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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Who was in the wrong? (car accident related)

289 replies

QuestionableMouse · 19/01/2020 16:14

Out with my friend in her car today. She's a fairly new driver and has black box insurance.

We came to a blind bend with a car parked in our lane on double yellow lines. Friend moved over and drove around the car at probably 10 mph.

A car coming the other way clipped her car and has done quite a bit of damage to the front end. The car was doing 20mph roughly which is the speed limit.

My friend clipped the parked car and took the wing mirror off, doing some damage to the bumper too.

Both drivers are blaming my friend (she's the youngest/least experienced driver.)

I say the parked car driver is at fault because they were parked on double yellow lines and if they hadn't been there the accident would never have happened.

All been referred to the insurances of course, including pics of the parked car.

I'm feeling very stiff and achy and will probably miss work tomorrow (it's aggravated my already bad back) and poor friend is really upset and shaken.

OP posts:
Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 19/01/2020 19:17

Actually no it wouldn't.

You can only park on double yellow lines with a blue badge if you're not causing an obstruction.

OP posts:
cologne4711 · 19/01/2020 19:17

cabbage read the opening post again - the OP's friend did not hit the obstruction, she hit an oncoming car (that she could not see) because of the obstruction

Sorry cabbage, I didn't read it properly! Didn't realise the op had hit two cars at first!

cologne4711 · 19/01/2020 19:18

You might not be able to do much, but that still doesn't mean the accident isn't your fault. If you overtake something on a blind bend and hit a car, it's nobody else's fault but your own

I disagree, I think the person who has caused the dangerous obstruction is at fault.

adaline · 19/01/2020 19:25

I disagree, I think the person who has caused the dangerous obstruction is at fault.

What if the dangerous obstruction was a branch, or an animal, or a child? Or a car who had broken down? As the driver, it's your responsibility to avoid a hazard. You can't just swerve into oncoming traffic and hope for the best!

Yeahnah2020 · 19/01/2020 19:33

It’s the other car that is at fault. The one parked on double yellow lines forcing your friend to move out of her lane!!! If it’s a blind corner she’d have no way of knowing if there was ever going to be a car coming. They are just blaming her because she is young.

safariboot · 19/01/2020 19:33

The unlawfully parked car could be found liable, but I think it's much more likely that your friend will be the at fault party. Even though she had no way to tell whether it was safe to proceed. It's shit but in my experience it's common that badly-parked vehicles give me no choice but to make a manoeuvre blind and hope for the best. About the only thing you can do is beep.

Stopping and calling the police in such a situation would feel ridiculous and I expect you'd be told off for wasting their time.

MsJaneAusten · 19/01/2020 19:35

We need a diagram.

I suspect other car will be at fault for hitting friend (she had already committed to overtaking when he came into view and he should have been driving in such a way to be able to stop in an emergency), but friend will be at fault for clipping parked car. Parked car, I suspect, will be off the hook, insurance wise. 50/50 friend and driver of other moving vehicle.

ruby2020 · 19/01/2020 19:40

OP you can argue until the cows come home, it still doesnt change the fact that from a legal standpoint your friend is at fault.

Regardless of the stationary car being parked where it shouldn't have, the onus is on your friend to only make the manoeuvre when safe to do so. If she absolutely couldn't see what was coming then taking a risk and just going for it is no justification. Clearly she went for it and it was wrong.

It seems like you're trying to justify your way out of this no matter what people say.

Yes the parked car was wrong. But so was your friend.

NoFucksImAQueen · 19/01/2020 20:09

So friend was already most of the way past the illegally parked car when the Audi came the other way? And rather than let her through they kept going? Is that right?

LIZS · 19/01/2020 20:19

If friend hit stationary car and dislodged its wing mirror, to avoid Audi, then it can't have been more than halfway when the other car appeared.

Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 19/01/2020 20:43

@NoFucksImAQueen

Felt like the Audi driver didn't have chance to brake. It all happened really quickly.

The Nova was parked the same way were were driving, so wing mirrors at the far end. She just clipped the wing mirror and bumper on the passenger side and the Audi hit the other side/front.

OP posts:
slipperywhensparticus · 19/01/2020 20:57

A nova?

busybarbara · 19/01/2020 20:59

If she absolutely couldn't see what was coming then taking a risk and just going for it is no justification

You could say the same about the other car. Having right of way does not justify progressing without vision or for hitting someone

cabbageking · 19/01/2020 21:02

You try to get around any obstacle as quickly and safely as possible.

Dare I suggest she took longer to get around the obstacle at 10 miles and hours and having little experience.

The other car if driving at 20 miles was hardly speeding but found a car in the middle of the road as it came around the bend.

I think she will find she has to pay for both cars if I am honest.

adaline · 19/01/2020 21:05

You could say the same about the other car. Having right of way does not justify progressing without vision or for hitting someone

No. He was in his lane travelling in the right direction. She was driving into oncoming traffic! How can you argue that he was wrong?

daisychain01 · 19/01/2020 21:12

@QuestionableMouse

Unfortunately for your friend, the Highway Code is very clear that the onus is always on the vehicle with the "obstruction" on their side of the road to give way.

In your situation, with the vehicle parked on a blind bend, I would have got out of the car, and stood at the bend and signalled to your friend when the road was clear. Not saying to stop the traffic coming in the other direction, but just to be certain nothing was come up. Especially as your friend only recently passed her test. You may well have found that a driver would have stopped for her anyway, seeing you on the bend.

SouthWestmom · 19/01/2020 21:12

The OP hit him, because she was in the wrong lane.

Ok, so if I have right if way, someone coming towards me ignores that, comes into then wrong lane' to get past an obstruction, I can just keep going and hit them?

londonrach · 19/01/2020 21:19

Parking car never ever at fault...its not moving...it could be a cow, house, child, your friend as the driver decides if safe to move around the none moving item. Your friend at fault...sorry

daisychain01 · 19/01/2020 21:25

@Noeuf - the other car didn't just "keep going" and hit the OPs car, they didn't see the car because it was a blind bend, and couldn't be expected to know they would be confronted by a car coming in the opposite direction.

In a situation where the road was straight and there was full visibility, drivers would be expected to use some intelligence, judgement and courtesy regarding obstacles and cars coming towards them. Even if a car has right of way, it often makes sense to give way rather than being aggressive about it.

MyNewBearTotoro · 19/01/2020 21:29

Ok, so if I have right if way, someone coming towards me ignores that, comes into then wrong lane' to get past an obstruction, I can just keep going and hit them?

Nobody’s saying that, but if you go around a bend driving at the correct speed limit and there is a car on your side of the road and you don’t have time to brake before you hit them then it’s hardly your fault! If the road had been straight and the Audi driver had seen them from 10 metres away then of course he should have drives but it doesn’t sound like the Audi driver saw OP & friend until he saw them because of the bend. He wouldn’t have expected a car to be on his side of the road, especially as the obstruction was a car parked in the direction of oncoming traffic in the other lane on double yellows - it probably wasn’t immediately obvious it was an obstruction to the Audi driver and likely looked like an oncoming car so he probably wasn’t thinking to slow in case anything was coming around it.

This is a bad luck situation and logically the illegally parked nova would be at fault but as it was stationary that’s unlikely to be what the insurance companies decide.

MyNewBearTotoro · 19/01/2020 21:31

Sorry for the typos - it doesn’t sound like the Audi driver saw OP & friend until he hit them

yellowallpaper · 19/01/2020 21:32

Your friend is responsible for both lots of damage. The illegally parked car is not her business. It's an obstruction in the road and is treated as such. Her job is to be observant. She was in the oncoming lane and she should have waited and let the car with the right of way go. Expensive mistake.

adaline · 19/01/2020 21:32

Ok, so if I have right if way, someone coming towards me ignores that, comes into then wrong lane' to get past an obstruction, I can just keep going and hit them?

Let's say you're driving along a country road. It's narrow with lots of blind bends. You're driving on your side of the road and rounding a corner when you hit someone who is travelling on the wrong side of the road.

Who would be at fault? The person who is doing the right thing, or the one driving straight into oncoming traffic on a blind bend?

The obstruction is largely irrelevant. If you have to drive on the wrong side of the road (to avoid a hazard, to perform a manoeuvre or to access your drive) it's your job to make sure the carriageway is clear before doing so.

You can't just drive on the wrong side of the road and then proceed to blame the drivers who are going the right way!

malmi · 19/01/2020 21:37

I say that if your friend had managed to come to a complete dead stop when the other car came into view, then it's the other car that's in error, as they should be able to stop in time for any stationary object blocking the road.

However, she was going too fast, and was therefore driving towards the oncoming vehicle on the wrong side of the road and was still moving at the moment of impact.

I realise this means that I'm saying she should have driven past the parked car at a dead crawl with her foot covering the brake, which is opposite to what other posters have said (she should have nipped around as quickly as possible to minimize the time spent on the wrong side of the road). But I think that's the only way to be safe.

She also should have sounded the horn, as others have pointed out. This is exactly the sort of situation it is for.

NoFucksImAQueen · 19/01/2020 21:51

In that case I would say it's your friends fault I'm sorry. If she was on or half in the wrong side of the road and they didnt have time to stop then its clear cut. Maybe she could argue not to pay for the nova as it was illegally parked but I dont know the legalities by any means