South Meath Driving School

When a vehicle was involved in a collision, it used be termed a traffic accident. Of late that was modified to ‘a crash.’ The Road Traffic Act refers to it as ‘an occurrence.’ Call it what you may, no one wants to be involved in it. Incorrect! That’s not always the case, to which I will allude, post.

There are certain obligations on any driver who becomes involved in a crash. Primarily, stop the vehicle and keep it at the scene. Switch off the engine in case of fire. Give appropriate information to the other party if there is no Garda present. That amounts to name and address, Insurance Company details and car registration, make owner and driver. Otherwise report the occurrence at the nearest Garda Station within a reasonable length of time. Call the emergency services at 999 or 112, if necessary.

Items which every motorist should carry include advance warning sign (the reflective triangle,) high visibility jacket, a torch and first aid kit. Use hazard warning lights and take photographs of scene. Upgraded mobile phones have a camera facility. If you, the driver, do not know how to use it, ring some five year old child and they will instruct you.

Don’t imperil yourself at an accident scene, especially at night; warn oncoming traffic and get other motorists to assist. Any accident can be traumatic for driver or passenger and the less said in the immediate aftermath, the better. In a state of shock, say little and say it well.

What then if another driver deliberately collides with your vehicle? This can happen in many ways, the more common being where you – an innocent motorist – are driving behind a vehicle which suddenly, and without any apparent reason, brakes severely and gets ‘rear-ended’ by you. There will be a few willing passengers accompanying such driver, all of whom get hauled off to hospital by ambulance, collars carefully fixed around their necks. It isn’t medical treatment that’s foremost in their minds, but they must go through the motions until the time is ripe to visit a solicitor.

Then there’s the instance where you, an unsuspecting driver, have stopped your car along the road or kerb. As you sit there, a car overtakes you, pulls in, in front of you and slams back – in reverse – into your car. This driver then claims that you ran into their car and is accompanied by a few passengers who shout in agreement.

Such instances of fraudulent claims were very common in the 1980s. Only after repeated claims by select individuals and thorough investigations into their character and background, plus an adjustment in the legislation, whereby it became a criminal offence to pursue a false claim, did such claims become few in the modern era. A prime example was the claim brought by three youths against Supermacs restaurant in Galway for negligence when one of them slipped on the toilet floor because it was wet. The case was before the Circuit Court when the owner, Pat McDonagh, informed his own lawyer that he had video evidence of the youths spilling water from the wash basin in the toilet onto the floor and then one of them tumbles and gets carted off to hospital. The lawyer advised him to just withdraw the case and not mention the video evidence. The brave McDonagh refused to do this, and instead withdrew his lawyer’s services. The claimant was informed and he withdrew his claim. When the case was called, McDonagh gave evidence of the facts and he wondered, in a subsequent Late Late Show presentation with Pat Kenny who the biggest fraudster was. It highlighted the prime value of CCTV in such premises and left would- be fraudsters in a ‘planning’ dilemma for the future: ‘might Big Brother be watching my preparations?’

What then of the unfortunate motorist who falls victim to such a scammer? Ensure that the Gardai investigate and make it known immediately the fact that it is a set up. I’ve heard of such instance recently and that the Garda who visited the scene suggested that the matter be left to the insurance companies to sort out. I doubt if that is true in the light of the allegation by the victim. There is another recourse, such as the Garda Ombudsman or the local Superintendent should a victim encounter such a stance by the investigating Garda. It might be difficult to know who to believe, but a scratch of the surface should unearth more of the truth quickly.

In the unlikely instance of you becoming a victim to such circumstances, don’t move your vehicle, note details of the other persons vehicle and what they allege; take photographs, call the Gardai, phone a friend or, should you have learned to drive with your’s truly, here, give me a ring and I’d be only too willing to assist.

It just might be true, what they say – accidents don’t happen, they are made, sometimes.