My partner was driving home from work. She turned at the regular intersection near our home and was hit by a bicycle rider. She saw the rider before passing him and he was far from the turn so she decided to make the turn. However, he peddled like a madman to deliberately hit her car. Would seem he is an insurance hunter because they do that here.
She is at fault simply because she is the bigger vehicle. And is now going through hell because of this parasyte of man.
The impact was at the back left panel. The rider fell off his bike, no damage to the vehicle. A slight buckle on the tire.
The first two things he said when she got out to check on him was “do you have a camera?” And “what kind of insurance do you have” that was it.
He denied medical assistance and said he was ok at the scene, the police even told my partner he is probably looking for money. Later that night he called my partner personally and said he didn’t feel well (yeah, ok mate).
And here’s the thing, he picked his ear plugs off the ground which fell out during the incident.
Wearing earplugs, earphones and headsets is illegal while riding and driving in Japan (50,000¥ fine) and probably half the world. This should technically void his claim and put him at fault.
He hit her, it’s the first of March so he probably blew his salary at pachinko and was looking for a fix. To make matters worse, he’s blasting BTS while riding his bike aloof or with malice.
He has now been paid a large sum by insurance, even though no injury was found at the hospital during his checks.
My partner’s premium has gone up, she lost points, and now faces court for penalty decision.
My question is: given that he hit her while using headphones (breaking the law) and the above information, is any of this voidable/reversable?
Edit: He was also riding on the path when she passed him.
22 comments
You need to speak to a lawyer.
Evidence. You have it or you don’t.
If you do? Lawyer.
If you don’t? SOL.
Assume everyone is a POS and out to get you and drive like that’s the case. It’s not necessarily what I agree with, it’s not how I want to live my life when commuting, but in a country that is almost never a 10:0 full award, assume you’ll pay if anything happens and take the extra precautions.
>Would seem he is an insurance hunter because they do that here.
Not that common, this is not China or Russia.
There are so many assumptions in this post, I don’t even know where to begin.
If you didn’t have a Drive Recorder before this, I suggest installing one.
Your partner isn’t at fault because their vehicle is bigger. They are at fault because the law says that in this situation your partner should have stopped to let them go through the intersection.
According to this [website](https://www.daylight-law.jp/accident/qa/qa123/) : the standard would be 90% fault assigned to your partner, or 100% fault if they were passing the cyclist when they turned. Your post sounds like they might have been passing the cyclist before the accident. If the cyclist was negligent, the cyclist might be assigned an additional 5-10% of fault. Of course these are just estimates, but that’s what the typical case looks like in these situations. Even if you could prove their negligence, it’s not like the situation would suddenly flip in your partner’s favor.
>She saw the rider before passing him and he was far from the turn so she decided to make the turn.
Then she’s at fault. This is word for word a mistake that gets you eliminated in both paper and driving tests when getting a driver’s license in Japan.
Sounds like she hit him.
Might be able to negotiate some %age difference if you have evidence, but looks like it has already passed that point. The two insurance companies will decide together with input from both sides. But sounds like she was primarily at fault for turning over a crossing while it was still pedestrian right of way. I’ve seen quite a few near misses with cyclists speeding to make it across as the green man flashes. Unfortunately, even if they’re idiots, they still have right of way.
>Wearing earplugs, earphones and headsets is illegal while riding and driving in Japan (50,000¥ fine) and probably half the world. *This should technically void his claim and put him at fault.*
No, it wouldn’t. It is simply a mitigating factor.
>My question is: given that he hit her while using headphones (breaking the law) and the above information, is any of this voidable/reversable?
No.
It’s hard for me to believe any of these types of posts coming from the sub at this point
I had a similar accident while being in the bike rider’s position. Cars will pass you just to then turn left without even using the winker…. Your wife is in the wrong.
Let her insurance handle it. They will ask him for medical bills and negotiate compensation.
Yes, her rates will go up, she will probably get four points on her license. But she should have stopped and wait to let him pass as he had right of way, going straight when she passed him and turned. Even if, as the cyclist, it would have been smarter to give in and brake and even if he deliberately didn’t brake. The good news: he doesn’t seem gravely insured, because that would be ABSOLUTELY terrible for everyone involved, most of all your partner.
If she saw him, she legally had to stop. If she didn’t see him, she’s at fault because she legally had to slow down and look before taking the turn. This is a huge thing they drill into you at the license centres here. It sucks, but she’s at fault whether the guy did it on purpose or not.
Poor guy got hit by a criminally careless driver then insulted by the driver’s husband, desperately trying to find validation for his wife’s blatant ignoring of the traffic rules.
She saw the driver, she still chose to ignore him and turn, she is 100% at fault, end of the story.
>it’s the first of March
???
Always, I repeat, always double check for bicycles. That’s it.
>he peddled like a madman to deliberately hit her car
So this is what drivers think every time they cut me off huh..
She overtook a cyclist and turned in front of him? That’s 100% her fault under Japanese law. The cyclist had priority – period. The headphones are a mitigating circumstance, and can reduce that to 85-90% liability, but do not void the claim.
You said this happened 1st of March, so at this stage if there was no major injury, then it’s done and dusted.
> He has now been paid a large sum by insurance, even though no injury was found at the hospital during his checks.
If there was no injury found at the hospital, then he wasn’t paid a “large sum”. At most the depreciated replacement cost of the bicycle if it was new-ish. If the wheel was buckled the forks were definitely trashed, and there would be a good chance of frame damage for a metal frame, and a carbon frame would be a writeoff.
Just consider yourself lucky the guy didn’t have a permanent injury of some kind – that’s potential jail time for the car driver.
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Your wife hit a cyclist and she has been dealt the appropriate legal consequences. As you can see, your attempt at making her position seem more favorable by padding the post with non factors is ineffective. Nothing will change the fact that she violated traffic laws as a motorist, and it resulted in a crash. Not sure what lawyer is gonna want to take on what seems like an open and shut case in the eyes of the law.
Your wife is completely at fault. Sorry. Look, I know you gotta bat for her but she shouldn’t have made that turn. The fact he could pedal quicker and meet her as she was turning means he was no way near as far as she says/thinks.
Just deal with the consequences and do better next time.
I appreciated the pachinko backstory speculation tho.
As someone who drives on a daily — by the Japanese Traffic Code, an accident like this is 100% on the driver, as the cyclist, regardless of how slow or fast they were, had the priority in this case (it’s even explicitly mentioned in the driving test requirements for those who have to switch their driver license to the Japanese one, you have to look into your left mirror to make sure that no cyclists are coming exactly because of this) and the best you can hope for is to keep the driver’s license and get a lower than 100% liability rate from the insurance company. The earphones are irrelevant here because they did not affect the fact that the cyclist had the priority.
Also, that is A LOT of nasty assumptions about the cyclist. I highly recommend to not address them like that in person, because that might get you into even more trouble than you already are in. I bet the drive recorder is the only thing here that’s capable of telling the full, true, and unbiased story.
I reeeeaaaaally need to stop putting off getting a dash cam.