Can i be held liable for damage to a motor vehicle, when I was the pedestrian that was knocked over?

Question

While crossing a minor B road I was hit by a car, the owner of the car never gave their details, and did not care for involvement of the emergency services. They are now trying to hold me liable under Section 154 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (this I find strange as I was not driving another motor vehicle i was a pedestrian) Just wondering if anyone knows where I stand on this, as i am a little bewildered.

Answer 1

Don't panic: Section 154 concerns the "Duty to give information as to insurance or security where claim made" and it's one of a number of Sections grouped together under Part VI of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

In plain English it basically concerns claims made against persons required to be insured under Part VI of the Act. It goes on to mention that such persons must give details upon request as to whether they're insured or not and also their personal details.

As a pedestrian, you are most definitely not required to be insured so the matter does not arise. However, if you were injured or suffered loss, then you should be claiming against the driver's insurance and the driver is obliged to give you his/her details.

In any case, did you actively ask for the driver's details at the scene of the incident? If you did and they refused, then the driver has almost certainly committed a criminal offence. If you were injured the driver is obliged to await police attendance, and again, failure to do so is normally a criminal offence. There are a few highly specific exceptions to these requirements though.

Regardless of all that, liability for the incident is another matter. If, for example, you had recklessly ran out and collided with the car in such a way that the driver could not reasonably have anticipated it, then you're liable and can be sued for the damage. Important to note: even if you were in the wrong, then  the driver is obliged to exercise due diligence and care whilst driving and this includes looking out for the unexpected. If it can be shown that by doing so the driver should reasonably have been able to avoid the collision then they're partially liable. If it turned out that the driver saw you, sounded the horn, but took no other avoiding action then the driver would be fully liable.

Without going too deeply into legal niceties, you have a few options. The first is to ignore the request but I don't recommend this.

The second is to check whether you have any legal insurance (e.g.via a union membership, household insurance etc.) and to use it to consult a lawyer.

If you don't have this, then a third option is to write to the company which sent you the letter and demand to know on what grounds they require the information stating that "PartVI of the Road Traffic Act 1988  does not apply" to you.

The final option which I highly recommend is to seek advice at your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Don't panic, insurers and their representatives often try to use officious sounding wording and misquoted legal provisions to try and bully people into doing what they want. It may be that in this case they've realised their client is potentially at fault and they're trying to make you think that by raising the issue you could face liabilities of your own. Don't get frightened, stand your ground and find out exactly what your options are.

A last word of advice: even if you are in fact responsible for the incident, you must not admit it. You mustn't lie either but you can refuse to answer questions if you need to.

Answer 2

They will quite possibly have a case against you if you were jay walking.  But it sounds a bit tough to me.

Answer 3

Hi,

I think that a lot of the questions would be about WHERE you were.

I  you were crossing at a crosswalk at the intersection, on a GREEN light then NO CASE for the driver.

ON THE OTHER HAND, if you darted across the road or J-walked and scratched his car THEN,YES.

Answer 4

the pedestrian always has the right of way.

Answer 5

I can of course only speak about where I'm from. yes the pedestrian has the right of way at a crosswalk but it is not absolute, the ped. cannot turn his safety over to the driver the ped. has to make sure the way is clear and safe to cross.