[Closed] Mrs Skip hit a child this morning in the car, can we claim off them??

Things could of been a lot worse and no i wouldn't of even thought about this had it been a young child or an accident that was mrs skips fault......

....but when your 12, you kind of know not to run into the road when cars are moving. Fingers crossed my mrs gets over it soon.

Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable.

Happened to me when I was a kid (getting hit, my fault, fractured wrist, nothing terrible). My parents never even questioned who should pay, it was obviously my (and therefor, their) fault and liability. They payed up without needing to be asked.

The real question here is not who is liable, but rather is there any likelihood of the family of the child seeing it the same way and doing the right thing.

imnotverygood - Member
Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable.

Any evidence for that?

would you be asking if the girl was dead/seriously injured ?

[i]Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.[/i]

You can't anticipate that everyone may jump in front of your car, otherwise you'd never move

[i]If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable. [/i]

Not necessarily, in fact in this case (with the limited facts at hand) probably not.

So you take the parents to court, and if you loose you will have a large legal bill to pay, as well as the kids parents may not have suitable cover for accidents involving their kids, or non at all.

It must have been a real shock for your poor wife, and i wish her the best in her recovery, which will be traumatic, as she relives the event.

[i]would you be asking if the girl was dead/seriously injured ?[/i]

Well, she's not, she's demonstrably fine, so what's your point?

"isn't this exactly the sort of thing that your insurance is supposed to cover?"

That would be fine if insurance companies took a "sometimes sh!t just *does* happen view", but instead if you can't point the finger at someone else, it has to be your own fault, and not only does it cost you your excess, it affects your No Claims Bonus, and will end up costing you every time you renew for the next 3 years, even though it *wasn't* your fault in the first place.

Of course, if it was a dog, them obviously NOT the owners fault, they've got a mind of their own... 😉

I think you should at least ask for a contribution, if not the full amount.
If you were the person doing the suing in this case, i would be saying something completely different! ~ [url= http://www.****/news/article-2079940/Dead-man-killed-tragic-train-collision-CAN-sued-woman-injured-flying-body-parts.html ]WTF![/url]

Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable.

The test is whether the accused's driving falls below the standard expected of a reasonable, prudent and competent driver in all the circumstances of the case. Of course, the speed and manner of the driving should take into account the children on the pavement, but you can't crawl past every pedestrian at 1 mph. The OP stated that the police spoke to witnesses and were satisfied that his wife's driving was acceptable, or words to that effect.

Well, she's not, she's demonstrably fine, so what's your point?

why not ? the damage to the car would be the same, there would still be a claim and damage to pay for. You could hand them the invoice at the funeral.

So you take the parents to court,

he collective singletrack mind last year

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anybody-sued-a-pedestrian

Move on and forget about it.

[i]why not ? the damage to the car would be the same, there would still be a claim and damage to pay for[/i]

Okay, I think you know you're stretching the point.

My SO had the exact same thing happen in May last year, with £1,350 worth of damage to her car - after a few months of questioning, even though the 13 year old Girl had said it was her fault and she had just walked out into the road without looking, there was no-where we could go with a claim, only to the girls parents with the bill for our excess, as we guessed that wouldn't go anywhere, we left it alone - still does nothing for the other halfs confidence. It has also affected her passenger seat driving skills too, she now jumps at anything.
Sorry to say but I certainly think your SO will remember this for a while, definately longr than the kid will....!!!

a similar thing happened to me a couple of year ago; Driving in slow moving traffic (about 5mph) and this kid came flying out of a side road on his bike and few straight over my bonnet. Naturally I got out, asked the kid if he was ok, naturally threw him in the hedge and drove off with his bike.

If it was an adult, you might get somewhere, but with a child? No chance.

[i]Okay, I think you know you're stretching the point.[/i]

so where's the cut off point ?, bit of bruising or a broken leg is ok, sue away. Brain damage errr maybe, life support and death beyond the pale ?

What sort of insurance have you got? If you have a decent level of cover they may help/do this for you. In any event I wouldn't be suprised if they go after the parents insurance company to recover their losses.

I assume all the correct reporting has been done to the police?

Personally I'd deal with it through the insurance company rather than going direct.

[i]so where's the cut off point ?, bit of bruising or a broken leg is ok, sue away. Brain damage errr maybe, life support and death beyond the pale ? [/i]

It would depend on the circumstances, wouldn't it? In this case, the child is fine. If there were more serious injuries then I'm sure that the OP would be making a different decision. It's a judgement call, and one into which he's asking for some input.

Jonba, shes fully comp and from what she said on the phone to them, i get the feeling they will be after them for anything they can get.

My mrs called for the police and ambulance and after a 5-10 second "what the f#*k just happened" moment went into nurse mode and treated the girl. Just got to go to the police station tomorrow and produce her paperwork.

It just boils my piss that a girl of 12 (not 5,6 or 7) will just run into the road through some parked cars into a road full of moving cars. She has changed my wifes life, (and yes it could of been worse) but her mum and dad said it was only a matter of time before it happened to her.

Thanks for not teaching your kid the green cross code!!

And i'm not even going to answer what i'd be doing if the child had died.

Its just with her mum saying about her being on Facebook about it all afternoon, just hacks me off.

Ta

You have a moral obligation to get your danages paid for.
Just why should that child and by implication their parent get away with it when you are out of pocket.
I don't suppose by any chance you are a CTC member or anything? Just to help. Please do it and hopefully set a precedent.

How is the child supposed to pay?

Filtering some traffic on my motorbike, kid runs out between two large vans. He spots me and we both slowed almost to the point of stopping but we made contact and he ended up sitting in the road in front of me.

Mum appears, pulls the kid up off the road by his shirt collar and wallops him really hard, much harder than the collision with me. She then asks if I am ok, closely followed by crossing the road towing said child with her...

Remarkable...

TJ, the child's [s]owner[/s] parents are liable, surely?

It just boils my piss that a girl of 12 (not 5,6 or 7) will just run into the road through some parked cars into a road full of moving cars.

If you're saying that she's responsible for her own actions, then why should her parents pay?

FWIW I understand why you're angry, but I think in this case "can" is not the same as "should".

I reckon that as long as your Mrs is absolutely positive that she drove with absolutely all due care and attention given the conditions (traffic/parked cars/large groups of kids walking along the pavement or whatever) and it couldn't be bent or twisted, then try suing for costs/small claims against parents/guardian.
Not having a dig like, but 'they' might.

[b]NB [/b]take screen shots/ print outs of Facebook details [b][u]now[/u][/b] .. posts on facebook can always be removed.

Maybe just do a tester letter to begin with; a lot of folks have personal injury/accident/legal assitance on their contents insurances nowadays; EDIT - I do for precisely this kind of thing but on-bike

if the OP's partner's insurance choose to, they will attempt to recover their expenses from the family. just let them do what they do. the OP apparently is not at fault, and ( practically speaking ) we know that insurance companies will always load you after an accident, even if it is 'no fault', but i'm afraid that just seems to be life.
so, as above, let your insurance deal with it how they see fit, but i'd strongly fight any attempt by them to recover any money from you at all - excess or no.

skiprat - Member
...but her mum and dad said it was only a matter of time before it happened to her.

It just boils my piss that a girl of [b]12[/b] (not 5,6 or 7) will just run into the road through some parked cars into a road full of moving cars. for not teaching your kid the green cross code!!

Its just with her mum saying about her being on Facebook about it all afternoon, just hacks me off.

[url=

order to be eligible to sign up for Facebook, people must be thirteen (13) years of age or older.[/url]

You could always get her banned 😈

Not read all that, obviously, but back to the OP's Q....

Many moons ago I went through the back window of a stationary car while cycling (front mech problem.... looking down.... looking down.... through rear window of car.... sh!t that hurts....). Clearly my fault, parents house insurance covered it no issues - most policies have a 3rd party cover included for just this kind of thing.

offer to send the child on holiday then route it to an iphone factory till its earned enough to pay for the damage

We're having to payout for the work while our new "robust" 12 year old friend is hard as nails on facebook.

I think you'll find that's what kids do to "cope".

NB take screen shots/ print outs of Facebook details now .. posts on facebook can always be removed.

I don't know what she's posting but I'm sure it's more [i]"OMG I got hit by a car, look at my bruises"[/i] than [i]"I totally wrecked this car when I ran into the road, LOL"[/i].

I have concern for the future of humans as a species

Amazing foresight to summarise this thread so succinctly so few posts in... 😉

Edit: although not sure whether you were referring to attitudes of posters or kids running into the road now.

If it were an adult I'd be all for going for this as we should be responsible for our actions, but as it's a child and children make mistakes and parents can't reasonably be expected to control them at all times, I think I'd chalk this up to luck and insurance. (In reality I'd buy a new bonnet and grilles from a scrappy and fit them myself).

This is what you have fully comp insurance for. Just be glad the kids friends/family don't claim she ran out and the driver was speeding and couldn't stop.

You could always get her banned

In all seriousness OP, to help your wife with her inevitable feelings, you need to point out to her somewhat robustly that it was actually only her good and observant driving that saved this child's life.

be careful.. do nothing and the child in 2 years 11 months sues you for injuries.. you must be to blame because you didnt claim off her.. so get down the accidents are us folk and get em to put a claim in seems your mrs is emotionally traumatised as well as a bent bumper..sue em before they sue you..

I failed my first bike test because I was riding at 26/27 in a 30 zone in an absolute downpour on a friday aft at 1530, pavements were full of kids. Apparantly my speed/lack of could have beckoned a child to try cross in front. You can't win.

Cheers v8ninety, will do. I'll see what she's like when i get in.

If it was my kid I would be offering to at least stump some of the cost if not all through my insurance, then making a point of it through reduced pocketmoney etc to drive the point home to my child so they actually learn from the situation.

I had a situation last summer when my 4 year old opended the car door in excitement in the car park of a local farm. The wind caught the door and blew it into the one parked next to us.
I left a note for the owners then managed to speak to them before they left and footed the bill for the repair costs.
Kids can be nobs. I wouldn't expect other to pay for their learning mistakes though, thats part of being a parent.

Gravitysucks that is a pet hate. You are my new hero and have given me a fraction of hope for the future of the human race

Has anyone questioned the grammar of the title yet?

I assume you mean ran a child over whilst driving the car rather than used physical violence against a child within the car?

I feel this is important.