Accident liability (Scotland Tonight 15/4/13 & STV Player)

Teddy Westside wrote:

Naturally, Douglas thinks it's unfair and, like many car-owning responders to the proposals, happily skirts round the fact this doesn't automatically make the driver guilty and is more about easing insurance claims than criminalising all drivers.

What a great idea - so a motorist who isnt to blame in any way can end up paying the cost through increased insurance premiums for the next 5 years (unless they can prove they weren't responible in any way). Insurance companies are far too quick to accept "knock for knock" as often as they can it seems - to save any legal arguments and hence reduce costs when looking at the bigger picture overall (ie a business decision). I cant see this being any different if this law is brought in - they will pay out and pass on the costs to motorists.

Frankly whilst i'm a cyclist and do several thousand miles a year, i think this is a ridiculous proposal. Would you be happy if an out of control cyclist hit your car, claimed, and bumped your premiums up by say £200 per year?? i'm more inclined to suggest that compulsary 3rd party insurance for cyclists (and any other road user) would be more acceptable to me.

''so a motorist who isn't to blame in any way can end up paying the cost''

or we could have the opposite: motorists going to the shops in 2 ton machines with the power of 180horses ; when they ram a cyclist from behind because the sat-nav in the windscreen hid him from view or they just were not paying attention for a moment they could just say he appeared to lose control and swerved in front of them and if he has no witnesses , even if he can speak , the cyclist(or his widow) gets nothing and the driver gets expressions of sympathy from the coroner.
come to think of it, that's the system we have isn't it.
and that is not a misrepresentation, but one of many actual cases.

the principle underlying the proposal that we get in line with most civilised countries is that if you take a tiger for a walk you are liable if it bites someone, so make sure it doesn't.