False Accident Claim!

Don't quite get this- how did he hit the car door without hitting your DIL? (thank goodness) ...

I know you are angry, but does the nationality/origin of the driver really makes a difference here?

You need to get advice. if you were stationary, it is almost certainly not your fault he is probably trying it on with you.

Stationary with door open though? If you only have one child seat, why put it on the road side rather than pavement?

It's quite easy to see how a car could hit the door without hitting the DiL - the door could have been wide open, while the DiL was reaching into the car, and therefore much closer to the car than the outside edge of the door. And no, I don't expect the nationality of the driver matters, but is there anything to be gained by pointing this out?
tengis I can so understand how angry you are. I would be too. I do hope your son can resolve this satisfactorily. At least he will have a record of his phone calls to the taxi firm and to the police, which may be of use. There's a lot to be said for having a dashboard camera, though even if they'd had one, I doubt it would have been operating until they'd started the engine.
Good luck

It seems your dil should be ok- as:

'So if you open your car door without looking and a passing driver hits it, then it is likely to be you that will take the blame for the collision. However if you open your car door with no traffic around and another driver comes along and hits it, then you can argue that they were not driving with due care and attention because they didn't see the door open in time to stop. Drivers are expected to apply hazard perception techniques when they are driving and so should be on the lookout for dangerous scenarios, such as animals in the road, pedestrians and open car doors.

The difficulty comes with proving what happened. If you hit another driver's door, or you are the one who finds your vehicle has been hit, then the best thing you can do is try to find an independent witness who saw what happened. Without witnesses, it will be difficult to prove that the door wasn't opened onto the passing car, thus causing the collision.

Although not always possible, the best thing you can do to avoid your car door being hit by another car is to make sure that you get in and out of your car, and put things in and out of it from the off-roadside doors, rather than the side that opens out onto the road.'

however the driver could argue there was no reason for the child being on side that opens to the road... Best get some professional advice though. Is DIL a member of AD or RAC?

gj. What advice would you give my daughter then? She has two small children, so two child seats, one each side. I think the driver was certainly at fault and I have every sympathy with the OP in this case. I'd be livid.

Same as my daughter- the point was if there is only one child seat, it is safer to be on pavement rather than road side- just common sense.

I did do some research after my initial comment- and it seems the driver was indeed at fault.

(I think I did react because of the comment re the nationality/origin of driver. A bad driver is a bad driver- irrespective of ...which is exactly what I said last week to a local driver who complained about being hit by a driver who spoke English- and a couple of weeks before that about another one complaining about a French driver...)

Yes, I'd be damn annoyed too. However, it maybe tricky to prove that the door was already open when the car appeared.
As Bella says if you have two children it's inevitable that one has to be put in from the roadside.

And, of course, it depends which way round you park. It may be on the pavement side at home but on the road side if you park in, say, a one-way street.

And they are so difficult to move around, especially with baby, bags, etc in tow.

I was thinking that too jalima

I had three DGC in the back of my car recently.
One full booster seat, one base booster and one car seat.

Did they tell their insurers?

Jalima I'd forgotten that as where I live it is illegal to park against the traffic direction (personally believe it should be illegal everywhere).

As you say, no choice if you have more than one child seat- children with boosters, like my GS, get in and out of the car very quickly without help, so not a problem.

We had a similar incident, we were stationary when we were hit by a car, The insurance company considered it 50/50.

To be honest I also thought why put him in roadside but then thought when the kids were young I had also been guilty of doing the same. We have a busy round and you are lucky if you get a space so if you see one you take it. If you have to drive round the block it would be gone before you got back. In a ideal world we would like to have the perfect parking space.

My son has had some legal advise and been told that as the driver has not given his full contacted details at the scent he has committed a criminal offence. Details must be given at the scene in accordance with Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act. He is also in breach of his Licence due to reckless driving.

As they were already performing the task and he decided to drive on through, he is at fault. But as granjura pointed out we have to prove this. My daughter and myself saw it happen as we were in the forecourt ready to wave goodbye. But I presume as we are related we will not be independent witnesses. I think a neighbour was also out so will need to check and see if she saw anything :-)

How annoying, tengis19, and I've every sympathy with your son and his wife. A friend of mine had a similar prang with a taxi driver recently - it was a 50 50 incident with both manoeuvring slowly in a carpark, but the taxi driver later tried to claim for all sorts of previous damage to his vehicle, and said that my friend had crashed into him at speed (in a small, crowded carpark!). My friend's insurers sorted it out. He hadn't wanted to involve them either for such minor repairs, but I'm afraid your son might have to. And yes, so much the better if you can find witnesses.

Though I think you and your daughter will count as witnesses as well.

I cannot believe that a poster would react because of comment re nationality of driver.

Yes the nationality did make a difference, and even if didnt this time, could do another time.

Nationalities act differently.

No, they can be lumped together, but that does not mean they dont have their individualities.

cant not can

I never meant to cause any offensive by stating the drivers nationality. I did think maybe I should not of put that.

I put it to convey there may have been a language barrier. He basically said to my son "my fault", shoved a piece of paper in his hand with his name on and said contact taxi firm. Not sure if he had a proper comprehension on the etiquette of the situation or he was just playing dumb.

Regardless of nationality of driver I would still be very angry.

Unfortunately in the city we live there has been a spate in the last couple of years of foreign drivers causing accidents and being as awkward as possible to get details and then getting away with it. It is becoming a real problem here.

tengis19 I sympathise with this situation and don't take offence at the fact you stated the taxi driver who was at fault, seemed to be eastern european. It's unfair to take umbrage at what I saw as a factual rather than a racist comment

For what its worth, I had a rear end shunt several years ago. The taxi driver apologised and gave me his name and address. I took the details of his car. He didn't respond to my insurance company so I called at the address. I was told he'd returned to Pakistan and was no longer available. I went to the local police station because I didn't know what else to do. I was told that the address was well known for what they called "hot taxiing:, i.e. several individuals driving on the same licence/name. the cops went round and guess what, Mr X resurfaced, or at least some Mr X did and my claim was settled, no fault on my side.

I apologise if this causes offence to anyone's sensibilities on the race/ethnicity/equality and diversity front. It's a true story and I was very grateful to the cops. Nope, I didn't come across casual racism, just bobbies who knew their patch and this particular address.

i do hope your situation can be as easily resolved.

I lived in an Eastern European country for 5 years. You would be horrified at the standard of the test. And what's worst, a lot of people 'buy' their licence. Two of my friends there did. One of them said her biggest problem was keeping her eyes on the road while changing gear!!!

SIL works for a family haulage company and they are having terrible problems getting full HGV drivers.
Getting the licence is expensive here, paid for by the driver. The owner of the company has found himself getting Police checks on the licences of Eastern European drivers, 1 out of 3 have been 'manufactured', and thats just the ones they can trace. It also costs the company money to make the checks.