Car accident on mini roundabout

cdrgold

The other night i was approaching a T junction mini roundabout. I was coming up the T looking to join the main road. As i approached i checked to see if there was anything approaching from the right. There was a car coming from the right but he was about 140ft away. As i pulled out onto the roundabout i realised the car was approaching alot faster than i had anticipated (Must have been going about 50 in a 30). I was already on the roundabout at this point making the turn and there wasn't much i could do. The other driver appeared to have not noticed me as they carried on at the same speed,there was no sign of them even touching the brakes. They went straight over the top of the mini roundabout and hit me in the RH side where the rear wheel is. There was a witness that said it looked like they were speeding.

Not sure if this would be my fault as they had right of way even though i would of had plenty of time if they werent speeding and i was well on the roundabout when they hit me.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

dacouch

It would generally be your fault, however with an independant witness who states they appeared to be speeding then it might be deemed the other drivers fault or possibly 50 50.

Report it to your Insurers and if possible submit any other evidence such as photos of the road, any signs and lack of skid marks, damage to your car etc etc

cdrgold

so the fact that i was already halfway over the roundabout doesnt matter? I thought it would be a similar principle to someone crashing into the back of you on a larger roundabout. Just because of the smaller size of the roundabout they made contact with the side

Mark_Hewitt

Well the Highway Code does say that you need to give way to cars already on the roundabout. You were indeed, on the roundabout!

cdrgold

Yeah thats what i thought, i guess im just going to have to prove that i was fully on the round about before he went over the white lines

dacouch

What you have to bear in mind is the other driver will almost certainly say they were not speeding and the accident was your fault due to the high way code (People normally blame the other person after an accident as they don't like to admit they made a mistake). There Insurers will therefore either try to claim against you or will defend your claim.

The independant witness will help as will the pictures.

What would have really helped would have been pictures taken of how both vehicles ended up eg a pic or two of there car imbedded in your car along with photos of the damage to both cars and photos showing there were no skid marks.

cdrgold

I managed to take a couple of pictures of the damage to my car and the position it was in afterwards. Also took a picture of the position of the glass from my back widow which broke on impact. Hopefuly that will show where i was on the roundabout. My car was spun off the roundabout and it mounted the curb so they hit me with some force

Premier_2

Difficult one without being there to see all the evidence.
The difference between 30mph & 50 mph to cover 140 feet is only just over one second. i.e. 3 seconds to impact as opposed to 2.

However, that does assume the vehicle didn't slow down at all (as you suggest). Even though you are supposed to give way to traffic from the right, there is a give way line on the entrance to every roundabout for every roaduser (normally).

Personally I would have called the police at the time and insisted they attend. I know they can be difficult to get to attend at times, but there are ways to overcome their reluctance if necessary.

The fact that the other driver was allegedly speeding and failed to brake /take avoiding action suggests the police may also have been interested in their driving ability at the time. Although the police wouldn't have actually seen the accident, their opinion based on the evidence avialable immediately thereafter often carries great weight when bringing a matter to court.

cdrgold

I phoned the police straight after the accident and they arrived on the scence within a couple of minutes. 140 feet is just a rough estimate using google earth. Need to get back down to where it happend at work it out myself. I was on the roundabout for a good 3/4 seconds before they hit me. It is a really tight right turn as the mini roundabout was put inplace of a T juntion, so i had to make the turn slowly.

I could embed a couple of pictures if you guys wanted to see the damage and the roundabout

GSXRCarlos

if you were on the roundabout, it shouldn't be your fault, as you were on the roundabout you had right of way.

However i will say that the law is an !!!, and you'll be lucky if you get 50/50 split

Good luck

Premier_2

I think what would be more is interesting is what did the police say?