Car got hit on the right at West Coast Highway

[Stiener]

It was a bad day this morning. While my wife was driving (05 Civic) on the extreme left lane on West Coast Highway after turning from Clementi Road. A container trucker was coming down from the flyover. As the 2 roads came close, our car was just beside the truck and it lane change left and hit our right rear passenger door.

 

When my wife noticed that the truck was shifting left towards her, she horn and tried to accelerate but it was too late. The driver then claimed that he did not hear my wife horn, also did not notice our car and has already signal his intention that he was doing a lane change to the left.

 

I was thinking that we were in fault somewhere, and did agreed to a private settle with panel beating instead of insisting changing of doors (other party claimed that it is too expensive and just panel beating will be good enough) since we did not get the driver to write a statement indicating what happened suggesting he was at fault.

 

Since this is our first encounter of an accident, we were caught off guard and did not really know what to do apart from taking photo, video and information of driver and car registration number.

 

Experienced drivers, from this lesson, is there anyway my wife could have evaded the truck or could we insist on the door change? How could we have better managed the situation? Thanks for sharing.

[Darryn]

So long as fixed back so looks good no need for new door.

[Stiener]

So long as fixed back so looks good no need for new door.

 

Oh ya...will it leave an obvious mark like out of shape? Some parts of the metal are already cut.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Stiener

[Expertz]

Oh ya...will it leave an obvious mark like out of shape?

 

depends on the skill of the workshop

just go to a reputable workshop and let them do their stuff, you'll be surprised at what they can do

 

i'd advice to pick a workshop that has computer respray capabilities, generally the problems come from the respray than from the panel beating

[Stiener]

depends on the skill of the workshop

just go to a reputable workshop and let them do their stuff, you'll be surprised at what they can do

 

i'd advice to pick a workshop that has computer respray capabilities, generally the problems come from the respray than from the panel beating

 

Sounds expensive.

[Fastfive1]

From what i gather you were in front of the truck? If that's the case then speeding up would work. However if you're behind, it's best to slow down when someone is trying to eat into your lane. Personally i would ask the person to change the whole door if the door has been dented badly. I can't stand the idea of having a car with a door that was damaged before unless parts for the car is rare. If you're planning to sell the car after once the COE expires, then just do the panel beating and hope that the structural integrity is not compromised. Do whichever is cheaper.

[Yeshe]

It was a bad day this morning. While my wife was driving (05 Civic) on the extreme left lane on West Coast Highway after turning from Clementi Road. A container trucker was coming down from the flyover. As the 2 roads came close, our car was just beside the truck and it lane change left and hit our right rear passenger door.

 

When my wife noticed that the truck was shifting left towards her, she horn and tried to accelerate but it was too late. The driver then claimed that he did not hear my wife horn, also did not notice our car and has already signal his intention that he was doing a lane change to the left.

 

I was thinking that we were in fault somewhere, and did agreed to a private settle with panel beating instead of insisting changing of doors (other party claimed that it is too expensive and just panel beating will be good enough) since we did not get the driver to write a statement indicating what happened suggesting he was at fault.

 

Since this is our first encounter of an accident, we were caught off guard and did not really know what to do apart from taking photo, video and information of driver and car registration number.

 

Experienced drivers, from this lesson, is there anyway my wife could have evaded the truck or could we insist on the door change? How could we have better managed the situation? Thanks for sharing.

 

just learn from lesson. along west coast road, alot of heavy vehicles, not just in lane 3, lane 2 and 1 also they speed like nobody biz.

observe and try not to stay beside them, keep out of their blind spot!

 

 

 

[Stiener]

From what i gather you were in front of the truck? If that's the case then speeding up would work. However if you're behind, it's best to slow down when someone is trying to eat into your lane.

 

She was right beside the truck towards the end of the divider. She only accelerated when she realised that the truck was coming in too close. Initially when I was told that she was hit by a truck...I didn't thought that it was one of those with a long trailer for containers. I'm not sure slowly down would be a good idea since the driver already said that he didn't see my wife when he moved left.

 

 

[C-K]

Sounds expensive.

 

A few hundred bucks only la.. you door will be as good as new.

 

[Stiener]

just learn from lesson. along west coast road, alot of heavy vehicles, not just in lane 3, lane 2 and 1 also they speed like nobody biz.

observe and try not to stay beside them, keep out of their blind spot!

 

My wife will have to endure it everyday since she is working there. Are they able to check their blind spots?

[Stiener]

A few hundred bucks only la.. you door will be as good as new.

 

I'm already quoted close to $500 including the panel beating for the fender.

[Spidercool]

I'm already quoted close to $500 including the panel beating for the fender.

 

Try green star spray painting. Few bros went to boss and were happy customers. Including myself.

Google for it. In bedok industrial park E.

[Fastfive1]

She was right beside the truck towards the end of the divider. She only accelerated when she realised that the truck was coming in too close. Initially when I was told that she was hit by a truck...I didn't thought that it was one of those with a long trailer for containers. I'm not sure slowly down would be a good idea since the driver already said that he didn't see my wife when he moved left.

 

Well if that's the case it's better to slow down. but then again if there's a car right behind, another type of accident may have happened. Something like that nearly happened to me. was travelling around 50km/h along jalan eunos had to horn ans slow down to 30km/h. luckily the driver of the lorry responded by getting his vehicle back on track.

[Fastfive1]

I'm already quoted close to $500 including the panel beating for the fender.

 

Woah your fender got damaged as well? Rear fender i suppose? If that's the case, the driver of the truck is gonna have to pay a whole lot of cash. As for their blindspots, they may not get an accurate view due to their convex mirrors on both sides of the truck. The convex mirrors distort the image quite a bit so objects may appear further away than they actually are..

[Mecontle]

all big truck driver sure say no hear on ecp many times see this kind till i used

[Stiener]

Well if that's the case it's better to slow down. but then again if there's a car right behind, another type of accident may have happened.

 

Then the car behind become the scapegoat Liao lor.

[Stiener]

Woah your fender got damaged as well? Rear fender i suppose? If that's the case, the driver of the truck is gonna have to pay a whole lot of cash.

 

Yup...a bit of the rear fender was hit. It looks like a mini equator. Just knock it back lor.

[Stiener]

I am wondering if I am oblige to help the other party to save money by exploring cheaper options. My impression was that when the person claims that he wanted to do private settlement instead of an insurance claim, he will be willing to pay the max for the repairs. If the accident happened on a sat night and the workshops we know are not open on Sun and the other party then rejected the cost of repairs after getting the quotations on Mon. Can I still claim his 3rd party insurance?