Car crash on roundabout - who’s at fault?

Normally, the right hand lane approaching a roundabout is for turning right or travelling back on yourself - the left side for left and straight on. It’s likely that it will be 50/50 as Y might have acted on normal rules. Unless X can prove that Y was aware of both lanes being capable of going straight on, of course…

It sounds like car Y is at fault but equally doing 30 round a roundabout with traffic queuing doesn't give you much chance to stop when someone tries to change lanes.

Car Y. Also the car being black is no excuse.
However an insurance company might find X to be partially at fault if they were driving a bit too fast for the road conditions

morally car Y, if changing lanes you look where you are going. But insurance companies start from the point of view that roundabout crashes are 50/50.

Driver of car X told me the outcome when taking me for dealing with the insurance people…we’d swapped numbers.

Car Y - you have to give way, that’s the point! I was once a witness for the insurance in a similar situation as car Y was an aggressive cabbie screaming at the poor driver of car x.
Car Y was found at fault - and lost his licence because of the amount of points he’d racked up …

Clearly car Y. Joined a roundabout without checking both lanes.

Car Y failed to give way to traffic already on the island so is at fault.. if you can't see then you shouldn't pull out.

You are at fault, @WeGoAgainIVF , for not providing the customary diagram. Them's the rules!

X driving into a car already on the roundabout is obviously at fault though.

diagram (as per the rules)

Where’s the bloody diagram?

How big was the roundabout? I'm not sure how anyone can do 30 mph on a roundabout unless it is a big motorway one?

Car Y. To be fair to the OP they did say that they weren’t sure of the speed of car in the right hand lane.
Ive had so many near misses from scenarios like that where the car joining the round about just goes for it presuming the other car can stop (or even sees them joining from the road joining the roundabout).

I also would have slowed down, as X, and if safe to do so (given you could go straight ahead in both lanes) moved over into the other lane to let others on

Car Y is clearly at fault, as those on the roundabout have priority. Saying that, if I was Car X, seeing queuing traffic in the left hand lane, I would have slowed down approaching the entry, as 30 on a roundabout doesn't give a lot of thinking time and people are inevitably going to nose out (or worse!) if they're trying to join the non-congested lane.

30mph is pretty wild for a roundabout that has traffic on no?

I agree with this

Car Y is at fault. I have this scenario in a roundabout I use regularly and it’s always on the car joining the roundabout to make sure the right hand lane is clear as well as the left even though the cars in left lane leave a space and often gesture you can go, it’s not a guarantee the round about is clear to join.

Car Y is in the wrong here. But car X was probably going a bit quick on a roundabout with stationary traffic in the lane to their left? 30mph?

Car Y is at fault, obviously. What an asinine defence.

Unless Car X didn't have their headlights on... Car Y. You give way to traffic already on the roundabout.

(If no headlights on, car Y is justified in saying the xar wasn't visible)

Well as most roundabouts are lit anyway not sure that being dark and x driving a black car is a defence anyway

Aargh, that was supposed to say to the right of Car Y!

If I have understood the description correctly from an insurance point of view car y is at fault.

With my driving instructor hat on, I would say sure car y, but car x has seriously dropped the ball - that situation was a threat they absolutely should have been aware of and have allowed for.

Going past a stationary queue at at speed is always risky. Cars pulling through the queue without proper observation (what we have here) or people changing into the moving lane to make progress without proper observation.

Clearly Y. The car on the roundabout had priority.
The colour of the car is irrelevant- black cars are perfectly legal.