Safe Speed Forums

Rear-end-shunted by taxi. I braked and a taxi that had been driving aggressively and following too close ran into the back of my car. My insurance company took the taxi driver to court but he claimed that I had been doing emergency stops trying to get him to crash into me (well there are speed humps which I still slow down for, but they are not as steep as they used to be so lunatics can now go over them quite fast). The taxi drivers written statement described my blue hatchback as being a red saloon and when quizzed he said that "It was a bit dirty so he could have got the colour wrong", he also flanelled about the shape saying saloons and hatchbacks look very similar. One of his witnesses statements said the car was gold coloured! (it was daylight at the time by the way) The taxi driver claimed (on oath) that when my "emergency stops" failed to cause a collision I reversed back into him deliberately. Very strangely he "could not remember" my reversing lights coming on. He also claimed that he had no other car so lost £1000 in earnings as "he could not work at the busiest time of the year" but this is not true either as a former colleague and his wife hired a taxi on New Years Eve and the taxi driver commented that his best taxi had been reversed into by a bloke with a Rover. In short several cases of perjury and insurance fraud but he won the day in court! Afterwards a friend who works with a person who made a statement to the police mentioned that "there was a grating sound before the bump". Great! what a pity this wasn't put in the statement to the police as it now sounds as if the taxis brake pads were worn right down to the steel so maybe this is why he couldn't stop! (there were no skid marks). I am gutted about the rubbish legal system in this country and also the way that people like to keep "stumm" - they don't want any repercussions. A lot of things about this case stink but getting to the bottom of it now looks to be impossible. What is interesting is the fact that I had been warned beforehand to expect "problems" as I had been told that "the taxi driver probably has high ranking clients that he transports when they are drunk". Masonry at work again?
SORN fines are another bone of contention especially when they concern "vehicles" that self destructed long ago. OK I may be an eccentric hoarder but I'm not a criminal. A few spare windows are worth keeping these days as vandalism is so rife.

You could check the height, dimensions, lighting, signage of the road humps. If they are not as specified in the "road humps regulations" (or whatever it's called) then they are an unlawful obstruction, and the council may well be able to be blamed, so the taxi driver might be able to get his money back from them.

You are a criminal, everyone is.

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Andrew.