Hi all! I hoping I could get some advice on a minor traffic accident that i had on tuesday with a car that i rented, but which my friend drove. I was in the car at the time, and he was registered as a driver.

we (driver, me + 1 more friend) were driving along a narrow road when we noticed a car driving very quickly from the opposite direction, and slowed down. when it became obvious the other car was not slowing down, we stopped, keeping well to the right. the other car continued at a fairly high speed, and his let sideview mirror hit ours, causing hole on it. the other guy drove off, we took down the license number and called the cops. the cop said whoever was nearer the middle of the road was in the wrong, and its not possible to ascertain that. but we had already stopped. my questions are:

1. is there sufficient info to determine who was in the wrong?
2. as friends of the driver, can the other non-driving friend and i serve as witnesses?

in the meantime, i returned the car and the rental company wants to replace the whole mirror for chf330, but i found out that ATU in Waldshut can just replace that particular part for 45eur. the rental company wants to repair it ASAP, and has agreed for the car to be repaired at ATU. the thing is, i would let the rental company undertake the costlier repairs, if the other driver were found to be at fault. but if we have to bear our own costs, i'd take the trouble to bring the car to ATU to repair. Except, i can't decide until the police have made their judgement. my qn here is:

1. do i have any rights to request the car rental to hold out on the repairs until the police have made a judgement? the damage is not functional, as the mirror is not affected.

i understand the above was wordy, please bear with me. feedback/advice appreciated, thanks!

I would say that the simple fact that the other driver didn't even stop is an infraction in itself. Didn't the police point this out?

The rental company can't farty tart about waiting. They have a rental car that is unrentable until it's fixed. If you didn't have CDW, it's a risk you take when you rent...

What does CDW mean Abfab? I've Googled but still not sure.

Collision Damage Waiver ?

I'm pretty sure it means Collision Damage Waiver.

i'm not familiar with CDW, but the insurance coverage is for damages from chf1000 upwards. my bad for not opting for more comprehensive coverage.

my second qn was, can the passengers in the car serve as witnesses? any advice on that? thanks!

again, i jus wanna say i appreciate any and all feedback/advice, as i hv not owned a car before...

they can indeed unless they are relatives (well relatives can still be witnesses but their statement won't carry the same weight).

sorry to hear about this hsiang,i agree with Abfab, no matter who was in the middle of the road makes no difference, because the other car drove fast past you once you had already stopped. He then drove away without even bothering to check what had happened. It's obvious he was at fault....
i think the police should back you up on this. Also, there were 3 of you so you can all bear witness.

(we always have idiot drivers speeding on the country roads here and no matter who is obliged to give way, some people just don't know the rules)

i hope you get this resolved soon

hi folks, can anyone help me with a question? i had that minor accident with the rental car, and the damage was less than the deductible, so the insurance (or so i was told) would not get involved. I'm still waiting for the police report, but it's taking a while. what can i do if i want to claim against the other party? do i need a lawyer, or can i contact the other insurance company myself?

Is this another accident?

Your rental contract will show you how much excess you have to yourself on any claim, so you don't need to be told by anyone else.

In the first instance I would send the other party a copy of the damage report/bill and his/her insurance company, if you have this and ask for it to be paid. Though if the police were involved and their report is expected by the other parties, you may get nowhere without it...

hi Abfab, thanks for the info. its the same accident. the car rental said, I'd have to get in touch with the other party and/or his insurance myself, since the insurer will not act unless costs exceed excess (excess=1000, costs=300). my question is, would i need a lawyer to do so, or would sending the damage and police report to other party by myself suffice?

also, the other guy ran off (which was why i had to call the cops), so i dun have his contact. is the police obliged to hand over his contact info?

Hsiang, help me out here, if the other guy disappeared how would the police know who it is? Or did they find him?

oh, we took down his license plate number. he said he would swing back round and talk about what to do next, but we called the cops when he didnt show after 15mins (it was -8deg ergh!) good thing too, cos the cops took another 30mins to get there.

Did you know that there are some cantons where you can look up license plate owners online? Here's a link that might help you:

http://www.linker.ch/eigenlink/autonummern_index.htm

If it's one of those, you wouldn't even need the police.

If I was you I would just pay the CHF 300.- I know it wasn't your fault but IMO it isn't worth all the aggro (waste of time and stress).

This reminds me of something similar that happened to me when I was in Spain a few years ago:

I'd rented a car in Majorca and was going along a narrow street in one of the numerous majorcan small villages. I hadn't had my driving licence very long and wasn't very confident. The oncoming driver had pretty much stopped (or at least was moving slower than me) and I drove a bit too close to the middle of the road and touched his mirror with mine. As my mirror was ok I presumed that his was ok as well and as there was a long line of cars behind me I thought that if I stopped to go and check I would be blocking the street and p*ss everyone off. I continued driving and about 1 Km later as I stopped at a red light a spanish guy walked up to our car and explained that he was the driver of the car who's mirror I'd touched. I thought to myself "Damn I must have damaged it, I wonder how much it is going to cost?". He then explained that his car was fine but that he'd followed us all that way to check if our car was ok too

I suppose one cannot generalise about a nation (in a good or bad way) but after that I thought to myself: "Wow, these spaniards are absolutely brilliant!"

yeah, "aggro" completely describes the frust! i'm already halfway to accepting that the 300 will come from my own pocket, having already paid for it

Abfab is right at Post #2, gotta go with CDW...

To be perfectly honest as I don't like spending money uselessly and I believe in fairness I would be doing exactly what you are doing...but if we were wise we would do what AbFab recommended.

Update: finally got the complete police report after 4 months.

Summary:
-other car coming in opposite dir on narrow 2 way st, i stopped, he didn't, our sideview mirrors collided. we agreed to move to a carpark to discuss, he drove off, did not come back.
-called the cops, gave them his license plate no. passengers in car were valid witnesses
-damages were below deductible, so i paid CHF300.

Verdict: the other party was at fault.
-Busse: 500
-Staatsgebuehr: 130
-Kanzleigebuehr: 40
-Polizeikosten: 390
-my costs: 300

As mentioned my damages were below deductible. Spoke with a lawyer, i should send him the damage report and bill, and payment slip to me. which, if i send this week, it will arrive on his birthday as indicated on report

That chap is definitely going to wish he hadn't just disappeared!
Maybe he didn't have any driving licence or insurance or whatever and thought it better to clear off, now's he's going to get a bill for over CHF 1,000

thanks for the follow up hsiang, good to hear