Crash on roundabout and blame.

choccyface2006

My sister has this evening had a car crash on a roundabout. She is fine although her car looks as though it could be a right out. The other lady has admitted responsibility, my sis was on the roundabout and the other lady was joining it.

Is it true that blame is given as a % on roundabouts and that my sis may have to take some responsibility for the accident? She has a decent newish car (on finance) but only third party insurance which is a worry (and something I advised her against)

Can anyone offer any advice??

Sarah x

kelloggs36

If your sister was already on the roundabout, she has right of way BUT she may (and I am only suggesting!!) have switched lanes, or been in the wrong lane for the transaction. However, if the other lady has accepted responsibility, your sister should state this to her insurers.

firesidemaid

hi there

i had an accident at a roundabout earlier in the year - i was the person entering the r/about and the other car was on the r/about already.

even though the weather was abysmal and i felt the other driver was going to fast it was classed as 100% my fault by my insurance company.

they said unless you had actually already established yourself on the r/about then it would always be your fault.

i hope that makes sense!

Astaroth

Given the circumstances you are saying - sister established on the round about and correctly proceeding and the TP joins without giving way - then this would mean the TP is 100% to blame.

The problem with accidents is that if you listen to all the parties version of events you can find that people have very different recollections of the events (either because they are lying or simply remember events differently) and this is where problems occur. With these sorts of accidents the classic issue is where the TP says that they had already joined the round about and become established when your sister moved from the inner lane to the outer to exit the roundabout and hit their correctly proceeding vehicle.... thankfully for this example areas of damage tends to be fairly conclusive as to which is telling the truth/ is most accurate.

In cases where both parties say that they were both established and that it was the other encroached into their lane then these are the typical 50/50 split decisions as it is impossible without witnesses to say if it was car a or car b that happened to drift into the others lane.

mattymoo

Best advice is to get out there tomorrow and take some photos of the damage to the car and also the roundabout. You need to show as best as possible
a) where your sister entered the roundabout and position taken (inside lane nearest the island or outer lane)
b) her route through the roundabout
c) where the other person entered the roundabout.
d) point of impact.

Take care doing this.

flang

i had an accident on a mini roundabout last year where i was turning right and the the party failed to stop and give way!
The third party admitted liability at the scene of the accident however wouldnt admit liability to my insuarance! she said that i didnt use correct lane displine,i found this a complete joke as it was a very small mini roundabout! (she obvs has a lot of no claims bonus to loose!)
my claim went on for nearly a year until the time I issued court procedings!
I recieved a nice cheque shortly after!

choccyface2006

Thanks for all the advice. My instinct told me that as my sis was established on the roundabout and therefore had priority, then the other driver was to blame but as many of you have pointed out, if she switched lanes or strayed then there could be some blame for her too.

I thinks its a very good idea to take some photos of the roundabout and the damage to her car, I will do this tomorrow. Hopefully the other driver will tell her insurers that she was to blame as she did at the scene and the damage to the cars will back this up.

Thanks again everyone,

Sarah x

astonsmummy

choccyface2006 wrote:

My sister has this evening had a car crash on a roundabout. She is fine although her car looks as though it could be a right out. The other lady has admitted responsibility, my sis was on the roundabout and the other lady was joining it.

Is it true that blame is given as a % on roundabouts and that my sis may have to take some responsibility for the accident? She has a decent newish car (on finance) but only third party insurance which is a worry (and something I advised her against)
Can anyone offer any advice??

Sarah x

I used to work for a motor finance company and the terms and conditions always stated you must have fully comprehnsive insurance on the financed car, it was a long time ago and i'm unsure if all finance companys state the same.

choccyface2006

Astonsmummy - Yes I have heard the same thing and I came on here a few months ago as I was worried about it, however the general feeling on here was that it is an unwise thing to do but she wasn't breaking the terms and conditions of her finance agreement.

I have tried to pusuade her to go fully comp but she hasn't. Hopefully this may change her mind!

Sarah x

astonsmummy

choccyface2006 wrote:

Astonsmummy - Yes I have heard the same thing and I came on here a few months ago as I was worried about it, however the general feeling on here was that it is an unwise thing to do but she wasn't breaking the terms and conditions of her finance agreement.

I have tried to pusuade her to go fully comp but she hasn't. Hopefully this may change her mind!

Sarah x

Oh thats good then, hope everything turns out ok for your sis x

flang

another tip is to always carry a disposal camera in your car!
it comes in very useful if you ever have an accident, alternatively you could use your mobile if it has a camera.