I was driving at 5am, through a relatively wide road in a town when I needed to make a three pointer.
I briefly checked my mirror and saw that the only car behind me was a good distance away, I judged it to be time enough for me to complete the turn before he even got close.
Then, I swung a little (no more than 15 degrees of turn, if that makes sense) towards a left junction and pulled around to the right. I probably crossed the junction barrier to the left before I made my turn to the right. When I was across the road completely (I drive a large car, I would have taken up pretty much both sides of the road) I checked out my drivers door window that I was clear to reverse and as I did I saw the taxi that had been behind me crash into my door. The car was moved back a fair amount and we got out and exchanged details etc.
Was it my fault?
I realise I may have confused the driver behind by steering towards the left, however I had my right indicator on throughout, and for an appropriate time before I made the turn. I judged him to be too far away to cause a problem and I think he must have been speeding, to have caught up with me. It was a 30 limit.
To my mind if I'd been the car behind, surely he must have seen me slow down and indicate right? Even if he'd been right behind me and I'd misjudged the distance or something the first thing he should have done was to slow down to see what I was going to do?
Or does it not work like this? If you do a turn in the road to you automatically not have any priority? I can't find any information about it in the highway code on the net.
Thanks
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anyone who makes a threee point turn on a main road is primarily at fault for any accident..imo
you have a large car.. you indicated one way and steered the other.. there was a car behind you ..you crossed the junction barrier to the left..
The words "driving without due care and attention " come to mind.....
You had the opportunity to turn left into a left junction (presumably a side road) and turn there.. and did not...
sorry for being so brutal...
madf
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Madf - Acerimmer has done something a bit foolish. However the taxi drive should have treated such a suspicious situation with enough caution to avoid contact.
Acerimmer - To a large extent I do agree with Madf, however, this is effectively an insurance question. You need to fight it you your best advantage whoever was morally to blame. Mark (RBLS) is an expert on these things. I'm sure he will tell you how best to procede.
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
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Essentially though, what Rimmer did was pull out of a side road, turning right, and then stop. Probably not necessary to do a three point turn if he'd slowed down a bit. Yes, the cab could have avoided the accident, so the blame is not all his, but I'd say that amounts to foolish/unexpected behaviour on such a quiet road.
Not that I am immune from such things myself of course.
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Fair points, just to clarify a few points:
I wanted to pull up outside one of the buildings on the other side of the road. While yes, I could and maybe should have taken a side road - it diddn't seem that necessary at the time. Myself and the other car were pretty much the only traffic on the whole road - it was 5am, I wasn't going to be holding anyone up (so I thought)
My car is an old style Rover sterling, the turning circle on it is absolutely s***e. I wasn't going to be able to get round the road in one, no matter what speed I was doing - which for the record was down to about 5mph.
Just some thoughts, I appreciate the comments; however brutal. I realise I'm not without fault, but I don't feel I'm to blame. If I'm wrong - I'd rather be told ;)
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Ace
If it's any consolation, I've had so many close shaves from impatient idiots trying to undertake me when I've been signalling left but first swinging onto the right hand side of the road in order to turn my car and caravan into my driveway I've stopped doing that way - instead I take a 1 mile detour in order to approach my house from the other direction.
What I'm saying is there are a lot of morons out there more interested in what they want to do than what you're doing so even if you were a teeny bit to blame I'm sure the taxi must bear some fault - either through excess speed or failure to anticipate your manoeuvre in the light of your signals.
Probably best to let the insurance companies fight it out - bet they settle for knock-for-knock.
:o(
Terry
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Was the taxi an oldish vehicle...maybe it was time for a change?? Maybe you did indeed just confuse him - after all, taxi drivers rarely make turns in the road..... :-)
No doubt you'll hear of his whiplash injuries later on.........
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Personally, I think I would have avoided making a three point turn on a main road, but pulled past the road on the left, stopped and reversed into it.
If, as you say, there was practically no other traffic, this would have been accomplished with no delay and avoided putting yourself broadside and stationary across the road.
Sorry!
However, if you correctly judged the distance of the following vehicle before commencing your manoevure then the taxi must have been well over the limit.
That's one of the problems with limits, it encourages one to make assumptions about the speed of other traffic rather than carrying out an objective appraisal.
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I was driving at 5am, through a relatively wide road in a town when I needed to make a three pointer.
I briefly checked my mirror and saw that the only car behind me was a good distance away, I judged it to be time enough ... <<
You are condemned by your own words. It is hard enough making these kind of judgements in broad daylight, but at 5am and using mirrors !! Remember the "objects in the mirror may appear etc." warning that used to be printed on mirrors?
To be serious, personally I think these type of accidents are best left to insurers to sort out and let them agree between themselves how much blame to apportion to whom. Although your story seems to implicate 100% blame on you, until the other party has told their version, judgement should be reserved. Who know, you might be lucky and he/she may even admit to their insurers that they were partly to blame.
The threads by SteveH42 and HelplessFemale - see www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=84...8
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=88...7
only confirm the story as seen by one person. The other party is innocent until you hear their story. Until then, it seems unfair to pick on the third party, and especially to advocate revenge as has been suggested by some posts in those links.
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Well posted M.B.
Very, very few accidents have a 100 per cent causation factor by one driver. The one mention probably 85 - 15 as the one behind may have contributed by not appreciating the actions ahead and taking remedial action. We will never know as MB succintley points out we only have one side of the story.
The final para pleases me as I seem to have met a kindred spirit
in what I keep trying to bring to the attention of others (crazed please note)
DVD
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Thanks y'all, some interesting points...
I'll just let the insurance get on with it :/
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