Learner licence holder accident.

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Geek
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#3455875 25-Jan-2026 18:37

BlakJak:

In my experience, if there's a motor vehicle accident and Police attend, their policy is that they'll issue some sort of infringement to whomever they believe was at fault.
You need to contest it if you believe the story was different. Then the judge gets to weigh the stories on their merits.
You may want to seek the advice of a lawyer (and not a geek forum) on that.

Yeah absolutely as in this case, still I may look into a lawyer, it's not just a fine it's demerit points (20)

tonygeekzone

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Geek
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#3455878 25-Jan-2026 18:39

gzt: Yeah, ultimately you have been given a ticket and you can contest that ticket in writing. It is possible they might reassess at that point. If not, then you can indicate you will contest it in court.

This i believe I'll need to do, they have given an email address on the ticket for this.

tonygeekzone

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#3455880 25-Jan-2026 18:52

Bung:

tonygeekzone, you have to be clearer in your description of how the following car hit you. There was only 1 lane and he tried passing your vehicle on the left. Was he using part of a cycle lane to do that?

Yes it was one lane, and he's tried to pass me on the left, after I had merged, unfortunately he didn't get to use a cycle lane.

[Mod Edit: Fixed quoting]

gzt

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#3455885 25-Jan-2026 20:18

tonygeekzone: Yes it was one lane, and he's tried to pass me on the left, after I had merged, unfortunately he didn't get to use a cycle lane.

The officer got that wrong making the obvious call with the visible damage. It happens I guess.

MadEngineer

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#3455914 26-Jan-2026 04:56

Bung:

gzt:
tonygeekzone: I was thinking that it would be, the police only look at it from their own assessment, however I dispute that I failed to give way, as I had already merged in the lane for 2 or 3 seconds before he took the opportunity to try and overtake on the inside lane, so I was sideswiped on my left side(from rear bumper to front)

Ok, you mean he was overtaking in the outside lane, the lane to your left.

tonygeekzone, you have to be clearer in your description of how the following car hit you. There was only 1 lane and he tried passing your vehicle on the left. Was he using part of a cycle lane to do that?

Indeed.

When you submit your challenge to this you’ll need to be absolutely clear in your description of the events. Include diagrams, photos (even if from Google Street View), descriptions of your visibility, road, traffic and weather conditions as you merged… if you’re driving an elevated vehicle such as a large SUV be sure to mention that as part of explaining how you had good visibility, if that was the case. Mention all details as you’ve listed so as to describe the reliability of the information from the other driver.

Quote the relevant law in what you’ve been ticketed for and how it doesn’t apply here. Make sure you’re quoting from the land transport act and not the road code.

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Handle9

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#3455917 26-Jan-2026 07:37

gzt:
The officer got that wrong making the obvious call with the visible damage. It happens I guess.

If OPs version of events is accurate. There only one side of the story being told so who really knows what happened?

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nitro

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#3455939 26-Jan-2026 09:37

Handle9:

If OPs version of events is accurate. There only one side of the story being told so who really knows what happened?

this is a good point.

OP, please take this with a grain of salt. not knowing either party, and not having borne witness to the incident, my comment can really only have so much weight.

from the description of events, i sense a bit of less than stellar driver behaviour:

OP merged in front of learner driver
learner driver got pissed off
learner driver decided and tried to overtake
OP didn't want to let learner driver overtake
contact happened

as easily as learner driver could have stayed behind you, you could have, just as easily, let him overtake.

again, apologies if this comes across the wrong way. at the moment, i'm teaching my teen to drive. one of the lessons is to keep cool at all times, e.g. "if he/she (meaning the other driver) is angry or upset, don't be the same".

Goosey

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#3455947 26-Jan-2026 10:05

Op mentioned they were on the median.
the way I read this, it wasn’t a classic 2 lane to one lane merge.

op can confirm what they meant by being on the median…

Op might have been relying on mirrors instead of over the shoulder…. Who knows.

Bung

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#3455948 26-Jan-2026 10:05

Except that the learner driver did not attempt to overtake but pass on the left. The chance of that succeeding would depend on how far the merge had gone. If the OP had completed the merge and was 2-3 secs ahead of the following vehicle that should have been obvious by how far from the initial turn they'd got.

tonygeekzone

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#3455950 26-Jan-2026 10:23

nitro:

Handle9:

If OPs version of events is accurate. There only one side of the story being told so who really knows what happened?

this is a good point.

OP, please take this with a grain of salt. not knowing either party, and not having borne witness to the incident, my comment can really only have so much weight.

from the description of events, i sense a bit of less than stellar driver behaviour:

OP merged in front of learner driver
learner driver got pissed off
learner driver decided and tried to overtake
OP didn't want to let learner driver overtake
contact happened
as easily as learner driver could have stayed behind you, you could have, just as easily, let him overtake.

again, apologies if this comes across the wrong way. at the moment, i'm teaching my teen to drive. one of the lessons is to keep cool at all times, e.g. "if he/she (meaning the other driver) is angry or upset, don't be the same".

Thanks for your thoughts, yeah unfortunately for me I was already too far in the lane for him to try and pass on the inside, there simply wasn't enough room for this to be successful, at no time did I think he was going to do this, although I was aware like only a 1 sec or 2 before it happened (because I heard his engine being gunned as he attempted to pass, at no time did I try to "stop" him, it happened far to quickly!) if I'd been like been half a metre to my right he would of got through ..just

tonygeekzone

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#3455955 26-Jan-2026 10:33

Goosey:

Op mentioned they were on the median.
the way I read this, it wasn’t a classic 2 lane to one lane merge.

op can confirm what they meant by being on the median…

Op might have been relying on mirrors instead of over the shoulder…. Who knows.

Correct, I pulled out of a driveway into the flush median strip and then indicated and merged as you do, obviously I'd seen the 4x4 and other traffic coming through before hand, but had plenty of room to merge,so I was off the median strip and in the lane (just not in the middle as you normally do) at this time the 4x4 has aattempted him overtake on the inside.

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tonygeekzone

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Geek
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#3455957 26-Jan-2026 10:39

Bung:

Except that the learner driver did not attempt to overtake but pass on the left. The chance of that succeeding would depend on how far the merge had gone. If the OP had completed the merge and was 2-3 secs ahead of the following vehicle that should have been obvious by how far from the initial turn they'd got.

Exactly this is what the situation is, however I wasn't in the middle of the lane as I never made it before the attempt to pass, but I was off the median strip and any normal person would be obvious to me merging, it does seem to me he just didn't want this to happen for whatever reason, I feel by the replys from everyone( thanks, some good points made) that I'm just gonna have to suck this up!

mudguard

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#3455964 26-Jan-2026 11:10

I'm confused. So you were turning right, out of the driveway, into the flush median?

Wheelbarrow01

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#3455965 26-Jan-2026 11:14

tonygeekzone:

Bung:

Except that the learner driver did not attempt to overtake but pass on the left. The chance of that succeeding would depend on how far the merge had gone. If the OP had completed the merge and was 2-3 secs ahead of the following vehicle that should have been obvious by how far from the initial turn they'd got.

Exactly this is what the situation is, however I wasn't in the middle of the lane as I never made it before the attempt to pass, but I was off the median strip and any normal person would be obvious to me merging, it does seem to me he just didn't want this to happen for whatever reason, I feel by the replys from everyone( thanks, some good points made) that I'm just gonna have to suck this up!

Not at all. Make a song and dance about it. Talk to your insurer about taking him to court over the issue. Your insurer will likely provide some support or advice as they won't want to pay for the damage. It's almost certain that daddy's insurance company will disown him if it goes your way in court, in which case he might learn something. Otherwise he'll just be an sh1t driver for life.

Ask yourself who a judge might side with - a competent driver with x years of experience who goes to court well prepared, or an inexperienced learner driver breaking the conditions of his license, driving aggressively and without due care.

Gordy7

gordy7
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#3455967 26-Jan-2026 11:24

mudguard:

I'm confused. So you were turning right, out of the driveway, into the flush median?

Yep... so the OP should maybe provide a satellite view with some transit lines added to save the thousands of words 😃 It will also help with any required court evidence.

Gordy

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