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First car accident whose at fault

I was at an intersecrion going through the traffic lights when a car coming in the opposite direction turned into me hitting car on drivers front panal and front bumper. The car is a write off, police were at the scene and their were witnesses coming from the other direction who say i ran a red light. I dont recall the light being red as far as im concerned it was green and i was happily driving along not speeding etc through the traffic lights at 30mph in a 40mph zone. The police were very rude and took the other drivers side straight away and advised me i maybe summons to court. They did not give any ref number neither did they breathalise anyone. Does anybody have idea how this case is going to turn out? I have not admitted liability as far as im concerned my light was green, they were coming through a filter into a yellow box unfortunately they have all the witnesses and i dont have any

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Reply 1
Avatar for Zarek
Zarek
21
You seem to be up against it a bit. Take some advise from your insurance company I think. You might have to take it on the chin.
Reply 2
Avatar for sek510i
sek510i
16
Nobody on here can tell you for sure if you were at fault. We weren't there and didn't have any involvement in this incident.

Only you can really tell what you saw. Are you sure that the light was green for you?

If you've skipped a red light, then you'll probably have to pay more for insurance costs in the future. If the police officer in charge decides it's worth the effort, they'll take you to court for careless driving (''Driving without due care an attention'' under the Road Traffic Act, if it helps), and you might get some points on your license or a fine if you're found to have gone through a red.

If you've passed your test within two years and get more than six points, you'll have to resit your theory and practical.

If you are found not guilty or if you're not sent to court, it might still affect your insurance costs.

Finally, please don't take this as legal advice. You should probably find somebody who knows more about traffic law than I do to give you some advice too.
You could've zoned out and missed the red light. I can't really see someone pointlessly chancing it like that (though surprisingly it does happen), so my train of thought is that the right turners from the other direction had a green light.

Whatever the real scenario was, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. They've got witnesses, you haven't. You're gonna have to take it on the chin.

One thing I do find odd is that no one was breathalyzed. It's standard procedure to breathalyze those who've been involved in an accident.
Original post by TheMcSame
You could've zoned out and missed the red light. I can't really see someone pointlessly chancing it like that (though surprisingly it does happen), so my train of thought is that the right turners from the other direction had a green light.

Whatever the real scenario was, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. They've got witnesses, you haven't. You're gonna have to take it on the chin.

One thing I do find odd is that no one was breathalyzed. It's standard procedure to breathalyze those who've been involved in an accident.


I agree.
Reply 5
Avatar for Talon
Talon
18
This is why I drive with a dashcam.
Reply 6
Avatar for okayden
okayden
this is why you should get a dashcam, they are cheap and could save thousands.
Original post by WoodyMKC
If you've got several witnesses that say they saw you running a red, you're pretty much f***ed mate. If it's what several people saw then you may have made a mistake? Happens to a lot of people.
he said the 'witnesses' were coming from the opposite direction.
How could they possibly know the colour of the light?
Original post by mphysical
he said the 'witnesses' were coming from the opposite direction.
How could they possibly know the colour of the light?


Exactly.

And it could well have been green for the other car but in order to turn right the car had to wait for the oncoming traffic to pass anyway.

I feel like the OPs light was green, and the other cars was green too but because that car was turning right it still had to give way to oncoming traffic (OPs car) and didn't. Maybe that's why the witnesses thought he ran a red light, because they saw that the other cars light was green.

I don't know, seems pretty stupid but sometimes those systems can catch people off if they lack local knowledge.
I would really push OP that those witnesses lack credibility because how would they know you ran a red light.
Original post by mphysical
he said the 'witnesses' were coming from the opposite direction.
How could they possibly know the colour of the light?


Totally aware of that, but if he has no witnesses and the other guy does, even if what those witnesses are saying isn't accurate but is all the same, then that's just hard luck on OP's part since, unless he can obtain CCTV footage, he has no way of proving his innocence.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by mphysical
he said the 'witnesses' were coming from the opposite direction.
How could they possibly know the colour of the light?


If it goes to court that would be for OP's defence to argue. They would be entitled to a copy of all evidence used against him. If he can prove the witnesses were not in a position to see the red/green light he may be able to get their statements thrown out.

The fact that there seem to be several witnesses saying the same thing would suggest they won't all be lying.

Find out if there's CCTV covering the junction.
Original post by Duncan2012
If it goes to court that would be for OP's defence to argue. They would be entitled to a copy of all evidence used against him. If he can prove the witnesses were not in a position to see the red/green light he may be able to get their statements thrown out.

The fact that there seem to be several witnesses saying the same thing would suggest they won't all be lying.

Find out if there's CCTV covering the junction.


Not much of a defence tbh.

Obviously, I don't know for sure what the light layout is, but with it being a 40MPH road, I'd wager that it has filter lights for right turners. The mere mention of filter lights would throw this defence out the window. If the filter is green, then the oncoming direction is going to be red, with the possible exception of those turning left/right (left turners will probably have a give way just after the lights).

But yes, it's worth seeing if you can find any CCTV footage OP.
(edited 7 years ago)
If it is a normal junction with no filter light then there is no way those witnesses would know if the light was red, however if there was a filter green arrow then the other light will be red unless the traffic lights were faulty. I would imagine if there is CCTV it will be looked at before anything went to court.
Original post by Superfly1
I was at an intersecrion going through the traffic lights when a car coming in the opposite direction turned into me hitting car on drivers front panal and front bumper. The car is a write off, police were at the scene and their were witnesses coming from the other direction who say i ran a red light. I dont recall the light being red as far as im concerned it was green and i was happily driving along not speeding etc through the traffic lights at 30mph in a 40mph zone. The police were very rude and took the other drivers side straight away and advised me i maybe summons to court. They did not give any ref number neither did they breathalise anyone. Does anybody have idea how this case is going to turn out? I have not admitted liability as far as im concerned my light was green, they were coming through a filter into a yellow box unfortunately they have all the witnesses and i dont have any


We're not American - we don't have 'intersections'. Do you mean crossroads?

People aren't automatically breathalysed at the scene of an accident. Not one single person on here can tell you how this incident will end because we weren't there, and we don't have any objective details of the accident. Given the junction was traffic-light controlled, someone went through a red light - I imagine the investigation will be centred on who exactly it was. Without knowing the layout of the junction, what traffic was under control of lights and what wasn't, whether there were filter lanes etc, it's impossible to say what happened.
Original post by TheMcSame
Not much of a defence tbh.

Obviously, I don't know for sure what the light layout is, but with it being a 40MPH road, I'd wager that it has filter lights for right turners. The mere mention of filter lights would throw this defence out the window. If the filter is green, then the oncoming direction is going to be red, with the possible exception of those turning left/right (left turners will probably have a give way just after the lights).

But yes, it's worth seeing if you can find any CCTV footage OP.


OP's defence would have to be 'the other car went through/turned right on red'. If it comes down to 'who went through the red light' then getting any contrary evidence thrown out would be a big help. Assuming any CCTV/cameras back up OP's position.
Original post by okayden
this is why you should get a dashcam, they are cheap and could save thousands.


Although i dont currently have one myself, i agree that they come in very useful in situations like this.
Reply 16
Avatar for okayden
okayden
Original post by Emma:-)
Although i dont currently have one myself, i agree that they come in very useful in situations like this.


buy one! mine was only £30 off amazon and took 10 mins to setup
Reply 17
Avatar for Talon
Talon
18
Original post by Emma:-)
Although i dont currently have one myself, i agree that they come in very useful in situations like this.


Even if you don't have an accident, you inevitably end up catching people doing stupid things and can send them in to one of the people who make compilation videos for youtube. :biggrin:
Original post by Talon
Even if you don't have an accident, you inevitably end up catching people doing stupid things and can send them in to one of the people who make compilation videos for youtube. :biggrin:


I wish id had one last week- i was driving along the main road past my local bus station and had a bus pull out in front of me. I had to brake sharpish. When i beeped at the bus, the driver then turned round and stuck 2 fingers up at me.
Id have loved to have that on camera to send to the bus company.
Original post by TheMcSame
Not much of a defence tbh.

Obviously, I don't know for sure what the light layout is, but with it being a 40MPH road, I'd wager that it has filter lights for right turners. The mere mention of filter lights would throw this defence out the window. If the filter is green, then the oncoming direction is going to be red, with the possible exception of those turning left/right (left turners will probably have a give way just after the lights).

But yes, it's worth seeing if you can find any CCTV footage OP.


There's a 40mph road near me, and people can turn right before the filter light goes green if there's no oncoming traffic.

I feel like the woman who turned right had a green light but was meant to have given way to oncoming traffic. That's the hunch I've got. I've known some people to be a bit confused with that sort of system.

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