Any assistance greatly appreciated on this one.
I was involved in a collision and the other driver is claiming I was driving without due care and attention. I would like to know if I am really at fault.
I was driving along a main A road, national speed limit, I was driving a fully loaded van and towing a heavy trailer up an incline. I was doing about 40. There was a lot of distance between me and a van ahead of me. As the van approached a side road on the left it indicated, slowed down and turned down it. There was a car waiting at a give way sign of the same road. Because I was quite a long way behind I knew the van would be round the corner by the time I caught up. The car didn't pull out the whole time the van was indicating, as the van got about half way round however, the waiting car decided to pull out (left) and then braked (staggered junction - she was going to turn right immediately after pulling out). I swerved to the left, my offside collided with her nearside bumper. The collision was relatively slow and low impact, about 10 mph. Very minimal damage to both cars but mine was written off (old Ford Transit not worth repairing).
I took a video to record what she was saying when we were exchanging details, she doesn't know about this yet. On the video she says I was overtaking the van and speeding. She also says she didn't see me and thought it was safe to pull out, she also says in the video that I should have seen her and slowed down to let her out. She has told her insurance company however that she never pulled out of the side road, she has said she was in the main road the whole time, stationary and waiting to turn right. She also told her insurers that 10 cars went past on the other side of the road before the collision, which surely I would have hit if I was overtaking. It does make me wonder why she pulled out if it wasn't clear for her to go across the staggered junction and how she could have possibly known I was speeding. And if she did think I was speeding then why did she pull out? The approach to the junction is a long straight road, very good visibility, sunny afternoon.
People keep telling me that because I hit the the back of her car then I'm automatically at fault. Is this true? The only way I think I could have avoided her is if I had stopped completely before getting in line with the junction. i don't think this would be reasonable on a main carriageway and arguably more dangerous. I think she was being impatient and thought she would pull out in front of me and force me to stop but misjudged it.
Any help greatly appreciated
I was involved in a collision and the other driver is claiming I was driving without due care and attention. I would like to know if I am really at fault.
I was driving along a main A road, national speed limit, I was driving a fully loaded van and towing a heavy trailer up an incline. I was doing about 40. There was a lot of distance between me and a van ahead of me. As the van approached a side road on the left it indicated, slowed down and turned down it. There was a car waiting at a give way sign of the same road. Because I was quite a long way behind I knew the van would be round the corner by the time I caught up. The car didn't pull out the whole time the van was indicating, as the van got about half way round however, the waiting car decided to pull out (left) and then braked (staggered junction - she was going to turn right immediately after pulling out). I swerved to the left, my offside collided with her nearside bumper. The collision was relatively slow and low impact, about 10 mph. Very minimal damage to both cars but mine was written off (old Ford Transit not worth repairing).
I took a video to record what she was saying when we were exchanging details, she doesn't know about this yet. On the video she says I was overtaking the van and speeding. She also says she didn't see me and thought it was safe to pull out, she also says in the video that I should have seen her and slowed down to let her out. She has told her insurance company however that she never pulled out of the side road, she has said she was in the main road the whole time, stationary and waiting to turn right. She also told her insurers that 10 cars went past on the other side of the road before the collision, which surely I would have hit if I was overtaking. It does make me wonder why she pulled out if it wasn't clear for her to go across the staggered junction and how she could have possibly known I was speeding. And if she did think I was speeding then why did she pull out? The approach to the junction is a long straight road, very good visibility, sunny afternoon.
People keep telling me that because I hit the the back of her car then I'm automatically at fault. Is this true? The only way I think I could have avoided her is if I had stopped completely before getting in line with the junction. i don't think this would be reasonable on a main carriageway and arguably more dangerous. I think she was being impatient and thought she would pull out in front of me and force me to stop but misjudged it.
Any help greatly appreciated