Car accident - was it my fault?

Richard53

The lady's actions were not correct. If you want to go all the way round a roundabout, you should use the right/inside lane all the way round until you exit. She was wrong to go round in the left lane.


However, the left and right lanes on a roundabout stay as left and right lanes, regardless of exit lanes. The HC says (as quoted above): "keep to the right on the roundabout until you need to change lanes to exit the roundabout". The reference to changing lanes suggests that to exit a roundabout from the right lane involves crossing the left lane of the roundabout. You went for your exit, crossed the left lane and collided with the other car. Imagine the roundabout as a simple two-lane road and it becomes clear that you have crossed the other driver's path - even if her path was not the correct one. The fact that the front of your car hit the rear of hers suggests she was clearly visible to you, and you proceeded to cross her lane anyway.


Sorry, but to me the majority of blame for the collision lies with you.

Retrogamer

From your own account of the accident, you are partially liable if not fully.

Even though the other driver was in the wrong lane, you should check your left hand side before exiting a roundabout to ensure it's clear to turn off.

By your account you assumed that person wouldn't be there / shouldn't be there and you drove into the rear side of them when you attempted to leave the roundabout.

They of course may be liable as well by being in the wrong lane but it sounds like negligence by both parties, but from one side more than the other.

Without witnesses or any other evidence it's likely she'll blame you, you'll blame her and with insurance companies having no way to determine liability will likely go for the 50/50 split liability.
Not always but probably. They may determine as you drove into the side / rear of the other car as you attempted to leave to be more negligent.

Richard53

There was a very similar thread to this quite recently. The general consensus was that insurance companies nearly always went 50/50 on accidents on roundabouts as blame is nearly always unclear - as this thread demonstrates.

laurencecockayne

It is two lanes on the roundabout exiting into two lanes onto the DC though, so from her position she should be exiting onto the left lane of the DC. This is what she SHOULD (and i hope the insurers see it this way) be doing.

Richard53, i would agree with you if the exit was single lane, if this was the case by the point i exit i should be over to the left. I would agree with this. But this is not the case.

There is no requirement to change lanes when exiting the roundabout, as the two lanes of the roundabout exit into the two lanes of the DC.

With regards to me having the forsight, how much do i need to have, she was in no way clear of me. There wasnt 1-2m gap between us, the grill of her car was 1m more advanced than mine. We were side by side with her being slightly ahead. If she then performs an incorrect maneuver to try and get further around the roundabout, when the lane she was in signals that she should be coming off and at the same time there is a car next to her......???

There is no frontal damage to my car, its all on the side and comes along to the front corner.

Retrogamer

Her being in the wrong lane doesn't make it admissible to drive into the side of her though.
You assumed she would take the turn off and she didn't

A roundabout is a complete circle.
If you are in the right hand side lane of a roundabout it is impossible to leave it without crossing into the left hand side lane. That's what we're meaning when we say you drove into their lane.
You tried to leave the roundabout when it wasn't clear to do so.

laurencecockayne

Or she,in incorrectly positioning herself, has driven into my side when it was not clear to do so. Then it comes down to who was in the right, i was in the correct lane. Was she?

Richard53

To be absolutely clear, we would need to see the road markings. If the roundabout lanes carried on in a circle, then the OP crossed to left lane to exit the roundabout. If the road markings funnelled roundabout traffic from the L lane of the rbt into the L lane of the exit, and the R lane of the rbt into the R lane of the exit, then the OP's case would have some merit. You sometimes get markings like this on motorway junctions, where there is a 2-lane slip road exit, but I find it hard to envisage in this situation.


OP, can you post a link to Google Earth?

Richard53

laurencecockayne wrote: »

Or she,in incorrectly positioning herself, has driven into my side when it was not clear to do so. Then it comes down to who was in the right, i was in the correct lane. Was she?

If I have got this right, you hit the side of her car towards the rear with the front corner of your car:

My front passenger side wheel area and just in front of the wheel (the corner of the car) collides with her rear right hand side just in front of the wheel arch.

She hasn't driven into you; you have driven into her. She might have crossed your path (as you see it), rightly or wrongly, but you still drove into the side of her car. That is what goes against you.

mad_rich

laurencecockayne wrote: »

There is no requirement to change lanes when exiting the roundabout, as the two lanes of the roundabout exit into the two lanes of the DC.

Hang on. I think I see a possibility here.

Is this one of those spiral roundabouts that 'uncurls' itself as you go round? So somebody who enters in the right-hand lane and stays within the lines gets automatically shunted towards the outside of the roudanbout at the correct exit?

If so, then I think you might be OK.

Or is it a traditional roundabout with an inside and an outside lane? In which case you *must* have changed lane to take the exit, even though it feels like you had priority.

Was anyone signalling?

Ethelberta

Did you cross over to the left lane even though you knew there was a car, but assumed she would take the exit (but she didn't).