Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder what the point of lanes is if someone can crash into you anyway

221 replies

RebeccaWithTheGoodHair · 13/12/2016 11:29

Back in the spring I was in a car accident. It was at a roundabout on an A road dual carriageway.

I was in the right hand lane going over the roundabout to exit in the right hand lane straight ahead. A car was beside me in the left hand lane and should have been going either left or straight ahead into the left hand lane of the dual carriageway. They didn't. They turned right and crashed into the side of me.

My insurers agree that I was correct in a) my driving and b) that is was his fault. But apparently there is a legal precedent where a judge decided that the person in the same situation as me should have been aware of the other car and thus was equally to blame for the accident, this means my insurer will only go for 50/50 in my case.

This has really pissed me off as wtf is the actual point of lanes if a driver can just make a decision to turn right at any point. And I was aware of the fucker, just under the impression he would stick to the rules of the road and not crash into the side of me. Shouldn't he have been aware of me??!!

And to add insult to injury this happened back in May and the other driver still hasn't given his insurers any details of what happened so it hasn't been resolved either way. My insurers seem powerless to hurry it along and won't even tell me how long it could go on for.

AIBU to think it was entirely his fault AND that there must be some time limit on how long he has to make any statement to his own insurers so it can be finally resolved.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
AyeAmarok · 13/12/2016 20:30

Maybe but it does lead to confusion, which is why I assume my driving instructor said never to do it.

wasonthelist · 13/12/2016 20:44

Why would it lead to confusion?

As long as no-one is being a bellend it is fine.

AyeAmarok · 13/12/2016 20:52

Because a lot of people will assume that a car in the right hand lane will be turning right.

milkjetmum · 13/12/2016 20:54

Same happened to me. I think it depends on the contact between you. Front of my car hit rear of his van so you could argue I could have stopped if you drive expecting everyone to be an idiot at all times i accepted 50-50 reluctantly

I think it would be easier to argue they were fully liable if front of other car hits rear or side of yours.

Verbena37 · 13/12/2016 21:12

Aye did you not see where it says its a dual carriageway on entrance AND exit of roundabout, therefore the driver can start and end in the right hand lane.

Your driving instructor meant stay in left lane on entering roundabout if it's a single lane on exit.

Verbena37 · 13/12/2016 21:14

wasonthelist much better diagram than my hand drawn version.
I don't get how people don't understand dual carriageway right lane scenarios.

PossumInAPearTree · 13/12/2016 21:24

Glad.youre going to challenge it. Insurers are bad for trying to get you to do fifty fifty. It's cheaper for them to settle than fight. Highway code surely backs you up.

I had similar once and my insurers didn't want to fight but the personal injury firm I took on were very keen to take the other party to court.

If you have legal cover as part of your insurance use that.

NoFucksImAQueen · 13/12/2016 21:30

A friend of mine was overtaking some parked cars whilst a woman, on her phone and doing around 40mph, wasn't looking, turned onto the road and crashed into my friend. Because technically my friend was on the wrong side of the road (overtaking parked cars) she had to admit 50% fault

But the other driver was turning on to the road your friend was on from a side road, is that right? So even though your friend was on the wrong side while overtaking surely she still had more right that someone who wasn't even on that road at all at that point?

RufusTheSpartacusReindeer · 13/12/2016 21:39

aye

I never understand why people go in the right hand lane when they are going straight on.

Depends on the roundabout. At one of our local ones you are in the right hand lane to go right or straight. I have been beeped a few times by newbies who think i am in the wrong lane Smile

RufusTheSpartacusReindeer · 13/12/2016 21:46

This is the roundabout

to wonder what the point of lanes is if someone can crash into you anyway
trixymalixy · 13/12/2016 22:47

There are several roundabouts near me where you can turn right from the left hand lane.

There is one where it isn't signposted as such but has somehow become local convention.

You really shouldn't leave a roundabout without checking what the car next to you is doing.

That's why the OP is in the wrong. She crossed into the lane of the other car to attempt to leave the roundabout.

wasonthelist · 13/12/2016 23:22

a lot of people will assume that a car in the right hand lane will be turning right.

But as long as they don't try and pull a bellend move like the other driver in the OPs case, it won't matter; and that bellend was so useless he probably wasn't assuming anything, just driving round with his eyes shut.

pklme · 14/12/2016 07:24

In my area, there are lots of roundabouts where you are supposed to use the left hand land, even when turning at 3 o'clock, because the traffic for that direction is much heavier than all the other traffic.
Eg. Slip road off dual carriageway to roundabout: Exit 1 small village. Exit 2 back on the DC you just got off. Exit three where everyone wants to go- IKEA!

Both lanes take you to IKEA.

Roundabouts in the uk do not follow fixed patterns.

I agree akkak (?) in that scenario I would share the blame, maybe even be mainly to blame. I had been surveying the whole area, and was just keeping an eye on the car about to pass me so I could pull out to avoid a slower car. The car that pulled into me was marginally ahead, I would have hit it by the wheel arch, so I would have driven into it- my fault.
However, The car to my left had no reason I could see to pull out causing me to adjust my path. I imagine she just assumed I would move but as I wasn't aware of her (and for all I know she gave no warning- I would usually have seen), I did not. I don't think either of us would have been in a position to argue over blame, had we actually collided. Fortunately the car I was politely not pulling out in front of saw what was happening and slowed giving me room to move, and there was no impact. Though I think I aged a few years...

SoupDragon · 14/12/2016 07:40

did you not see where it says its a dual carriageway on entrance AND exit of roundabout, therefore the driver can start and end in the right hand lane.

But they are still crossing the left hand lane to exit (as it continues round the roundabout) and should always check that it is clear.

PossumInAPearTree · 14/12/2016 07:44

yes you do have to cross the left hand lane to exit but if the car on your left has been with you since entering the roundabout you wouldn't expect it to turn right. So you'd be aware of it been there but not think anything of it. Also you wouldn't know what it was doing until it crashed into the side of you. Totally the other cars fault.

Verbena37 · 14/12/2016 08:19

What Possum said.

Wetcappuccino · 14/12/2016 08:57

In my experience insurers are often keen to pressure you to accept 50/50. Perhaps check if you have legal cover as part of your insurance, and advise the insurer them you would like to be put in touch with a lawyer. But definitely push back on the 50/50.

derxa · 14/12/2016 09:32

Both cars were in the wrong lanes to begin with.

Original poster
RebeccaWithTheGoodHair · 14/12/2016 09:42

wasonthelist's roundabout is exactly the scenario, other than that 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock are single lane roads, but that's irrelevant. I was red and he was blue and he crashed into the side of me just above the 2 on that picture, I swerved and ended up in the bit (which was grassy) between the entry and exit lanes of the dual carriageway at 12 o'clock.

I was aware he was there all the time but I had no idea that he would keep turning right and crash into the side of me, so I believe he's 100% responsible for it as he blatantly wasn't aware I was there. I was just travelling from one side of the roundabout to the other staying in the same lane all the way.

OP posts:
Original poster
RebeccaWithTheGoodHair · 14/12/2016 09:45

Also and sorry to labour the point, but why would there be a dual carriageway with two lanes around the roundabout if everyone is expected to move into the left hand lane at entry only to then pull back out into the right hand lane on the other side of it?

The dual carriageway is to speed up traffic not cause more delays as cars swap lanes before and after every roundabout.

OP posts:
Jaynesworld · 14/12/2016 10:01

If the lane markings are the same as wasonthelist's roundabout then op did not cross lanes. The other driver did, and what if there are no lane markings?

Jaynesworld · 14/12/2016 10:14

I think the major problem is that roundabouts in the uk vary wildly and some people are shit drivers and can't navigate roundabouts

dowhatnow · 14/12/2016 10:18

Toptoe explained the confusion. At 15.01 yesterday.

Did you actually cross the lane lines at any point or did they?

Original poster
RebeccaWithTheGoodHair · 14/12/2016 10:22

I don't know exactly what you mean by did I cross the lane lines. As per wasonthelist's picture there is no way you can leave at 12 o'clock without crossing the lane that continues to 3 o'clock - but you can't exit a roundabout at 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock without doing that.

OP posts:
xarpax · 14/12/2016 10:26

I do this on a roundabout every morning (in the right hand lane planning to cross the roundabout and exit in the right hand lane) and every morning I wonder what would happen if the car in the left lane just kept coming round the roundabout rather than peeling off into the left lane . I have never been sure if I am doing the right thing.

If you look to the left and a driver isnt indicating left, you'd have to emergency stop - in the middle of a roundabout which would cause carnage.

Its GOT to be the other driver's 100% fault!