Roundabout accident - Court Proceedings

Zs1601

Hi all,

In March 2017 I had a collision with a motorcyclist while exiting a roundabout. He was in Lane 1 (exit only) and decided to continue going around, in doing so he undercut me while I was exiting the roundabout from Lane 2 (exit and straight on). Can’t seem to post image of road signs at point of collision.

The collision caused him to veer off where he hit a road sign and fractured his leg. Inevitably, he put in a PI claim against me (through his employer I’m guessing as he is a motorbike examiner for DVSA and was finishing a test at the time) and my insurer is denying liability. Other party has now begun court proceedings and I am due to meet the solicitor my insurer has appointed to defend. Current claim value is around £35k that includes the PI and uninsured losses.

Few questions which I’m hoping some of the helpful people on here can answer:
- Why is the claim directed against me and not my insurer?
- What would be the likely outcome here; Chances of an actual court hearing and would I have to attend?
- If other party isn’t pleased with outcome, can I personally be sued and have to pay out of my own pocket?

Many thanks.

molerat

1) Because you had the incident not your insurer but your insurer will indemnify you against claims.
2) Maybe, maybe not but quite possible in a PI case. Quite often a court claim is just a way of telling the other insurer they are serious and nudging for a bit more negotiating, if they are asking for £35K they will likely settle for quite a bit less out of court. It is all a bit of a game.
3) You are already being personally sued but, as above, your insurer is taking the hit. The court case will decide liability, the other party could possibly appeal the decision if not happy but your insurer will still indemnify you. The only way you would likely be held personally liable is if you went against your insurer's advice or perjured yourself.

Zs1601

Thank you for the reply. Just want this to be a least stressful process. Obviously it’s unfortunate the biker was injured but he should have been in the correct lane. What other questions should I be asking my solicitor?

forgotmyname

A DVSA examiner undertook you whilst he was in the wrong lane?

Ms_Chocaholic

If the motorcyclist was in Lane 1; I assume that lane no longer existed in terms of it going round the roundabout beyond the first junction. What lane was he then in?

Nasqueron

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

If the motorcyclist was in Lane 1; I assume that lane no longer existed in terms of it going round the roundabout beyond the first junction. What lane was he then in?

The outer lane obviously doesn't vanish in a black hole, the lane will still be present whether or not you can use it. Almost certainly the OP was on a roundabout where lane 1 traffic feeds off exit 1 and lane 2 can take that first exit or go ahead and the motorbike tried to go straight ahead into side of the OP - imagine on the picture below red car is going left not straight on and green car is the motorbike who instead cuts over

Zs1601

I would really like to post image of said roundabout and markings just prior to point of collision. Should make the situation a lot more clear. But cannot post links or images yet.

Zs1601

All in all I am not overly concerned as it is a matter between the two insurers. However I could do without the stress of court proceedings and solicitor meetings etc. as my family life isn’t all too good at the moment.

Ms_Chocaholic

Nasqueron wrote: »

The outer lane obviously doesn't vanish in a black hole, the lane will still be present whether or not you can use it. Almost certainly the OP was on a roundabout where lane 1 traffic feeds off exit 1 and lane 2 can take that first exit or go ahead and the motorbike tried to go straight ahead into side of the OP - imagine on the picture below red car is going left not straight on and green car is the motorbike who instead cuts over

But if the motorcyclist was in Lane 1 he/she would have had to have swapped lanes into Lane 2 to carry on round the roundabout - that's what I meant. Is that what happened?

Nasqueron

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

But if the motorcyclist was in Lane 1 he/she would have had to have swapped lanes into Lane 2 to carry on round the roundabout - that's what I meant. Is that what happened?

You can in theory loop the entire roundabout in lane 1 as it's physically there even if you are not allowed to continue around.

The way the OP has described it, the bike ignored a road direction to exit and cut across the OP who was also taking the same exit from the second lane. The motorbike could still be in lane 1 if they ignored the exit and continued clockwise

Norman_Castle

Zs1601 wrote: »

I would really like to post image of said roundabout and markings just prior to point of collision. Should make the situation a lot more clear. But cannot post links or images yet.

Find it on google maps and post the https with a few spaces.