My car vs a van - pics

[alanc1000]

Well we were enjoying the lovely weather.. and then some helmet in a van reversed into my car - out of a driveway, across a main road and into the junction we were pulling out of!

car:

van:

Here's a pic below of the junction we were sat in, i stopped and looked both ways like a good boy, and the van was in the pavementy bit of driveway you can see the Volvo in. Anyway it was just sat there like it was parked (no reverse lights or anything) and i drove forward about a foot whilst pulling out to turn left then hit the anchors as the van just reversed out at full pelt and swung its front around to go the same way i was about to and straight into the front of my car! You can see from the pic below all the glassy bits a foot or two over the junction where he backed on to me. I beeped the plum but he was reversing out so quick that by the time he hit me i was still beeping!

Anyway he was polite enough (ish) and that was that. The car has a dent on the bonnet, light is knackared and the bumper will be pricey as it has front parking sensors and pop up headlight washers! Will be a pricey job i'd imagine. Its getting repaired at the BMW dealership i bought it from so thats a bit of a result.

 

[Spinksy]

firstly mate sorry to hear that there are some proper numpty drivers out there that should not be allowed a licence...

secondly i'd like to point out that to me your car looks sad in this pic :L it looks like its just been told off and is upset about it :L
(think of the light as its eyes lol)

 

[alanc1000]

^ indeed spinksey, i dont think my car is too impressed, it will be off to the BMW hospital for 2 weeks knowing my luck and i'll probably be handed some pony Kia as a courtesy car!

 

[Ben]

Terrible news mate, not what you want. Did he accept responsibility?

 

[Stu-]

Nightmare! Could've been a lot worse damage wise but I know that's not the point. Hopefully you get it sorted easilly enough.

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

what a total bellend reversing into you!
that looks like a lot of work, with all these persificly designed crash pannels nowadays.

hope it comes back as good as it was from factory mate.

edit : probably all cosmetic damage, all pannel swop jobby

 

[alanc1000]

Terrible news mate, not what you want. Did he accept responsibility?

No he didnt accept anything, he tried to say i drove in to the back of him and i was trying to explain to him that given i could see him right in front of me, why would i do that?! It will probs go 50/50 on insurance but i was stationary when he hit me, so we'll see. He clearly didnt see me though, he wasnt even breaking as he hit me!

Nightmare! Could've been a lot worse damage wise but I know that's not the point. Hopefully you get it sorted easilly enough.

cheers yeah its just a car at the end of the day, these things dont bother me too much, its more the inconvenience factor.

what a total bellend reversing into you!
that looks like a lot of work, with all these persificly designed crash pannels nowadays.

hope it comes back as good as it was from factory mate.

edit : probably all cosmetic damage, all pannel swop jobby

Yes i looked behind the nose and there is a massive foot long gap between the front of the car and the radiator, with a huge foam block and the crash bar, the foam block is a bit squashed but the crash bar looks fine. Its straightforward enough (touch wood!)

 

[b1lly]

Ouch, really gutted for you,

hope it gets sorted out quickly and the muppet claimed responsibility.

there's too many tw4ts on the road these days, my wife's car got written off a few months ago when a lorry crashed in us

 

[Spinksy]

^ indeed spinksey, i dont think my car is too impressed, it will be off to the BMW hospital for 2 weeks knowing my luck and i'll probably be handed some pony Kia as a courtesy car!

sorry man i noticed it lol but seriously though fella im still sorry to see and hear about this on here it shows how idiotic people can be

 

[Munson]

FFS that's unlucky

 

[Marky_]

Gutted mate.

Were his reverse lights not working or was he just not in gear when you looked?

 

[Nick172Cup]

Sorry to see that Alan, that'll be a pricy bill to fix. My mate with a 535d had a bump in the snow similar to the damage you had and his bill was £3,100!

Guessing it's going through the van drivers insurance?

 

[AK]

Gutted!

 

[Fletcher]

:dapprove:

 

[couzens]

oi, nout wrong with kia son! sorry to here about it alan! will be fixed in no time mate

 

[2Damnsly Andy]

Proper idiots about.

 

[VeinAST]

Always sad to see another BMW hit! Lucky you're ok Alan, could have been worse!

 

[Scott™]

Gutted for you mate. Such a gorgeous car

 

[Jaff.]

Has the Wing been bumped out of place or is that the lines of the car?

Hope it's sorted quickly tho and it doesn't cost you too much

 

[ColinG]

Ahhh that sucks Alan! Such a nice car too and minding your own business enjoying the sun

Hope the repair goes well and your back on the road again soon!

 

[philmots]

FFS... as said was his reversing lights working? If not, you could have something.. It would be so annoying for you if it went 50/50 like it probably will!

 

[Jekyll]

Bad news mate. Surely it will be in your favour as you have right of way? :S

 

[alanc1000]

Gutted mate.

Were his reverse lights not working or was he just not in gear when you looked?

When i pulled up to the junction i was there for probs 30 secs waiting as there were quite a few cars on the main road, i glimpsed the van in the drive opposite for about half a sec but it just looked parked as there were no lights on and it just looked like any other parked up car along the road, i.e i wasnt expecting it to suddenly reverse, so i looked left and right to go, went forward about a foot (not even 3mph) and suddenly the van was chucking it out of the drive way towards me (with reverse lights on), anyway i had stopped and i thought he saw me.. he kept coming though and i beeped but he still didnt see me and backed into the front of me. What a swine! He did one of those really quick "van driver" reverses, he clearly didnt have a clue i was there.

Sorry to see that Alan, that'll be a pricy bill to fix. My mate with a 535d had a bump in the snow similar to the damage you had and his bill was £3,100!

Guessing it's going through the van drivers insurance?

Yes this will deffo be pricey i would expect £3k min, probs £5k. The bonnet is massive for starters and these things are never cheap!! But lucky i suppose that nothing hit the back of me as the roof was down and the roof and back window are snug in the boot - i would have been looking at a new roof, boot, back window, roof mechanism, possible write off.

Has the Wing been bumped out of place or is that the lines of the car?

Hope it's sorted quickly tho and it doesn't cost you too much

My excess is £470 which i pay and get refunded if they 'fess up which i doubt he will but the other peoples insurance company might. To reverse blind on to a main raod across both lanes opposite a busy junction is a bit of a no-no, but lets see!

Here are a couple of other pics, the wing seems fine i think the bonnet has just popped out of its latch on that side but i dont want to open it incase it doesnt close again. Heres another angle:

Here is a peek behind the grill, there is a crash bar that is bent but the main one across the radiator and front of the car is straight:

Bad news mate. Surely it will be in your favour as you have right of way? :S

I would have thought so! He is saying that i drove in to the back of him as i pulled out of the junction, i'm sticking to my side which is that i was stationary when he hit me and i beeped the horn but he carried on backing out pretty quickly (thats actually what happened too).

I suppose if i was him, and i'd just reversed a van across a main road, and hit a car behind me that i didnt know was there that had also beeped its horn, i'd admit fault but we'll see what happens!

Fingers crossed i get the car collected in the week to get repaired - i actually have no idea at this point if i have a courtesy car with my cover or if BMW Sytner are giving me one!?

 

[chris_p]

Unlucky Alan, apart from the obvious damage the car looks awesome with the white paint and red seats!

Im not sure I'd put so much faith in BMW doing the repair, I've seen some bodge jobs they've done tbh.
If I were you I'd research the best body shops in your area as you may get a better job done.

 

[Revels]

Ouch. Not good mate.

But it'll go his fault. Reversing = His fault. Doesn't matter if you drove at 5 or 50mph, he was reversing onto a main road.

 

[Cliosaregay]

the vans plate should be "mug" not mgu

 

[alanc1000]

Unlucky Alan, apart from the obvious damage the car looks awesome with the white paint and red seats!

Im not sure I'd put so much faith in BMW doing the repair, I've seen some bodge jobs they've done tbh.
If I were you I'd research the best body shops in your area as you may get a better job done.

Thanks yes its the perfect weather for this colour combo.. and i'll probs be spending the next 2 weeks driving a black Punto

I'm insured with Allianz and they said i had the option of the "recommended dealer" who happened to be BMW sytner who i bought the car from, or i could get my own quotes from my preferred bodyshops. The only thing is i dont know about any locally decent ones and also i hoped that the dealer with original parts etc might be a better repair than an independent, although i remember Eugegall with his Audi done at an Audi dealer and it was crap. I just told them to go with the quickest option as i cant drive the car in the dark as the cars drivers headlight is facing the floor, so i didnt want to add any delay to the repair. Lets see..

Ouch. Not good mate.

But it'll go his fault. Reversing = His fault. Doesn't matter if you drove at 5 or 50mph, he was reversing onto a main road.

Really do you think so? I hope so too! He was struggling a bit and blaming me when we pulled over, i was driving bearfoot as i had taken off my flipflops to drive (cant drive in them) and he said bearfoot is illegal which is wrong. It does say in the highway code that any footwear must not hinder the drivers ability to control the car, which is why i wasnt wearing them. Anyway when i got out of the car bearfoot he started saying it was illegal and when i was taking pics of the scene i could see that he was filming me walking around bearfoot. I dont know the ins and outs of this but its not illegal, although he will almost certainly tell the insurance company who will argue the toss over it.

the vans plate should be "mug" not mgu

Ha! It should have read Marty Pellow as thats exactly who he looked like, the bloke from wet wet wet.

 

[Gally]

Gutted for you Alan. Hope you get things sorted quickly.

1 small thing, make sure you insurance know you want to pursue the other insurer for costs.

Any hassles with the job/repair fire me a PM mate.

 

[Deeg]

Gutted mate.

Really hope it works out for you, and the bloke either fesses up or your insurance company have the balls to pursue it.

 

[Revels]

Really do you think so? I hope so too! He was struggling a bit and blaming me when we pulled over, i was driving bearfoot as i had taken off my flipflops to drive (cant drive in them) and he said bearfoot is illegal which is wrong. It does say in the highway code that any footwear must not hinder the drivers ability to control the car, which is why i wasnt wearing them. Anyway when i got out of the car bearfoot he started saying it was illegal and when i was taking pics of the scene i could see that he was filming me walking around bearfoot. I dont know the ins and outs of this but its not illegal, although he will almost certainly tell the insurance company who will argue the toss over it.

I went into the back of someone when she was reversing off her drive. I presumed it was my fault (as I was going too fast TBH) but the insurance company said it was completely her fault. Said my speed was irrelevant. She tried to argue and they just ignored her and paid out.

It's illegal to reverse out onto a main road.

 

[Jekyll]

Ouch. Not good mate.

But it'll go his fault. Reversing = His fault. Doesn't matter if you drove at 5 or 50mph, he was reversing onto a main road.

This is what my thoughts were. As you are on the road already then you have right of way. He was reversing so he would be hitting you as you'd have already been on the road, making it he's fault.

 

[alanc1000]

Cheers Deeg and Gally appreciated!

Revels thats nice to know, reversing out on to a main road is stupid, and to do it opposite a junction is even more silly so hopefully the insurance company will just want to get it out of the way and not mess about with it.


The front sensors on my bumper were working today though so maybe they can cut down the cost a bit and just re-use them, no idea.

 

[Herr Flick]

It's illegal to reverse out onto a main road.

I always wondered about that when i see plebs do it. Most of the time i see it, they are estates reversing out of a drive with bushes down the side so they can't see anything until the back of the car is pretty much in the road.

So many people must have incidents because of that.

Unlucky Alan, If they didn't have such stupidly long bonnets, he may not of hit you. lol

 

[Vish]

Gutted to see that Alan! I hope all goes well in getting it sorted out with the insurance and get a good unnoticeable repair.

Van driver sounds like a knob, so hopefully reversing out will mean his insurer see it as a no brainer.

 

[alanc1000]

Unlucky Alan, If they didn't have such stupidly long bonnets, he may not of hit you. lol

This is true, when he hit me i thought i had another 2 seconds before a smack and he'd miss me, but all of a sudden it smacked into me and it still looked like it was about 3 miles away. Was quite a weird feeling actually, normally when you hit something its right in under your nose!

@ Vish - thanks mate yes i hope its a straight forward repair too, i know nothing about car repairs but it does seem cosmetic only and the car runs fine and in a nice straight line, so fingers crossed it will look as good as new. Crap paint jobs are a bit harder to notice on white unless its a bad match, so i might be OK.

 

[Herr Flick]

When you get it back, make sure you look at it at lots of angles/sunlight/shade etc feel the whole car for over spray. Check all the gaps/edges of panel too.

 

[Hugo-]

Bit of a shitter. Surely got to be his fault!

Lovely car BTW.

 

[Rob]

God sake Alan, all this effort just to avoid taking me out for a spin?

 

[JoedotwasT5phy]

Gutted Alan - i'm sure it will all be fine though, lets just hope the repair gets done to a goos standard!

 

[Hixle]

FFS mate, not good. Such a great looking car too.