Minor RTC on lane merging to left

Tok3d

AdrianC wrote: »

From the very first post laying out the situation...




That'd be the traffic that was behind you a moment earlier slowing to stop whilst approaching red lights, before you accelerated to 30 when they started to change, yes?

You're a newish driver, right? Passing the test is the bare minimum standard acceptable. You spend your entire life learning beyond that, but there's no way you'll learn from a situation without admitting to yourself what you did wrong. Denial is so much more than an Egyptian river.

Did you take a look at the imgur & the google maps link that I posted? There was traffic behind me in the middle lane, I was slowing for the lights, they turned red and amber so I stopped breaking and started to gradually build my speed back up. I may not have passed the guy at 30, but there was defiantley 1-2 car lengths between us on our respective lanes. Perhaps the person behind me was close and wouldn't let him merge, I don't know, it happened too fast. I am hoping there are council cameras there that can help. I don;t have an independent witness but my partner was in the car too, and she could see what was happening from the back passenger window, there's no way he couldn't see me.

So yes, I would put it down to red mist, he tried to overtake and merge but ran out road on his side and then collided with driver and passenger door. Am i 100% sure it was this? No. who can be.

AdrianC

Tok3d wrote: »

So yes, I would put it down to red mist

Great, we're all in agreement, then.

Tok3d

AdrianC wrote: »

Great, we're all in agreement, then.

Him having red mist, not me

Tok3d

Thanks for all your advice. I have contacted my insurance and have stated that I don't wish to pursue a claim at the moment. I'll just buff out the scratches myself and take it to a local body repair shop and see what quotes they give me.

Lesson learned I guess.

forgotmyname

I bet his version varies from yours. You were undertaking him as he merged.

Tok3d

forgotmyname wrote: »

I bet his version varies from yours. You were undertaking him as he merged.

Undertake? It was two lanes, his merges into mine later on. At no stage did I stop him from safely merging when it told him to do so. My version of events were that he sped up in the merge lane after I had a 1-2 car lead on him, but was never infront of me so he should merge behind me, which he did and hit me.

I am almost certain his version will vary to mine.

AdrianC

Tok3d wrote: »

At no stage did I stop him from safely merging

So, umm, what are we talking about here...?

heartbreak_star

I may be wrong - but if you hadn't stopped him from safely merging there would have been no bump?

HBS x

Dan-Dan

AdrianC wrote: »

And you freely admitt hat you knew exactly what he was doing and where, yes?



No such thing. You might have had priority, but that doesn't give you "right of way", either.



Can you honestly say your driving wasn't careless? Legal definition is where your driving " falls below the standard expected of a reasonable, prudent and competent driver in all the circumstances of the case". Look at the overwhelming consensus of replies here, and think about what that implies about those general expectations.

Did you follow the Highway Code in every respect? Including...


No, thought not. Because, if you had, he'd have pulled in front of you and you'd have shaken your head at his stupidity and got on with your evening.

Spot on post as usual Adrian , and excellent advice for anyone reading this thread who tends to react to bell ends on the road

Tok3d

heartbreak_star wrote: »

I may be wrong - but if you hadn't stopped him from safely merging there would have been no bump?

HBS x

The only way I could stop him from safely merging is if he was ahead of me and wasn't stationary at the lights. I passed him whilst he was stationary with atleast 1-2 car lengths.

This is speculation but what I believed happen from what I saw was he tried to overtake me but realised he had run out of merger room and scraped the drivers side of my car trying to quickly merge behind me. Or he simply did not see there was flowing traffic to the left and went into me.