It happened at 03:10 this morning in Brecon on my way to Bristol Airport taking two guests for their homebound flight.   I stopped at the traffic lights on the Struet and started off when the lights went green and a young girl in a Fiat 500 came across the lights after hers went to red and took the front off the car, though the airbags weren't activated.  This was after about 3 minutes of a 1 1/2 hour journey!  

 

A taxi came to the lights soon after this happened and luckily the driver said he's available for hire and he'd take our passengers to the airport.  The police were in attendance and I had a breath test (for th first time ever) and blew a zero.  They left it for us to sort out with the insurance company as there were no proof of who was in the wrong, but they gave us a lift home.

 

I now wait to see if it's repairable or a write off.

Ouch! Hope no one was hurt.

 I have seen less damage than this be a write off. 

Were you happy with the way the car performed in the crash?

Best of luck, might be up for a new model if it's a write off? Or time for a change?

Cars can be replaced as long as people are ok. Obviously annoying and frustrating when it happens to you. 

1 hour ago, pandahill said:

Ouch! Hope no one was hurt.

 I have seen less damage than this be a write off. 

Were you happy with the way the car performed in the crash?

Best of luck, might be up for a new model if it's a write off? Or time for a change?

No one was badly hurt, but some were a little shaken and bruised.  The car was fine in the crash, but the other car just caught the front bumper and carried on a little way before she could stop, so there was no big impact.  If I'd been a little quicker away from the lights and she'd hit the side of the car, it could be a more serious matter.

I retire at the end of the year and was planning to see how much I've got in my pension pot and what we want to do, such as travelling, before seeing what we can afford to change the car, but all that may now have to change.

Really sorry to hear that.  Main thing obviously that nobody was hurt but hope you get sorted okay with the insurance company.  Were there any cameras around the junction?

I had the misfortune of running up the back of someone a few weeks ago. Less front end damage than that but the three front airbags and all the seatbelt pretensioners fired. Car was declared a category D writeoff so I replaced it with another Superb which I collected last weekend.

 

If none of the pyrotechnic devices fired and the chassis isn't damaged you might get it back on the road ok.

Glad to hear you and the passengers are OK. The car can be repaired or replaced but we need you and yours in one piece to enjoy that retirement you mentioned!

21 hours ago, Superb170 said:

Really sorry to hear that.  Main thing obviously that nobody was hurt but hope you get sorted okay with the insurance company.  Were there any cameras around the junction?

No, there are no cameras at this junction, so I think blame is going to be 50:50.

21 hours ago, chimaera said:

I had the misfortune of running up the back of someone a few weeks ago. Less front end damage than that but the three front airbags and all the seatbelt pretensioners fired. Car was declared a category D writeoff so I replaced it with another Superb which I collected last weekend.

 

If none of the pyrotechnic devices fired and the chassis isn't damaged you might get it back on the road ok.

I've emailed the photos to the insurance company and their initial reaction is that it'll be a write off.  I'll need to start looking for a replacement if this is their decision.  They said they should decide and give me a valuation by Friday, but I just want to get on and know what is happening to it!  It's such a shame as it was a lovely car, it's given no trouble and had taken us all over Europe.

Ouch...sorry to read this but, as folk have said, no one was hurt.

 

....but it is inconvenient and a pain to sort out. Good luck with it....

 

Dave

Glad to hear you are OK.

 

I am not sure what your insurance policy is like in the UK, but in New Zealand I would be fighting hard for her insurance to take the full brunt of the costs given that you have witnesses (your passengers) of her breaking the law causing the accident. 

 

http://www.accident-claim-expert.co.uk/car-accident/running-red-light.html

 

Its a good time to consider getting a dash camera too.

 

Good luck

Matt

12 hours ago, williamshatnerspants said:

I am not sure what your insurance policy is like in the UK, but in New Zealand I would be fighting hard for her insurance to take the full brunt of the costs given that you have witnesses (your passengers) of her breaking the law causing the accident. 

 

You would struggle to prove the claim, given that it was the early hours of the morning, there were no CCTV cameras at the junction, and no INDEPENDENT witnesses.

 

Note the capitalisation - generally passengers in a private vehicle are not regarded as being independent by Insurers, as with some exceptions (taxis etc.) they are normally either related to or friends of the driver.

Additionally a passenger in the rear has a very restricted view of the surroundings, even if they are concentrating on them.

9 hours ago, BJM said:

 

You would struggle to prove the claim, given that it was the early hours of the morning, there were no CCTV cameras at the junction, and no INDEPENDENT witnesses.

 

Note the capitalisation - generally passengers in a private vehicle are not regarded as being independent by Insurers, as with some exceptions (taxis etc.) they are normally either related to or friends of the driver.

Additionally a passenger in the rear has a very restricted view of the surroundings, even if they are concentrating on them.

 

Good point. I read "guests" and assumed they were of the 'independent' variety ;o)

 

I've had a couple of accidents where the insurer of the driver who caused the accident tried to 'share the blame' with my insurer. I had no witnesses either. I took them to the small claims court (also called 'dispute tribunal') and was awarded full costs. In another case I simply told my insurer that if they accepted I was partly to blame I would take all of my business elsewhere. Maybe I was lucky, but I do think insurance companies often take the easy route, rather than stand up for their clients.

On 2017-5-21 at 23:14, williamshatnerspants said:

Its a good time to consider getting a dash camera too.

 

This ^

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but an £80 investment can quite often save an awful lot of hassle.

no CCTV at the crossing?

Im guessing repair costs would easily exceed £4000 and probably over half the trade value of the car

 

mine cost £2200 to fix - just a slight skim across my front (RH lamp not even damaged)

 

2 wings, bonnet, grille headlamp, etc.

 

Edited 26 May, 20179 yr by lichfielddriver

Looks like this was written off,it's now in Bristol on Coparts website as a Cat D,pre accident value £11,900 current bid £150.00.

Good spot, up to £525 now...

 

https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/30288547

 

Thanks for all your well wishes and I apologise for not responding to you all sooner.  I've got a dash cam, but I didn't bother to connect it up that morning as I thought they'd be no-one around at that hour of the morning! Doh!  And there's no CCTV in the area where we had our accident.

 

It is our car at Copart and it was written off.  The estimated retail value on the auction site of £11,900 is the settlement we received, which I though was a fair price and they paid up promptly and we received a transfer to our bank last Tuesday.  I see the current bid on the car is now £1,500.  Copart were very helpful when we went there to collect our personal belongings.  I thought some items, like our Severn Bridge Tag, may have disappeared, but everything was as we left it that Saturday morning.  A Polish lady on reception took our details, issued us with hi-vis jackets and called for someone to drive us to where our car was located in their yard.  He was very helpful too, checked it over to ensure we had everything and gave us a large plastic bag to put everything in.  

 

We went to Sinclairs of Swansea last Saturday and put down a deposit on a 66 plate Superb hatch 2 litre diesel 190 L & K and hope it'll be as good as the last one.  It's got a sunroof and 19" wheels that are extras that I don't think I'd have bothered with if I was buying from new, but they're nice to have!  It's an ex-management car, so I haven't seen it yet apart from in photos, but I'm hoping it'll be OK.  I can't imagine it'll come with any scrapes or dents or that someone's been chain-smoking inside, but if it does I'll reject it.  It's currently on a SORN at Milton Keynes and it'll take about another week until I can collect it, but I haven't needed it yet as I've been off work ill last week but I'm hoping to be able to return on Monday.  If all goes well, we're hoping to make a trip to visit SWMBOs parents, family and friends in Klaipeda, Lithuania and Riga, Latvia in late August/early September and put it through its paces.

 

Edit 11.06.17: Looking at Copart's auction site for my car, the picture of the instrument display shows the tank of diesel is full to the brim as I only filled up a couple of miles before the accident.  I could have saved myself £50 if I knew what was going to happen!

Edited 11 June, 20179 yr by Penpusher

Glad to hear things are working out for you and all the best with the new one.  You'll love the SIII and it is an improved car from an already excellent SII.