Short Snappers: Funny Insurance Claim Explanations #3

This is the third in a series of 3 files containing humorous explanations given by insurance holders for accidents they have been involved in.

Humor is an ideal way to break up training and seminars into smaller segments, reduce stress in groups, and add a bit of fun to the process.

Use For Communication Related Content

It's always ideal for the humor used in training to have some relevance to the content presented, within the philosophy that every minute in a seminar or group activity can and should be a learning moment.

Since these are real gaffes from real people (or at least it's so alleged), they can be used as a way of analysing the sources of misunderstanding, and understanding how various parts of speech and the English language can trip us up and cause ineffective or misunderstood messages.

The simplest form of activity is to provide a list of selected phrases from the collection, and ask the group why they are funny, and what caused the confusion.  

1. The accident happened when the right front door of a car came round the corner without giving a signal.
2. The accident occurred when I was attempting to bring my car out of a skid by steering it into the other vehicle.
3. The accident was caused by me waving to the man I hit last week. ( This is one of my favourites :D )
4. The bloke was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.
5. The car in front hit the pedestrian but he got up so I hit him again
6. The car in front of me stopped for a yellow light, so I had no choice but to hit him. (She pushed him through the intersection)
7. The car in front stopped suddenly and I crashed gently into his luggage grid.
8. The gentleman behind me struck me on the backside. He then went to rest in a bush with just his rear end showing.
9. The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.
10. The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions.
11. The other man altered his mind so I had to run into him.
12. The pedestrian had no idea which direction to run so I ran over him.
13. The pedestrian had no idea which way to run as I ran over him.
14. The pedestrian ran for the pavement, but I got him.
15. The telephone pole was approaching and I was attempting to swerve out of its way when it struck the front end of my car.
16. The water in my radiator accidentally froze at 12 midnight.
17. There was no damage done to the car, as the gate post will testify.
18. There were plenty of lookers-on but no witnesses.
19. Three women were talking to each other and when two stepped back and one stepped forward I had to have an accident.
20. To avoid a collision I ran into the other car.
21. To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front I struck a pedestrian.
22. We had completed the turn and had just straightened the car when Miss X put her foot down hard and headed for the ladies’ loo.
23. When I saw I could not avoid a collision I stepped on the gas and crashed into the other car.
24. Windshield broke. Cause unknown. Probably Voodoo.
25. The claimant had collided with a cow. The questions and answers on the claim form were: Q: What warning was given by you? A: Horn. Q: What warning was given by the other party? A: Moo.
26. As I approached the intersection, a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident.
27. I had been learning to drive with power steering. I turned the wheel to what I thought was enough and found myself in a different direction going the opposite way.
28. I had been out shopping for the garden all morning. I was driving home and as I approached the junction a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision so I could not see the other vehicle.
29. I started to turn and it was at this point I noticed a camel and an elephant tethered at the verge. This distraction caused me to lose concentration and hit a bollard.
30. I was backing my car out of the driveway in the usual manner, when it was struck by the other car in the same place it had been struck several times before.
31. I was driving along the motorway when the police pulled me over onto the hard shoulder. Unfortunately I was in the middle lane and there was another car in the way.
32. I was proceeding along the road at moderate speed when another car rushed out of a side turning and turned upside down in a ditch. It was his fault as he said.
33. I was taking a friend home and keeping two yards from each lamp-post which were in a straight line. Unfortunately, there was a bend in the road bringing the right-hand lamp-post in line with the other and of course I landed in a ditch.
34. One wheel went into a ditch. My foot jumped from brake to accelerator pedal, leapt across the road to the other side and jumped into the trunk of a tree.

For the first in this series click here.