[d.w.w.]

Originally Posted by al90

yesterday 31/01 they called me and told me it will be 1.5 Lakhs and i will have to shell out 20K from my pocket .

This seems to be common with Tata-AIG, at least in Chennai. I faced a similar situation in 2015. My car was in HMP Alandur, the one next to VW, Alandur and the surveyor rejected some claims for no reason(I had zero dep). When I called him, he just disconnected the call telling he don't have time to waste on a closed case and has other things to do. Next year I switched insurance to HDFC ERGO

Originally Posted by al90

1. What are the things i need to be looking at once i go to get the car from the service station?

Make sure you look around for scratches. The happiness of getting the car back can make you ignore this checks.

Originally Posted by Meph1st0

I am no legal expert but you could have gotten in writing that the two wheeler guy would not be pressing charges.

This is a safe thing to do. Even if the guy is not interested in making a claim now, his "barmates"/friends can give him the idea to file a case and get compensation. In most cases the victim will not be the one to come forward, his friends/relatives will bring this up for easy money. Police can also take his side and get a share of the claim. When I ended up in a similar situation, the police themselves got this written from the guy in his handwriting and kept it for records.

[autotranny]

I might sound naïve, but I really don't understand why your car will be in the police station any longer, even if you want to press charges against the drunk biker, unless it was the other way around. The court case might lag, but that doesn't necessitate the car to be held in custody, right ?

[automind]

Good to see that yourself and your family are not injured.
The only reason the Police wanted you to take the blame is because your vehicle had Valid insurance.
Now the cops will give the case of the injured bike rider to some one who deals in motor accident cases and a Motor accident claim petition will be filed against yourself and your insurance company seeking compensation. [you can periodically check online, on the website of MACT court of the local jurisdiction to see if case is filed or not]
Thankfully as you have valid insurance TATA Aig general insurance will pay the compensation amount to bike rider. Normally for one fracture courts grant any were from 1,25,000 to 2,00,000/- as compensation. The Rider can also seek cost of repairs to his bike from you and your insurer, as you have admitted guilt of accident.

TATA Aig general insurance is one of my client and i see innocent vehicles owners being misguided by cops every day.

[SafeDrive]

Originally Posted by automind

TATA Aig general insurance is one of my client and i see innocent vehicles owners being misguided by cops every day.

So in such a case, what would have been the prudent thing to do?

Cheers

[Turbohead]

I wouldn't get into the legal discussions in this thread but the biggest mistake you have made in dealing with VW service centre is signing that satisfaction form.

That's a massive fraud which will give them the upper hand to do anything they want and go scott free. This includes switching parts between cars in order to fix the complaint of some other vehicle having a long waiting time for parts where the owner of the other car is escalating stuff for a quick fix (experienced this with Hyundai mainly).

Please check the car thoroughly and don't let any issue be brushed under the carpet before accepting the car because they'll insist on having a second visit to sort it out so that they can get away with stuff.

If everything goes smoothly, I would suggest you to raise a complaint with VW that they forced you to sign it before starting the work.

[gandharjc]

Brother, in the humblest way possible, if you can buy a Taigun, you should absolutely be buying a dashcam. Time & again their importance has been proven in this forum. I'm glad you're all safe, but please invest in a good, dual-channel dashcam. Even if it does not show the perpetrator crashing into you, it will definitely prove you weren't driving in a rash manner prior to the accident.

I'd suggest 70mai, been using it for a year & no issues till now.
I hope you get your car back and are happily motoring around soon.

[CalmConquests]

Originally Posted by al90

I do know it wasn't smart, but i do have backing so not too worried and also just to cover myself have voice recorded the entire incident from the time of the accident to every police station visit.

Unfortunately have to disagree with this "backing" or "Voice Recording" route. The other guy being drunk & you taking the blame is wrong, on so many different levels.

I do hope you get out of this easily but in general, paperwork talks a lot more loudly than any "backing" or "Voice recording" if a matter were to go to the courts.

I hope there's no more trouble for you, but, please don't ever agree to these pressure tactics in the heat of the moment. Good Luck.

[pranavt]

Accepted fault in an accident where you were the victim? Check!
Signed away the feedback form before the work had even begun? Check!

In a span of a couple of days, you have accepted compromises which could ruin your life or your car. You are placing way way way too much trust on people who deserve none.

[hondaford]

Originally Posted by al90

I doubt a dashcam could have helped me because :

1. It was dark with no street lamps not many vehicles. When the accident happened it was just me, the Innova behind and the bike on the opposite side.
2. Am not sure if the impact would have been captured fully on the as the drunk rider suddenly turned into our car the moment he came right next to us, he may not have gotten in the field of view of the camera.

The camera would have proved that i was not in the wrong which would have definitely helped if the camera had good night visibility.

You absolutely MUST get a camera. Even if not this case where it was not exactly frontal collision, it would have captured that you are driving on the right side of the road at reasonable speed expected on the road. Also a front and back camera combination could also capture the Innova or other vehicles as witness which may help keep them invested in the case.

Damage to your front right portion shows it has to be the other party’s fault unless you were turning which does not seem to be the case.

Cameras are quite advanced nowadays and have good night capabilities.

Best regards.

[masterChief007]

I would just say, since you weren't at fault so you shouldn't have accepted the cops proposal. Period. Lawyer friends suggestion or not, this is a risky step. Cop was making his work easier using pressure tactics. In future anything happens this goes in record that you had incidents of negligent riding. Just a word of advice, never take the easy way out of a legal case. Walk the extra mile now to be tension free later.

Hope you recover from this incident without any more obstacles.

I too am fixing a dashcam (nexdigitron A3) as I write this, have tucked in the wiring and all, but have to fix the cam and locate it optimally. Not hardwiring it though, don't want the anti theft benefits of the cam, but want no drained battery

[Unni]

Hi al90, I am speaking from a little bit of experience here. The correct and safest route for you to take (as a few others have pointed out) is to do the FIR, the police get the medical report of the injured person, the case gets to court and the legal proceedings follow. The very point of having insurance is to cover such instances.
As someone has pointed out already, the voice recording is unlikely to have any validity in a court of law. Often the police themselves encourage a settlement by getting a written assurance from the injured person that he does not/will not have any complaint against you. This too has no legal validity as the injured person can reopen this case any time in the future (up to 6 years I think) by approaching a court directly. At that point, the police personnel who negotiated the compromise might not even be around, and the written assurance (even if it was in front of a police officer has little validity). While this scenario might not transpire, please bear this in mind as a possibility. I see you have got legal help at hand. Please have all the scenarios discussed with your lawyer friend and ensure you have covered all the risks adequately.

[hondaford]

Originally Posted by masterChief007

I too am fixing a dashcam (nexdigitron A3) as I write this, have tucked in the wiring and all, but have to fix the cam and locate it optimally. Not hardwiring it though, don't want the anti theft benefits of the cam, but want no drained battery

I have had a dash cam for 10 years. Not once has it drained my battery because I set it to be on only when car is running. That solves for the most important use case of accidents which are usually life or death situations or of much higher legal or financial consequence.

Even in the OP’s case, with video evidence the cops would have thought twice before coming up with fancy stories and laying negligent driving charges.

Perhaps our members with legal background can confirm if video evidence is admissible in court - though can understand OP may not have wanted to take it so far and spend a lifetime in court.

Best regards.

[ulag62442]

Does it really require the OP to visit court each time if the case drags on? I was under the impression that often lawyers can do a lot of the court visits except for the specific dates when the defendant has to be present during examination or reading the verdict etc.

[automind]

One does not need to visit the courts on each and every date. The accused driver is needed to appear on the first date of the case i.e appearance stage and then only at the stage of evidence of parties. rest of the dates are taken care by the advocate by filing exemption applicants.

Original dash camera audio and video recordings are accepted as a valid source of Evidence. Tape recordings are recognized as res gestae, meaning they are considered relevant to the case and also as admissible Evidence. Section 65B of evidence act comes to aid which states as under, “Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on a paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media produced by a computer shall be deemed to be also a document, if the conditions mentioned in this section are satisfied in relation to the information and computer in question and shall be admissible in any proceedings, without further proof or production of the original, as evidence of any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible”

Hence in a nutshell a dash cam in a accident can be of great aid to prove once innocence.

[Schneller]

My first thought was “YOU DID WHAT?!”

Never accept fault in a case like this. If somehow that persons injuries come out to be permanent he can take compensation from you after you agreed. Secondly, a written agreement between individuals is never considered in this case because you have made a criminal offence (or you accepted one). If a case is ever initiated, he will be someone who suffered but the case will be you vs the state. No written agreements between individuals in such matter holds weight in the court. Even if he pursued compensation from you, you will be liable to pay now.

Second in a situation like this always be like “ oh he is drunk, hes alive. Bloody fools and drive off” sad case for humanity but this is what is needed in our country. I was in a similar situation once and the locals themselves asked me to go otherwise it will be a problem once police comes. When the policeman asked you to accept fault, you should’ve denied. The proceedings in this case would have been State vs the drunk driver. You would have had to visit court as a withess at max once and you wouldn’t need a lawyer at all. The state will appoint you one.

You are definitely elder to me but sir, please stop being so naive in today’s world.