Accident Query

Paul ( snipped-for-privacy@katpawmynuts.f.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

uk.rec.driving might be appropriate. I've x-posted it.

See - they agree.

What could you have done? You stopped at a GW line because it wasn't clear to go - it wasn't, so you didn't. The guy behind drove into the back of you, because he wasn't looking.

I read it as he had started off, but then had to stop again. I've nearly been caught by this a few times (as the driver behind). You see the car in front start to move off, look to see if you'll be clear, start going forward and *bang*. Or (so far) catch the stopped car in the corner of your eye and stamp on the brakes.

Driver behind's fault, but not a hanging offence. I try to drive defensively and if I find myself having to stop after starting off I try and leave as much room as possible for the car behind to notice...without putting myself in danger!

Cheers for cross posting it - will look at that newsgroup. Just annoyed more htan anything, especially as I've only had the car 10 days. What a pisser. Anyway, cheers. All the best, Paul

Yes as I approached the junction, I edged out, not by accelerating, but by the momentum of the car. I thought I'm not going to get out in front of this oncoming car, so I was just stopping. I never got over 4 or 5 mph. And then he rear-ended me. My front end was over the give-way lines. but my back end was still in the junction.

All the best Paul

Adrian wrote in news:Xns96747856A373Badrianachapmanfreeis@204.153.244.170:

Well, legally it may be his fault, but Paul needs to realise he started the chain of events, by entering the junction when it wasn't clear to proceed. He says "I had already edged out of the junction", therefore he set himself up for an unobservant driver to bump him from behind.

He actually did go but changed his mind. No problem with that as if he has to stop - he has to stop! However, if he hadn't gone in the first place this incident probably wouldn't have occured.

A lesson learned!

I agree, it is a lesson learned both ways. Me for realising that if I had pulled out, I would have caused the other driver to change his course or speed (even though he looked to be speeding anyway) and on the driver behind's part, to look in front him and not to his right.

Cheers Paul

MrBitsy ( snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I've done it myself a couple of times.

Only once any damage - big roundabout, the guy in front of me was taking AGES going - finally, a gap appeared and he started off - I'm looking at the gap, thinking "I can fit there too" - he'd decided he couldn't...

Volvo 740 estate with towbar vs front of 2cv... He was very nice about it and wasn't worried about the minor scratch on his towbar cover...

You could take that to extremis and say "But if he'd stayed in bed that am..."

It's pure and simple - you don't go until the car in front is 100% DEFINITELY out of the way.

Paul ( snipped-for-privacy@katpawmynuts.f.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

So?

All the more reason NOT to pull out in front of him.

Hell has a special corner reserved for the sort of vigilante muppet that pulls out in front of people "to teach them a lesson"...

There are some junctions where , due to the road layout , you can't see if it's clear until you shuffle forwards a bit. This may mean that you have to cross the white line by a foot or so (depending on the car) before you can see if it's safe to pull out. There is no alternative , and nothing that you can do to avoid "setting yourself up"

That's my point, he was miles away so I edged out. Then I thought, 'ey up, he's tonking a bit I'd better hang on and let him pass', which I did. I know what I did was a contributory factor to the guy behind bumping into me. But at the end of the day, *he* still ran into *me*.

All the best Paul

Not your fault. Dickhead behind should have waited until you cleared before moving forward.

Learn to drive then.

Sleeker GT Phwoar ( snipped-for-privacy@bouncing-czechs.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You *sure* he was talking about driving?

Part of my lessons, was being instructed to creep out of junctions, were visibility wasn't great, and being prepared to stop where needed. "Peep'n'Creep" was his little buzz phrase. I hate buzz phrases.

Several years ago I used to travel to work along a busy bypass, which had a small slip road connecting to it, usually with a queue of vehicles trying to join the main traffic flow, and one could almost guarantee that similar accidents could be seen several times a week, on occasions involving multiple vehicle shunts.

Yet despite this the junction layout hasn't been improved in any way, so I can only assume that the usual crop of accidents still occur there on a regular basis.

I can't therefore help wondering why the insurance companies don't pool their accident claims into a central database, which would surely show up any local trouble spots, (IMO this would probably be better than police statistics, as they would most likely only be involved in more serious incidents) they could then approach the local authorities to try and get them to improve the road layout.

In my experience a pot of white paint, coupled with a bit of common sense in redesigning some of the totally hopeless road junctions one encounters every single day, would certainly cut down on a large number of accidents, especially in areas where people are unfamiliar with the road layout.

I have thought in the past that a far more effective thing than speed cameras would be to put a dab of paint or coloured stake on the road/kerb/lampposts for each accident - yellow for bent metal only, orange for injury, red for death..

Over time you'd get a very clear picture of where the good and bad bits were... If you were approaching a corner lined with red and orange stakes you'd slow down...

"Sneak 'n' Peek" in our part of the world!

Cheers Paul

Ah, but markers aren't a source of revenue

PC Paul ( snipped-for-privacy@home.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You've never been to Greece, have you? Round the mountains in the middle of the country, especially, you know how bad a bend is by the number of little shrines on the outside of it...