Accident Damage What To Do

[robjay]

Hi All,

Picture this, a sunny clear day. Curent model falcon ute passes me (two tradies with load of gear) on the fwy.

Plaster board or some kind of wooden item maybe 1.5m by 1m flies off the back and tumbles, due to them passing me & wind contitions or whatever it wasnt fastenend down - scrapes the side of my car in several places.

I follow the ute and explain the situation, they dismiss me as a joke and take off refuse to give out contact details.

I have now reported the accident with photos and full description, I have their license plate no. ofcourse.

I was going to just leave it be but after a good wash there are a few decent scratch marks in several places.

And no insurance

Long story short, yes am angry other than that for those in the know am I wasting my time? Im not cash strapped and feel like I need to have some kind of recourse laughed in my face rude and arrogant *****. Im quite happy to spend on a lawyer. Can anyone point me to lawyers that specialise in this? yes I know it is cheaper to fix it and be on my way but to me it is gone past that, I will spend big to get these bozos in trouble.

Part 2: I have a witness, earlier in the day my gf had new tyres fitted in Osborne park and while this took place I had new shocks fitted at pedders to my car in osborne park and we have receipts to this evidence just an hour or so near the scene. She was behind me following me and witnessed it.

Your thoughts?

[Hadouken]

You have a witness then youre in pretty good position. Have you contacted the police? what did they say?

[nathanau]

Hi All,

Picture this, a sunny clear day. Curent model falcon ute passes me (two tradies with load of gear) on the fwy.

Plaster board or some kind of wooden item maybe 1.5m by 1m flies off the back and tumbles, due to them passing me & wind contitions or whatever it wasnt fastenend down - scrapes the side of my car in several places.

I follow the ute and explain the situation, they dismiss me as a joke and take off refuse to give out contact details.

I have now reported the accident with photos and full description, I have their license plate no. ofcourse.

I was going to just leave it be but after a good wash there are a few decent scratch marks in several places.

And no insurance

Long story short, yes am angry other than that for those in the know am I wasting my time? Im not cash strapped and feel like I need to have some kind of recourse laughed in my face rude and arrogant *****. Im quite happy to spend on a lawyer. Can anyone point me to lawyers that specialise in this? yes I know it is cheaper to fix it and be on my way but to me it is gone past that, I will spend big to get these bozos in trouble.

Part 2: I have a witness, earlier in the day my gf had new tyres fitted in Osborne park and while this took place I had new shocks fitted at pedders to my car in osborne park and we have receipts to this evidence just an hour or so near the scene. She was behind me following me and witnessed it.

Your thoughts?

Heya,

You know, sometimes its better to bite the bullet and let things slide. Its easy to get wrapped up in something that turns out to be unproductive and ends up bogging you down with stress and more drama to follow, and consumes you and your time.... Its a waist of time suing people, fighting, entertaining things in life ( often from a sense of pride) because of some issue that in retrospect may have been better served by doing nothing.

(its the same kinda philosophy as "if you wanna die, go to hospital") better to lead a healthy life style.

That kinda applies to most things the way i see it, imagine how your time could be better spent being free of shit, being free to be more productive, living without baggage that could be avoided. However, its a personal choice. If you weigh up the cost of a shit fight, over how much money you want to spend on time, stress, court, solicitor, is it worth it (especially if u lose)? Vs out right cost of repairs. Ive been down this path and i wouldnt wish it on anyone looking back. But if your determine and would like a VERY switched on Solicitor who packs a good punch, young guy totally up to date with the Law, and as strange as it sounds a solicitor whos earnt my unconditional trust for his honesty, work and work ethic let me know ill send on his details. Now that this has happened, maybe you could better serve the situation by getting your ride insured as its pretty much a guarantee that driving these days is at some point going to result in some scrape at some point , its not if but when, seriously.

[robjay]

You have a witness then youre in pretty good position. Have you contacted the police? what did they say?

At this stage I reported it on the on-line crashreport site which by the way is fantastic https://www.crashreport.com.au/ it allows you to accurately place vehicles, passengers, gps coordinates on Google map for placement - in a word neat.

Police say that once its processed in 4 weeks or more then I can get a report and any contact details of their insurer and or them directly and write a letter with a quote to fix the damage. Not sure what will happen from there.

[StevenCJR31]

Fark i feel for you mate. . . was northbound on the freeway (over vincent st) coupla years ago and watched a tradie running back down the breakdown lane in an effort to pick up the aluminium ladder that dropped off his ute, by the time he picked it up it had been run over several times, cant imagine the damage to tyres/suspension and rims that he had done due to his carelessness

[robjay]

Heya,

You know, sometimes its better to bite the bullet and let things slide. Its easy to get wrapped up in something that turns out to be unproductive and ends up bogging you down with stress and more drama to follow, and consumes you and your time.... Its a waist of time suing people, fighting, entertaining things in life ( often from a sense of pride) because of some issue that in retrospect may have been better served by doing nothing.

(its the same kinda philosophy as "if you wanna die, go to hospital") better to lead a healthy life style.

That kinda applies to most things the way i see it, imagine how your time could be better spent being free of shit, being free to be more productive, living without baggage that could be avoided. However, its a personal choice. If you weigh up the cost of a shit fight, over how much money you want to spend on time, stress, court, solicitor, is it worth it (especially if u lose)? Vs out right cost of repairs. Ive been down this path and i wouldnt wish it on anyone looking back. But if your determine and would like a VERY switched on Solicitor who packs a good punch, young guy totally up to date with the Law, and as strange as it sounds a solicitor whos earnt my unconditional trust for his honesty, work and work ethic let me know ill send on his details. Now that this has happened, maybe you could better serve the situation by getting your ride insured as its pretty much a guarantee that driving these days is at some point going to result in some scrape at some point , its not if but when, seriously.

Thanks for that, I am thinking it through - still fuming over it and thinking I shouldn't just take it.

I'm a decent bit over 35 and have not claimed a single thing yet sgio full cover is still $1300 to insure a $15000 r34gtt, 4 years on I have saved myself quite a bit by not insuring. Insuring imports is a con basically.

Herein lies the typical insurance con. I can go out and buy a BMW 335i 2010 for 90,000k agreed value and pay just $1100!!!! full cover insurance.

Lets not beat around the bush a 335i will probably do better than a basic r34. And at my age the chance of me writing off a 335 is no different if not higher to an r34gtt.

So what's wrong with an older bloke finally getting an r34 he always wanted when he was young why do Insurers still burn you till the day you are past your used by date, well I could just get a 335i and burn money.

[GTR-N1]

We have a "Traffic Lawyers" thread here in NSW. You can start off one in WA too > collection of recommended astute masterminds of the courtroom.

Chances are, when your lawyer catches up with the driver with the info that you have a witness, he'll probably want it settled out of court.

He has more to lose with a black mark against his name within the motor insurance industry.

As nathanau suggested, I wouldn't get too sweaty about this one, but I'd just be deliberate/patient/determined and let the lawyer handle it.

[TerminalWraith]

1) You have a witness

2) You have their rego

Which state are you in and I'll recommend you a litigation solicitor.

Edited August 30, 2011 by TerminalWraith

[GTR-N1]

^ ^ ^ It seems that Osborne Park is in WA

And we agree that the ute driver has more to worry about than you - don't be a victim; be a survivor!

And as nathanau alludes to; Don't fret about it - because even when you win, you can still lose.

[samuri]

Dont let people walk all over you.

If it takes time, money and effort big deal.Do you want everything served to you on a plate?

If you win all costs should be covered by the other party. If they were a business it should be covered by their insurance which they almost certainly have.There is a very low chance they don't have any insurance

Lawyers can suck you dry its true, but that isn't necessarily your first avenue.

Just the threat of legal action can make people fold. Proceed , get more information and latter assess what to do rather than give up before you start.

[TerminalWraith]

If you get the right solicitor they will arrange loss adjuster and repairs then if tge other party doesn't pay up they'll issue a statement of claim then the ute driver has 28 days to pay. After that the solicitor will enter judgement then they are credit f**ked until they pay your solicitor as lifting a judgement is expensive.

[TerminalWraith]

Obviously theres more to it but details you need not worry about...

[T4NK]

I think you should have gone back and picked up the wood that came off the ute also, then you have them smashed, got someone that saw it happen have the wood (with ur paint on it) and the rego plates.

[GTR-N1]

I think you should have gone back and picked up the wood that came off the ute also, then you have them smashed, got someone that saw it happen have the wood (with ur paint on it) and the rego plates.

yes-s-s-s

[robjay]

Thanks to all, I will keep this thread updated. At this stage I am going down the get a copy of the report sometime this week. It costs areound $35.

[robjay]

1) You have a witness

2) You have their rego

Which state are you in and I'll recommend you a litigation solicitor.

In Wa

[TerminalWraith]

I'll PM

[dantheman88]

1) You have a witness

2) You have their rego

Having a witness can mean nothing when its a friend/relative/girlfriend etc as they are a biased witness. I had my car showered with gravel by a council truck doing 100km/h with my missus in the car, I chased the truck down and got their details, got my insurance company to follow it up and they basically told me the council refused to do anything and they cant do anything as there wasnt any unbiased witnesses. Like how the f*#k am i supposed to grab another car that was there when i had to follow it for like 10 kms until it slowed down and dtopped spraying gravel everywhere 20 metres behind it?

so I was left with like 20 chips in the windsheild and hundreds of chips on the bonnet, gaurds and bumper

Edited September 9, 2011 by dantheman88

[TerminalWraith]

Total rubbish... independant or not a witness still holds weight in court. Front line insurance company staff ie the people customers speak to know diddly shit.

[zamnap]

witness and reg are sufficient i think