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-   -   Plight of a hapless car owner (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/6835-plight-hapless-car-owner.html)

Got my first scratch (read - damage to the front bumper and the body over the front right tyre). was driving from brigade road towards koramangala, when one woman took a right turn at the residency road and brigade road junction and tried to squeeze in her omni van between whatever place was left between my car and the footpath and then tried to speed away. chased the car down and then she started acting as if nothing had happened. man, i was livid. i got her phone number etc etc and she said she would pay for the damage if there was anything excess after the insurance claim.

to cut things short, i had gone to the kormangala police station (didn't know there were different police stations for traffic and normal stuff) and then they said that the accident location was not in their jurisdiction; so, i had to go to another (traffic) police station.

after tracking where this police station was, i had a first hand experience in dealing with the cops. they made me write a complaint (an entire A4 size), and then they realized that they didn't have a photocopy machine and then it dawned upon them that they had not remembered to put a carbon paper. so, i had to write the complaint once again (its been ages since i've used a pen for anything other than a signature ... computers spoil you big time). time taken so far - 2 hrs. after having done all this, the only thing left was for them to sign that damn thing and give it to me, but things don't work so smoothly here ... some of their colleagues had come back from their long duty at night and they were yapping away to glory and i was sitting on the chair looking at them. eventually, they managed to sign it and before handing it over to me, they said they wanted fees. i was like 'huh?'. they said they wanted 1k for filling up the other forms (no clue what other forms they have to fill up) and also for the fact that they had given that document to me so quickly. time so far - 3 hrs. i managed to settle it for 200 rupees. man, it was as if they were doing me a favour by taking the complaint down.

i need to see if the meeting with the insurance agency goes on smoothly. i am so very disappointed with the bureacracy in this place. has anyone been in a similar state before? if the bumper has to be coloured, will this be covered under the insurance claim? i heard that only 50% is claimable for bumpers.

Sad to hear about this. It always feels horrible when it happens whether its the first or nth time. Good that you could get a hold of her and she agreed to pay up. You'll need that, since insurance will only get you part of it.

30% for bumpers. I just had a similar accident and that's what I got for them.

Sad to hear that, dude. I had a similar experience this month a day after I landed in India:

Landed in Cochin, picked up my car and headed for Trivandrum to pick up the family - the drive was excellent despite the fact that I had started from Dubai early that morning (4 am), stopped over at Mumbai for some work and then flew down to Cochin late in the evening. It was raining, yet the drive to TVM took just 3 hours since traffic was lean towards the middle of the night.

Started from TVM next noon and was driving rather leisurely since my son was in a playful mood in the backseat and I normally dont speed if he isnt belted up. Barely got out of Trivandrum (a few kms from Technopark) when there was a police check going on that led to a small queue on the other side of the highway. A Daewoo Matiz suddenly breaks the queue and jumps out almost under my bonnet, crossing a DOUBLE YELLOW LINE in the middle of the highway. I had to swerve hard to avoid a collision but the bugger hit my RHS mirror.

Now this happened right under the cops nose, but by the time I had pulled over on the roadside to inspect the damage the Matiz had passed the cops who didnt even try to stop him. They were busy flagging down an LCV that would give them their hafta...

I turned my car around and stopped by the side of the police jeep. Asked them if they saw what happened and they said "yeah we saw it but he didnt stop when we asked him to pull over". I asked them why they didnt follow him since he had made a flagrant violation in front of their own eyes. "Sir we are not traffic police, so if you want you can call up the traffic police or the highway patrol and complain"

I was livid by then and so got into the car, put on my headlights and started back towards Trivandrum, determined to get the Matiz. After about 5 kms I found him trying to overtake other vehicles recklessly. Nevertheless, I forced myself in front and flagged him down. When he refused to slow down I braked in front of him and blocked his path.

The chap initially started denying the whole incident, saying 'what mirror?'. WHen I pointed out his mirror, he actually said "oh so YOU are the one who broke MY mirror"! I got my phone out to call the cops, and was speaking with the highway patrol when the chap got into his car and tried to drive away again. I tried blocking his path and he wouldnt stop - he actually hit me, though he wasnt doing any great speed. Clung on to his bonnet till he stopped, and by then the locals had gathered and pulled the chap out of his car. He got roughed up a bit but I intervened and said that I want him handed over to the cops, because he had refused to pay for the damage caused to my car. The locals said that he had also tried to kill me so he should be put in the cooler.

No response from the cops. They kept telling me that "somebody is being despatched" everytime I called them. On my 4th try, the chap at the other end actually said "Sir I dont know whether we will be able to help you. This is the number of the nearest police station - why dont you call them". There was a minor traffic jam on the highway because of all this nonsense and I told them that there is a traffic issue as well. I finally figured out that the cops from the nearest police station were the ones under whose nose the whole incident happened in the first place, so I lost my cool and decided to take matters into my own hands. Went across to the bugger who then turned abusive. Couldnt take that kind of **** from a blown ******* so I landed a punch on his jaw, at which he fell back onto the bonnet of his Matiz which was already damaged when he tried to hit me - now it was pretty much bent all the way in.

That kind of shook him up, plus the fact that the local population was baying for his blood. Told me he would pay pay the damages (Rs.1,500 for the mirror assembly), but I said money wasnt all that was involved and asked him to apologise in public. He did so and apologised publicly for both hitting my car and then for hitting me. Got a written statement from him saying that he has caused the damage to both my car and his and that he has paid me Rs.1,500 for it.

Took the car to Hyundai next day and they put the assembly back together, charging me only Rs.300 for a mirror.

My thanks to the local RSS shaka as they were the first on the scene and were responsible for holding the chap down. He was blown and his car smelt of reed.

Sad experiences. But people try because they mostly get away. And the Police, they are simply useless, they are only interested in fund raising by fining drivers for missing documents. Not to mention bribes.

At my office in Bangalore, there are lots of morons who park right in front of the entrance to my office parking lot. Even putting a board saying "Do not park in front of the gate, the car will be towed" has no effect. Many times as I drive out, I find a car blocking my entrance. When we call the cops, they give me the runaround. Everytime they say that they will send a towing vehicle, however not once they have sent it. At least two times I had to take an auto home leaving the car at work.

I am tempted to change to board to "tyres will be deflated", but then it will only cause more problems. The car will be stuck there much longer.

Hi Satan,

Why did you went to the police station? Insurance can be claimed without FIR. I have made "n" number of claims in my office without registering a complaint. We did that only for major accidents. It is because we know how painful will it be to deal with those guys

Smart move :)

As far as I remeber FIR is not required for Private vehicles in case of an accident, this was told to to me by my friend whose father was a regional manager in Oriental Insurance almost 5 year ago, not sure whether it still holds true but I dont think law changes so soon in India :p

Yeah, i got to know this only today when I had spoken to the dealer. He said that for small accidents or scratches, a complaint is not required. well, i learnt it the hard way. the dealer said it would cost around 1500 rupees for the repairs.

do you think i should claim insurance and miss out on the insurance bonus next year? or should i avoid the insurance claim? the thing is - it has only been a month since i got her, not quite sure if i'll have more scratches in the future (hopefully not).

man, if it were upto me, i would cancel their licenses. people talk about road rage and stuff, but, do we have a choice? especially with morons driving on the road (or even parking on the road for that matter). there should be some driving/parking etiquette classes to the guys who get caught violating rules.

Good that you caught that bugger and taught him a lesson. If only India had the punity charges, like in the usa, that you could levy; and then sue that other guy for causing psychological damage...

Keep the towing board.
Then if you find a car parked there and cant find the owner after hollering, deflate 2 tyres. He will know its not a puncture.
i do it to guys who block my building gate.
not daily of course. but its usually the same chap who does it.
So finally once i deflated the tyres
that car was not to be seen again
and deny all knowlege of the whole affair. My watchman is instruced to say i never saw anything, or- there is a maniac living in thie buliding saar, dont go near him!!!!

No, don't claim insurance. It isn't worth losng no-claim bonus for just 1500 bucks.

it's no use going to the cops for a complaint...and it's not required for claiming any kind of insurance.

i had a major run in with a drunk truck driver when he hit my car (he was actually running away from someone else) while i was at a signal - so i know the real deal.

if you file an fir, it just complicates things. because then you have to prove the same. when i took the sob driver to the cops station - he denied the whole incident - saying i was in the wrong. he was chewing pan to disguise his drunkenness and the police of course didn't have any equipment on them to check his alcohol content.

and the insurance guys make use of the whole deal and delay your payment - saying that if the cops are investigating the case, then they have to wait for the verdict - to give the claim...after all, it could have been me who was drunk!!!

the best thing to do is to say that the car was parked on the road and some hit and run guy (whom you didn't see) hit the car...that way there is no police involved and no way for the insurers to manipulate their way out of paying...

whatever private ruckus you create with the driver, then is up to you - avoid the cops - unless it's some kinda accident involving human life

This really sucks,
Mobs can be both, useful and bad, wheras cops can only be bad.
With mobs, you can control the situation by raising your voice first but with cops only god can help you.
A no claim bonus makes sense if the damage is 10K or more.

road rage!!!!!!!

the matiz guy did make a mistake,but to get physical wasnt the right solution when u have a kid with u.

[quote=Steeroid] Landed in Cochin, picked up my car and headed for Trivandrum to pick up the family - the drive was excellent despite the fact that I had started from Dubai early that morning (4 am), stopped over at Mumbai for some work and then flew down to Cochin late in the evening. It was raining, yet the drive to TVM took just 3 hours since traffic was lean towards the middle of the night. [quote=Steeroid]

Steeroid, TVM to Cochin in 3 hours ? What were you driving and at what average speed ? My place is near Haripad which is sort of like midway between TVM and cochin and to either of these cities, it takes 2-3 hours. Atleast 2 hours, which would mean 4 hours for Cochin to TVM. The distance is like 300kms and if you do that in 3 hours, the average speed should be 100kmph. Don't know if Kerala roads/traffic allow that.