Car accident on mini roundabout

DaveF327

Ok, the pieces of the jigsaw are starting to fall into place now.

cdrgold wrote: »

Well this is a proper mini round about which even buses which are planning to go straight on, are able to drive around the circle.

Ok, so this may apportion some blame to the other driver, notwithstanding your decision to proceed.

There was a wall to the right handside which obstruction your view up the road. so i had to pull out slowly onto the roundabout (while looking right) in order to get a view down the road

Sounds reasonable so far...

when i saw the car at a the distance i carried on as i was already over the line.

This is where they'll rip you to pieces. You have just admitted continuing into an area of risk at a time where (if you were pulling out as slowly as you say) you could have stopped to avoid the collision, but chose not to.

The law says: "no vehicle shall proceed past the marking shown .... in a manner or at a time likely-
i) to endanger any person, or
ii) to cause the driver of another vehicle to change its speed or course in order to avoid an accident."
[Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002, regulation 16(1)item(5)(c)]

Premier_2

cdrgold wrote: »

The police didnt really say much, they made me fill out a form because me and the witness said they were speeding. Called them the morning after to see what their view was and they said that as no one was hurt it is up to the insurance to decide

Unfortunately then expect a 50/50

cdrgold

Well by the time i could see up the road i was already on the roundabout so the only way i could go was forward.

Surely the whole "no vehicle shall proceed past the marking shown...in a manner or time likely-
i) to endanger any person, or
ii) to cause the driver of another vehicle to change its speed or course in order to avoid an accident."

Apllies to the other driver more than it does me. ie their speed coming onto the roundabout while i was already on there and i would of had to speed up in order to avoid him hitting me.

Happychappy

I would be suprised if the insurance go 50/50, facts are you pulled out in fornt of a vehicle which had the right of way.

You admit to seeing the vehicle and misjudging it's speed, it was only as you pulled out in front of the other car, that your perception was that the vehicle was allegedly travelling faster than you had first seen with a cursory glance, and you had less than a second from moving onto the roundabout to the collision.

It might be that you realised the vehicle was actually a lot closer and actually not travelling a lot faster, as your estimation of 3/4 second before it hit you would make the other car more like a Merlin engined rocket to cover the distance in that time.

I wouldnt think the other driver had some form of suicidal jihad against you, more than likely you just misjudged time and distant as if you pulled up in the first place at the junction where you say the view is not good, I would assume knowing the junction, you would firstly have a good look and judge the speed of the other car before pulling out, some photo's and google earth may help, but if the RTC occurred on the roundabout, and the damage is to your rear offside, I can hardly see how the other driver is too blame, just my humble opinion

movingforward2010

if you 'had' to go when you saw the car why didnt you put your foot down a bit more! its like these bloody idiots that you see in junctions on 60mph roads, nothing behind you, yet when you get closer they pull out in 2nd gear and drive at 30mph causing you to brake hard to avoid hitting them

you know hes going to say that you pulled out in front of him and in panic he cut across the rounderbout cirlce to try and avoid you. Im sorry you were involved in an accident but its going to be you that gets the blame i fear. I just think a side on collision at 50mph would be very serious and require more than just the police, i mean a head on a 50mph can kill

im always being cut up on rounderbouts when im already on them, the biggest trick ive noticed is the other driver looking straight ahead - they seen you but by looking ahead they dont have to make eye contact and admit they actually saw you but could'nt be bothered waiting like the 90% of motorists

cdrgold

I still cant see how i am to blame one bit. If it was a normal T juntion then yes i rekon i would be to blame but the whole fact its a roundabout which i was already on? The highway code says that they should be treated like a normal roundabout, so if someone enters the roundabout and crashes into the back of someone they could say that they had pulled out on them even though they were happily on their way on the roundabout long before this car came along? Just because its a mini roundabout i dont think it gives people the right to all of a sudden plow through traffic that is there.

goldspanners

cdrgold wrote: »

i was fully on the round about before he went over the white lines

cdrgold wrote: »

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.

cdrgold wrote: »

i slowly pulled out and was well into the turn when they hit.

what were you driving, a double decker bus?

sorry to pick holes but it took you 3 to 4 seconds to not even get half way across a small mini roundabout. pulling out slowly is an understatement.

if i were the other driver i would be argueing my point that i was approaching you from the right within the posted speed limit and you slowly cut out in front of me. just because you think he was going fast doesnt mean he was speeding, you cant really prove how fast he was going, but he can prove you didnt give way to the right at a roundabout.
i personally feel that the speed the other driver was doing really doesnt matter, as a driver you should be able to anticipate other road users speeds. if you cant then you shouldnt be slowly cutting out in front of them if you arent sure of how quickly they will reach you.

DaveF327

cdrgold wrote: »

Well by the time i could see up the road i was already on the roundabout so the only way i could go was forward.

Not true; you could have stopped.

Surely the whole "no vehicle shall proceed past the marking shown...in a manner or time likely-
i) to endanger any person, or
ii) to cause the driver of another vehicle to change its speed or course in order to avoid an accident."

Apllies to the other driver more than it does me.

No, it applies to everybody equally. Perhaps it would make more sense if I posted the whole thing:

(a) A vehicle entering the junction must give priority to
vehicles coming from the right at the transverse road
marking shown in diagram 1003.3 associated with the sign
or, if the marking is not for the time being visible, at the
junction; and
(b) a vehicle proceeding through the junction must keep to the
left of the white circle at the centre of the marking shown in
diagram 1003.4, unless the size of the vehicle or the layout
of the junction makes it impracticable to do so; and
(c) no vehicle shall proceed past the marking shown in
diagram 1003.4 in a manner or at a time likely—
(i) to endanger any person, or
(ii) to cause the driver of another vehicle to change its
speed or course in order to avoid an accident.

So even if the other driver caused a danger by not avoiding you (which you can claim, by all means) the fact remains that you didn't give way to the vehicle from the right. There is no requirement to give way to the left.

cdrgold

goldspanners wrote: »

what were you driving, a double decker bus?

sorry to pick holes but it took you 3 to 4 seconds to not even get half way across a small mini roundabout. pulling out slowly is an understatement.

if i were the other driver i would be argueing my point that i was approaching you from the right within the posted speed limit and you slowly cut out in front of me. just because you think he was going fast doesnt mean he was speeding, you cant really prove how fast he was going, but he can prove you didnt give way to the right at a roundabout.
i personally feel that the speed the other driver was doing really doesnt matter, as a driver you should be able to anticipate other road users speeds. if you cant then you shouldnt be slowly cutting out in front of them if you arent sure of how quickly they will reach you.

As i said there was a wall to the right so you have to pull out slowly to see if there is anything coming. Maybe if you saw all the pictures of the roundabout in question and the place of impact you would understand where i am coming from

dieselhead

There is a thread almost identical to this on piston heads, it that also you?
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=729296&mid=73286&i=0&nmt=Roundabout%20Accident%20-%20Help%20Needed%20Please&mid=73286

People on there are saying pretty much what everyone on here seems to think.