Monday, October 15, 2007

Determine liability for an accident

QUESTION:

How can I dispute a case of where I am positive that the other vehicle was speeding. Do insurance company do investigation on the damages to ascertain the speed of the vehicle?

Scenario:
I was filtering left. Signalled, checked side mirror. After the last vehicle passed on the left, the next one is about 40m away (evidently from small headlight). I filtered and the next thing i know the car crashed onto my left wheel and everything around it. I understand that this case is not exactly favourable since I'm the one filtering.

MY REPLY:

The best way is to get an independent witness to testify that the other vehicle was speeding.

In most cases, the fault is determined by the party that caused the impact. If you knock into another car, you are likely to be liable.

For example, if the vehicle in front slowed down suddenly and you knocked into its back, you cannot claim that the accident was caused by that action. You should have kept a safe distance and be ready to stop on time.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are 3 things that the modern Singapore motorist often overlooked:

1) Give way (when filtering into main roads, not just expressways)

2) Keep a safety distance according to speed: 1 car length for every 10km/hr. If you pass your driving license, you ought to remember that if you are travelling at 60km/hr, the safety car distance is 6 car's length.

3) Speeding. Most roads in singapore the speed limit is between 40km/h to 70km/h. On expressways, it's 90km/h. Sadly, I noticed most drivers are oblivious to such speed limits.

That's why i would say good luck to you if you bang someone on the side or in the back - either you did not give way or you were less than the safety distance required.

October 15, 2007 11:12 AM
Thomas Phua's Blog said...

If one is unsure of liability, just report accordingly, and the insurer should be able to handle this part as there is a standard to measure liability between insurers.

In an accident the worst case scenario is to meet a liar who can turn black into white in the report and without eye witness, it is difficult for the insurer.

This is why intergrity of a person is important when an accident happens.

Some time one is lucky to meet morally upright person who will report accordingly even if they are at fault.

In most accident, many motorist are mostly worried about losing their NCD.

- Thomas Phua

October 15, 2007 10:56 PM

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