UK road traffic accident solicitor explains how to claim compensation for a car accident following a collision on the roads whilst a vehicle is performing a three point turn and the third party driver lies about the accident events
Car accident victim question
I was driving along a 30 mph road in Oxford on my was to London when I saw a vehicle up ahead performing a three point turn. The car had passed onto the other side of the road and stopped. I presumed that the driver had seen me and as my side of the road was completely clear I dropped my speed to 20 mph and continued along the road. I had my wife as a front seat passenger and one of her friend’s was seated in the back.
As my car was passing the other vehicle the driver suddenly reversed at speed and hit my car on the wind of the driver’s side. The force of the collision brought our car to sudden stop.
The other driver apologised and explained that he had not seen me and he would pay for any damage so we did not need to take any witness details. the noise of the collision was extremely loud and I think a resident on the street or a witness must have called the police.
I banged my head and my neck was sore, my wife had smashed her hand on the dashboard and had a pain in her lower back and the back seat passenger also had neck pains. An ambulance arrived and took us to hospital – I was diagnosed with whiplash and mild concussion, my wife had a fractured bone in her hand a strain to her lumbar spine and the back seat passenger also had whiplash neck injuries.
I have since been in touch with the third party driver who has totally changed his story and denies any fault – he is saying that he had slowed down to take a left turn and I collided with the rear of his vehicle.
I have explained what happened to my motor insurer and despite this I have had to pay an excess to repair my car, my no claims has been lost and my premium has shot through the roof.
Is there anything I can do about the third party driver’s brazen lies and can the other passengers and I make a claim for our injuries?
Road traffic accident solicitor response
It is all too common that a driver who is at fault for a road traffic accident will accept liability at the scene so no independent evidence is obtained to verify how the RTA in reality occurred and then deny liability and quite often attempt to claim compensation from the innocent driver lying about the circumstances of the accident.
In your car accident there are a number of sources of information which will support your version events including the police report which will have been completed at the accident scene (the police will show in a diagram the points of impact on the vehicle, measure any skid marks and obtain witness evidence – including the person who originally reported the incident); the vehicles can be examined by a crash reconstruction engineer who can give expert evidence as to the mechanics of the accident; you yourself can give evidence as to exactly how the accident happened which is borne out by the nature of the injuries you have suffered.
You should involve a specialist road traffic accident solicitor as soon as possible to look at your claim, obtain a police report and gather the necessary evidence to ensure the third party driver is liable for paying compensation for the repair of your vehicle and pain and suffering the whiplash, fractured hand, concussion and back strain injuries have caused.
Your solicitor will liaise directly with your motor insurer to ensure your no claims is reinstated and your premium you pay is returned to normal. Any excess you have paid will also be obtained form third party driver and his motor insurance company.
To see how much compensation you can claim for all manner of injuries in a car accident – click car accident compensation.
