Accident Advice

Neil_bovey

New Member
Jun 13, 2012
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Here are the details:

I was travelling along a major road at dead on the 50 mph speed limit. Time around 10pm. Me on a motorcycle, 3rd party in a car.

3rd party pulls into my lane from a minor road on my right directly into my path. As he was emerging from my right swerving was not an option, so I applied the brakes to slow down as much as possible as I knew i could not physically stop in time; so a collision was inevitable.

I struck the car at the rear and to the far left hand side of his tail gate. I managed to get my speed down to around 20mph at impact, to which I am thankful for now.

I suffered a broken right wrist and my bike has probably sustained around £1k worth of damage, I would estimate the same for his car. His first words when he got out were the classic 'SMIDSY' !!

How does this pan out for liability on the face of things. I thought it would be clear cut as he has turned from a minor to a major road without first checking if it is safe to do so or for other road users. However, this morning my insurance company has had a letter from his, claiming all liability is with me, although she did add this usually their first defense as a standard letter to send.

Any advice or musings appreciated.
 

Witch consumer

Moderator
Sep 8, 2008
1,593
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Debtors retreat
The general consensus is that if you back end someone, you are liable, however this is mostly based on speed and stopping distances, as long as the third party has admitted turning out (and the collision took place close to the junction) you have a fair argument, make sure you take some photos and measurements and produce detailed diagrams, add evidence based on stopping distances
 

T.C

New Member
Jan 5, 2011
29
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As someone who specialises and investigates motorcycle crashes and advises on liability, you should not have any problems for reasons I shall explain.

As already mentioned, in normal situations, someone who rear ends another vehicle is usually regarded as being responsible under strict liability, however there have been a few cases recently where this has been disputed and the appeal allowed.

In your case, the driver emerging from the minor junction has a strict duty of care to afford precedence to traffic on the major carriageway and this appears to clearly have not to have been the case.

The junction will also be usually controlled by either a stop or give way sign and/or lines, and so if the driver has pulled out into your path, then there is the possibility that the third party has also failed to comply with an obligatory traffic sign which very much works in your favour.

If you need further assistance, then feel free to drop me a PM and if you are happy to provide me with a phone number, I will be more than happy to call you without any obligation.