Uk's

[JohnnyC]

I was driving to Liverpool airport and there is a dual carriageway just before it. A woman pulled out infront of me; i swerved just missing her and mounted the central reservation. My car was lowered and i damaged the underside, alloy and cracked the corner of the front bumper. I was told (by these no win no fee blokes) that because i did not hit her i cannot claim off her. She admitted fault at the scene but later decided that i was travelling too fast.

Some insurance bloke told me once that in that situation its often better to ram them, makes the claim easier to process! Crazy world

That's what I was going to say.

Had a near miss myself on a NSL road, I was only doing 40mph, and some idiot in a black Peugeot 206 that was waiting to turn right onto the main road obviously didn't see me and just pulled out in front of me when I was about 3 or 4 car lengths away - I had to swerve the car violently to the other side of the road - lucky noone else was coming in the opposite direction (I wouldn't have swerved if this had been the case - simple as that), and lucky then that he didn't go into the side of me, if he had of done while I was on the opposite side of the road then I could well imagine it being a 50/50 blame - even though I was trying to avoid him

Anyway, lucky I wasn't in the MR2 that day as I reckon it would've lost control being swerved like it was and knowing that the MR2 doesn't like being swerved violently I may have just plowed into him - and a side impact for him probably would've been fatal

I'm now looking into some sort of recording system for the car - ideally less than the cost of losing £200 excess (which has happened already once ). But I'm stuck on the recording side of things. Found a great harddisk recorder that plugs into the ciggie lighter, and starts recording as soon as it gets power, but at £1000 NET is a bit too much

[stevenb]

an idea....

[JohnnyC]

Unfortunately it's not in insurance companies best interests to find the blame - speaking averages, I'm sure they'd all prefer all accidents went 50/50 - that way they'd all gain by making all parties premiums go up and all parties losing their NCD

[stevenb]

/claims etc.

[BenF]

I'm now looking into some sort of recording system for the car - ideally less than the cost of losing £200 excess (which has happened already once ). But I'm stuck on the recording side of things. Found a great harddisk recorder that plugs into the ciggie lighter, and starts recording as soon as it gets power, but at £1000 NET is a bit too much

A Bit OT - but Si Cook tried using an Archos to record trackday footage.

It didn't work in the end, because the vibrations from the car caused the hard disk heads on it to error, and the recordings were unplayable. If you're trying a recording system, make it solid state (eg record to a 1GB SD card?) or tape based - 12v VCRs for cars are less than £100 now

[stevenb]

some of these video cameras nowadays are very small and can record 10-15 mins of film. coz they are small I reckon you can adapt them to fit on one of those snooper brackets that stick to the screen with the suction cups........ loads of ideas......in a mk1 you could stick a camera on the centre console area in between the seats.......

[Milothicus]

i think it was within the last year there was a case in the states where a car's computer did record the driver's actions... sort of like a black box in airplanes. apparently it's a capability built into some newer cars, even though owners didn't know it. of course, the legalities were ugly. i can't remember if it was admissable evidence in the end or not... i'll see if i can find a link... but after top gear...

[JohnnyC]

There's some footage from an externally mounted bullet camera in an mr2oc thread - they recorded it with a camcorder with AV inputs. I just wanted something a bit more automatic that wouldn't require having to move the seat back to get into the storage box and press the record button every single journey.

I've been doing this for trackdays for years now

If you want something 'automatic', have you considered a security system VCR type setup?

[JohnnyC]

There's some footage from an externally mounted bullet camera in an mr2oc thread - they recorded it with a camcorder with AV inputs. I just wanted something a bit more automatic that wouldn't require having to move the seat back to get into the storage box and press the record button every single journey.

I've been doing this for trackdays for years now

If you want something 'automatic', have you considered a security system VCR type setup?

WTF's happened here, who wrote that? I've never done a trackday in my life I wrote the bit in the inner quote
And to whoever wrote it, yeah the security types do tend to record immediately, but VHS tape based systems are a bit bulky and VHS quality sucks

[stevenb]

soon.

[stevenb]

find good mk1's....

[anna]

try some of the ad's on mr2dc or mr2mk1club...
There are usually a couple of N/A's on for £2000

[stevenb]

Thanks Anna
I have found a good supply of n/a on te mk1 club site.
I shall give them the website details for each of the mr2 clubs so that they can browse through........
mk1 club is a good guide as there are a good few pics.

[Raf]

Steven, damn man just seen your car; that was a minter!!! Damage is not at all bad. Get in touch with Paul Woods for a top repair.... see this post:

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10523

dont accept partial blame no matter what the no win no fee blokes tell you- sometimes they like to close cases early if they CBA. they get paid regardless anyway!

Good Luck

[stevenb]

time for JAE.

[Hurstie1981]

Thats exactly what I told him....my side lights were on...and I was driving to the road conditions too....only doing 40mph...then he pulled out and i hit him at about 25 mph. I was almost alongside him when I hit him. No wayam I backing down......typical though that my renewal date is 3rd june too...this could take ages.....

Was it just your sidelights that were on? Main headlights still down?

If that's the case, that is an angle that the other drivers insurance company can fight with. If the road was a 60mph limit as you say, you shouldn't have been driving on just sidelights, no matter what the time of day/lighting conditions. If you have front facing lights on, they must be dipped headlights on a road with a speed limit above and including 30mph.

Also, if it was raining and visibility was reduced, surely the sensible option of driving to the conditions is to have your dipped headlights on.

sorry to bring another damp sponge to the proceedings.

Kelvin

Kelvin, the points above are only when in hours of darkness. Thats when the lighting regulations come into play. You must have your obligatory lights illuminated from half an hour after sunset until half an hour before sunrise.

Graham

[stevenb]

on...

[Hurstie1981]

I know, i wasnt argueing with you, i was just putting the law facts straight

[stevenb]

I know, i wasnt argueing with you, i was just putting the law facts straight

Thats cool....I know you weren't anyway mate. Your post was exactly what I thought was right.

[excalibur1814]

I'm a bit late here but going back to the camera thing:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_rev ... -s100.html

Have a look at the camera. It's not the greatest mpixel in the world but it REALLY is potrable. I have the the 2.1mp version and it is simply great for putting in your pocket etc with a leather case. Truly portable and ready to take a pic the instant you turn the thing on. It also has decent video performance for the size....

You can find the smaller mp cameras for under £200 but you might have to search a bit as Casio seem to be a little naff at shipping the items. I have the above camera on back order for for the last two months. [-o<