Credit hire after a crash on the Spit Bridge during roadworks

Why roadworks on the Spit cause so many crashes

The Spit Bridge is a four-lane bascule bridge on the A8, and it is the only road link between the Northern Beaches and the lower north shore. Every car from Manly, Seaforth, Balgowlah and Clontarf funnels onto it. When Transport for NSW runs resurfacing, barrier repairs or the periodic maintenance on the lifting span, lanes close and the queue backs up fast.

Stop-start conditions are the problem. Drivers accelerate a few car lengths, brake, wait, accelerate again. Reaction times stretch. Someone checks a phone, someone looks at the bridge lift warning sign, someone misjudges the gap. The result is a rear-end shunt at walking pace that does almost no damage to the car in front of you and a lot to the car behind.

Three things make Spit crashes distinctive:

• Speed is low, damage is not. A 15 km/h impact still destroys bumper covers, parking sensors, radar units, tailgates and boot floors on a prestige car.
• The queue is captive. Once you are on the bridge deck there is no shoulder, no side street and nowhere to pull over. You block a lane until police or a tow arrives.
• It happens in clusters. During roadworks the same stretch produces multiple shunts in a morning peak, and the at-fault driver is often a local on a familiar commute.

If you drive a car worth repairing properly, the practical question is not who hit you. It is who pays for the weeks your car sits in a repairer and what you drive in the meantime.

What to do when you are hit in a queue on the bridge

Stay calm, and treat the bridge deck as an active road, because it is. Here is the order that works.

1. Hazards on, handbrake on. Do not get out into a live lane to inspect the damage. Wait for a gap and stay behind the barrier line if there is one.
2. Check for injuries. If anyone is hurt, call 000. A paramedic response changes everything about how the scene is handled.
3. Call police if the bridge is blocked. On the Spit, a blocked lane is a traffic hazard, and a police event number is worth having. If the cars are driveable and can be moved to the Spit West Reserve car park or the Spit East side near the marina, do that first.
4. Photograph everything. Both number plates, both cars from four angles, the queue behind you, the roadworks signage, the lane closure arrows, the position of the vehicles on the deck. Time-stamped photos are the single best evidence of a stop-start shunt.
5. Swap details. Name, address, licence number, phone, insurer and policy number for the other driver. Get their registration and confirm it matches the car.
6. Note witnesses. Rideshare and delivery drivers, cyclists on the shared path and pedestrians on the promenade see a lot. Ask for a name and number before they leave.
7. Do not accept cash on the spot. A low-speed rear-end on a prestige car can hide radar, camera and structural damage that only shows on a hoist.

Then report it to your own insurer as soon as you can, even if you intend to claim against the other driver. If you want the full sequence, including what to say on the phone, see the first 24 hours.

Getting a tow off the bridge to Mosman or Manly

The Spit is a tow-truck bottleneck. There is no hard shoulder on the bridge itself, and the approaches at Spit Road and Battle Boulevard are narrow. If your car will not roll, the tow operator has to work from a live lane with traffic control, which takes time.

What actually happens in practice:

• Driveable cars. Move to the Spit West Reserve car park off Spit Road, or to the Spit East side near the marina and the rowing club. Both are used constantly as post-crash meeting points and tow operators know them.
• Not driveable. Police or Transport for NSW traffic control will manage the lane while a tow is arranged. Expect 30 to 60 minutes at peak.
• Where the car goes. Most prestige owners ask for a repairer they trust. If you do not have one, the car can go to a holding yard in Mosman, Balgowlah or Manly while the assessment happens. Do not let it be towed to a yard you cannot visit.

Two things to get right at this moment. First, tell the tow operator and the repairer that you are claiming as a not-at-fault driver, so the assessment is done with that in mind. Second, do not sign anything from the at-fault insurer that offers to settle the damage before your car has been assessed. If the other driver is insured with a major Australian insurer, their assessor will want to inspect the car, and that is normal. What you should not do is accept a repair quote from a shop you have no relationship with.

If you are unsure about your position, the plain-English starting point is not at fault explained.

Getting a replacement car delivered to the Northern Beaches

Once your car is off the bridge and booked in, the next question is what you drive. For a prestige or performance car, a compact hatch from a general rental counter is not a replacement, it is a downgrade you feel every day.

Delivery is the part that matters on the Northern Beaches. The Spit is the only way in and out, and a bridge lift or roadworks can add 40 minutes to a trip to the airport or the city. You do not want to spend a morning collecting a car from Mascot when you could have it dropped at your door in Mosman, Cremorne, Balgowlah, Seaforth, Manly or Freshwater.

What to expect when a replacement car is delivered:

• A driver brings the car to your home, workplace or the repairer.
• You show your licence, sign the hire agreement and do a walk-around with photos.
• The car is yours for as long as the repair takes, subject to the terms of the credit hire agreement.

Availability is real, not theoretical. Drive Tribe (drivetribe.com.au), the trading name of Australian Business Holdings Pty Ltd, fulfils the bookings made through this site, and this site is part of that group. Cars are booked online and collected in Sydney or delivered, and you can check accident replacement car availability in Sydney before you commit to anything.

If your car is a European SUV, the natural like-for-like options are a Porsche Macan or a Range Rover Velar. Both are five-seat AWD SUVs with the driving position and presence you are used to.

Luxury / SUV / 4WD / Self-drive

Porsche MACAN

2019 Porsche MACAN...

185 kW Power6.5s 0-100AWD Drive5 seats SeatsPetrol FuelDrivers from 20Base Mascot

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Luxury / SUV / 4WD / Self-drive

Land Rover RANGE ROVER VELAR

The 2018 Range Rover Velar is the marque at its most sculpted - a clean, almost architectural shape wrapped around a refined 177 kW diesel. Flush door handles, a hushed cabin and...

177 kW Power7.3s 0-100AWD Drive5 seats SeatsDiesel FuelDrivers from 20Base Mascot

See rate and availability

How credit hire works when the other driver is a local

Credit hire is a simple idea. You have a right to be put back in the position you were in before the crash. If you were not at fault, the at-fault driver owes you the reasonable cost of a replacement car while yours is repaired. Credit hire is the mechanism that lets you take that car now, with the hire company paid later by the at-fault insurer.

On the Spit, the at-fault driver is usually a local: someone from Balgowlah, Seaforth, Manly or Mosman on the same commute as you. That is actually good news for the claim. Local drivers are almost always insured, they have a known address, and their insurer is a known Australian insurer. There is no chasing an uninsured stranger.

What you sign matters. A credit hire agreement is a contract between you and the hire company. It sets out the daily rate, the period of hire and what happens if the at-fault insurer disputes the claim. Read it. The rate, the bond and every fee are shown on the car's page before payment. The bond equals the excess you choose. Paying by card carries a small surcharge; bank transfer and cash on the rental do not.

Two documents do most of the work:

• The hire agreement, which sets out your obligations.
• The letter of demand, sent to the at-fault insurer with the police event number, photos, repair authority and hire invoices.

If you want the mechanics in detail, start with how credit hire works and what you sign in credit hire paperwork.

What like for like means for a European SUV

Like for like does not mean the same badge. It means a car of similar size, specification, age and market position, so your daily life is not disrupted. The courts have accepted this principle in New South Wales, including in Arsalan v Rixon, which is the case most often cited when an insurer argues that a smaller or cheaper car would do.

For a European SUV, like for like usually means:

• Five seats and a similar boot.
• AWD and a comparable power and torque figure.
• Automatic, with the same level of driver assistance and safety equipment.
• A similar age and condition to your own car.
• Room for child seats, prams, golf clubs and the family dog, because that is what the car was doing.

If your own car is a Macan GTS, a base Macan is a reasonable substitute for most people but not identical, and the difference matters to an enthusiast. A Performance tier car is the closer match.

Keep the comparison honest. A hire car that is clearly better than yours can be argued down by the at-fault insurer. A hire car that is clearly worse is a loss you should not have to wear. For the full test, read like for like and credit hire for prestige and performance cars.

Keeping the replacement car until the repair is finished

The hire period runs from the day you take the car to the day your own car is returned to you, repaired and roadworthy. It does not stop when the at-fault insurer thinks it should. It stops when the repair is actually finished.

Prestige repairs in Sydney take longer than people expect. Parts for European cars come from interstate or overseas, and some panels and modules are on back order. A rear-end hit on a European SUV can involve bumper cover, parking sensors, radar, tailgate, boot floor and paint blending across adjacent panels. Two to four weeks is common. Six weeks is not unusual.

What to do while the repair runs:

• Keep every message, email and phone note from the insurer and the repairer.
• Ask the repairer for a written update if the completion date moves.
• Send those updates to the hire company, so the file shows why the hire is still running.
• Do not hand the car back early to keep the peace. That cost is yours, not theirs.

If the insurer starts pushing back, the process is well trodden. See how the at-fault insurer pays for hire and when an insurer disputes a credit hire claim. If your car is written off instead of repaired, the rules change, and credit hire and write-offs explains how.

Booking a replacement car from Manly or Mosman

By the time you are reading this, you probably have a car sitting at a repairer and no way to get to work tomorrow. Booking is the easy part.

What you need ready:

• Your driver licence.
• The other driver's name, registration, insurer and policy number if you have them.
• The police event number, if police attended.
• Photos of both cars and the scene.
• Your repairer's details and the date the car went in.

Minimum driver age is 20 on most cars and 25 or 30 on some, so check the car you want. The rate, the bond and every fee are shown on the car's page before payment. The bond equals the excess you choose. Paying by card carries a small surcharge; bank transfer and cash on the rental do not. You can book from a single day.

Delivery covers the Northern Beaches and the lower north shore, so a car can be brought to Manly, Mosman, Balgowlah, Seaforth, Cremorne or Neutral Bay. If you would rather collect, cars are based at Mascot and Merrylands.

If you are a repairer, solicitor or broker who sends clients our way, the referral process is set out at partners and referrals. Fleet managers should start with business and fleet. Everyone else: start a not-at-fault accident replacement claim, or browse the full range at accident replacement vehicles.