Stopping distance of a motorhome

[BusyBuilder]

We are in litigation with a young lad who pulled out in front of us on a slip road on the A9.

The solicitor wants to know that stopping distance of a 4t Hymer B544 2012, on wet roads.

Basically this young lad pulled out on us and I had to stand on the brakes before we hit him. There wasn't a lot of damage to his car but over £5k to ours, bent inner steel bumper and bent both radiators. Front fibreglass grill was split but not much more, in fact you'd be hard pressed to see any damage looking at the front. His 2005 Vauxhall Corsa had a hole in his bumper where our towing eye punched through it, but not much more.

The accident happened just before Christmas 2023, wet roads with snow on verges. We had very little time to react. We were travelling at an indicated 50mph. I think we had about 15-20m to stop.

So if anyone can give me an idea on stopping distances I'd be interested.

What's really annoying about this accident, is, we are doing all the work for the benefit of Saga insurance who paid out over £5k for our damages. Saga dragged their heels for almost a year before we insisted we used our legal expenses insurance to fight our case. They have basically washed their hands now and left us to do all the work, the solicitor is a bit of a wet blanket too.
I would never recommend Saga insurance going by our claims experiences.

 

[cyberyacht]

Treat them like idiots or get the Isopon out.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Whats to say in the other parties view they pulled out with plenty of space and the only reason they were hit was because the other vehicle was exceeding the speed limit for the class of vehicle?

Even if you were speeding the onus is on the driver of the vehicle emerging onto the road that has right of way.

The emerging driver has to decide on his or hers course of action.

 

[Silver-Fox]

We sort of have proof of distances as I took photos of both vehicles at side of the road, their positions in relation to the junction. We calculated that the distance from the junction to the rear of my Hymer is about 20m. I calculated this from the white lines.

It's no problem for us to attend court in Inverness, but it will be for him, he lives in Thurso. He admitted liability at the time then changed his story (no surprise there). He/and his insurance actually tried to state we were driving too fast as the A9 is 30mph, then they changed their story to say there was a speed reduction in force at the time, our solicitor put them right on both accounts. We could travel legitimately at 50mph, HGV's are limited to 50mph all others are 60mph.

Given the above, would the Police like to get involved??

 

[Silver-Fox]

I don't know the answer to this question and it might be a stupid one BUT if your not getting satisfaction from your Solicitor, might it not be more productive if you persued them through the small claims court as you, with your photography and if the admission of guilt was overheard by a witness, you appear to have a strong case but only you can decide?

That was my thinking as well.

Low cost and you can represent yourself.

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[stuartholmes]

Presumably it was a merge slip road to a dualled section of the A9 so not as clear cut as a regular side road to a single carriageway. You made need to show that you couldn't move to the 2nd lane which could get very messy. I'd just let it lie tbh

Don't agree. Whether you're moving into somebody else's lane from a slip road or a T junction you're still moving into somebody else's lane and you need to ask nicely (aka. wait for a suitable gap).

Although many (or most) experienced drivers would spot an opportunity to help out by changing into the next lane I don't think it says anywhere in the Highway Code that it's a requirement to do so. But if I'm wrong I'm happy to be pointed to the relevant section.

 

[enark]

Surely the question should be;

Whats the stopping distance of a Fiat Ducato or Mercedes Sprinter or whatever the vase vehicle is?

As long as you were within you plated weight and had legal tyres, then conversation over?

 

[stuartholmes]

Irrespective of who's right and who's wrong, the moral to all this is drive like the rest are idiots and leave lots of room.

Which is what the guy in the car should have done!

 

[Silver-Fox]

Presumably it was a merge slip road to a dualled section of the A9 so not as clear cut as a regular side road to a single carriageway. You made need to show that you couldn't move to the 2nd lane which could get very messy. I'd just let it lie tbh

The lad that pulled out still had to cross give way lines.

And if it’s a reasonably long slip he’s more at fault as he didn’t get up to the speed of the flowing traffic.
IMHO

 

[B-JandBella]

Asking someone what the braking distance of their vehicle is, is like asking what's the length of a peice of string.
Personaly, I think the solicitor is asking a question that he know's is impossible to answer, just so you can not make a claim.
Plus, the stopping distance is irrelevant to any accident so I think he is just taking the piss!!

I had a young girl pull out of a side road in front of me yesterday, and when I blasted my horn, she blasted her's back at me as if it was my fault!!!! Maybe I shouldn't have braked hard and just hit her........little bitch wouldn't do it twice, would she?

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[B-JandBella]

The lad that pulled out still had to cross give way lines.

And if it’s a reasonably long slip he’s more at fault as he didn’t get up to the speed of the flowing traffic.
IMHO

If people would just read the Highway Code Book, it states that if you are joining a carriageway from a slip road and it is not clear to procede onto the carriageway, you MUST stop as the dotted lines also mean you MUST treat it as a GIVE WAY.

But hey, who the f**k reads the Highway Code Book?

I have a very good memory of when I was learning to drive some nearly 50 years ago, and there is still alot of info from that book lodged in my head.
Probably, just to help me remember, both my parents were driving instructors.

 

[jezport]

Saga are terrible insurance. One of their drivers hit me and I allowed them to deal with the repairs. I won't do that again!

 

[Barriesimpson]

I think I'm in the dashcam required camp. The other party presumably could be trying to say they pulled out leaving a sensible gap and the motorhome failed to stop possibly going too fast for the speed limit given the weight category possibly overloaded etc. Are there any independent witnesses presumably if there were no injuries there wouldn't be any police investigation of any skid marks vehicle positions etc. Without a dashcam showing speed and position when they pulled out or a witness it's just one persons word against the other .

In this sort of situation, it is always better to call the police before anyone moves anything.

 

[Barriesimpson]

No I try to avoid old men

You are missing SO much in your life

 

[Landy Andy]

The police, if you can get them to attend, have no interest in these events at all.

I have been in a similar situation where I was brake tested, and hit the vehicle in front of me. Police attended, little to no interest to them unless there is a physical injury, which there wasn’t as they wouldn’t allow me to drag the fu##ing moron out of his car.

It all comes down to your insurance, who much prefer an easy life and just lay down, hand money over, and win by putting everyone’s premiums up.

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[Barriesimpson]

The police, if you can get them to attend, have no interest in these events at all.

I have been in a similar situation where I was brake tested, and hit the vehicle in front of me. Police attended, little to no interest to them unless there is a physical injury, which there wasn’t as they wouldn’t allow me to drag the fu##ing moron out of his car.

It all comes down to your insurance, who much prefer an easy life and just lay down, hand money over, and win by putting everyone’s premiums up.

That's interesting, here you call the police and they are there in a shot taking declarations from all parties. This is useful for the insurance claim.

 

[Landy Andy]

That's interesting, here you call the police and they are there in a shot taking declarations from all parties. This is useful for the insurance claim.

You will be lucky to get any police interest for anything here these days, there just aren’t enough of them, and they are stuck behind a desk doing admin.

The only reason they attended my accident was because I was trying to drag him of his car, and they “were nearby”.

 

[Fdhadi]

10 times longer on a wet road, just passed my C1 which is basically an HGV theory, Driving a 7.5t van & a hazard perception test. It was one of the questions.

Are you getting confused with following distances?

2 Seconds in the dry
4 seconds in the wet
10 seconds in the snow or ice

Have to laugh when people quote these stats, but do they know how to work it out?

 

[Barriesimpson]

You will be lucky to get any police interest for anything here these days, there just aren’t enough of them, and they are stuck behind a desk doing admin.

The only reason they attended my accident was because I was trying to drag him of his car, and they “were nearby”.

That's a real shame. I remember when the British Police were admired by many over the world due to their efficiency and Rigor without having to shoot anyone.

 

[bigtwin]

But if I'm wrong I'm happy to be pointed to the relevant section.

You’re not wrong.

Surely the question should be;

Whats the stopping distance of a Fiat Ducato or Mercedes Sprinter or whatever the vase

Why? The question is completely irrelevant to the circumstances of the collision.

The third party failed in a basic competence and obligation to give way; it is not a test of the braking competence of the injured party.

Ian

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[Landy Andy]

That's a real shame. I remember when the British Police were admired by many over the world due to their efficiency and Rigor without having to shoot anyone.

I spent a large amount of this summer working with a very newly retired policeman. Listening to what he has to say on the current police situation was very interesting to say the least.

 

[L' Hobo]

You are missing SO much in your life

Yes but the old men are happier, who said that?

 

[Nanniemate]

You are missing SO much in your life

From who's point of view

 

[Jonno1103]

Are you getting confused with following distances?

2 Seconds in the dry
4 seconds in the wet
10 seconds in the snow or ice

Have to laugh when people quote these stats, but do they know how to work it out?

The only reason I know is that I etched into my brain as I kept getting it wrong on the theory mock tests. for me 4 is more realistic than 10. Maybe for HGV's it is 10, most of them do weigh 44 tonnes.

 

[stuartholmes]

Yes but the old men are happier, who said that?

The old women??

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[The Wino]

You are missing SO much in your life

Mostly disappointment? ( Said as an old man!)

 

[Kelvin8tor]

The stopping distance is... compliant with standards as it was tested at the last MOT. It's up to them to prove it's under performing. But I still think it's irrelevant. The fact they pulled out without enough margin to get up to speed before you hit the back of them means they didn't give way. This can be demonstrated by the distance the incident happened from the junction.

Even if you win and it becomes a no fault claim, you will still have to say you had a no fault claim whenever you get insurance for the next 5 years. And even if your no claims is unaffected, it'll still raise your premiums. Insurance sucks.

Motor insurance is no longer fit for purpose we have to have it but it never compensates the third party in the way we would hope
Don’t ask me how I know

 

[The Wino]

Motor insurance is no longer fit for purpose we have to have it but it never compensates the third party in the way we would hope
Don’t ask me how I know

We could of course have much higher payments for third parties and easier claims but the evidence from when whiplash claims were very prevalent is that big parts of the population would claim to such an extent as to make insurance much more expensive.

 

[Bessy765]

Why did the insurance company send someone to inspected the site of the accident? To work out the stopping distance is an exact science and has many variables.

 

[Oldrat]

Lines of sight?

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[Fdhadi]

No, I'll not bother. I'm an Old Man and I'll probably read it incorrectly, you know what Old Men are like!

Help!

At what age do you become an Old Man.
Asking for a friend