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I was in an accident am I liable?

So I was in a car accident today and I don’t know if i’m liable or not. So I was driving on a side road at 25mph and there were about 4 pigeons in the road and id assume they just fly away if I got close, but they didn’t. I emergency brakes and then they flew away but someone ran into me from behind.

They came running out the car “what the F are you doing”,”give me your details you have damaged my car”. I didn’t admit liability or anything I exchanged details. But I don’t know if i’m liable or not, if I didn’t brake all 4 birds would have died. Please let me know if it is my fault or not? I have a dashcam which was recoding the whole thing so I just need to know if I am go blame or not?

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Reply 1

Kinyonga

I can't answer your question I'm afraid, but thank you for stopping for the pigeons :smile:

Reply 2

nintysixthousand

even though you should have stopped to save the pigeons, i dont think your legally supposed to stop for animals but im not sure

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Kinyonga

I can't answer your question I'm afraid, but thank you for stopping for the pigeons :smile:

Yeah I would have felt awful if I hit them

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Yeah I generally have a good idea who’s meant to be liable but I have no idea in this case

Original post by nintysixthousand

even though you should have stopped to save the pigeons, i dont think your legally supposed to stop for animals but im not sure

Reply 5

Popsicle_pirate

I believe small animals like birds are not considered 'large enough' to warrant an emergency stop because hitting them would not put you at risk and there is the potential risk to other road users if it causes a collision as it did in your case. However, the nature of an emergency stop means you don't really have time to check if there is someone behind you and I would argue they were driving too close. Plus as a vet student I personally don't think it is reasonable to deliberately drive into any animal!

Reply 6

Leanne2505

I was taught when driving that if you hit someone from behind it is always your fault (therefore making it the other persons fault in this situation). That being said, I was also always told you should never stop for an animal. But I’d say it was the other drivers fault for not being aware or having the correct spacing for the right amount of braking distance. As a driver you should always be prepared for the driver in front of you to emergency stop. So I’d say lesson learned for you about being more aware of what’s around you (as in, better to hit the pigeons than be rear ended) but that in this case it was their fault as they were obviously driving too fast/not enough distance between you two. Stand your ground on this one, they should have had the adequate braking distance needed

Reply 7

black tea

Their fault for not paying attention and not stopping. What if it was a small child in front of your car?

Reply 8

username2393237

I’m not sure, but I think you’re generally liable if you hit someone from behind. I could be wrong.

Reply 9

yoo9

they're responsible, they didn't react properly when you hit the brakes, if anything you can sue them.

Reply 10

Unexpectedly

Although I would have felt sorry for the pigeons if they had been killed, I am a firm believer in thinking that human lives always take the number 1 priority over a bird's life, if you end up killing a bird in order to save several human lives, so be it.

Reply 11

the bear

the best thing is to hoot your horn when pigeons are in front of your car.

Reply 12

Enginerd.

As above, why not horn?

Reply 13

Anonymous #1

It didn’t come to my mind at the time. normally they just fly off before you really even get near them.

Original post by Enginerd.

As above, why not horn?

Reply 14

Anonymous #2

were you in an accident that wasn't your fault? call injury lawyers for you

Reply 15

Anonymous #1

I will try then with my insurance, I will submit my dashcam footage and see what they can do.

Original post by yoo9

they're responsible, they didn't react properly when you hit the brakes, if anything you can sue them.

Reply 16

Anonymous #3

Original post by Anonymous

were you in an accident that wasn't your fault? call injury lawyers for you

Don't forget to check if you have PPI.com whilst you're at it.

Reply 17

doodle_333

I think whoever is behind has to take responsibility legally generally as they should leave enough space to react if you emergency brake. But honestly this is essentially your fault. They'd probably have flown away fine and if not... it was a couple of pigeons, I love animals and would never advocate for killing one but you could have injured peopled in the car behind too by emergency stopping. It was really stupid.

Reply 18

bones-mccoy

You should never admit liability even if it's obviously your fault, I've just taken out insurance and one of the terms is that a claim will be automatically void if you say the accident was caused by yourself. But generally speaking, the person who hits another vehicle from behind will be held responsible.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 19

Anonymous #4

Cars nowadays have crumple zones and stuff so the humans in the car would probably live. Although, they will have to pay for a damaged car. Worst case scenario, injury to the driver.

Original post by Unexpectedly