JamesC

I agree with this - at most I can hope to get 50/50 or 25/75 - however this is actually more for my own piece of mind - I feel some guilt having damaged a rare (well - will be rare soon) car.

I found 1.4s as a time that is used in crash investigation. I've read anywhere from 1 to 2 seconds also. Flicking a switch is slightly different to driving a car - you have to move your foot off of the throttle and on to the brake for a start... and that's not a straight forward movement. Also - sitting and waiting for a light and knowing its coming, and flicking a switch under controlled conditions isnt anywhere near the same as on the road. If you drove like that the whole time you would be a nervous wreck. I think people tend to relax slightly in the car - which is probably better for fatigue in the long run. You're also taking in a lot more visual information than looking for a light - there are all sorts of things to concentrate on. However - interestingly - the car that crashed in to me was on hand controls! Not sure how that effects things.

I didn't report it at the time - I was a little shaken. I realise in hindsight now that I should have. Still - my amateur investigation will hopefully give something for the insurers to look in to. I still think its going to be blamed on me - but maybe I can get a 50/50 out of it.

His foot is down on the brake enough to lock the brakes (and thus cause a skidmark) - so that's not an issue. None of the forumula I have found take in to account tyre size yet - but perhaps this is insignificant - as it seems is the weight of the car. Those two may be interlinked (bigger car = bigger tyres)

Cheers guys... would you believe it - after posting that I happened to do a quick Google and found a page I never found before (having been looking all day): https://atiam.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/7670-1/fm/19-25/CH12.htm#img062 So for sure he was doing 30+ - considering the damage done to my car - a fair bit I reckon! I don't think that's a 5 or 10mph nudge... I guess now I have to work things backwards and see what speed he would have to be doing to be driving "safely" - if you work out the reaction times (using 1.4s as the time it takes to notice something and put your foot on the brake) - 20mph would mean he would have stopped several metres before he would have ever hit me.

Wow - I love this place - just spent about an hour reading through the forums. Anyway - my question relates to this: (cue violins) Basically - someone was driving too quickly and went in to me as I pulled out. There is no way I could have seen him - but of course it's probably going to be considered my fault Now, I used this peice of literature: http://www.harristechnical.com/articles/skidmarks.pdf to make this: http://www.mintylamb.co.uk/crashomatic.php 14 metres of skidmarks means he was doing around 30mph - which is on the limit - and certainly too quick for the residential street. HOWEVER - one big factor (I think) is the fact he was going up a hill when he went in to me - which I believe would further increase his initial speed (not to mention the fact that the skidmarks go on after he hit my car! - but thats another matter!) Anyone want to guesstimate how much this would effect it? I have averaged the hill out at a 1:16 (for every 16 metres forwards it goes 1 metre up) James