I had a bump in the car today, the person in the front slammed on her brakes, so their for so did I, I bumped?

Question

in 2 the bk of her, she said to me it was the van in front of her put on their brakes,thats why she slammed hers on, but some 1 has to pay, she went to the gaurage who have said it is superfishale but will cost £170, Am i to blame??? if I am then im willing to pay her private rather than go throu the insurance,their is no damage to my car & the van did not stop, my insurance is closed the now so cant ask them for advice untill the morning

Answer 1

Unfortunately from an insurer's perspective and more importantly from a legal stand point, you would deemed as being liable for the incident.

Answer 2

It is your fault. The arguement would be that you were not travelling at a safe enough distance to stop in time.

Answer 3

it is your fault as you when in to the back of her. if you are planning on doing this with out insurance companys then make sure you get the bill so you no your not getting ripped of.

Answer 4

You aare to blame, any car that gets rear ended then it's the car behind's fault for driving too close.

Answer 5

It is your fault and more so if you were that far back and  going that slow and still hit her.

Answer 6

if you go into the back of someone you are to blame.

reasonable care. you werent driving in a reasonable manner - you were too close. negligence.

heard this one loads of times, its very simple - unless there were some really strange circumstances the person who crashes the back of someone else is nearly always (id say 99.999%) to blame.

Answer 7

it is your fault if you hit a car in front and i must say no way was you 5 car lenths behind the other car and only doing 10mph if you was then you must have been puting on your make up or your brakes do not work

Answer 8

If you hit the back of another car it is usually classed as your fault. However, you can fight the claim and keep your fingers crossed. Anyone has the right to brake and it is up to those following to leave a wide enough gap and be totally aware. You have not indicated how fast you were driving but ordinarily one should be able to stop.

Answer 9

Sorry; but it is your fault, I've done the same trick myself ---- Twice!!

Answer 10

It is not really your fault but legally you are to blame. The theory is that you should be far enough behind the vehicle in front to stop in any circumstances.

Just a word of caution though - you should never ADMIT liability! Your insurance company prefers liability to be proven rather than admitted!  Initial quick inspection does not allways reveal the full damage. A similar circumstance to yours happened to a work colleague a couple of weeks back. The only damage appeared to be a reversing light in the middle of the rear bumper being broken. A new one is around 30 pounds.  BUT a close examination showed that the bumper was split adjacent to the light and the metal panel behind it dented. Total bill £700 !

I have to say though that if you were only doing about 10mph you should have been able to easily stop within 4 or 5 car lengths!

Answer 11

you are automatically to blame if you rear end another car

they will say your driving too fast,too close or not paying attention

if your really unlucky all 3

Answer 12

"I was about 5 car lenths away from her & was doing less than 10 MPH"

It doesn't take 5 car lengths to come to a full stop at less than 10MPH.

Either get your brakes fixed, or else stop talking on the phone or putting on makeup while driving.  Next time you might kill someone.

Answer 13

Yes, it's your fault. It doesn't matter about why the car in front stopped or the speed etc etc. It is always the car driver that failed to brake quickly enough that is at fault. You would want it the same way if someone ran into the back of you wouldn't you?

Answer 14

Don't admit liability, don't apologise. Report it to your insurance and pass all the letters &c to them. If you get a telephone call just refer them to your insurance. It will cost you in NCB &c, but this sort of thing can get much more expensive than the first estimate, and you have a duty to tell the insurers anyway

Answer 15

Absolutely your fault, I'm afraid. If you were 5 car lengths behind at 10mph, and still couldn't stop, either your brakes or reflexes are very faulty!!

Answer 16

Legally you are to blame - the other driver's insurers would argue that it was your fault for driving too close to her.

Answer 17

The law says  "you must be able to stop within the distance you can see to be clear".  That includes tearing round a bend and hitting a parked tractor.  Your fault, pay up. Though for £170 I could buy 3 very good cars.  And have.  Seems a bit steep for superficial damage.