I hired a car from a rental car company, and I had a car accident when I drive to hunter valley garden. It was a single accident. I was driving toward north and needed to turn left. Before I turned left, I have prepared reduce speed, but there was not any road sign to notice it was a sharp turn, because it was my first time drive to there.
I did not know the road, when I realized it was a sharp turn. I have been the brakes, but it was too late and I hit the reverse guardrails. Fortunately, no one injured and no other vehicles damaged. I contacted with the car rental company for the first time. After confirming the car had no engine problem and it could still drive, I took some photos of the car and the damaged guardrail. I also confirmed with the staff that I did not need to call police, then I drove the car back.
The next day morning, I went to the office to deal with accident problems. The staff told me that they would report the accident to the police and I needed to pay the bill to repair the damaged guardrails, and I filled a form to describe the accident, because it was 15 or 16 hours after the accident.
I was still in a state of tension, when she asked me who the fault of this accident was. My answer was me, and I signed on that form. But when I went back home, I realized that I was wrong, and I did not mention to the staff there was no road sign, so I contacted with the office again and sent them an email describing the details and attached a satellite map of the road, and stated that I can't admit that all the faults of this accident were all because of me.
I can guarantee that I didn't speed or drive illegally. The reason for the accident was that I could not realize that it was a sharp turn, because there is no sign on the road. After this left turn, the two roads are parallel, so you can imagine what kind of sharp turn it is. I started to slow down before turning left, but when the left turn occurred, my speed was still too fast for a sharp turn, which caused the accident. But the main reason is the lack of road signs on the road.
My question is, do I need to take full liability to pay the bill to repair the guardrails?
I did not know the road, when I realized it was a sharp turn. I have been the brakes, but it was too late and I hit the reverse guardrails. Fortunately, no one injured and no other vehicles damaged. I contacted with the car rental company for the first time. After confirming the car had no engine problem and it could still drive, I took some photos of the car and the damaged guardrail. I also confirmed with the staff that I did not need to call police, then I drove the car back.
The next day morning, I went to the office to deal with accident problems. The staff told me that they would report the accident to the police and I needed to pay the bill to repair the damaged guardrails, and I filled a form to describe the accident, because it was 15 or 16 hours after the accident.
I was still in a state of tension, when she asked me who the fault of this accident was. My answer was me, and I signed on that form. But when I went back home, I realized that I was wrong, and I did not mention to the staff there was no road sign, so I contacted with the office again and sent them an email describing the details and attached a satellite map of the road, and stated that I can't admit that all the faults of this accident were all because of me.
I can guarantee that I didn't speed or drive illegally. The reason for the accident was that I could not realize that it was a sharp turn, because there is no sign on the road. After this left turn, the two roads are parallel, so you can imagine what kind of sharp turn it is. I started to slow down before turning left, but when the left turn occurred, my speed was still too fast for a sharp turn, which caused the accident. But the main reason is the lack of road signs on the road.
My question is, do I need to take full liability to pay the bill to repair the guardrails?
