Minor road collision, looking for opinions

[Tiptoptip1]

I've only been driving for a few months, and I am hearing conflicting things about insurance and how to handle these sorts of situations.

I hit the side of a van on a roundabout a couple of days ago, I do this roundabout almost daily with no issues so I'm disappointed in myself. It's got a few different lanes and one lane can be used for straight on or right. I thought I was in the correct lane, I felt the van was going too fast as they had been tailgating me prior to entering the roundabout, but regardless I hit them and I'm not blaming them.

At the scene their van was luckily unaffected (just said a small scratch) my car was damaged but I've fixed it now. They were saying I was in the wrong lane, they didn't want my details and just sort of shrugged it off in the end and left.
I've notified the police and my insurer, just paid myself for the damage as it was under £100 to repair.
They've said it has to stay on my record for 6 months, technically the van driver could claim for the scratch but unsure if they will.

I've heard people say never admit fault at the scene, even don't claim for it etc. But of course I had to notify. I feel disappointed in myself as I do that roundabout daily, it all feels like a blur. Not sure what I'm looking for really any thoughts?

I had an experience where a lorry hit my car when I was stationary, and correctly placed. It turned out the company who owned the lorry didnt have insurance. I wanted to claim, so in the end it was the drivers own insurance that had to deal with it - and I was so shocked when my insurance notified me that he had said it was my fault. He had even admitted it was his fault to me immediately after the accident. I sent very detailed diagrams to my insurers, and it was found in my favour. I was extremely shocked that someone would lie - and now am very cautious. It was an awful experience all round as I had my baby in the car as well, so I was very shaken up by it. So it may well have been his fault - without seeing a series of diagrams it is difficult to tell, but sounds like he was driving badly..

I meant to the police. There was no legal obligation in those circs.

I just thought I should in case they tried to say i left the scene and because we didn't exchange details

I don't think we have enough detail to know without a diagram, but it sounds like you were in the right and that's why they didn't want to exchange details. If you don't want to post a diagram perhaps watch some BigJobber videos, who deals with a lot of roundabout dash cam incidents, particularly when he references Grace v Tanner.

Get front and rear dash cams! Then you can check what happened and either realise something was or wasn't your fault or have proof of you need it.
It's good to consider what happened in a car accident - a learning experience but try not to overthink it. It's good that it was fairly minor accident and has been dealt with.
If he was tailgating you before the roundabout and then ended up in front of you I suspect he was at fault not you, which is why he walked away from it!

At what point did the van go from being behind you to in front?
“I thought I was in the correct lane” isn’t very confident. You must know, surely?

I think if either party refuses to accept driver details then you do need to report to the police.

You tried, the other guy didn’t want to as it was so minor.

You stopped, conversed with the driver, no injuries, no major damage, you did all the right things, so you don’t need to report it to the police.

@Tiptoptip1

i don’t thinking ringing 101 and reporting it happened will do you any harm. Maybe check with your insurance company they can advise you?

Im not saying you did this at all but part of my defensive driving thing at roundabouts is that people can start off in the correct lane and then “drift”. We have a roundabout where right lane is for right, middle for straight on and left for left. Drivers going straight on often drift to the right even when they’ve started off in the correct lane.

It's not so much about which lane you were in, as whether you and the other driver were aware of the vehicles around you.

It sounds like one of you changed lanes without checking it was safe to do so. I'm guessing either he moved/turned to the left in front of you and you hit him, or you moved/turned to the left in front of him.

More important than correct lane (which cab a little subjective) is you check it's safe before moving/turning/changing lanes AND everyone is at a speed that enables them to stop in the distance you can see to be clear.

Go on maps and take a screen shot and post it, people will be able to help you more from that.

My XH was/is a professional driver and the best advice he ever gave me was about this kind of situation.

You have to drive as though everyone else on the road is an idiot. Never assume you can check to your right at a mini roundabout and be sure nobody will be coming from your left. Just because drivers should be giving way to you doesn’t mean they will.

Being in the right is no compensation really if you end up in a serious collision.

I think sometimes new drivers lack confidence and assume they are at fault but it’s more likely this van driver was driving badly. Chalk it up to experience and try not to dwell.

Sounds like youve done all the right things. Fortunately, this one wasnt serious. Keep on driving!

Did you take photos of the van? If you are ever I volved in any accident, you should take photos, it might be a small scratch now, but in 48 hours time, it could be one a bashed in side.

You can be in the correct lane and still have an accident. This is particularly the case where there are options, all of which can be correct. On roundabouts, you have to be particularly aware of what everyone else is doing, especially as some people will be using it for the first time and may realise quite late on they’re in the wrong lane whereas others will use it routinely but all have their own views and habits on when to change lanes. Rather than thinking that you’re in the correct lane and therefore you’re in the clear, it’s a case of constantly checking your mirrors so you know what’s going on around you.
Having said all of that, if you’ve just passed and you’re on MN, I’m guessing you’re younger and female. Was the van driver male? Possibly older than you? He may well have judged the situation in seconds and realised he could take advantage of it even if it was all his fault.

To be honest, as you describe it now, they were in the wrong lane or at least using the wrong trajectory across the roundabout. I don't really understand how they could get from behind you to in front of you without you noticing. If someone is tailgating you, always assume they're going to do something else stupid and be hyper aware of exactly what they're doing. I think the only way to drive safely these days is to assume everyone around you is a dickhead.

If you're in the middle lane then you can go for either exit(but possibly have to change lanes on the roundabout). If the van was pissed off that he was stuck behind you, I am guessing he was in the outside lane in the hope he could dodge round you and cure across in front to get off at the first exit? (I may have got that completely wrong!!)

Don’t worry about it. The most learning you can take from it is that sometimes other drivers can do dickish things, especially at roundabouts.

It’s interesting that you clocked the van driving a bit aggressively before you entered the roundabout, whenever I see that I give those vehicles extra space if I can.

@AlphaApple I completely agree - if ever i see an aggressive driver / someone tailgating / weaving in and out of the traffic in all lanes then I consider them an imminent accident waiting to happen and make sure that i get out of their way, let them overtake then make sure i am nowhere near them (as i dont want to be involved in an accident). For some reason, there are a lot of really aggressive / dangerous drivers on the A12, its awful…

Sorry this happened to you, it must have shaken you up a bit.

From your description it sounds as though you were in the right lane if “second from left” means the middle lane. A diagram would help to confirm this.

Its not clear how the van was behind you and then ended up in front of you, but it would seem to me form your description that he overtook you on entering the roundabout and then cut in front of you. Again not your fault.

Sadly all you can really do is chalk it up to experience. Driving standards are getting worse by the day, so you really need to be vigilant all the time even if you’re doing what you should be doing, because you can’t trust that there isn’t a twat behind you, in front of you or next to you.

I had a similar experience years back when I started driving, I was in the correct lane on a roundabout and a Luton van came over onto my lane because he wasn’t looking what he was doing, smacked my mirror off and forced me off the road. Admitted fault at the scene and was very apologetic about it, but then his company refused to take responsibility. That was a tough pill to swallow.

Hope you’re not too put off by it.

Impossible to advise without a diagram but I assume it could well be the van’s fault and that’s why they didn’t want to swap details.
If there was no/ easily fixable damage to my car and I was confident the other driver wasn’t bothered then I’d do something which is completely outrageous on mn and not inform my insurance 😂 they use any little things to push up premiums !

Just put it down to experience, no real damage done and nobody hurt.
If you hit them the insurance would likely have come down on their side if you had not claimed as “at fault” anyway, even if they were driving too fast that’s hard to prove as they were unlikely to actually be over the speed limit in a van on a roundabout.
Could have been worse, just let the insurance deal with any claim that comes through.

Go back to your driving instructor and ask for a refresher lesson on roundabouts.

never ever admit liability

Proceed by getting on with your life… you dinged someone, they were unhurt and undamaged and didn’t care, you notified people and paid to fix your car.

Its done. You didn’t kill someone. Move on.

One of you slightly strayed into the other ones lane, at a lowish speed, had a minor bump that left virtually no damage.

It’s unclear who’s fault it was, he was in the lane for straight on only, you were in the lane fit straight on or right, you both entered the roundabout at the same time… is this right ?