Overtaking on a hatched area

MARKA

My son 26,was waiting at a junction for an oncoming car to turn left,as it did so my son pulled out as a car came round the bend and hit him head on.
Police were called by some neighbours and my son gave a statement.
The police officer said he was charging my son with driving with undue care and attention but in this instance would offer a driver awareness course,my son was unsure but when told by the officer if he challenged this it would go to court where he could be liable for a £3000 fine and 6 points on his licence.
My point here is that the overtaking driver overtook on a hatched area bordered by broken white lines,this protects a right turn further up the road this hatched area extends for some considerable distance both in advance of and to the rear of the junction my son pulled out of.
I feel the that my son has been dealt with harshly yet I'm at a loss as to tell him to challenge it in court as the other driver was equally culpable or bite the bullet and take the course?
Any thoughts anyone?

specialboy

Take the course, he won't win.

sh0597

I'm struggling to work out from your description what the situation was.

arcon5

Am I right...? (sorry description not clear)

He was turning right out of a junction. Car turning left - he waits to be sure the car is turning left then proceeds to pull in to the main carriageway. To the right being a bend, so presumably when he pulled out it was clear.
A car going the other way uses the oncoming lane to pass the car still turning left, thus avoid him having to slow down or stop.
In doing so and with your son pulled out they collide head on.

If my interpretation is right then I agree they are being very harsh with him. The other car would be acting very dangerously.

BUT, for the sake of an awareness course does he want to risk a judge seeing a different side of it? The risk:reward ratio isn't there. He either pays significant fines+court fees+increased insurance for 5 years or takes a day off work and pays like £80 fee for the course.

facade

Your son emerged from a junction and collided with an oncoming car that he had not seen, or had seen and failed to anticipate what he might do.

The oncoming car overtook when he could not see/did not anticipate that a vehicle might pull out of the junction into his path.

I'd send both drivers on a course: maybe that is what has happened?

You can overtake on broken hatching, provided it is safe to do so.

Aretnap

"The other guy was equally culpable" isn't a defence to a careless driving charge. If both drivers are at fault it might be termed a "double due care" and both might be charged with careless driving or sent on courses. Maybe the other bloke has been given the same choice as your son?

If he pulled out of a junction where he had to give way and was hit by someone in the main road he'll have a hard time defending a careless driving charge, even if that someone was doing a not-very-clever manouveur himself. In court he could probably expect 5-6 points and a fine of around his weekly income. £3000 is scaremongering unless he's unusually wealthy as fines are income based, but it's still likely to be more than the course.

I'd suggest he does the course, it saves money and the points, and if he approaches it with an open mind he'll almost certainly learn something useful from it (speed awareness courses get mixed reviews sometimes, but everyone I know who's been on a driver alertness course has found it useful).

photome

I also find it dificult to understand exactly what happened from the description. A map would help.

OnanTheBarbarian

Take the course, he probably would not win a trial at magistrates court and even if he did, any costs associated with defending yourself are not recoverable.

Odds are he would get potted if he took the court route. For the other car to be in the overtaking position I would wager it could have been viewed before pulling out or it could have been obscured by the car turning left, either way, until you can be certain there was nothing following the turning vehicle he should refrain from pulling out.

The driver improvement course will avoid points on his licence and the expense of losing a court case and then having to pay the fine + court costs.

photome

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

Take the course, he probably would not win a trial at magistrates court and even if he did, any costs associated with defending yourself are not recoverable.

Odds are he would get potted if he took the court route. For the other car to be in the overtaking position I would wager it could have been viewed before pulling out or it could have been obscured by the car turning left, either way, until you can be certain there was nothing following the turning vehicle he should refrain from pulling out.

The driver improvement course will avoid points on his licence and the expense of losing a court case and then having to pay the fine + court costs.

If thats what happened and on re reading the OP it is probably what happened, then that makes perfect sense

Iceweasel

I agree that he should go on the course - fighting this is a non-starter. If the other car was hidden by the car turning in - your son made a error of judgement.

What the other driver did or didn't do is irrelevant as your son pulled out not totally certain that the road was clear.

There is a high probability that the other driver has also been offered a course - he too has no defense - again an error of judgement - he did not anticipate your son pulling out in front of him.

Might be interesting if both drivers turn up on the same course.

harveybobbles

Link to google street view might help.