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Sorry to hear the little C1's a gonner Carol and glad the boy is OK.

I'm kind of with you on this one, point being if the woman drove in a way that endangered or inconvenienced others in a driving test she would fail on current standards - She's at least 50/50 to blame. Although she may not have realised what happened (so can't be done for failing to stop) she HAS been involved in a Road Traffic Collision (owing to the presence of her vehicle on a road damage was caused etc) and a complaint could be made about her erratic and inconsiderate driving.
 
An oldie Burt Reynolds Movie ...... cant remember which, where he was teaching his apprentice thief .....

"Learn by doing ............ "


What PG said .....
You've got two, can't you lend him your yellow one... :evil:


+1 :rofl:
 
Thank god he walked away from it and despite alll the training, it is experience that makes you a better driver. Seem to recall it's reckoned it takes 7 years to become a sound driver. Certainly the case with my son whose demolished 3 cars but I'm now letting him drive part of the way to Duxford this Sunday..... :erm:
 
Very pleased to hear your son is unhurt Carol. Thats the main thing and unfortunately idiot drivers turning into garden centres will always be around. Your boy will learn a lot from the experience. My dad always used to say if you're going to have them it's better to have lots of smaller accidents than one big, serious one. Every time it happened to me driving cars or riding motorbikes it effectively reset my invincibility switch.
 
Interesting that the other car drivers involved stated that the women had been driving erratically before the incident - anyone think of dropping back in that case and giving themselves room to avoid such a response from her . . .

Classic driving incident I'm afraid which on todays roads and at todays speeds are common - he'll learn from it and will pick up on your teaching - treat everyone else on the road as a hazard and expect the unexpected. . .He now sees it's just a question of time for most of us! Doesn't matter how good a driver we think we are we can only reduce the chances of having an accident not totally avoid one.

Most importantly - he's ok and sounds like the car did it's job - and - you know he's a safe and considerate driver which is quite something in a young driver today.

Hope you all get this behind you and find that replacement car - the woman that caused the accident will no doubt be involved in other accidents - we've all come across such drivers in the past and will again in the future no doubt.

Just a further thought to take from this; I'm sure you'll speak to your son about the value of being aware of how close a car is behind you and leaving a gap in front of your car to take account of this in case you have to stop quickly - you may need that extra yard or two to allow the following car to pull up in time - shame none of the other cars involved did this - might have given your son room. Another aspect to his driving skills which will make more sense now he's experienced his accident.

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
Cheers guys. Definitely, 'there but by the grace of god' or whatever the saying is. Could happen to anyone.

Seems the accident happened just over the brow of a hill and around a bend. He came up and round and there they were.

Ewazix, you're right and I think there's definitely occasions where the driver in front should take part or full blame. The fact the two behind her blamed her and not my lad proves it. The lady in front of My lad had a 2014 plate car :( ouch. That would hurt.
 
Glad he was unhurt Carol. Make sure he learns from it, resistance to learning is the biggest obstacle to overcome and is why insurers hike the premiums, figures I've seen state that you are 50% more likely to have a similar incident within the next year (or maybe two?).
Even when you have a 'no fault' claim, or a near-miss, you should think objectively and ask if there is honestly anything you could have done to mitigate the collision, anticipate more, begin slowing etc.

If the first car following had noticed some 'erratic' driving, or even just slow appearing lost, then they should have eased off in anticipation. At the end of they day if you rear end someone (especially when they are following other cars) then you are travelling too close. This is not stopping distance we are talking here but thinking distance plus the difference in stopping capabilities of the two cars. All great in hindsight but try not to take the attitude that nothing could be done as that reinforces the resistance to learning.

I use the 2 second rule as a minimum and try to stick to it. Like you say, we are all human and I'm certainly not perfect as it gets eroded sometimes, but it gives you a good buffer.
The same with travelling at a speed that you will always be able to stop within the distance that can be seen to be clear.
 
I'm sorry to hear this Carol but glad he's ok, you're right non of us drive behind anyone at the recommended stopping distances but as the guys have said he'll be wiser for his accident, I had an accident in my first car which made me much more aware of others afterwards, always an exciting time looking for a new car :driving: :thumbsup:
 
Just glad that no one was seriously injured, cars can be replaced

Not going to comment on liability as I wasn't there, all I will say though is that there are to many variables to make any kind of statement against, braking distances between different cars and tyres, that and the cumulative effect of reaction times.
 
sars said:
Just glad that no one was seriously injured, cars can be replaced

Not going to comment on liability as I wasn't there, all I will say though is that there are to many variables to make any kind of statement against, braking distances between different cars and tyres, that and the cumulative effect of reaction times.
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:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Had a conversation with him today regarding distance, speed and different capabilities of the car you are driving.
He is absolutely not a fast/careless driver but I told him that sometimes when we do a journey every day we can go on auto pilot, we've all done it and our reaction times may be a bit slower because of this.
I know he wasn't speeding as there's a camera right where it happened.
I said that sometimes when I'm driving its 'oh sh1t', because they've slammed the anchors on in front but only for a second. Plus my Boxster can stop quicker than his C1 (RIP).
Makes me feel better that the woman he hit herself said he wasn't to blame and you would think she'd be raging, especially as she has a brand new car. She said it was the woman in the very front and she couldn't believe her and the man managed to stop in time themselves. (Maybe they were too close themselves!)
 
What an idiot, make him pass his frickin test again.....bloody learned how to drive looking at his mum of course....bloody boy racer.....bloody kids, what they like...... :rofl: :poke:

Just pulling your pubes Carol......easy thing to happen , I have done it once, but for really stupid reasons believe me...I'm sure we have all nudged our front ends when you shouldn't.....there was this girl once, and she.....no no sorry wrong front end.....any way back to cars...

Glad he's ok :thumbsup:
 
Carol M said:
sars said:
Just glad that no one was seriously injured, cars can be replaced

Not going to comment on liability as I wasn't there, all I will say though is that there are to many variables to make any kind of statement against, braking distances between different cars and tyres, that and the cumulative effect of reaction times.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Had a conversation with him today regarding distance, speed and different capabilities of the car you are driving.
He is absolutely not a fast/careless driver but I told him that sometimes when we do a journey every day we can go on auto pilot, we've all done it and our reaction times may be a bit slower because of this.
I know he wasn't speeding as there's a camera right where it happened.
I said that sometimes when I'm driving its 'oh sh1t', because they've slammed the anchors on in front but only for a second. Plus my Boxster can stop quicker than his C1 (RIP).
Makes me feel better that the woman he hit herself said he wasn't to blame and you would think she'd be raging, especially as she has a brand new car. She said it was the woman in the very front and she couldn't believe her and the man managed to stop in time themselves. (Maybe they were too close themselves!)
Click to expand...

X2, we've all had the "oh s**t" moments, but most of us luckily get away with it, sadly he'll just learn his lesson with less luck than most. Sounds like an unfortunate situation with the blind corner also.

The woman at the front sounds like a moron, I can't stand drivers who lack any awareness of their surroundings. Drivers who realise that they're in the wrong lane on a roundabout and cut across lanes to their exit, when they could just lap the roundabout, are a particular pet peeve.

But as said, I think it's always a good idea to reflect on your own potential shortcomings...even if you're not the root cause of an accident.
 
Glad the boy is Ok but I have no sympathy for any of the drivers in the accident. What if there had been a person/child/shopping cart etc. moving out onto the road that caused the sudden stop.?

Following too closely or not paying attention is just wrong. My wife was stopped behind an abandoned car in the curb lane, our car was then hit by the next car and rammed into the abandoned car, then the car behind was hit by a Cadillac, ramming them all together again. Thirteen years later she died from cancer caused by the soft tissue injuries she received in that accident. Thirteen years of physio and permanent pain with a stem cell transplant, chemo and radiation, then death. Be thankful no-one was hurt.
 
budfox said:
He can't be that safe a driver if he wrote off his car in this way. Two other cars stopped, and he didn't. I do have sympathy for him though, I'd be sad if it were my son that had been involved.

At least nobody was hurt and he'll have learned to leave a bigger gap in future.
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Nothing annoys me more than when you look in your rear view mirror and you see another vehicle far to close ,knowing if you have to stop suddenly they are going to rear end you.
 
everybody OK that's a blessing but if she had done an emergency stop instead of a sudden stop for the garden centre this could have been a lot worse, 3 sets of brake lights in front and he was the only one to make contact. If I was investigating "lack of concentration" would be the conclusion.
 
Being a bit judgemental aren't you?

If you read the thread you'll see the accident happened over the brow of a hill and around a bend.

If he was driving too close then why did the lady he hit say he wasn't to blame?

Could you say you could stop if you came round a bend and over the brow of a hill and 3 cars in front were just there having all just slammed their brakes on?
 
If the corner is that blind all the more reason to take it easy, and cover the brake :)

I've been in your lads position Carol, wrote off my car when I was 18, most of my cash wrapped up in it, but 3rd party cover :thumbsdown:

The smack sounds like a simple case of inexperience. Experience gives that sense (subconsciously usually) of a potentially hazardous situation.

That lady did something silly but we need to be ready to stop at any time on the road, as above that comes with experience. Of course you will feel bad for him, only natural :)
 
Sounds s**t. Just that unfortunate concertina effect. It doesn't matter how good a driver is sometimes these things happen, that's why they are called accidents and every near miss we have reminds us to be more vigilent and careful again.
 
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