I've just hit someone with my car. He's ok, but was I at fault?

[LimeLeaf]

Just to say first that I was going less than 5mph and he walked away relatively(?) unhurt but I'm very upset about it and wondering if I was at fault.

I was at the bottom of a road which is very steep, at the junction where it meets a very busy main road. I was turning left onto the main road and looking right for a gap in the traffic. I'd been waiting a minute or so.

A car appeared on the main road and stopped, waiting to turn right onto the road I was on. A lorry to my right then stopped on the main road and gave way to allow me to turn left in front of him and the car on the main road to turn right past him onto the road I was on.

I started to release my foot from the brake as its a very steep road so I could roll forward before putting my foot on the gas. The car started moving forward and the man was right in front of my car and it hit him. He must have been on the pavement to the left of me and had tried to cross in front of my car but I didn't see him because I was looking right. He must have been walking quickly because he was already half way across the front of my car and I was already looking forward when I began to take my foot off the brake. As soon as I saw him I put my foot back down on the brake hard. I had moved maybe 3-5 inches but as he was walking so close to my car, it hit him.

He stumbled but kept walking across and then looked back at me and started shouting whilst I sat there in complete shock. The lorry waited for me to set off again even though I was shocked and nervous to drive immediately. He then turned around and kept walking.

I'm so upset about this. I've never hit anyone with my car before and feel very bad about it. Was I at fault do you think or was the man? Is there anything I need to do now?

You could have looked left before moving off?

Cakey, what makes it worse is that it's so close to a school. Parents are often advised to park on the main road and walk from there which I've had to do a few times but that junctions really puts me off. It's the fact that you can't see what's coming until you're right next to the road. Thank you. I am calming a little but sure I'll be ok in a few days.

Oyster, I did when I was coming to the bottom. I was already moving by the time he got to the pavement edge so if I'd seen him at that exact moment, it wouldn't have made a difference as he passed so close. If he'd passed a few more inches away, I could have stopped in time.

If I've understood the scenario correctly then, even if you take yourself totally out of the equation as if you weren't there at all, this pedestrian was still darting across in front of another vehicle turning right. That vehicle would be focused on traffic coming towards them, looking for a chance to turn, not craning their neck back to see pavements behind them.

And if you had seen him a split second sooner and he'd not been bumped by you, all that would mean is he hadn't been bumped. Which is good. But he would still be in the wrong for trying to cross at a time when two vehicles were both clearly in the process of navigating an intersection.

I think when I started reading this thread I was a bit baffled by the much repeated assumption that the pedestrian has right of way, because that suggests that every single intersection functions exactly like a zebra crossing. They don't. The Highway Code seems pretty clear to me on how pedestrians are meant to behave where there is no zebra crossing (which he didn't comply with at all), and when pedestrians have right of way over cars. In this case you had right of way because the road was clear when you approached and you got there first, and he was in the wrong because he didn't wait for traffic to clear before crossing.

No. Pedestrians by law have right of way over the mouth of a junction.

I am of the belief that making mistakes does not make you a dangerous road user. Making mistakes and refusing to accept blame does make you a dangerous road user. If you'd serioisly hurt a pedestrian in this scenario, I think you'd find a court of law would find you responsible but, by all means, go ahead believing you are the wronged party, if it makes you feel better. People talk tosh all the times on forums. It's basic knowledge that you cannot hit a pedestrian in circumstances you described and not be at fault.

Regardless of whether he was silly, you were at fault for the accident. You should always look both ways before turning and you should always be able to stop within the distance you know to be clear. These are basic elements of the highway code.

Equally, just because some one flashes you or waits for you to go, it's still your responsibility to check it's safe to go. It's not up to them or you to direct the traffic.

Good point Cakey, if I'd seen him at the moment he stepped off, I'd have hit the brakes a fraction of a second quicker meaning he'd have been bumped by the wing of my car.

Spandex, can you link to legislation that says that? ImNot, I have made plenty of driving mistakes in my time and will hold my hands up and applogise when that's the case (I left a note on the empty vehicle I scraped) but on this occasion, I don't think there was anything I could have done differently.

rally, Regardless of whether he was silly, you were at fault for the accident. You should always look both ways before turning and you should always be able to stop within the distance you know to be clear. These are basic elements of the highway code

I wasn't turning, he walked out just as I was reaching the junction markings. I wouldn't have started turning until I was over them and setting the gas. Also, it was clear in front of me and to the left where I was about to pull into. I had already checked the pavement as I passed, nobody was there.

Equally, just because some one flashes you or waits for you to go, it's still your responsibility to check it's safe to go. It's not up to them or you to direct the traffic

Yes, exactly. There was a car turning right into his path and I was blocking his path. Hardly up to me to give way to him at that point. He did not check it was safe - evidently. That was also his responsibility as a road user.

If I follow everyone's suggestions to their logical conclusion, the outcome would have been no better. If I'd craned my neck and seen him 100 ft up the road then I'd still have moved to the bottom of the junction as it would have taken a while for him to get there. Are people suggesting you wait patiently at a junction for every pedestrian that might possibly want to cross in front? Of course you don't. You sensibly assume that you might be able to pull out before they get there (and you need to get to the bottom to see the traffic) or that if they get there while you're waiting, they will exercise common sense and either wait at the pavement or walk behind your car.

I've already explained that if I'd seen him next to my car it was already too late because I was moving by that point and he wasn't going to wait. If I'd stopped and let him pass in the few inches between me and the main road, he could have been hit by the car turning right. Which also would have been my fault.

These are the reasons I know I couldn't have avoided what happened. His actions made it inevitable. Nobody has answered me when I asked what they would have done. That's because if someone steps out in front of your moving car, there isn't anything you can do but hit the brakes. Which is what I did.

If I'd stopped and let him pass in the few inches between me and the main road, he could have been hit by the car turning right. Which also would have been my fault

No. How could that possibly have been your fault. If you're stopped and something happens to him then you aren't to blame.

Nobody has answered me when I asked what they would have done. That's because if someone steps out in front of your moving car, there isn't anything you can do but hit the brakes. Which is what I did

You've said that he was right in front of your car and you were moving forwards very slowly (didn't you say 2-3mp/h?) which means there was time for you to have seen him and stopped.

If you'd have been driving at 30mp/h and he'd been hit by the very corner of the nearside front bumper then it would sound much more like there was nothing you could have done.

As you weren't yet pulling into the road you weren't a hazard to other vehicles moving from the right. You were however a danger to any pedestrians who may have crossed in front of you. We know this as you hit one of them.

I would have been paying attention to the left pavement which is where the dangers would have been coming from. The right too but anyone coming from there would have had to cross the other lane before being next to me.

The fact that you can't see that you were concentrating too hard on looking for a gap to get out of the road and not on other possible hazards combined with the fact you still think there's nothing you could have done differently despite so many posters telling you is worrying.

Best to use the experience to learn from. Think about how you can improve your driving?

Oh. for you.

This happened to me about 10 years ago. I knocked a kid straight off his bike as I was starting to move forward at a junction.. His mother gave him a bollocking and apologised for her child . I went to the police just to cover myself who also said he shouldn't have crossed in front of my path at the foot of a junction and not to worry about it. I made a statement and never heard anything about it again.

Around four years ago, a cyclist went under the wheels of my husbands tanker as he started to turn at a junction. The guy was quite badly hurt with cuts and bruises. The police took no further action against my husband and said he was entitled to make a claim against the cyclist if he wanted to.

Please don't worry. You didn't leave the scene of a crime either. The guy walked off. I'm not sure what people were expecting you to do. Please don't worry.

Thank you this. That further confirms my view that the pedestrian did not have right of way in this situation. I'm confident in my actions and have started to let it go.

It never fails to amuse me how posters will read things into a situation to somehow prove they are right. So many assumptions on this thread (there was no car behind me and I know that because I'm observant), ignore facts (he walked inches from my car which meant I was going to hit him no matter how fast I was travelling). The bottom line is: you weren't there, you don't know me, or my car, or the junction and evidently don't know the law either. It's cool if you think it was his right of way and it was safe for him to cross in those circumstances. I wish you much luck crossing roads in future.

Please keep the fuck off the roads!

There's no helping some people.

OP: Was I at fault?
99% of responders: Yes!
OP: But what if I drip feed you loads more information, do you think I'm at fault now?
99% of responders: Yes!
OP: You're all wrong.

The fact is you didn't see him until he was in front of your car = you failed to make adequate observations = your fault.

Why so aggressive funniest? I have a licence to drive so I am as entitled to use the roads like anyone else.

Not quite Oyster, there have been several people desperate to hammer the point home repeatedly making up a lot of the YABUs and quite a few saying IANBU, particularly those who have experienced this and police officers. And I wrote the op in shock. I've had to clarify lots of the assumptions made. Like I said - you weren't there.

I think it's frustration as opposed to aggression.

Oyster summed it up. You drove into him. He was "right in front of your car" when you did so. You did so because you failed to notice him.

The fact you can be so ignorant as to ignore what 99% of the posts have said to you and seem to be determined to refuse to learn from what could have been a nasty accident (if you'd accelerated to fit into a gap) is the reason I wish you didn't have a licence.

and as you like to give weight to opinions (fair enough), my brother, a senior police officer, said you were clearly at fault in this situation. The clearest indicator being what part of the car hit him. The fact he was right in front of it means you hit him as opposed to it being his fault.

Your last post just proves my point though. I wasn't going to accelerate or start turning until I was well into the main road, at least another two or three feet away. The fact that he was right in front of my car is precisely the reason I couldn't do anything. It's a bit overkill with all the 'you can't make assumptions' stuff. We all do and have to to an extent with driving. You pass someone obviously looking to cross the road and you might slow down in anticipation but you don't stop for every single person who might possibly cross in an inopportune moment. You have to make assumptions that other road users are following the Highway Code. There isn't any other way to operate otherwise nobody would get anywhere and you'd constantly be worried about the car in front suddenly stopping to let pedestrians cross in front (not at junctions). I was there and categorically know that no worse accident would have occurred unless the car turning right had struck him and they were going a hell of a lot faster than I was to give momentum to get up the hill.

I have repeated myself over and over, he wasn't there when I passed the pavement so it was safe for me to proceed. When he reached my car, he was on my extreme left and I don't believe anyone would have craned their neck to look at the pavement behind them (as has been pointed out, it curves up around the wall so I was past it by the time he crossed). He didn't even pause or stop to look up the road. The bottom line is, he shouldn't have crossed when he did. I have done that junctions hundreds and hundreds of times and I treat it with utmost caution evidenced by the fact that nothing remotely like this has ever happened and myself and other road users and pedestrians freuentjy suddenly meet on that corner because of the wall. I KNOW I am a safe driver - it's a bit of a joke amongst my friends that I'm a cautious driver. So I don't think you are qualified to tell a stranger based on one thread, that you're making huge assumptions about, that I'm not fit to be on the roads.

Really funniest? And you've just thought to mention this?

Which part of my car do you think he hit? It was the first 1/3 of the front. I posted to say I thought it was two or three strides when I was posting from memory but having been back a number of times since, it was only one stride between the edge of the curb and where he was.

*OP: Was I at fault?
99% of responders: Yes!
OP: But what if I drip feed you loads more information, do you think I'm at fault now?
99% of responders: Yes!
OP: You're all wrong.

The fact is you didn't see him until he was in front of your car = you failed to make adequate observations = your fault*

Nothing's changed. Please try not to hit any one else.

Really funniest? And you've just thought to mention this?

and no, I mentioned it in an earlier post on the thread.

That meme might have been funny if you'd remembered to post it the first time you posted that exact reply .

I think it's pretty clear that I didn't mean to hit him. So I think it's safe to say I will continue trying not to hit people. What a bizarre thing to say.

Actually you posted to say your bother thought I shouldn't have to stop - nothing about fault. That post made it seem like he thought I wasn't in the wrong.