So My Focus Had A Fight With A Hgv...

[vibeone]

Sadly my focus is in a bit of a bad way at the moment, but I thought I'd share what is a potential good news story...

There I was, motoring along the motorway, when a HGV decided to overtake... into the side of me. Bit of an impact, smashed me around the front of the HGV, then pushed me sideways along the motorway.

So the car's a bit of a mess, but amazingly, is still car shaped, and even managed to drive me 30 odd miles home (at 45mph just to be safe).

Anyway... you'll perhaps notice the dashcam in the window.... which captured me in the middle of my lane nicely. Of all the cars on the road, I think he hit the wrong one.

Things to learn from this:

* Focus 1 HGV 0 :P

* Focus is a great, strong, safe car

* Aviva love dashcams (Seriously - they've been great so far!)

* Try not to get hit by a foreign lorry - it's a pain in the *** even if they're insured.

* Buy a dashcam already - lorry driver claimed he was 'just driving along'.

It's touch and go whether it gets written off sadly - though its all superficial damage, but I've made it clear I want it repaired if possible and I'll update and post the crash video soon.

[Incontro]

Wow, incredible, great thing you had a dash-cam, as the lorry driver sounds like a dishonest ****. Although he might have had a hard time arguing his way out of it regardless, as the damage on your car is consistent with your story, and much less his.

I don't think the damage looks that bad - assuming there is no structural damage underneath (b-pillar, chassis etc), then it should just be a matter of replacing the doors and panels, meaning it may not be a write-off.

I hope you can get it repaired and back on the road mate, I'd say you escaped quite lucky. ;)

EDIT: Good luck, and let us know how you get along.

[Hyrule]

Well main thing is your ok, cars can be replaced, people can't.

What a silly lorry driver. Was probably on the phone or eating or not paying attention as usual.

But +1 on the benefits of a dash cam.

Which one do you use out of interest?

[vibeone]

Well the lorry driver was dutch (but spoke good English) and got out of the cab saying "I'm sorry I didn't see you are you OK", and then went into Insurance mode. I kinda part understand it to be fair - you're not meant to admit fault and he didn't.

First off the good news arrived - its NOT being written off, and the parts are on order. WOOP!

The dashcam is a Itronics ITB-100HD. For no real reason, I sent around $190 to a random south korean one-man-band firm via paypal. Amazingly, the camera actually turned up, and was installed about a year ago. I completely forgot about the camera at the accident site - and the HGV driver has no idea it was filmed, so I suspect he's got a shock coming...

It's full 1080p HD, though I tend to use it at 720p as the frame rate is 30 rather than 24 at 1080p. 32gb SDHC card (maximum supported), and it sits below the rain sensor and rear view mirror using heavy-duty vecro (about £6 from halfords).

I could go on about the dashcam because I seriously love it, but I will stop before I bore everyone to death.

I'm fine by the way - low impact, just scary!

Edit: For reference, there are probably better,cheaper cameras available now, but I will be keeping this one until it breaks - superb quality in day, good at night, and pretty much the most important thing for a dashcam - even more than pic-quality: RELIABLE. Dashcams need to be install-and-forget!

Edit2: The link below is for a dashcam on amazon for £15. It's probably crap, and I'm not recommending it, just highlighting the price. While the quality is most likely bad, IF its reliable, it would have filmed my incident and probably been as effective - there was no numberplates to read etc so as long as it was wide-angle, it would have done the job.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HD-VEHICLE-RECORDER-SPORT-CAMERA/dp/B005Q6CJI4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1389177278&sr=1-1&keywords=dashcam

[damadgeruk]

Glad you are well, car looks surprisingly good. Can you post the footage? :)

[jeebowhite]

At least your OK mark. Thankfully its not a write off, but hey, at least you have the dash footage! I just got mine for Christmas and I would kill to keep it in the car. Its already come in handy where someone cut me up (and if the argument was "your behind, thus your fault" then I could have proven otherwise!)

I think the lorry driving saying "I didnt see you" is sufficient admittance of guilt at the roadside, the words may not have been "it was my fault" but the words "I didnt see you" are pretty much the same thing.

In a twisted way, I am looking forward to seeing the footage, just to see how clearly you can make out that your innocence is proven!

Was it just you in the car? or where there others?

[mintalkin]

glad your ok, this is a common problem on foreign lorries, i drive a left hand drive truck and there is a massive blind spot on the offside,this is easily cured by a fresnal lens,it should be law that all foreign trucks have these fitted when entering the uk.

http://www.truckview.net/

[Preee]

Wow scary and , thank god your safe and well , it's a big proble, for foreign trucks and their blind spot. great news you had the Dash cam though , i see more and more people getting them now.

Also good news your car won't be written off and i hope you get it back soon .

[vibeone]

I think once the I get the car back, I may post it. Aviva haven't told me not to, and I had to post it publically for them to download it. I'm just being over-cautious really.

It's a good video though, so I'll definitely be posting it, and going on and on and on and on about dash cams no doubt.

Other than a few aches and pains I got away with a HGV motorway crash, and that doesn't happen very often I guess.

Agree re:blindspots. It's so common now, the mirrors etc should be made law.

Just me in the car - though my girlfriend is not far ahead and saw it happen in the rear view mirror - think she suffered as much as me to be honest!

[Incontro]

First off the good news arrived - its NOT being written off, and the parts are on order. WOOP!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HD-VEHICLE-RECORDER-SPORT-CAMERA/dp/B005Q6CJI4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1389177278&sr=1-1&keywords=dashcam

Told you :P

Eagerly awaiting the dash-cam footage.

[Merv130]

I really want a dash cam, and this is more evidence of how useful they can be. might get the cash saved up eventually

[GothicRebel]

I use my iPhone as a dash cam. IsymDVR 2. Fantastic little app.

All you need is a good sturdy screen mount.

[jeebowhite]

It was a pretty scary video! but glad that your OK Mark! :)

[salsheikh]

I want a dashcam but one that records front and back.

[artscot79]

a word of wisdom for those wanting dash cams

Road Traffic Act 1988

Red zone = a 29cm wide band centered on the steering column and bounded top and bottom by the wiper swept area

Be warned, if you use a suction mounted car camera
in the UK, if the device (camera and / or cradle and / or suction cup)
intrudes more than 4cm into the secondary (pink) wiper clearance zone,
or intrudes more than 1cm into the primary (red) wiper clearance zone of
the windscreen, you are committing a serious traffic offense (dangerous
driving) under the UK Road Traffic Act 1988, and your vehicle is not
roadworthy (it would fail an MOT).

Also / in addition, if you use a car camera with an LCD screen, if
the screen is on for any of the time while you are driving and you, the
driver, can view that screen, you are also committing a serious traffic
offense.

If someone has sold you a windscreen suction mounted car camera, they have a legal duty to ensure

a) that the camera can actually be attached to a section of the
windscreen of your particular vehicle which does not result in an
unlawful intrusion of the primary (red) and / or secondary (pink) wiper
clearance zone,

b) that the screen does not remain on or visible to the driver and

c) that you are aware of the law. If they sold you a suction mounted car
camera without doing this, they have committed a crime. To find out how
to return / report an unlawful suction mounted car camera, please see
further below.

UK Law – Dangerous Driving

“In England and Wales and Scotland, a person guilty of dangerous
driving is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for any
term not exceeding two years, or to a fine, or to both, or on summary
conviction, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months, or to
a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both.”"A person is to
be regarded as driving dangerously for the purposes of sections 1 and 2
of the Road Traffic Act 1988 if

• the way he/she drives falls far below what would be expected of a
  competent and careful driver, and it would be obvious to a competent and
  careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous; or

• if it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving
  the vehicle in its current state (for the purpose of the determination
  of which regard may be had to anything attached to or carried on or in
  it, and to the manner in which it is attached or carried) would be dangerous.”

Sellers of suction mounted car cameras should note the text; “Further
to this, The Road Traffic Act 1988 (as amended by Section 8 of the Road
Traffic Act 1991) Part II, 40A, Using Vehicle in Dangerous Condition,
states that: A person is guilty of an offence if he uses, or causes or
permits another to use, a motor vehicle or trailer on the road when: (a)
the condition of the motor vehicle or trailer, or of its accessories or equipment,… is such that the use of the motor vehicle or trailer involves a danger of injury to any person.”

Further legislation comes under The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986;

30.—(3) All glass or other transparent material fitted to a motor
vehicle shall be maintained in such condition that it does not obscure
the vision of the driver while the vehicle is being driven on a road.

However, whilst the low end priced cameras are
great for capturing the general ‘what happened’ to show to your mates,
it may be argued by a defence barrister that the footage is totally
insufficient to use as evidence in a court of law. Bear this in mind,
before you spend your money.

If
you are serious about 1) protecting your no claims bonus and your
premium, and 2) wanting to report incidents of poor driving to the
Police, then you need to be looking towards the higher end of the camera
market. (on average these cameras are around £300 - a small price to
pay if you had even the most innocent of collisions)

[Stoney871]

What He said ;)

[vibeone]

That's interesting - technically (and legally?) my camera is in that area. However, it doesn't block anything more than the oversized rain sensor thing (it velcros onto the flat section)

My camera doesn't have an LCD as I went for small size.

Quality wise I guess we will see, but I'm pretty sure it's good enough - search YouTube for itb-100hd and let me know your thoughts

Thanks for the info - I may try and reposition it when I get the car back but is rather not mess too much as it's worked ok for me :)

[GothicRebel]

Feck. I didn't know about the clearance areas and or if you can see the LCD screen. Which using the app on my iPhone does show the screen.

Better find a new solution. :(

[higgsy]

So that must apply to sat navs and phone holders then? Jeez that means every other car I see is committing an offense

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Ford OC mobile app

[GothicRebel]

So that must apply to sat navs and phone holders then? Jeez that means every other car I see is committing an offense

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Ford OC mobile app

Good point that.

[ferretfloozy]

so does this mean it cannot be mounted in an area 4cm within the red/pink zone or does it mean it cannot block out more than 4cm of the red/pink zone .. if it was a 3cm camera then would it tecnically be legal to mount it in the forbidden zones as its smaller than the 4cm footprint. what if it was clipped to you rearview mirror.does this law only apply to suctioncups? or is it any obstruction ..if it takes less space than the sunvisor in the top zone area how can that be an obstruction .. not meant to be argumentative just enquiring as the dashcam idea appeals to me .. wouldnt want to attract the attention of stoney's dogs

[ferretfloozy]

ok i understand now it say intrudes more than 4cm into the secondary (pink) wiper clearance zone,
or intrudes more than 1cm into the primary (red) the edges can enter but not more than 1cm in the red or 4cm in the pink but that means the cams useless in the rain unless its ok to mount it ontop of the dash like pod clocks or on the rearview mirror ( has anyone been pulled for having a magic tree dangling from their mirror?)

[salsheikh]

would one of these mirror cams be illegal then?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/E-PRANCE-Wide-Angle-Detection-Recorder-Support/dp/B00F9Y6ZOM/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1389343183&sr=1-9&keywords=rear+cam+mirror

and one of these to record the activity on the rear:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mounting-recorder-Dashboard-Accident-Black/dp/B004KI3FWI/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp

[ferretfloozy]

only (if the screen is on for any of the time while you are driving) ... just wondering ..once you've adjusted the rear mirror to your driving position the front camera mounted on the back of it is going to be recording what? if your short like me then most likely it will film the birds and bridges.

[vibeone]

I think some common sense must be applied. As people have said, sat navs are very similar - and yes, if you plonk your sat nav smack bang in front of you, you deserve to be pulled over.

I've been trying to find a pic on google of the mk2.5 rear mirror/rain sensor to show where the camera was located but not found anything suitable. Technically though it doesn't attach to the windscreen so I may be ok anyway. From a normal drivers position, you can barely see the camera as its hidden behind the rear mirror.

As for backward-facing cameras, I've actually got one of the plate-light + camera reversing cameras, and could attach a recording unit to that, though the angle isn't the greatest obviously.

It's worth pointing out though that such a camera wouldn't have caught any more of the accident in my example. The best camera would have been a rear facing from front screen camera (looking through the car) as a wide angle would potentially show the HGV impact.

As for phone cams... I messed about with similar apps. They are great for some people, but I'm lazy, and no doubt would forget/not bother to put the cam up especially for short journeys. I prefer set-and-forget.