well, if that is the case, he's being a bit silly but proving it could be difficult. how long does lane 3 go before it merges with lane 2?
accident - who is in the wrong here?
- Thread starter Robdav
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well, if that is the case, he's being a bit silly but proving it could be difficult. how long does lane 3 go before it merges with lane 2?
L3 is marked A325 which is back around the roundabout. Whilst it does have a straight on and turn right marking, these could denote the straight on to A325 and turn right around roundabout (to A331(S) or full loop).
The lanes for A331(N) and L1 and L2. The filter part of L3 is probably more for large traffic buildups when busy as it is a light controlled roundabout and to provide a safe run in for those from right around who are in the wrong lane.
Personally whilst probably not what you want to hear, you wife was not in a lane marked for the A331 (which 4 of the 5 are 2 North and 2 South) and could be construed to be in the wrong lane.
Insurance will probably find against you unless you can get the TP1 driver to admit causing the accident.
The lanes for A331(N) and L1 and L2. The filter part of L3 is probably more for large traffic buildups when busy as it is a light controlled roundabout and to provide a safe run in for those from right around who are in the wrong lane.
Personally whilst probably not what you want to hear, you wife was not in a lane marked for the A331 (which 4 of the 5 are 2 North and 2 South) and could be construed to be in the wrong lane.
Insurance will probably find against you unless you can get the TP1 driver to admit causing the accident.
because it assumingly happened behind him and he didn't want to do what OPs wife did ? sounds like he returned as soon as possible
i don't see how he can ever be held responsible without some solid witnesses either.
If they made eye contact then TP1's actions lead onto the incident which TP1 was quite clearly aware of, we know this because he came back to make a statement as a witness
I think TP1 was being the tool here. It doesn't matter if the Mrs steered into a curb to avoid a collision, fight or flight situations are unpredictable but if she wa sin lane 3 where you can go straight or right and she was indicating to make that exit then I can't see it being her fault at all.
that being said, she wasn't in the wrong.
If the lane says you can do it, you can do it. Regardless of the fact that other drivers aren't confident/cheeky enough to use it.
L3 does have a335 marked on it, however it is a usable lane to carry on straight, as the road markings on the exit clearly show that the exit is 3 lanes, changing down to 2. The exit before the one in question only has one lane to carry on to the a331, and the others lead around the roundabout. This would mean the intention of the exit is for traffic to flow in 3 lanes following the a331
If the 3rd lane is marked as exit or carry on around (which according to the arrows on the road it is) then no need to excuse using it to exit.
If the TP1 crossed the marked lines between lane 2 and 3, cutting your wife up then he's in the fault; although it may have been better to slam on the brakes rather than swerve. Instinct probably made her want to move away from the danger instead.
I see this very often on a roundabout I use everyday and nearly always it's the driver in lane 2 who spots someone going for the overtake and speeds up, but in this case it seems he also moved over to lane 3 to make his point.
If the TP1 crossed the marked lines between lane 2 and 3, cutting your wife up then he's in the fault; although it may have been better to slam on the brakes rather than swerve. Instinct probably made her want to move away from the danger instead.
I see this very often on a roundabout I use everyday and nearly always it's the driver in lane 2 who spots someone going for the overtake and speeds up, but in this case it seems he also moved over to lane 3 to make his point.
So she tried to overtake and then merge in turn, saw there was a blue astra in the way and in an attempt to avoid a collision with the blue astra she crashed the car in to the curb, that about sum it up?
Blue Astra continued up the road (presumeably a dual carriageway) and when safe to turn around returned to the scene.
IF the driver had moved into lane 3 and your wife crashed into a kerb to avoid hitting him, he was clearly driving aggressively but he became a witness and not a party to the crash by his actions later, and it is going to prove difficult to prove his involvement. It is a similar case to putting your car thru a hedge to avoid a dog/cat/rabbit/pheasant. The dog/cat/rabbit/pheasant is fine and your car is smashed, better to hit the animal and take your chances really. (same as the old survival instinct Imy is talking about)
I would think without some footage on the accident from traffic cameras, or a positive witness, you (your wife) are gonna have to chalk this one up to experience and take the rap.
Blue Astra continued up the road (presumeably a dual carriageway) and when safe to turn around returned to the scene.
IF the driver had moved into lane 3 and your wife crashed into a kerb to avoid hitting him, he was clearly driving aggressively but he became a witness and not a party to the crash by his actions later, and it is going to prove difficult to prove his involvement. It is a similar case to putting your car thru a hedge to avoid a dog/cat/rabbit/pheasant. The dog/cat/rabbit/pheasant is fine and your car is smashed, better to hit the animal and take your chances really. (same as the old survival instinct Imy is talking about)
I would think without some footage on the accident from traffic cameras, or a positive witness, you (your wife) are gonna have to chalk this one up to experience and take the rap.
If this all happened before lane 3 ends, i.e. the Blue Astra crossed the dashed line, into her path (and he does she was exiting the roundabout, not a hundred yards down the road where the lane ends), then of course it's the blue astra's 'fault'.. and I agree with everyone else, proving it is likely to be difficult...
From your opinion on it, she would have to be the 200 yards or so off the roundabout where the lane ends and she effectively went into him.. I don't get that from the description..
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I can't work out where the blue astra was from the description, beside, infront, slightly behind, who can tell..
I am sorry but unless I see the accident, I only have a 3rd hand chinese whisper... the person in the lane that is coming to an end has ultimate responsibility for making a safe maneuver and awareness of those cars around them, although it does sound like the blue astra driver might possibly have had ***** size issues
and been driving accordingly.For all I know the op's car could have been behind him at the roundabout approach, changed lane to overtake during the roundabout and been caught short on the exit...
There are so many permutations of events leading up to the crash that it would be difficult to apportion blame from what we have. I am gonna go 100% with the insurance company saying wife of OP at fault.
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I can't work out where the blue astra was from the description, beside, infront, slightly behind, who can tell..
I am sorry but unless I see the accident, I only have a 3rd hand chinese whisper... the person in the lane that is coming to an end has ultimate responsibility for making a safe maneuver and awareness of those cars around them, although it does sound like the blue astra driver might possibly have had ***** size issues
For all I know the op's car could have been behind him at the roundabout approach, changed lane to overtake during the roundabout and been caught short on the exit...
There are so many permutations of events leading up to the crash that it would be difficult to apportion blame from what we have. I am gonna go 100% with the insurance company saying wife of OP at fault.
However, the person in lane 2 also has a responsibility to not move into lane 3 before it ends, which from the sounds of things he did.
Even if the OP's car was behind him and changed lanes, that is still allowed as the lanes on that roundabout allow for that. You also don't physically need to hit anything to be involved in/cause a collision (though it sounds like the blue astra did what what was safe and left as he couldn't reverse on the roundabout, then came back ASAP), he may have initially thought he was only a witness purely because he didn't hit anything. The hard part is going to be finding witnesses to say that he did what the OP claims he did.
Looking at the map, it seems the only way TP1 would have deliberately moved across to cut off lady in the third lane would be if he was a maniac. I can't see a maniac returning to the scene to help with inquiries - unless he returned to see what juicy carnage he had caused.
Oh the amount of times I have physically screamed whilst travelling as a passenger driven by a woman changing lanes.
Oh the amount of times I have physically screamed whilst travelling as a passenger driven by a woman changing lanes.
Soldato
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I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest your wife is ultimately responsible for the accident.
Without doubt TP1 is a twonk and is probably guilty of careless or inconsiderate driving, but it seems to me from your description that it is her misjudgements have caused an accident of the scale that has occurred.
This is just off a roundabout, so the speeds can't have been particularly high. She's tried to overtake down the outside on a lane that is about to end. TP1 has tried to prevent her overtaking - now that's not right, but it happens. As soon as it became apparent TP1 was going to make life difficult, she could and should have backed out of it - standing on the brakes if necessary. Neither party has chosen to yield, and it for your wife to ensure she moves over safely to lane 2 in good time. She has then overreacted (because instead of swerving, she could have just stopped), thrown the car at the kerb and caused a big accident.
I'm sure she didn't mean that any more than TP1 meant to just keep her behind him.
Without doubt TP1 is a twonk and is probably guilty of careless or inconsiderate driving, but it seems to me from your description that it is her misjudgements have caused an accident of the scale that has occurred.
This is just off a roundabout, so the speeds can't have been particularly high. She's tried to overtake down the outside on a lane that is about to end. TP1 has tried to prevent her overtaking - now that's not right, but it happens. As soon as it became apparent TP1 was going to make life difficult, she could and should have backed out of it - standing on the brakes if necessary. Neither party has chosen to yield, and it for your wife to ensure she moves over safely to lane 2 in good time. She has then overreacted (because instead of swerving, she could have just stopped), thrown the car at the kerb and caused a big accident.
I'm sure she didn't mean that any more than TP1 meant to just keep her behind him.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
[TW]Fox;20254889 said:This is never going anyway but against you, he made no contact with you, his car is not damaged and there is no evidence he was involved beyond being a witness
Fox is right I'm afraid; regardless of actual fault, you are never going to win this. Your missus has lost control and hit someone else. It's a shame it wasn't tp1 she hit because he is now only a witness to the collision.
So TP1 forced his way into lane 3, which was being merged with the lane he was already in not 100 yards down the road.
I hope you are able to pin everything on them, because fools like that don't deserve to be behind the wheel.
I hope you are able to pin everything on them, because fools like that don't deserve to be behind the wheel.
Fox is right like I said earlier, if the choice is crash alone or hit another guy, always hit the other guy..
These days at a merge in turn many people move into the straddle position and anyone hurtling up the outside is gonna come a cropper, if she had hit him in lane 3 he would have been toast, as it is, he is scot free sadly.
These days at a merge in turn many people move into the straddle position and anyone hurtling up the outside is gonna come a cropper, if she had hit him in lane 3 he would have been toast, as it is, he is scot free sadly.