My son's car which he was driving and I was a passenger were in collision with a large lorry last Friday evening.
This happened on a roundabout on which we were going straight on and the lorry we discovered when it hit us was turning right. The lorry was in the left hand and we were in the right hand lane.
As you approach the roundabout there are 3 lanes. Left hand lane for turning left only. the middle for straight on and right hand lane for straight on or right. The approach and exit for the roundabout are dual carriageway.
We were nearly passed the lorry when he suddenly turned right without indicating and he clearly didn't look for or see us as he hit the car on the wheel arch of the near side rear wheel.
It doesn't help that the driver of the lorry is Czech as it complicates things of course. when he got out of his cab he said it's ok for lorries to turn right from the left hand lane. When the police arrived he told them he didn't speak English. Great!
The police weren't that interested and to a degree probably because there's little to nothing they can do about foreign drivers.
We're anticipating a long drawn out insurance process where we will struggle to win I'm guessing even though the lorry driver was totally in the wrong.
I've been trying to get a definitive answer as to whether lorries can turn right from the left hand of two lanes even if they are indicating.
I'd be interested in people's thoughts and or advice on any aspect of this. Thanks.
0
Comments
You may have already done so but if not worth doing.
Having read everyone elses comments I had no idea lorries may be different so my advice is probably useless!
Do you have any free legal advice on bank accounts, credit cards or home insurance ?
You could also try Citizens Advice Bureau.
She has just had her excess refunded as the foreign driver refused to respond to their approaches and they had previously paid for all repairs.
None of them pay the toll at the Dartford crossing because this country cannot be arsed to chase them down abroad and they are clogging up the roads.
All you can do is state the facts from your side but I would say that you should be ok mate... Good luck
My mate read somewhere that because of lorry drivers low pay in many European countries, they dont spend hardly any money when over here, and seldom use our fuel.
Although as others have said, with a long vehicle, you sometimes need to use two lanes to get round a corner - in which case you should straddle both lanes on the approach to the junction so that nobody can try to get past.
As for whether you can turn right from a particular lane, it depends on the road markings / signs. It's not uncommon for there to be more than one 'right turn' lane if the road you're going on to is multi-lane (e.g. a dual carriageway)
I have met some roundabouts where (as you approach) the road to the left (and / or straight on) is fairly minor, and the road to the right is two lanes, and the markings show you're allowed to turn right from either lane. (I did my bus driver training / test somewhere there's one like this - one of the local examiner's tricks was to say "at the roundabout take the second exit, following the signs and road markings for place A" - which meant you stayed in the left hand lane so that you were in the correct - left - lane at the junction just after the roundabout.)
But you still shouldn't change lanes while you're half way round if that means hitting someone!
May be worth either (if it's close to home and practical to do so) taking some photos of the lane markings / signs on the approach to the roundabout, or taking some screen shots from 'street view' and letting your insurance company have these.
Depending on what cover you have, your insurance company might pursue the claim for you but it could drag out for a while if the other vehicle is not UK owned.
3 months ago Hermes delivery driver scraped all the way diwn the druvers sude of my car whilst pulling out to pass me. My car was stationary & parked outside my home. Repairs toik over a month & cist the Insurance Company over £5k of damaged. He was from the EU too.
Can Brexit mean we ban all foreign lorry druvers ????
Many don't seem to give a toss for our road rules - I'm sure I've read of several accounts of foreign drivers being prosecuted for driving while well over the limit and killing people.
After ‘investigating’ all the evidence you have collected, the Insurance companies will conclude that neither of you were showing enough ‘due care and attention at a junction’ - both insurance companies will admit fault, both will pay out for each other, both of you will lose your no claims record. Multiple insurance premiums are then collected for the next 5 years to try and recoup the cost of the payout.
Has anyone on here ever had a collision on a roundabout, (properly reported to all the insurance companies) and never had to pay a penny more for your insurance premiums???....
Hope everyone is ok.
I wouldn’t go up the outside of an English reg artic at a roundabout I’d let him be well in front of me before I pulled out as they are big heavy bstds that take a lot of skill to manouver one error and there’s only one winner