A good few months ago whilst driving my artic I took a wrong turn and found myself in a smallish business park late one evening (it was dark outside). I continued to the far end where there was a space plenty big enough for my to swing right, reverse back and then swing right again to get turned round and get out. I noticed that there were a couple of cars parked up in the area on what would be my blindside as I was reversing but I was well aware of them and could see them at all times. To my knowledge, I completed the maneouvre without hitting anything and was particularly aware of the trailer overhang as I turned right to pull out in that it didn’t catch anything.
A week later the police force from the area I was in at the time had made contact with my company wanting them to name the driver of that vehicle registration at that time on that particular day for ‘accident enquiries’. My boss passed all the documentation to me where I read that it was alleged I had turned round in a business park and the rear corner of my trailer had swung out as I was turning round and badly damaged a parked car. The report also stated that the owner of the vehicle had an independent witness to this too.
Now I can clearly remember that the business park was seemingly deserted of people and there wasn’t anyone about outside whilst I was turning round.
It is clear that someone did see my wagon in the business park at that time because they have the registration of it but I would bet money that I didn’t hit anything whilst turning round (I can clearly remember the clearance between my wagon and the parked car).
It is not unheard of for people to ‘try it on’ and blame another vehicle/driver - especially of a large wagon - for damage already on their cars and I’m wondering if someone’s trying to take me for a ride.
I’ve had dealings with the police in the past and I have to say that they haven’t been pleasant experiences in that I’ve been made out as the guilty one when in fact I’ve been completely innocent and just trying to help. Consequently I’ve been avoiding all their visits, letters and phone calls because I can see this alleged incident turning against me in that the other party has an alleged witness : 2 against 1 and all that.
Has anyone been in this situation before where you know you are not at fault and someone is trying it on? How have you dealt with it so as to not wind up with an ‘accident’ against your name from something you haven’t done?
I have a clean accident history and would like to keep it that way without damaging my good repute so-to-speak.
there are more than a few people out there who try it on.
i know its been a while but if you did damage the car, then would,nt there be some marks/paint etc on the trailer. the car would have some paint of the trailer on it also.
are u in a union, if so you normally get free legal advice.
unions normally are not worth a great deal, but the free legal advice can come in handy.
if as you say they are alledging to have witnesses, and you sincerely doubt this to be true, meaning they have CREATED a witness for the purpose of getting a car repaired at your expense, then why dont you create a witness, making it there word against your,s. then i very much doubt it would go any further as it would be there word against yours and your witness.
The worst thing you can do in this situation is nothing.
You must speak to the Police, regardless of your previous dealings with them. Tell them exactly what occurred and that there was no-one who made themselves apparent at the time you were there.
If they had’ve been evident to you at the time, you could say that you would’ve asked them to help you back round - it seems a reasonable scenario to me. This is very much a case of your word against theirs. It would seem that CCTV has been used to identify your wagon, so if there was enough evidence for that, there should be enough to prove whether or not you hit a car.
If you are adamant you didn’t hit it - tell the Police. If they haven’t got enough to do anything one way or the other, they’ll drop it.
I had a situation like this a while back.
I was driving out of Manchester at rush hour in a flat bed rigid. I got a phone call as I approached the M60, saying ‘could I pull over cos I’ve hit a car’. I knew I hadn’t, but pulled over & waited. No-one came.
About 3 months later my office called me to ask me what happened, and if I would repeat it in court. I agreed. 2 weeks after that call, I receive a letter from my company which basically said they had settled out of court for £700.
I was livid. I know I didn’t hit anyone. If I had, they could have flashed their lights, waved, or knocked on my door (it was rush hour in Manchester). Basically it was cheaper for them to settle out of court than pay me for a day (+ expenses) to go to court and a solicitor.
Oh yeah, not forgetting me losing my damage bonus
I think what I would do is insist on seeing evidence that the so called damage is consistent with their report. I think I would ask for photographic evidence. Also try to get the other party to describe exactly what was supposed to have happened, i.e. which part of the trailer struck which part of their vehicle. You might be able to catch them out, and then maybe they would get done for fraud.
Our company get regular calls saying that a trailer has hit their car, they never seem to have a registration number, or if they do, damage is never found on the trailer in the place they say.
Trying it on, is worthwhile. if you get a claim paid in every 50 accident reports. somebody can make a living.
We have 6000 identical trailers on the roads of Europe
I would personally go down the route of check the cctv, prove the damage or shut the ■■■■ up! Tell the police you’re a professional driver and not in the habit of damaging your truck or people’s car’s. Also on these business parks, etc, arent there signs that say you park there at your own risk and any damage/theft/loss is their hard luck?
If they then decide to withdraw their statement/accusation at some point, get them charged for making fraudulent statement/wasting police time and sue their ■■■ off for whatever you can.
i had a simular situation to this before christmas, got a letter out of the blue from a firm of solicitors saying that their client was claiming x amount of money off me for damage i had coarsed to his car on the m6 near manchester,looked back through my job book and sure enough i’d been on that road on the morning of the date question, rang the solicitors and obviousely denied all knowledge and also refussed to give them my insurance details,several letters followed threatening me with court action etc etc then they dropped the clanger, they sent me yet another letter, this one stateing the incident happened at 4.00pm that afternoon, my tacho showed me parked up from two o’clock that day, sent them a nice letter with a photo copy of the tacho and told them that if i got anymore greif of them i’d get the police involved and have them investigated for fraud, needless to say i’ve heard no more about it!
i did speak to my insurance company while all this was going on just to check where i stood and they said this is becomeing they’re biggest problem especially with sign written wagons, so much so that they’d just set a new team just to investigate these claims on their clients behalf.
my advice would be stick to old “admit nothing and deny everything”
theghostofcain:
I had a situation like this a while back.
I was driving out of Manchester at rush hour in a flat bed rigid. I got a phone call as I approached the M60, saying ‘could I pull over cos I’ve hit a car’…
That situation sounds familiar. When I got back to the yard on a Friday about five or six weeks ago, I was accosted by one of the office bods that I’d hit a car’s wing mirror in either Halesowen or Harborne (can’t remember which) as I turned, clipping it with the tail swing. We run Mercedes 2528s with the rear-lift axle, and tail swing can be a problem with the huge rear overhang.
In this alleged incident, a taxi driver had phoned up (thanks to the ‘How’s My Driving’ number) and reported me for ripping his wing mirror off. Maybe I’m different to anyone else, but if a wagon DID rip my mirror off when I was in the car, I’d follow him or give a good toot on the horn. Not this guy, though, although he did have chance to write down my registration and the phone number. Hmmm… I queried as to why his actual wing wasn’t damaged either.
The office told me to fill in an accident form. I asked them how I was supposed to do this, given I had no knowledge of location, time or other vehicle supposedly involved. ‘Just do the best you can,’ they said. I filled in my details and the details of my wagon and gave it back, complete with an ‘I have no knowledge of this alleged incident’ clearly marked in the statement area. I’ve heard nothing else, but I just know they will have made a ‘goodwill payment’ - to save themselves the bother of contesting it.
sorry to say bob but although you never hit anything and id better £20 quid you didnt the insurance company will pay out
when i lived in southampton a bloke i worked with was following a lorry down the dock rd and a great big wooden wedge fell of the back the lad i worked with stopped picked it up and phoned company told them it fell of hit his car and caused damage the company said get it fixed send us the bill and we are very sorry he got all the little bumps fixed EVEN ON THE BOOT AND BACK BUMPER at their expense. drivers always get the blame (but well he shouldnt have left the wedge to fall off)
when i was on the tippers a few years ago a car was following me to an m.o.d. site where i was unloading…anyway at the junction to where i turned right into the site entrance was sat a police car…well this car had been flashing his lights behind me…which i ignored…and when i eventually stopped on the tarmac road in the queue for the weighbridge…i noticed this policeman walking towards the cab…excuse me driver this car driver alleges that a rock from your truck has hit and broken his windscreen..so i got out..and asked to see the damage..the car had approx 9 stone chips on the screen..i told the plod that it must have had a good time rolling all around the screen to cause so many chips..i also pointed out that it couldnt have been me..i offered the officer my gloves and he duly climbed up the rear wheel to look in the body of the truck..without saying anything he again asked the car driver if he was sure it was this truck..to which he replied yes`…well…youd better think again…cos this guys carrying nothing but pure clay…with not a stone in sight…
