My car was hit by a lorry. Who is at fault here?

You'd think someone in a smaller, more vulnerable vehicle, would have the decency not to drive up the blind side of a lorry.

so why wider at the junction, it not for it to become two lanes?

Give other road users space. Large vehicles may need more than the allocated lane markings. Other road users may be unsure of what they're doing, or being plain daft, but if you give space, you've got more chance to respond and correct what's going on safely. You can't change other road user's behaviour, but you can change yours.

A few months ago I was at slip roads/ roundabout that were quiet other than a truck. There was something about his positioning that rang alarm bells that he wasn't confident about where he was going, so I hung well back, and just as well as he ended up in every lane before U-turning back in the direction he came from. It wasn't good driving on his part, but it was incident free because there were no other road users in the way.

No one is a perfect driver, but space turns errors into non-events. Reflecting on incidents and adapting your driving style to avoid repeats is good driving.

its a single lane. There are no road markings or signs to suggest it becomes 2 lanes. Just because the mouth of the junction is wider doesn’t mean it becomes a 2 lane road. 😡

The Highway Code is clear. “Local custom” doesn’t come into it.

I always avoid going next to a lorry where I'm in the blind spot, especially on roundabouts where they can drift over, I stick behind them, which I have been beeped at for but for me it's not worth the risk.
We've had a radio campaign I assume locally where they are telling you on motorways not to sit in the blind spot, and only overtake when you can fully overtake them.

looks like this type of lane does filter into two lanes, and therefore she didnt sneak, she assumed, with no indicating he was turning right, or at least not turning left.
a cautionary tale

The OP was daft, made a silly decision which out herself at great risk.

But I'mt the single lane/two lane issue, a simple likely scenario has been overlooked. Many single lane roads open wide at a junction so it effectivity turns into two lanes for that very short distance. Sometimes officially with road markings, sometimes by local custom. So it's pretty normal to have two vehicles side by side at a junction from a single lane road. Obviously you behave more cautiously when the other vehicle is a lorry though.

Even if he was indicating the OP wasn’t entitled to sneak up alongside him.

You would think the driver of the more lethal vehicle would have the decency to signal

All lorries should, given their propensity to kill

Thanks for posting this. It's a really great illustration of the problem and worth a watch by anyone driving or cycling on the streets. Heck, pedestrians too.

OP I agree with the majority that you were at fault but I'm really pleased you and DC are Ok. No need to put the boot in folks, we all make mistakes and I don't reckon OP will do that again. Even better some others may learn from this thread and become safer drivers too.

It was a single lane. op has already confirned and shared a picture of the junction.

How?

You're very lucky.

Honestly, I know everyone makes mistakes but it was a pretty idiotic thing to do. To drive up behind a lorry at a junction on a single lane, notice it wasn’t indicating which way it was going to go only to squeeze alongside it in the hopes it was actually turning right and then be shocked that it hit you as was turning left. Even if the lorry had turned right you would still likely have been hit due to space a lorry needs. I might understand a little more if it was a dual lane but it just wasn’t.

a very hard lesson to learn but something you hopefully won’t do again!

It’s all well and good saying the driver wasn’t indicating however it doesn’t negate the fact it was a single lane, just because you can physically get your car alongside doesn’t mean you should do so.

I actually feel sorry for the lorry driver as they had no way of knowing that someone was going to squeeze alongside them. Yes, they should have used indicators, perhaps they did but turning the wheel to position at the junction may have just caused them to click off.

you can’t control the actions of others but you can control what you do in situations and in this situation you were very wrong. Yes, you were stationary but only for mere seconds and you certainly weren’t stationary nor at the junction when the lorry pulled up to it!

Are you sure you passed at test. This is something my 7yr old would know. FFS you never assume and you never stop in a wagons blind spot, and I hate to tell you but even if he had turned right you likely would have been hit as he would have probably swung left to turn right.

The fact that he wasn't indicating in either direction should have been enough for her not to have gone where she did. She had zero reason to think he was turning right.

I suspect as it’s a single lane carriageway OP then you will be found to be at fault.

However lesson learned-don’t mess with vehicles bigger than yourself-it could hurt. You know what to do next time and that’s the important thing.

was it a single road , or multiple lanes?

if it was a single lane then a very silly move - regardless of where you think they are going , when it’s a lorry with a blind spot! I know in some single lane roads if there is a car indicating to go right , then you can go at the side where the road curves and go left - I would never drive down the side of a lorry to do this - but if a car was indicating to go right then I would . But a lorry - no way on a single road ! They cannot see you , it’s so dangerous .

On a multi lane junction - so with a lane for right and left - if the lorry was completely in the right lane because it was a big junction then obviously that’s ok but if the lorry was also in my lane then again , I wouldn’t . Even if he would be at fault , that wouldn’t be what went through my head . What would be in my head is “ I’m squeezing past a lorry that cannot see me - if I’m hit by it and killed then whoever is at fault is irrelevant, I’m dead !

You need to be so careful with lorries ! They simply cannot see you in their blind spot!

Whilst I completely agree it mostly her fault - the lorry driver should have been indicating so needs to take some responsibility. She would have never gone where she did if he had been.

It's so hard to read the vile comments on MN. Stop taking out venom on OP. She clearly made a serious mistake and will be shaken. No need put the boot in.

To the people being rude, it's disgusting and is obviously because you're upset about your own lives because NO normal, content human would behave this way to another.

It must be wonderful to have never made a mistake in your life! There are real people , including a small child, involved here.

Glad you are ok OP. A friend of mine got dragged along (in her car) by a lorry once because they couldn’t see her when they pulled in to her lane. It completely put her off driving. We all make mistakes. A car can be replaced.

Where I come from it sounds the same.