Who is at fault??

[rayner22]

Had a minor bingle yesterday... Thankfully no injuries and completely minimal damage to my car and the other persons car had not even a mark.

What happened was: I had stopped at a set of lights that turns onto the road to my suburb. It is basically a turn left at any time lane, that merges onto a twin lane main road divided by a centre median strip for the greater majority.

I was sitting behing a old blue camry station wagon, we both had to wait for a couple of cars coming down the road but then all was clear. The woman in front of me in the camry took off, so I had a quick check over the shoulder before taking off as its a bad spot for people running the lights as you turn out.
A white BMW was turning onto the same road from the other side and he turned into the right hand lane just as I started to roll forward.

BUT just as I turned back around, and all this happened in the space of time it takes to do a quick shoulder check. The woman in the camry had come to a complete stop in the left hand lane just as the BMW came alongside her.



No brake lights came on the back of her car that I remember, so Im guessing she panicked and stalled it. She had had no idea I was behind her and that she had thought the BMW was going to sideswipe her. Even though I had been behind her for a bout 2-3 km's as the road we were merging off is an exit from the M1 motorway.

I only had enough time when I turned back around, to slam the brakes as hard and quick and try and swerve round the back of her car. I was probably on doing 5km\h max. We both pulled over and had a look and there was absolutely no damage to her car and it seemed (untill I got home and had a better look) I only had a ding in the rego plate that we thought was where the towbar had hit.

If it wasnt for one of those really long Hayman Reece towbars on the back of her car I wouldnt have even hit her at all. But when I got home and had another look, the towbar had snagged where the foglight recess is on the passenger side of my BF XR, and slid inwards. The foglight cover had shattered into a million pieces ( still havent found all of it lol), the lamp itself survived but the mounting bracket had shattered into twenty pieces from the pressure.
The side of the front bar had also slightly popped out on the passenger side underneath the front guard. I popped this back in straight away.

So considering what it could have been Ive only got a few tiny scratches inside the foglight housing where the actual towbar has gone through, a smashed foglight mounting bracket, missing foglight cover and two busted clips on the side bumper retainer ( but I think I maybe broke this when I hastily pushed the bar back into place - should have undone the screws and scrivets in the wheel well first ). Touch wood, but so far its only cost 70 bucks for a new foglight and 28 bucks for a new bumper retainer which Im replacing to be on the safe side.Small cost for me for well, a incident that could have been a lot worse...

There's no insurer etc involved, as we both at the time thought no damage, and well the excess is no way close to how much damage Ive got ($100 versus $800 excess) but really who is at fault??
I know the general rule says I am as Ive hit from behind, but surely the camry driver would have some blame for well, not really having a reason to stop so suddenly IN the lane. I can understand thinking youre possibly going to get swiped but well, she's probly lucky I wasnt driving a semi. Ive got a feeling she might have had no working brake lights, if they were working they were that dull I couldnt see them or she stalled in panic, it was only noticing I was closing in that I realised it was trouble.