Who was at fault?

-westy-

-westy-

-westy-

Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2002
Posts
12,615
Location
Snorbans, UK
Hi,

So I witnessed an accident on Monday on my way home; this was on a normal A road, with flowing traffic in both directions. The accident happened as follows:

  1. A Mercedes pulled up to a junction on a side road, and crossed the Give Way lines
  2. A Nissan Primera, upon seeing this car, has to perform an emergency stop - swerving to avoid the Mercedes would have put him into oncoming traffic.
  3. A Fiat 500 then hit the back of the Primera

This resulted in this situation, excuse the epic paint skillz:

PBtXr7i.png


Now, of course the person responsible for the impact is the driver of the Fiat 500, as she must have been following too closely to be able to stop in time. However, what part does the driver of the Mercedes play, if any, as he was partly responsible for the accident?

I've been asked to fill out a witness statement; I know who I think is responsible, however I'd be interested to hear people's opinions.
 
It should be noted that the Mercedes wasn't just stopped there when the Primera came on the scene; it pulled up to the junction as the Primera approached, so it was a simultaneous action of sorts.
 
ubersonic said:
Legally speaking the 500, morally the Merc. Out of interest did you see if the 500 was following too close?
Click to expand...

I didn't, no. It was only a low speed impact - when I stopped to give my details the 500 had a cracked number plate plinth and the lower grill was cracked and pushed in due to the tow bar plate on the Primera.
 
ubersonic said:
Legally speaking the 500, morally the Merc. Out of interest did you see if the 500 was following too close?




Are you sure about this? just asking as its quite probable that the 500 driver saw the Nissan braking while approaching a junction and didn't realise it was an emergency stop until it was too late (this type of situation catches out a surprising amount of drivers).
Click to expand...

The way I phrased it was an assumption, as to be sure I'd need to work out braking distances etc. The same assumption that an insurance company would make. The 500 was too close to stop in time, regardless of how the person in front applied the brakes.
 
Bear said:
That in no way is the same though is it ? The fiat was in a totally preventable accident if they didnt ride too close to the Nissans backside. The Nissan would have been put in an unpreventable situation as someone would have pulled out right in front of them. :confused:
Click to expand...

Well if you consider that the Primera was performing an emergency stop but was caught short by hitting the Merc, then the distance available for the Fiat to stop was reduced - this could be considered critical to the possibility of the 500 hitting the Primera.
 
Showboat said:
Did the merc even stop?
Typical of many who drive them, half pull out of a junction.. cause traffic to stop and let them out rather than waiting 10seconds..... I'd imagine someone like that who wasn't directly impacted would simply drive on.....

Flame away!!
Click to expand...

Yep, the Merc stopped, so consider your stereotype debunked :p
 
PobodY said:
I didn't think that was part of the witness statement; aren't you just supposed to give them the facts and let the police (or insurance) decide who's at fault?
Click to expand...

Westyfield2 said:
This.

I guess a witness statement is just writing the facts though, and insurance/plod decide the blame?
Click to expand...

I was instructed by Tesco Insurance to write down that I a) witnessed the accident, and b) who I thought was to blame.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom