Car accident - was it my fault?

laurencecockayne

iammumtoone wrote: »

(OP whatever you do you are wrong on here)

Its starting to feel that way!

I was not overtaking this lady, some people seem to be implying that i am trying to. I was alongside her, a position i am completely entitled to be in. I was not moving faster than her.

The positioning of both our our vehicles indicates that both cars should have exited the roundabout, with her taking the left hand lane of the DC and myself taking the right hand lane of the DC. This is, with no shadow of a doubt, the event that should have occurred.

You can't sit in the outside lane of a 2 lane roundabout and just drive across the front of all the exits to the roundabout. Which is what she did.

The only reason i believe it may end up being a 50/50 is on the technicality that i entered her lane, but her positioning indicated that she was going to be leaving the roundabout with me alongside her. She then carried on round and cut across the exit of the roundabout. Yes she didn't cut across any lanes. But she DID cut across the front of the exit when i was alongside her. She was not in front of me. She should not have done this, this is completely wrong in the eyes of anyone with any sense on the matter. The damage to my car in on my side.

Anyway, i've said all i need to say. Thank you to the helpful responders for your comments, i'll update you when its all done and dusted!

Marvel1

From the answers I'm getting is never bother with the inside lane, stick to the outside and go all the way around.

RavingMad

Do road markings not have any bearing on insurance decisions? She was, according to the markings, in the wrong lane for going right, let alone doing a u-turn.

I accept that people use the wrong lane to gain an advantage over fellow drivers i.e. using the right lane to turn left but why should the person doing the right thing take partial blame?

If OP had a dashcam, would it make any difference?

Car_54

RavingMad wrote: »

Do road markings not have any bearing on insurance decisions? She was, according to the markings, in the wrong lane for going right, let alone doing a u-turn.

I accept that people use the wrong lane to gain an advantage over fellow drivers i.e. using the right lane to turn left but why should the person doing the right thing take partial blame?

If OP had a dashcam, would it make any difference?

There seems to be no dispute that the 3rd party was in the wrong lane. Vehicles are often in the wrong lane. That, however, does not give other drivers carte blanche to collide with them.

Road markings should indeed have a bearing, including lane dividers. The OP crossed one into the path of another vehicle.

He assumed that the 3rd party was about to exit - relying on assumptions is niaive and dangerous.

Sicard

It is clearly her fault. I've been driving for 45 years and have experienced this type of idiot driver very occasionally. She should have been behind you in your lane all the way round. It clearly states to exit right at the roundabout you should be in the right-hand lane on entering the roundabout. At worst she should have entered the exit in the left-hand lane but not only was she in the incorrect lane all the way round but also chose to enter the incorrect lane on exiting which should have been the left-hand lane.

DoaM

laurencecockayne wrote: »

Yes she didn't cut across any lanes. But she DID cut across the front of the exit when i was alongside her. She was not in front of me. She should not have done this, this is completely wrong in the eyes of anyone with any sense on the matter. The damage to my car in on my side.

Eh? How? If the other car was on your left, how did the damage happen to the right hand side (even front-right) of your car? I can't envisage any scenario where that could happen (based on your description of events).

neilmcl

laurencecockayne wrote: »

Its starting to feel that way!

I was not overtaking this lady, some people seem to be implying that i am trying to. I was alongside her, a position i am completely entitled to be in. I was not moving faster than her.

The positioning of both our our vehicles indicates that both cars should have exited the roundabout, with her taking the left hand lane of the DC and myself taking the right hand lane of the DC. This is, with no shadow of a doubt, the event that should have occurred.

You can't sit in the outside lane of a 2 lane roundabout and just drive across the front of all the exits to the roundabout. Which is what she did.

The only reason i believe it may end up being a 50/50 is on the technicality that i entered her lane, but her positioning indicated that she was going to be leaving the roundabout with me alongside her. She then carried on round and cut across the exit of the roundabout. Yes she didn't cut across any lanes. But she DID cut across the front of the exit when i was alongside her. She was not in front of me. She should not have done this, this is completely wrong in the eyes of anyone with any sense on the matter. The damage to my car in on my side.

Anyway, i've said all i need to say. Thank you to the helpful responders for your comments, i'll update you when its all done and dusted!

So now you agree that you entered/crossed onto the side of the roundabout where she was positioned in order to exit, being fully aware that she was there. So where you state that she crossed into your path is simply not true.

I didnt enter her lane at all.

So she cut across my lane.

neilmcl

RavingMad wrote: »

Do road markings not have any bearing on insurance decisions? She was, according to the markings, in the wrong lane for going right, let alone doing a u-turn.

I accept that people use the wrong lane to gain an advantage over fellow drivers i.e. using the right lane to turn left but why should the person doing the right thing take partial blame?

If OP had a dashcam, would it make any difference?

Yes the other driver was positioned incorrectly but a large part of liability is about whether an accident can reasonably be prevented, and it seems in this instance as the OP was aware the car was there, it sounds like it could have been.

I've had the same happen to me on a number of times on a certain roundabout but every time I've been in that position I was aware what was happening and apart from being able to show my displeasure, nothing happened.

almillar

The lady has disobeyed the general rules of a roundabout, and the specific ones for the roundabout in question, via the road markings. She was supposed to go straight on or left, and she has continued on to right, and possibly tried to go beyond, and hit/was hit by OP, who did everything correctly lane wise.
OP - I put the blame squarely with the lady, but I don't know the insurance answer so I won't give one, but you can help yourself in future by not syncronised driving beside someone you know to be trouble. You went the whole way round, right beside this person, and you were clearly observant enough to see them do what they were doing. When you see someone like this, get away from them! Slow down, or speed up, were both options for you whilst going round the roundabout. And when you saw that she was going to continue round the roundabout, or at least was stealing your lane, you COULD have avoided it, by continuing round the roundabout, instead of crossing her to take your exit. Hopefully this will help for next time...

Car_54

almillar wrote: »

She was supposed to go straight on or left, and she has continued on to right, and possibly tried to go beyond, and hit/was hit by OP, who did everything correctly lane wise.

He didn't. Highway Code 133:"If you need to change lane, first use your mirrors and if necessary take a quick sideways glance to make sure you will not force another road user to change course or speed. When it is safe to do so, signal to indicate your intentions to other road users and when clear, move over."

Also HC 187 (Roundabouts): "In all cases watch out for and give plenty of room to ... traffic which may be ... positioned incorrectly"