Who was wrong in these driving situations?

[Plet]

This has been inspired by another thread and I'm wondering how other people would view these driving situations. Obviously I didn't think I was at fault at the time (and there was no accident as everyone managed to stop or avoid) but if there had been, who would have been at fault?

At a junction, I am leaving a side street turning left and joining a main road. The opposite lane of the main road often has a long queue of traffic (the lane I'd be joining if I wanted to turn right). The traffic on the main road is mostly turning left at the lights at the bottom so drivers in the queue who want to turn right at the bottom become impatient. I often pull out to turn left and then find that a stationary driver has either pulled out into the wrong side of the road as me at the same time or just after me. I don't pull out if I see that a car is already doing it. I had always thought that I would not be at fault as the road is clear and somebody then starts driving straight towards me, but now I'm not sure as I read on another thread that traffic joining will be considered at fault.

At a mini roundabout (the kind where three cars get there at the same time and nobody knows who will move :D). I am waiting to go what looks like straight over, with another road to my left. The car to my right doesn't pull out when a car on my left does, essentially creating a block for me to go. The car to my left isn't indicating right, but is in the left lane and looks as though it is turning left when it pulls out. I find it odd that the car on the right hasn't pulled out if the one to their right is coming off the mini roundabout, but I see an opportunity and go. It turns out that the car to my left isn't turning left at all but is swerving left to make a big enough circle to go all the way around the mini roundabout back onto the road they came from (even though they weren't indicating right) so I have to stop halfway in the road as it turns in front of me. At this point, I am essentially on the mini roundabout and blocking it because I've stopped, so I start moving again as soon as the car has stopped passed me. The car to my right has also pulled onto the mini roundabout as soon as the car went past it (even though I'm obviously stuck there) and is beeping at me and swearing as though I've pulled out when it's his right of way. I was already on the roundabout so I think it is my right of way at that point as I'm already on it.

Lastly, there is an awful junction near me where you can't turn left or right without hoping that no traffic is coming. I am coming from a side street onto a main road. The junction goes up a steep little hill and the road I'm joining is higher. It also gently curves away from the junction, with parked cars down each side of the road. The junction is very wide and it is impossible to see whether anything is coming from the left or the right without basically pulling out so far that you're blocking the entire lane. I've just seen other posters stating that if it's not safe to pull out of a junction and turn right, they would turn left and turn around when it's safe. What are you supposed to do if neither is perfectly safe and visible? It's not really possible to reverse back and find another road if there is traffic behind you. Is it a case of just doing it and knowing that you'll be at fault if you do have a crash?

I've tried my best to explain!

A. Traffic joining a main road gives way to all traffic on main road.

B. traffic joining a mini roundabout gives way to traffic on that roundabout. Incorrect indicators don’t change that.

C. If it’s a T junction and a crash happens at said junction, then the car turning left is likely responsible unless they can evidence awfull driving on the part of the other driver. If the crash happens away from the junction, then it’s 50/50 again, unless 1 driver can prove they were stationary or the other driver was driving dangerously.

I'm agreeing with @Bard6817 because they're right. It may not be entirely pertinent to your post but without visuals you lost me at the first paragraph.

I tried to read this, but it really really nèds a diagram.

A) If the queue of traffic waiting to turn right isn't moving, you still need to be aware of drivers looking to jump the queue by using the nearside lane, so approach with caution and technically it would be your fault if a road user moves into that lane while they're already on the road when you join it.

B) The mini roundabout situation sounds annoying but you're basically supposed to wait for any traffic coming from the right, even if they look like they aren't coming out. Just wait for them. So you'd be in the wrong in that situation.

C) That sounds rubbish! Write to the council? Alternatively, just really apply sensitive careful observation like listening with the window open.

Re: Your answer to C.

Best driving answer i’ve read on mumsnet. Many people don’t think of listening. Alas with EV’s it’s less helpfull and you can’t guarantee against a cyclist either, buts definately more information.

Thanks everyone, I hadn't even noticed that I'd had any replies to this. I'm sorry, I don't know how to do diagrams.

A) So what would happen in practice to avoid this? I would always look right, then left, then right again, since I'm turning left and traffic should technically be coming from my right. I can't always pinpoint the exact moment that another car has pulled out and who started moving first and I don't know what can realistically be done if another car tries to drive on the wrong side of the road during the very short period of time it takes for me to start moving. They're not overtaking, they drive on the wrong side of the road for quite some time and hope that nobody ends up driving towards them in the meantime.

B) So I was in the right then? Is there any way to predict that somebody is actually going to go all the way around a mini roundabout? Whether or not I should have pulled out, I had already pulled out onto the roundabout and then stopped when I realised what was happening. So the driver to my right shouldn't have started driving towards me and beeping as at that point, it was my right of way as a vehicle already on the mini roundabout.

C) Yes, it is an awful road and i mostly just avoid it. I usually just pull forward very cautiously but I'm aware that the only way I can see is to be in a position where I'm blocking the road. It's been this way for years. I think the only thing which would help is to paint double yellow lines to stop the parked cars and improve visibility, since you can't change the topography, but the houses there can't have very steep gardens with no possibility of a driveway and I suppose that's where they have to park. Contacting the council is a good idea.