Car Accident - Who ...
 

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[Closed] Car Accident - Who is in the wrong, should I claim !!

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Ok, so driving to work this morning I was involved in an accident at a roundabout. Two lane entrance, me going straight through to 3rd exit at 12 o'clock, lady going left 9'o'clock from right hand lane. She turns into the front wheel arch / wing of my car. Damage not massive but she claims she is not in the wrong and entitled to turn left from right lane - I disagree. Who's right ?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Tesco/ @51.2402228,-0.6027298,19z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xb6a0ce2bdbfcf6a8

Entrance - yellow A3 slip road bottom right.
My intended exit - Ashenden road
Other cars exit - Egerton Road

I'm sure I'm in the right but suspect if I claim then the insurance companies will just go down the 50/50 route.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:12 am
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Was her lane a through lane,some of them are,there's one in our town and I get some savage looks when people think I've pulled out in from but I have right of way technically.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:16 am
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Well turning into a car is never anyone's right! Not sure either of you were in the best lane for where you wanted to go but you're not in the wrong so let insurance sort out.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:17 am
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She was in the right hand land but turning left? I'd say the fault was on her side.

only possible mitigation (and it's not much) would be if her sat nav was telling her to take the 2nd exit, and she didn't know that in this case that meant left. But even then she should've gone all the way around instead.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:18 am
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You are doubly in the right.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:18 am
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Nope, not a through lane.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:18 am
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Looks like two lanes lead off Egerton road, is that right? If so i'd expect two lanes to feed it and you should assume this. Always assume the worst.

I think she may be right. No road markings or road signs advising lane choice on approach as far as I can see.

I think 50/50 is the best you could hope for.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:19 am
 sbob
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Both in wrong lane.
Never go around a roundabout with someone.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:20 am
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As mudshark says, you are not entitled to turn into another car. Imagine changing lanes on the motorway and hitting another car and then saying "I was entitled to go there".

However, it can be difficult in situations like this as she can then claim you turned into her. Also, you'll have to judge if it's worth claiming as any accident, fault or not will affect your insurance premiums.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:22 am
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IMO - you are both wrong, but she's a bit more wrong!

You should have been in the right hand lane leaving the A3.
She should have been in the left had lane leaving the A3.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:24 am
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I'd be picking the right hand lane for the Ashenden Road turn off not the left, and she's an idiot for picking the right lane for the 2nd left. I wouldn't expect better than 50/50.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:26 am
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Hmmm, so she drove into your car right?

I'd say regardless of any squabbling over who's lane gives them "Rights" the whole [i]looking where you are going[/i] thing applies here...

Her car is, presumably, fitted with steering, brakes and windows for her to see out of, is she therefore claiming she could see you, had the means to avoid the collision, but drove into you because she believed had the [i]right[/i] to?

Or was she maybe, just not looking?


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:28 am
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I think muffin man sort of has it. You could be in either lane, she should have been in the left lane.

[img] [/img]

Also.

When taking the first exit to the left, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise

signal left and approach in the left-hand lane
keep to the left on the roundabout and continue signalling left to leave.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:29 am
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Sounds like you're both in the wrong place to me. 3rd exit, you should have been in the right hand lane. 2nd exit, she could probably reasonably be in either. I always thought left hand lane for first exit right hand lane for anything else unless marked otherwise.

Edit: just seen the picture above. I was wrong 😳


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:30 am
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Looks like two lanes lead off Egerton road, is that right? If so i'd expect two lanes to feed it and you should assume this. Always assume the worst.

This. I don't think you chose the best lane, but she should have only turned if she was sure you were using the same exit.

I assume you weren't indicating?


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:31 am
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Google street view does not show any road markings indicating which lane goes where. Scroll about half way down this page

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/appendix-to-the-highway-code

How on earth anyone can be in the right hand lane to turn left and think that's acceptable? She sounds like a moron.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:34 am
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Two roundabouts near me that are just normal 4 exit roundabouts, still get muppets trying to turn left from right hand lane and right from the left hand lane. The thinking seems to be 'the correct lane is the one with the shortest queue'.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:34 am
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She is an idiot, but more importantly she is wrong. Unless that's what everyone else does at that roundabout.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:36 am
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She was in the wrong lane. 50/50 which you should have been in, but my gut reaction is I'd have been in the right hand lane in your situation but a close call - 5 plus exit roundabout never feel as obvious as that picture above which is clear cut. Definitely her fault though imo.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:40 am
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I think taking the outside lane for exit two of five and expecting to carve serenely through traffic is a trifle optimistic...but looking at it, I'd tend to agree you should have taken the outside. A major roundabout with multiple two lane exits which has only two lanes itself is always going to cause these problems.

The first exit - to the Holiday Inn - doesn't help either.

It's a typical pushy trick to fly down the outside on the slip road and assume you'll be able to pick up where you left off on the outside of the exit.

It will go 50/50 though.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:41 am
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Spence is correct.

On a roundabout with multiple entries and exits and unless the road markings stipulate otherwise, the right hand Lane should only be used for exits which are nominally to the right IE, beyond 12:00.

The left should be used for the primary exit and up to 12:00 unless there are more than two inputs to the roundabout, in which case the left is primarily used only for the first exit.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:41 am
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So yes, Egerton Rd, is a two lane exit, and I wasn't indicating.

I agree that it will likely be 50/50 due to insurance company apathy and no independent witnesses. I could have been in either lane, and perhaps the right would have been more sensible, but I still don't think I was at fault. In fact looking at the appendix to the highcode there is a roundabout with the exact same layout and clearly I can be in the left lane.

[img] [/img]

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/appendix-to-the-highway-code <


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:41 am
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Two roundabouts near me that are just normal 4 exit roundabouts, still get muppets trying to turn left from right hand lane and right from the left hand lane. The thinking seems to be 'the correct lane is the one with the shortest queue'.

You can do this, you just drive all the way around the roundabout 😉


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:42 am
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From experience of someone who had something very similar happen to me on a roundabout, a) I hope you got photos at the time b) it seems to be irrelevant of whos fault it is - the first to claim wins...

I had a minor bump with someone on a roundabout - they were in the wrong lane to go straight on and should have left the roundabout and effectively changed lanes in to the side of me squashing their wing mirror off and denting their wing and scraping all the way along the side of my car. At the side of the road the damage look so minimal that we both shrugged and said "it'll buff out". Fast forward 18 month:- Claim for a written off car, whiplash etc, 8 weeks off work and 12 month of 'flashbacks' and physiological trauma to the tune of £30k+. Fortunately I had photos of the damage so that went from write off to £600 but the total claim was still £10k against me.

Insurance company wouldn't fight it as it wasn't worth the trouble so it was a fault claim against me.

Basically told me the first to claim wins unless its clear cut against.

C****


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:42 am
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I agree that it will likely be 50/50 due to insurance company apathy and no independent witnesses. I could have been in either lane, and perhaps the right would have been more sensible, but I still don't think I was at fault. In fact looking at the appendix to the highcode there is a roundabout with the exact same layout and clearly I can be in the left lane.

That diagram which I referred you to also shows that you should not have been indicating when the collision occurred. In my opinion, in the eyes of the Highway Code you behaved appropriately and are not to blame.

However could you have anticipated it?


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:44 am
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Also I would make sure you supply your insurance company with a detailed description of the incident with photos and sat images from google earth with appropriate notations of the direction of travel of veichles etc and showing the current road markings etc.

My insurance company / solicitors couldn't even get which roundabout it was right...


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:47 am
 hora
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Both in wrong lane.
Never go around a roundabout with someone.

+1

Were you indicating right until you approached your turn off?

Sometimes I come across this (three lane entry) but in reality its a two lane roundabout so you get someone coming in the inside flooring it then attempting to cut across you to come off.

As such I always avoid Trafford Park.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:51 am
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no way can she turn left from that lane and she certainly cannot do it into a car and then blame you

IMHO you are not in the best lane either but still 100% her fault


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:51 am
 br
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IME diagrams in the Highway Code are little help when faced with more complicated roundabouts/roads layouts.

At the end of the day, you BOTH had an accident and irrelevant of who is at MOST to blame - you are BOTH still to blame.

Insurance-wise, it'll be 50/50 at best.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:53 am
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Insurance-wise, it'll be 50/50 at best.

This is incorrect. I'll be 50/50 at worst.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:54 am
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IMHO you are not in the best lane either

According to the Highway Code she is


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:55 am
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Surely 50/50 at worst.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:56 am
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Being honest, looking at the highway code, I'm actually in the recommended lane. She isn't. I should really win but I know that I won't, which sort of irks me.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:58 am
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50/50 will be the outcome. I speak from experience of someone doing a similar thing to me on a roundabout and annoying as it was, I had to accept it. I was pretty much told that unless you had a massively overwhelming case of it not being your fault then that's the usual result. I even pursued my case legally and didn't get anywhere so I wouldn't advise doing similar.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 10:59 am
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If your exit was 12 o clock, then you were in the correct lane, she wasn't,

Stick to your guns as the Highway Code is definitley on your side on this one.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:07 am
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dougieb - Member

I agree that it will likely be 50/50 due to insurance company apathy and no independent witnesses.

Until she magically produces one out of thin air, I'm constantly surprised how dishonest some people can be 🙁


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:08 am
 br
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[i]Surely 50/50 at worst. [/i]

Nope, read one_happy_hippie's post plus my Missus had an equivalent one.

With 50/50 if you've no damage to your vehicle (or don't want to claim) then while you have an accident against you there is no claim against you (and no loss of excess).


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:11 am
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According to the Highway Code she is

what you turn left to exit a roundabout from the right lane 😕

News to me can you highlight the highway code on this please

OP I retract due to picture, your lane choice is fine


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:12 am
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She's in the wrong. Turning left from the right hand lane is plain stupid. As such, straight on from the LH lane is fine.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:18 am
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I had the opposite a couple of weeks ago. Car in left lane going off right (3 o'clock), me in right going straight on (12 o'clock). They biffed me and it'll probably go 50/50 due to no witnesses. Bollocks.

At least if you have protected NCB and minimal excess the cost is minor.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:24 am
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Happened to me last Thursday. Local very busy roundabout, that has a multitude of traffic lights on it. When it's busy there can still be trafic moving on it even though it's on green. I'd passed the red light and got stuck, when the queue moved off I went, joining the outside lane of a dual carriage way, someone joining the roundabout tried to go straight over and clipped the side of me.
He admitted fault and has paid for the repair (£490).
The amount of people that have told me to put a whiplash claim in is shocking tbh! It's a scrape ffs!


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:27 am
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Assume you've never driven (or seen a satellite view) of that road. Look at the road sign on street view. What does it tell you about how to approach the roundabout? Assume a left turn for the other driver's exit and a (slightly wonky) straight on for the OP's exit.

You must be in the left lane to turn left, she wasn't. You must be in the left lane to go straight on, the OP was.

Ipso, fatso.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:44 am
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According to the Highway Code she is

what you turn left to exit a roundabout from the right lane

News to me can you highlight the highway code on this please

Junkyard please reread my posts, you have misunderstood what I have said, especially the bit where I said

How on earth anyone can be in the right hand lane to turn left and think that's acceptable? She sounds like a moron.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:47 am
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Only an imbecile would be in the right hand lane to turn left.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 11:53 am
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IMHO you are not in the best lane either

According to the Highway Code she is

I assumed you meant the other car driver as dougie is not a girls name

IS the OP a girl?
FWIW i agree I was wrong on that comment anyway but the only mentioned female is the one who turned left from the right lane


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:01 pm
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She sounds like a complete tool with no grasp of common sense nor road positioning. If she thinks you can turn left from the right hand lane then I'd hate to be cycling along that road when she's on it.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:05 pm
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If theres no witnesses it'll usually be 50/50 and a fault claim on you file.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:10 pm
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If she thinks you can turn left from the right hand lane then I'd hate to be cycling along that road when she's on it.

Look out, here she comes!

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:12 pm
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In the face of the doomladen 50/50 naysayers, I'll re-iterate: Look at the [u]road sign[/u] positioned on the approach, and look at how that's telling you to approach the roundabout.

OP's exit is straight on, other driver's is a left.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:20 pm
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http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/driver-asda-ashington-carpark-crash-8313668

A local elderly driver, i like the

“I was parking-up in the disabled bay, I have an automatic, and I thought I’d put it into park.

“I took my foot off the break and the car shot forward. Instead of going through the window of the store, I swerved so we hit a bollard".


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:26 pm
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[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/roundabouts-and-idiots ]ask here, they always give sound advice[/url]


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:32 pm
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Insurance companies like simplicity. If you stayed in your lane and she made a lane change causing the collision, she is at fault.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:35 pm
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I've used that same junction twice this year (coming from the A3 as you did) as was taking the 2nd left towards the hospital as your crashee was. I used the left hand lane on the roundabout to perform this manoeuvre both times 🙂


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 12:44 pm
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even if you chose not to claim did you not get her to admit liability at the scene?


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 1:07 pm
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Had a similar incident earlier this year wide single carriageway entrance into the roundabout which had essentially two exits - Left & straight ahead. I was positioned slightly to the left of the entrance to the roundabout intending to go straight ahead. Got hit on the rear offside arch of my car by the guy behind me.

He said I was in the wrong as he thought I was turning left (I wasn't indicating to turn) and wasnt expecting me to carry on round the roundabout and it was my fault as I "changed" lanes - On a single carriage way roundabout!

Long and short of it was after much chasing my me to get my insurance company to get his to accept liability as he had hit me from behind. No Witnesses etc so ended up 50/50.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 1:09 pm
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surely her only viable train of thinking can be when she sees people coming from her and your right hand side - in that lane, and turning into that left lane - so their equivalent 12 o clock.

but that's giving her a massive helping hand in thinking.

You're right she's wrong.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 1:18 pm
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To re-iterate - I'd claim before she does as its going to end up in a claim one way or another...


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 2:02 pm
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Claim made, was fairly straight forward and easier the expected. The lady didn't admit liability - her defense was that as the exit that she was making had 2 lanes she could make her maneuver from the right lane!

Claim is going to Admirals liability department and I'm not holding out for anything other than 50/50.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 2:18 pm
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Don't think there is a road sign indicating positioning - I'll check when I next drive to work


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 2:20 pm
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[i]I'll re-iterate: Look at the road sign positioned on the approach, and look at how that's telling you to approach the roundabout.

OP's exit is straight on, other driver's is a left.[/i]

To be fair, the OP's exit (signed 'superstore') is slightly right, not straight on.

No doubt about hers though. She's in the wrong lane, and turned into you.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 3:00 pm
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Disagree with a few on here.

How I was taught - anything beyond '12 o'clock is righthand lane. Anything before is lefthand lane unless stated by road markings.

You are right, she is wrong and that's before the fact she should have been paying due care and attention and been prepared to yield to the inside lane.

50/50 is the worst case in this situation but good luck.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 3:44 pm
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OP could have been in either lane for that exit, because anyone in the right hand lane is turning right and the OP's exit is slightly right so worst case scenario they are using the same exit which is fine


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 3:52 pm
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What were the relative speeds of the vehicles, OP? Were you overtaking on the inside?


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 3:59 pm
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I had similar once, in r/h lane to go straight on (as per road markings) and had someone broadside me as she used the left lane to turn right! Turned out she was a German student and had just arrived in the UK that morning and admitted she had no clue how our roundabouts worked.

The next day I got a call from her saying she had advice and it was my fault as I shouldn't have been in that lane.

So I took photos of the road signs/markings and had the local traffic officer write a letter stating I was driving correctly.

I 'won' that one 🙂


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 4:19 pm
 joat
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This is why you should boot it off the line every time!


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 5:04 pm
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Doesnt really matter who was in the right, without witness it's one person word against another so 50/50.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 5:22 pm
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She is an idiot, but more importantly she is wrong. Unless that's what everyone else does at that roundabout.

And it is! Rightly or wrongly, the vast majority of rush hour traffic leaving the A3 turns left up Egerton Rd towards the hospital/business park, from both lanes of the slip road. If the OP makes this journey every day he would be well aware of this. To get to Tescos (straight on) safely you need to be in the right hand lane approaching the roundabout.


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 5:49 pm
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Was anyone using indicators?


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 5:51 pm
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I'd have used the Right hand lane for the 3rd exit.

Just had a look on Streetview, and the 3rd exit is Signposted " superstore " and on the sign is not at 12 o clock, more of a 1 o clock.

She's in the wrong totally and I would fight it tooth and nail. Who turns left from a right lane ?!?!?!?!?


 
Posted : 19/12/2014 6:18 pm

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