A rude awakening

[shewhomust]

I was summoned from my bed just after eight this morning by the doorbell: it was the police. "Is that your car?" he asked.

Why, yes it is: the black one. But even without my glasses on, I could see that we had not left it like that, nose in the middle of the road, rear stoved in on the pavement, up close and personal with a blue car that I did not recognise:

I woke durham_rambler and returned with my glasses on: now I could see that not only were the railings in front of the house all bent and twisted, but several of the blocks of stone in which they are set had been dislodged. Several cars have been dented, there's broken glass everywhere, an ambulance arrived to collect someone who had been injured. Our bedroom is at the back of the house, and we had slept through all the excitement.

The police say it wasn't anybody's fault, there was black ice on the road, it hadn't been gritted... You might ask why this steep downhill with the interesting corner hadn't been gritted, given that some sort of accident happens here every winter: especially since word got out that it's a way into town despite the road being closed at the top. Ah, well...

So durham_rambler has spent the entire morning on the phone to insurance people. You'd think that having a police incident number would avoid the need for him to relay all the detailsm but each person he spoke to seemed to want to hear it from him, just in case. I was reminded of the sletch (is it Monty Python?) in which people answering questions over the phone end up examoning their feet and giving their shoe size.

And I won't be collecting my new reading glasses from the optician this afternoon.

ETA: Further investigation reveals -

1. The bad news: something (probably dislodged masonre) has also smashed a pane of glass in the kitchen door. This is marginally insecure, since the door leads onto a sunked area ('the area') not directly onto the street, but is distinctly chilly. Emergency repair is imminent.


2. The good news: not only did the over-the-road neighbour (whose new people carrier was somewhat dented) see the whole thing, the dour student properties immediately downhill from us captured it on their doorbell cams. We learned this not from the resident students (duh!) but from the landlord's agent, despite her being in Budapest at the moment.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Nobody's fault?

On our street many of them drive too fast when the conditions are like this.

That's somebody's fault!

[shewhomust]

I suspect this is the case, but that it would be too hard to prove it.

[nineweaving]

Good heavens! A driver coming down an icy hill once once crashed into my late mother's empty house, through the wall into her vacant bedroom. I hope you can get all of your damages repaired, and that those insurance people will pay out without murmur and promptly.

Nine

[shewhomust]

Thanks - I hope so too. We won't know until tomorrow morning, I think, how helpful the insurance people are going to be.

But, as your first comment reminds us, these things happen.

[hairyears]

I think the police are wrong, here: there's a strict liability, the driver must be in control of the vehicle at all times.

[shewhomust]

My suspicion is that losing control is a sign of going too fast - though 'too fast' for this particular combination of road layout and surface may not be very fast at all in other circumstances. Interesting that you can express the same thing in legal terms.

However, I also suspect that what the police were saying, right from the start, is that they aren't interested in prosecuting - and they may be right.

[lamentables]

Ouch!
I think the worst bit of anything like this, for all that insurance exists and should reimburse you for financial costs, is the lack of compensation for the effort and inconvenience accidents cause. (And all the times the other party's insurance company claims, entirely spuriously, that you were at fault.)

[shewhomust]

This, absolutely. No-one gets to claim we were at fault on this one, fortunately, but even so, the time and the hassle...

[lamentables]

I would not bet against them trying to make it your fault… I was once driving along a road when someone reversed out of a carpark and into the side of my car. They claimed that was my fault. (But capitulated immediately when I argued.)

[cellio]

Oh dear. What a hassle for you -- and, as someone else already pointed out, an uncompensated hassle. I hope the insurance claim goes smoothly and that you get suitable repairs promptly.

[shewhomust]

Thank you. We have arranged for a (courtesy) car rental, which will make things a bit easier.

[larryhammer]

Yikes!

[shewhomust]

I couldn't have put it better myself!

[athenais]

What a colossal pain! Sorry you've got to deal with this. Best wishes.

[shewhomust]

Thank you!

[anef]

What a nuisance! But at least you weren't hurt. Was the culprit the (driver of the) blue car or another one? Fingers crossed that the insurance pays up promptly.

[shewhomust]

I'm inclined to regard the council / highways department as the culprit: this isn't the first accident on this corner, but they do nothing to make it safer.

The driver of the blue car did not hit our car: that was the white car, which also lost control, and also hit the driver of the blue car - he got off with stitches to his face, and it could have been a lot worse, but he was certainly threatening to sue the other driver.

I think the insurance will be fine about paying up, if what it comes down to is cash payment: we are still hoping that they will instead manage the process of repairs...