Hi, had a minor collision.
Operator of other vehicle feel they are not at fault. I disagree. Comprehensively insured, but don’t want to lodge it with insurance. Got the call Friday from his insurance as he never took rego details. Calling them tomorrow to book in for an assessment of the vehicle.
Based on the video, let me hear your thoughts on the driving in the video, music choice and even vehicle choice.
Cheers
I thought he had just left his indicator on from the previous merge. Didn’t realise he was going to change lanes again
Didn’t realise he was going to change lanes again
If that is true, you were not paying attention to the road in front of you from the footage.
Were you distracted by something?
My impression when watching the video was that you were either not paying attention or deliberately made no effort to avoid the collision.
Of course, I have no idea if either was the case.
Probably distracted by that tune… even the WTF was delayed by a sec… most would have said the F word when the other drive was doing what can only be described as a poorly timed lane change in slow motion…
sounds like you noticed his indicator and should have used better judgement. Poor driving on your behalf and theirs.
Sometimes it's not about what it sounds like.
"It's the vibe of it. It's the constitution. It's Mabo. It's justice. It's law. It's the vibe and ah, no that's it. It's the vibe. I rest my case."
The Castle.
I have been doing my due diligence after JV's advice and preparing for a legal showdown.
Their fault. But you lose time and effort.
Yeah, fair assessment.
Op has comprehensive insurance
Not if it goes to court.
What? Are you going to debate the road rules in court?
OP had right of way, and so he is not at fault.
However, had he been paying attention to that lousy driver he could have avoided the collision.
OP had right ofThe blue car had to give way, and soheOP is not at fault.
FTFY. There is no “right of way” in Australian road rules.
In insurance terms I would say the driver of the blue car is at fault as they failed to give way while merging.
In saying that I think inattention played a role here and the accident could have been easily avoided by both parties.
End of the day it is a minor incident. Hopefully you both got moving pretty quickly and pulled up somewhere more suitable to exchange details.
'inattention played a role here'
yes - as an ex-motorbike rider this seems to fall into the category of
"I'm in the RIGHT !"
"yeah but you're also dead …"
Did you speed up to stop him from changing lanes?
No, as I didn’t realise he was coming across until he came across.
He claims it’s my fault as he was indicating, but I just thought he forgot to turn his blinker off from his previous lane change
certainly looks like it in the video!
I know this is your words but if "my fault as he was indicating" then tell him to go back to driving school.
Their fault for trying to merge /change lanes when it wasn't safe to do so. They should have seen that a slow lateral move across wouldn't be the right move as the space was more at the front.
I would say it is somewhat your fault for not allowing him to merge in as the space was widening and he was staring to drift/edge in and it may have given the impression you were letting him. (It's clear from this edging he was a bit of a moron too, I would have used the horn if I didn't feel like he could merge at that time)
Overall, no issue from insurance from your end besides the time wasted.
Cheers for that. We both have the same insurer so will let them sort it. Will be talking to them from his claim.
I was just taken aback by his comments of he was indicating and he has it on camera. In the video it’s clear he is coming across but in real time I only noticed him as we touched, hence didn’t even think to beep him.
Will have to be more vigilant of people merging next time.
Should be pretty straight forward in your favour - call up your mutual insurer, explain situation and upload the video. They'll fast track it if you can explain the situation, describe the at fault reasoning and have the video.
Lesson learnt end of the day and good thing you had the dash cam. Guy seems to be a bit of a moron given his actions and his response to the incident.
Yeah, its cut and dried i.e. Was it safe for them to merge? Clearly it wasn't
The amount of fools that think they are entitled to merge when they feel like it is astounding, you have to be allowed to merge and it must be safe to do so
looks like he obviously didn't check his blind spot before merging otherwise he would of seen you, but yeah be more vigilant as well in the future like you said, i always sort of hang back for 5 or 10 seconds, if they don't merge by then, then yeah it is usually a mistaken blinker, but on the roads, trust no one
insurer may say you both are 50% at fault
Maybe if they were insured by Shannons.
'We both have the same insurer so will let them sort it'
in which case I'm guessing they'll accord liability fifty-fifty - simples !
Video not good enough, please provide MS Paint
I don't think it's right for you to call OP Idiot A.
He is clearly Idiot B.
yeah - like when a driver in a traffic jam holds down the horn to draw attention to the idiot in front of them doing something they don't like
and everyone on the street turns and looks at the idiot - holding down the horn …
Their fault. It’s in the road rules, if you are crossing over a line into another lane, they need to give way to any vehicle already in that lane… (look up; Aus road rule 148 in most states)
But, that being said, partially your fault, because you could just have easily let him in and written him off as just another (fropanity) road user and saved yourself the grief of having to deal with this clown. Being in the right isn’t always the best outcome.
Other drivers fault but you were definitely a contributing factor.
Why didn't you slow down when he was indicating and partially in your lane? Poor defensive driving in my opinion.
Yeah, I review the video and think, how the truck didn’t I see him coming over.
It’s why I posted the video in here. Remembering the incident, genuinely did not see the guy drift across until we nearly touched.
Have had a dash cam in the car for over three years and this is my first incident.
And you claim poor defensive driving, but in all honesty sometime taking the hit is the best option. Yes, seeing him in time and letting him in is the best option, but other options include jamming on my brakes and potentially getting rear ended while he drives away. Swerving left and hitting the barrier is another.
If the driver behind you is at a safe legal distance for the speed you're all going then why would they hit you if you jammed on the brakes?
But if they are not, I get rear ended and have to explain why I jammed on my brakes?
@pwnd: You wouldn't need to jam on your brakes. Again that would be poor defensive driving too. Merely slowing down or off the throttle may have been sufficient.
as he never took my rego details
The video show him taking a picture of your rego.
I give you credit for wanting to move off the expressway to exchange details though.
@Muzeeb: I don’t know what he took a photo of, but he did not get my rego….
That’s why I included that part of the video, as I thought he got my rego…
@82norm: After talking to insurance today, turns out that not only did he not get my rego, despite taking a photo of the front of my car and my drivers licence, he has also managed to mix up both my first and last name, as well as misspell them both.
Yeah, I review the video and think, how the truck didn’t I see him coming over.
It’s why I posted the video in here. Remembering the incident, genuinely did not see the guy drift across until we nearly touched.
You need to remember that the view of the driver is different to the view of the dashcam. Your A pillar would have been a blind spot and that's why you didn't see him while he was drifting over.
I thought he had just left his indicator on from the previous merge. Didn’t realise he was going to change lanes again
Watching the video again, we can see that he starts from the far right lane without a pause in indicating, so that would have been my assessment too.
So many things stacked against the other driver and the way he acted, stopping traffic in the lane completely for such a minor accident. Seems like an entitled driver who lacks situational awareness.
Dashcams also makes things look further away than they really are due to the wide FOV…ie it looks like there is enough room for them to merge into, but it is actually quite tight.
I remember I was ridiculed for making a post about a car who sped up to not let me in. I was told I was a poor at defensive driving because I needed to be more assertive in my lane change….😂
I was also told that the other driver does not need to let you in as that is the law. However now it is poor form by op to not let him in?
Which is it?
I found the thread to make sure it wasn't me that ridiculed you. It's too long to read at this hour.
😂😂 No it def was not you. You would never do that to me. I mean since that day though, I have asserted myself well on the road. Even cut off a marked police car. yolo
However now it is poor form by op to not let him in?
Which is it?
Poor form and law/road rules are not the same. Just like it's not illegal to not say please or thank you, but would be poor form/rude not to after someone does something for you.
I was also told that the other driver does not need to let you in as that is the law. However now it is poor form by op to not let him in?
It’s both. Courtesy keeps traffic flowing, but requires bending the rules a bit from the driver trying to merge without ‘giving way’
If you hit the back of someone's car, it'll be your fault
Especially if they see this footage.
Man, you’re on crack.
Much love
What a peniscranium
Comprehensively insured, but I don’t want to lodge it with my insurance.
Why not?
From what I have heard, your premiums go up if you lodge?
Correct me if I am wrong.
I’ll see how I go with them tomorrow and may lodge a claim of my own
Forgot the give way to your right rule.
I am an idiot
@pwnd: It was also clearly and easily avoidable by you, so even if they were in the wrong, you contributed…
You failed to give way to a vehicle in the right lane, that was in front of you and indicating…
This is false information. The other car being in the right lane does not give them the right to change lanes without giving way to the car already in that lane.
OP does NOT have to give way to the car in the right lane in this scenario, irrespective of where the other car was positioned, be it right or in front. The car changing lanes has the obligation to give way in this case. (QLD Road Rule 148)
There is also no road rule that says you must give way to the right. This isn’t a thing in road rules.
Also, you need a dictionary, because contribute =/= cause. You can easily contribute to something and not be the cause of it.
Christ JV, kind of expected a bit better from you. (And the bar was already set quite low.)
They indicated to change lane
So are you saying if they didn't indicate, then they would be at fault?
the OP's car rammed them in the back
Incorrect
It could (and should) have been prevented
Yeah, that's how accidents work.
If the blue car didn't change lanes in the first place, they would have prevented the accident from occurring.
They indicated to change lane
Doesn’t matter, the blue car still needed to give way. Putting an indicator on does not give anyone an implied right to just move lanes. (Even the dumb arse driver of the blue car thought this was the case with his comment)
OP's car rammed them in the back
Wrong. The blue car rammed into the front right corner of OP’s car when they changed lanes without giving way (as required under Road Rule 148)
OP contributed to the accident.
I already covered this above. OP may have “contributed “ to it, but they certainly did not “cause” this. The “cause” of the accident lays solely with the arsehole changing lanes without giving all due consideration to the car already in that lane as they are required to do under Road Rule 148.
Also, what John Kimble says.
Also, what John Kimble says.
Which one?
Who is your daddy and what does he do?
Or
Thanks for the tip.
@jv: INCORRECT!!!
The driver of the blue vehicle should have completed a head check, and yielded to the oncoming flow of traffic (OP's vehicle) as it was not safe to complete the lane change.
You should surrender your driver's licence immediately, if you continue to spout this non-sense.
Blue car had to give way
… which is the same as saying OP's vehicle had "right-of-way".
@DoctorCalculon: It’s not the same under law. Subtle but important difference to remember that there is no such thing as ‘right of way’ in the road rules. There is only a recognition of a requirement to ‘give way’
@DoctorCalculon: "Right" implies that you can do something with impunity. There are no "rights" given to drivers under the road rules. The merging driver has the "obligation to give way" and the other driver has the "obligation to not cause/avoid where possible an accident."
Neither driver had any "rights", only "obligations".
@pegaxs: Okay. I stand corrected. The correct terminology as it relates to AU road rules is "give way" or "yield".
Upon googling, the term "right of way" is mainly used in the US.
Under no circumstances does it mean you have absolute immunity.
Depends on your insurer, I guess, but this isn't always the case. If you're not at fault, your premium shouldn't be affected.
he is mainly at fault, as an indicator isn't a "give way" sign, otherwise buses wouldn't need them, but you are not entirely blameless. i saw that you commented that you thought he just left his indicator on from his previous lane change, which is understandable, so i won't comment on that, but you could have slowed down a bit faster when you saw him barging into your lane (even though he shouldn't have been doing it), because at the end of the day, the goal is to get home safe and undamaged, even if it means letting some obnoxious drivers get away with their actions. you might feel pissed off for a while, but at least you have an undamaged car and don't have to deal with insurance.
as an indicator isn't a "give way" sign
Clearly the OP could have prevented the accident, so it is mainly the OP's fault.
the other driver could have prevented the accident by waiting until it was safe to merge, so he is mainly at fault by your logic, too.
we have road rules in order for people to follow them, and one road rule is that you must give way when changing lanes to people already in that lane, it doesn't matter if they could slow down a bit and let you in, if they choose not to, you have to give way to them, you can't just barge in because you have your indicator on.
the other driver could have prevented the accident by waiting until it was safe to merge
The other car still drove into them and could have easily not…
Cheers for your thoughts.
I posted it on here because when the incident happened I genuinely did not see him merge until a split second before we touched.
Watching the video and knowing he was coming across, I have no idea how I missed him from the beginning.
I have no idea how I missed him from the beginning.
Daydreaming?
Watching the blonde in the other car?
Tuning the radio?
SMSing?
Wow, you missed impaired by drugs and/or alcohol. You need to get out more. Party
@jv: Holy crap dude. If you need your lawyer to subpoena (in bold no less) comments on a public forum, then you, your lawyer, your cat, your mother, eleven generations on your fathers line, and fourth three on your mothers side are morons.
I genuinely hope you are on crack, some of the stuff you come up with, geez.
understandable. i almost hit an animal once at night and going back and looking at dashcam footage, the animal was visible slightly earlier in the dashcam footage than the point where i actually saw it at the time and swerved.
Their fault. Nothing else should matter.
Contributing to a collision that you could have easily prevented always matters…
jv, in this instance you can see that the blue car previously already changed lanes into the middle lane.
The op has claimed that he thought he left the indicator on from the previous overtake, you don't just merge in with the assumption the other person will let you in (I know that from experience and with a previous post).
The blue car should have been in the left lane instead of indicating on a busy ass freeway two lanes like a dick imo.
Fair thought too, so many people leave their indicators on.
@ribze1: They really do, sometimes if they are at the lights and it is still on I remind them. They legit don't even know.
If this happened in WA it would be dead simple, you cannot bloody change lanes until it is 100% safe to do so.
But you would still be in WA so there is that too.
Their fault but why didn’t you just let them in? Such an easily avoidable incident.