Advice on Roundabout Accident

[Mark S]

Hi,

I need advice on liability for a crash on a roundabout (hope its in the right section!).

My partner was driving my car (both of us are named drivers) when someone hit her on a roundabout. To explain, it was a 4 way roundabout, she entered from the south and planned to exit east. The east entrance is 2 lane from a dual carriageway, the right lane is a right turn only lane, the left is left or straight on. Traffic was queued all the way from the single exit to the west to the east entry (and beyond). The queue left a gap for my partner to pull out, she checked nothing was coming and drove onto the roundabout. She was then hit on the rear offside wheel and wheel arch by the other car, which came from the east entrance, right hand lane. The point of impact was their nearside front corner. Fairly minor damage, but who's at fault?

I'm happy for each of us to sort our own cars out, they reckon its our liability. Their car is worth £500 max! The interesting thing is, the other driver was going home, and she would have either gone east to west (in which case she was cutting in), or come from the east, looped round and headed south, which is an alternate route, but if heading left, she should have been in the left lane. Either way, she was in the wrong lane for where she was going.

My questions:

- Does where she was going make any difference?

- Who is liable? She hit us in the rear (wheel), but was coming from the right.

Thanks for your help

[Purdie]

If I understand your description correctly then it appears your vehicle pulled out in front of a car that was to your right, already on the roundabout and hence had right of way.

I'm no expert but I don't think where the other driver was heading has any bearing on the right of way issue and therefore liability for the accident.

The only argument you may have in your favour is if you could show that the other vehicle's speed was exccessive.

[boxer]

Is this an IQ Test question ?

[haggisandchips]

From your description I'd have to agree with purds and it sounds like your partner is at fault. It would not just be excessive speed that could shift liability to the other party though - if they were driving at a reasonable speed but lack of attention resulted in the collision then you could argue they are partly to blame even if your partner's initial manoeuvre was a bit dodgy.

[Purdie]

Is this an IQ Test question ?

D minus I'm afraid

[neil.c]

If they have hit the back of your car it could be argued that the accident could have been avoided (which is both parties responsibility) but if they were already on the roundabout, it is large and you were driving through a queue of stationary cars when you were hit the chances of shifting the blame onto the other party are slim even if they did have some culpability.

[nicola]

I'm not a claims expert... but it is normally hard to determine blame on a roundabout and most insurers will settle 50/50.

If that is the case, her insurers pay for her damage and your insurers pay for yours. Will be classed as a fault claim and if not protected your no claims bonus will be affected.

[Lloyd six]

Could do with a drawing of the scene scanned and posted on here to get a full picture. A simple rule in insurance if you are hit in the rear it is the other persons fault as they should always be travelling at a speed they can stop, however on an island it is a little more complex hence your view by a drawing would make it easier for this audience to decide.

[Purdie]

A simple rule in insurance if you are hit in the rear it is the other persons fault as they should always be travelling at a speed they can stop

Clearly not the case Lloyd.

If you pull out in front of someone and they run in the back of you it is YOUR fault.

The question here is who had right of way - not just who hit who in the back.

[Boxsey]

I presume you have the optional legal cover in which case don't admit responsibility and get the legal bods to sort it out. As Nicola said, shunts are usually split 50:50. My guess is that the '£500 car' is not comprehensively covered hence they want you to admit responsibility.

[AlfaMale]

A simple rule in insurance if you are hit in the rear it is the other persons fault as they should always be travelling at a speed they can stop

Clearly not the case Lloyd.

If you pull out in front of someone and they run in the back of you it is YOUR fault.

The question here is who had right of way - not just who hit who in the back.

Purd's is exactly right!

The highway code clearly states you should give way when joining a roundabout to circulating traffic flows, end of discussion I'm afraid to say! You could argue about the other car driving too fast for the conditions however it's very difficult to prove and unlikely to be considered.

The only way out of this is if both insurance companies decide to go knock for knock, where they split the costs 50/50 rather than admit liablilty either way to reduce admin costs sorting this out!

[Paul O]

...unless your partner was stationary at the time of the crash possibly?? Assuming she was joining the queue on the r'bout and her car was stopped (and you have witnesses) then it could be argued that at a busy time, the other car was going too fast for the traffic and just ploughed into a queue.

Either way, I'm with the majority in that it will go against your partner, or the insurers might opt for a 50/50.

Good luck either way!

Paul.