AIBU to think I have no liability here? (diagram attached)

[WiggyClawsThe2nd]

I think I'm fairly sure on this but can't stop panicking so I thought I'd ask on here.
Friday night I had a car accident. It was a real shock and it's only now that I've stopped to think about it that I'm feeling really really cross.
In the diagram I'm the blue line, the other driver is the green line. The thick lines show where we went, the thin lines indicate where you would have expected us to be going. Given that the lady tried to tell me she'd been going straight on when obviously she didn't makes me wonder if she had a mad moment!
Anyway, this particular roundabout leads onto a bridge over a dual carriageway. On the other side of this bridge you can go left onto a local road, or right to join the dual carriageway.
When we joined the roundabout, the other car was to my left. Neither of us indicated before joining the roundabout, however I did indicate left after I passed the 1st left exit as I was planning to go over the bridge and turn right to join the duel carriageway. As I was about to leave the roundabout the lady turned in front of me to head back round the roundabout and I hit her in the side of the car. Slow speed, maybe 15 mph.
It turns out that we have the same insurance company just to complicate matters.
I'm pretty sure that she is liable for this accident, what do you all think?

YABU: you are liable
YANBU: you are not liable

Where there is no arrow (or other sign), the highway code tells you to use the "appropriate" lane. So it's down to the driver to decide.

It's the presence of signs and arrows which dictates when going straight over, not the absence of same.

So reading back if her witness statement agrees she was entering the same entry as you and exiting where you say she was that does suggest she entered the roundabout in the correct lane and exitted in the correct lane. You however have not.

I'm still at a lose how you hit her side door. Did anyone think to take a picture of where the two cars landed? (If the accident actually stopped the cars

I'm assuming she was ahead of you. The fact you hit her door?

Seriously grab 50/50 (or knock for knock but I don't think you'll get it) with both hands if you can get it

Picture the information is in the picture. Either way the op was seemingly going left. There is no way the right lane was the right lane. There are no line markings

Great diagram, but like others it may be deemed 50:50. I know know 🤦‍♀️ it’s absolutely happened to me!
Two lanes, left lane is strictly left hand turning, right hand can turn left or go straight. You guessed it, cat in the left hand turned straight whilst I was in the right turning left.
i was so sure it was not my fault, but it was deemed 50:50 😭 still am furious they got away with it. Roads are marked too. Hope you have better luck 🍀

This seems to be boiling down to peoples interpretation of 'appropriate'. Appropriate for straight over is the left hand lane unless marked otherwise. Why would a driving theory website say this if that's not the case?

Car* not cat 🐈

No one has posted the road sign but going back in street view, the sign on approach shows 2 exits to the roundabout, so I think it would be reasonable to read it as left lane for 1st and 2nd, right lane for 2nd exit or going all the way round. Regardless as the op describes it they had already exited the roundabout when the collision happened. The op also stated there was a queue of traffic so not just a case of a single car missed in a blind spot. There doesn't seem to have been any valid reason for the other driver to turn the way the op described.

You follow the picture. The picture says it quite clearly. Left for straight ahead

You keep mentioning the picture in the highway code, but the picture in the highway code is quite interesting.

The other woman is the blue car in this scenario, OP is the green car in this scenario, the blue car is going straight on, and there is nothing to stop OP going straight on in the picture you are referencing, there is absolutely nothing wrong or illegal about it, the other woman however should NOT be continuing around the roundabout after exit 2 from the left hand lane ESPECIALLY since she is would be passing a 2 lane exit.

Have you honestly never crossed an island coming from the right hand lane of a dual carriageway exiting into a right hand lane of a dual carriageway? Most islands are better lane marked, so the left lane has no choice to go straight on, but those islands are everywhere.

The missing lane markings are what is going to be problematic for OP, and she didn't exit from a dual carriageway, but in the absence of a third exit from the island, where would the people in the right hand lane be going if not straight on?

You'll be another one complaining about an insurance company settling your roundabout case 50/50 🙄

Appropriate for straight over is the left hand lane unless marked otherwise.

That is not what the highway code says, that is your interpretation.

Why would a driving theory website say this if that's not the case?

I have no idea. All I know is the highway code does not say you can only use the left lane.

Well then you and I will have to disagree.

Op was the damage side of front bumper (50/50) or front of front bumper (a horrendous mess liability wise)

There is nothing in the highway code that says you must ONLY be in the left lane to go straight over, and you won't find it when it is dual carriageway to dual carriageway as it is nonsensical.

This is the relevant wording:

When taking the first exit to the left, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise

• signal left and approach in the left-hand lane
• keep to the left on the roundabout and continue signalling left to leave.

When taking an exit to the right or going full circle, unless signs or markings indicate otherwise

• signal right and approach in the right-hand lane

When taking any intermediate exit, - THIS IS OPS SCENARIO!
unless signs or markings indicate otherwise

• select the appropriate lane on approach to the roundabout
• you should not normally need to signal on approach
• stay in this lane until you need to alter course to exit the roundabout
• signal left after you have passed the exit before the one you want.

Thing is there is the way people are meant to drive and there is the way people do drive. Much like speeding the highway code dictates you drive a certain way but most people will speed anyway. And actually it really doesn't matter a lot of the time.

I can well see the OP's junction, very many people will take the route over the roundabout with no incident whatsoever. Doesn't mean it's right by the highway code.

Appropriate means following road markings or signs that make that lane Appropriate. You cant argue Appropriate in English terms as in i decided that lane was Appropriate so it was appropriate
Appropriate it has definite meaning in terms of the highway code.

You can agree to disagree and still be wrong. Where a uncertainty is found in the highway code they will usually be a landmark test case that resolves it.

Can you imagine it "I decided it was the appropriate lane your honour, so im right"🤣🤣🤣🤣

You can agree to disagree and still be wrong.

I agree with you on this.

Here's a sequence for you. White van going to inside lane over bridge from left hand lane. Dark car (taking the path of OP) going to outside lane over bridge from right hand lane.

It's hard to know what your point is, what the other driver did is wrong by the highway code, she entered in the left lane to go all the way around the island.

The road marking are ambiguous on this particular island, BUT the highway code states if you are turning right on an island you should be in the right lane, which that lady wasn't, so by your reasoning she is at fault for the accident.

It DOES NOT state that if you are going straight ahead you should be in the left lane, it may be a general rule on single exit islands, but that rule would never apply to islands on dual carriageways and it doesn't apply here as it exiting on to a dual carriageway, which allows for two lanes of flowing traffic off the island to exit at the same time.

The picture in the HC literally shows you should be in the left hand lane to go straight over, and that's with a two lane entry and exit as being discussed here

I don't think anyone disagrees the other person was at fault. Just discussing whether there was any fault in OPs behaviour on the roundabout which means it may be classed as 50/50 by the insurance company.

What is literally showing you in that picture is a car going straight over in a left lane, when there is nothing to say they cannot use the left lane.

What it literally does not tell you in writing or in that picture is that where there are no signs or markings you cannot use the right hand lane to go straight across, nor does it say that the left hand lane is the only lane you can use.

"Given that the lady tried to tell me she'd been going straight on"

The op states the other driver was going straight on. *Whether the op believed otherwise is a different matter.) According to the OPs description the other party was theoretically in the right lane.

According to the OPs statement it actually sounds like lane discipline on exiting the roundabout. Which you would expect to come out 50/50, unless there's something ridiculous like the OP actually has a picture of the other persons car facing the wrong direction. It's unclear if the OPs damage supports this though.

The picture shows the blue car entering in the left lane and exiting into the left lane of the dual carriageway, are you honestly saying that the green car in the right lane can't exit into the right hand lane alongside the blue car in the left lane?

Funnily enough it shows the green arrows splitting as the green car exits the island turning right, that is because it is entitled to use either lane as it has priority on the island.

If the left lane was the only lane to go straight ahead and use both lanes it would show the blue arrows splitting to show the blue car can exit into either lane.. it doesn't show that because the blue car HAS to exit in the left lane from the left lane of the island, it has no priority to enter into the right lane because there will be a car entering there from the right lane on the island.

Besides that, the blue car in your picture turned right, which is what caused the collision, they were in the wrong lane completely.

There's nothing to say this roundabout is a junction between a bunch of dual carriageways. And in that case there are usually arrows on the floor to show you can go straight over in the right hand lane.

if the blue car can go either lane to go straight over why doesn't it show this like it does for the orange car turning right?

no one has said the other driver wasn't at fault anyway. It's clear she was. Op asked if it was likely to go 50/50 which is what's brought about the intense discussion about what lane should be used to go straight over.

According to the OPs description the other party was theoretically in the right lane.

She was in the correct lane for going straight on, but she turned right and continued around the island in front of OP instead. Not sure why, she would have been correct if she had carried on straight in the left lane.

OP would have been correct for carrying on straight in the right lane, which is what she was doing.

The only person who did something against the highway code is the other woman, who tried to use the left hand lane to turn right on the island.