Hit By A Bus

[redscouse]

last night (7pm) I drove to collect my GF from work, well from the MRT and Bang Su. There is a waiting area for cars here near the exit and near to the mainline station, it is one way and does become very crowded with cars, buses, taxis, tuk tuks and bikes. It would be fair to say it gets quite crowded at this time and people park inconsideratly as always.

Anyway as I arrive I drive round to see if there is any parking and get stuck behind a car that is double parked, I look in my mirror to the left (as I was on the right hand side, it is one way) but I can't pull out as there are cars there, then a bus comes round the corner and the middle of the bus catches my rear nearside wing and starts scraping along it pushing my car forward.

Anyway i get out and check the damage (bumper, light, rear wing) and the bus driver comes back to talk, my thai is limited but he said I was double parked and I tried to explain that I wasnt parked. Anyway he decided to call the police and I waited for my GF to get off the train. The police turned up (railway police as it was on their property) and my gf turned up. I explained and she translated, I said I could understand how he thought I was parked but even if I was he was still at fault for hitting my stationary car, just because something shouldnt be there or you dont expect it to be there doesn't mean you can hit it.

Anyway the insurance guy turns up from the bus company looked at what happened and admitted liability straight away, gave us a form to take the repair garage and also said they would repair some slight old damage as he added that on the form despite me telling him it was old damage.

anyway the point is read on tv recently that buses in accidents lead to the driver being stopped from driving. the driver was a decent guy and there was no arguing so i asked what would happen to the driver and he said he would just pay 500 baht for the damage to the bus (seems like an excess charge).

Anyway, stay calm, talk nicely, explain what happened and the obvious on occassion is taken into account rather than farang pay.

[G54]

Sounds like a good result at the end of the day and no acrimony from the sides involved. Nice one

[Moonrakers]

Nice one: To err is human as they say.

Basically mistakes happen and so it is good that common sense was used in this instance.

[Fore Man]

Yes, well done redscouse. We could all learn something from your experience...namely keep your cool and act friendly despite the underlying concerns you must have had that fairness would result.

[samuibeachcomber]

Nice one: To err is human as they say.

Basically mistakes happen and so it is good that common sense was used in this instance.

as you say nice one(an almost unbelievable outcome)I wonder though if the OP will really get his car fixed and paid for by the bus company,i hope so,and if so its a good outcome for us farang.

[redscouse]

yes the insurance guy admitted the liability in front of the police and gave us a form listing the damage to be repaired, even saying he wouldn't put the old damage (which is on the same wing as the fresh damage) down as then we would have to pay ourselves a small fee for that to be repaired when the garage takes care of the fresh damage. He also told us which garage to go to for the repairs that will be paid for by the insurance company and what he has written on the form means the old damage will be repaired also (minor damage but to repair the new damage they will need to repair the old damage as some of it overlaps).

basically it ended up with the driver, the conductress and a bus inspector, the policeman and rubber neckers all looking at talking in thai which left me a little out of it until my gf arrived and gave my version and pointed out what I asked her to. while they were all talking amongst themselves I kept out of it and just leant against the car. I think if you are in the right this is the course of action to take so as not to antagonise and on this occasion it led to the right outcome. The policeman had said if they don't admit liability we were to go to the police station at hua lamphlong to report it but luckily it never came to that, it was obvious to the insurance guy what had happened by the damage on both vehicles.

[Spee]

Anyway, stay calm, talk nicely, explain what happened and the obvious on occassion is taken into account rather than farang pay.

Nice story. It's good to know that the word "accident" still means accident some times. None of us is perfect. Accidents happen. Doesn't mean anyone has to be "crucified" for an honest or unintentional mistake.