash or something.

Here are some pics of the damage im sure you will agree its not worth bothering over but still feel fed up that it happend...heres the links.

Cracked Bumper.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj41/justinbarrow/CarDamage2.jpg

Front slightly further away.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj41/justinbarrow/CarDamage3.jpg

Side view where bumper dosent meet up right to the front wing.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj41/justinbarrow/CarDamage6.jpg

Side view slightly further away

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj41/justinbarrow/CarDamage4.jpg

The actual place where it happend.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj41/justinbarrow/CarRoad1.jpg

The road and conditions at the time

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj41/justinbarrow/Road.jpg

I have replaced the smashed indicator housing allready but feel that the car help up ok just lucky to have got away with a few pushed panels and cracked bumper really.

Does anyone feel that my bumper can be glued.

Cheers