Advice on accident joining Dual Carriageway

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Sgt_Major

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Guy I work with had a minor accident over the weekend when joining a dual carriageway.

Similar to the drawing below:

dual-carriageway-right.gif


But instead of joining in the "slow" lane, he joined in the passing lane, due to the inside lane having traffic in it.

He joined the passing lane, accellerating hard, but a guy in the inside lane attempted to pass a car in his lane, and impacted with the newly joined car.

Question is: Is it legal / permitted to join a dual carriage in the same manner as the drawing above, but join the passing lane?

avo5021
 

pablo

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i guess it depends how long he was in the fast lane for. if he pulled out and was straightened up and accellerating before the other guy pulled out then Id say the other guy to blame as he changed lane without it being safe.

but if the other guy had possibly started his move when your mate pulled out onto the DC then that would be tricky.

did the other guy come out into the side of your mate, or into the back of him?
 

brendy

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Whoever was doing the manouvre (in this case the stranger pulling from the left lane). If he had stayed in his own lane it wouldnt have happened. Id be wary of speeding accusations being hurled though.
 

davecoupe

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That sounds like an awkward one. Did he run into the back of your mate? I was always lead to believe that if a car runs into the back of another car the car behind is always at fault?

I have also been told before that if you pull out in front of someone and they collide with anywhere behind your b-pillar they are at fault as the didn't react/were going too fast for the situation, I very much doubt that's accurate though.
 

pablo

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If someone pulled out into the fast lane in front of you at 70mph tho no way would you be at fault.
 

gunman

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It depends, the devil is in the details! How far down the road from joining was he? If it were right at the junction or just after I'd say his fault, further down the road, to the point that it no longer matters that he has joined the carriageway in the wrong lane then it's a different matter.
 

stevieturbo

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Guy I work with had a minor accident over the weekend when joining a dual carriageway.

Similar to the drawing below:

dual-carriageway-right.gif


But instead of joining in the "slow" lane, he joined in the passing lane, due to the inside lane having traffic in it.

He joined the passing lane, accellerating hard, but a guy in the inside lane attempted to pass a car in his lane, and impacted with the newly joined car.

Question is: Is it legal / permitted to join a dual carriage in the same manner as the drawing above, but join the passing lane?

avo5021

It's a good question. IMO if the lane was clear and safe for him to pull into, I really dont see a problem.

It sounds like the person doing the overtake clearly wasnt looking otherwise he wouldnt have drove into the car which is travelling in it's own lane and in a straight line.
The overtaking car is responsible for making sure the road is clear for them to carry out their manoeuvre. And it seems they didnt do that
 

big cyril

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This is messy.
Depends on how far up the road the accident happened.
If the rear quarter panel damage happened after your mate had passed the other car (ie some distance up the road) then it's driver is at fault as he should have noticed he was being overtaken.
If the damage happened at the intersection ie the other driver started to overtake then a car appears from his right out of the gap junction then it's probably your mates fault a court would be critical of him joining the 'fast' lane, assuming the slow lane wasn't stopped.

As long as there were no psni there and no one is facing any charges then it will be down to how the insurance companies read it and that's anyones guess:confounded:
 

stevieturbo

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This is messy.
Depends on how far up the road the accident happened.
If the rear quarter panel damage happened after your mate had passed the other car (ie some distance up the road) then it's driver is at fault as he should have noticed he was being overtaken.
If the damage happened at the intersection ie the other driver started to overtake then a car appears from his right out of the gap junction then it's probably your mates fault a court would be critical of him joining the 'fast' lane, assuming the slow lane wasn't stopped.

As long as there were no psni there and no one is facing any charges then it will be down to how the insurance companies read it and that's anyones guess:confounded:

50/50 is the easiest for them. No court costs, no fighting, and both parties lose their NCB meaning the insurance companies get more money next time round. The insurance company cant lose with this option, and is also the hardest for the vehicle owners to fight.
 

Graham

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get crash services on board to help your mate, they would argue black was white
 

Daz500

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By any chance was this the accident on Friday afternoon heading into Ballymena at around 4:30pm?
 

ace275

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From what I gather on my trailer lessons, it's perfectly legal to join the overtaking lane if the slow lane is blocked, provided you dont then hog the lane
 

josh897

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The insurance will just try go 50/50 to scratch eachothers backs but 2bh i would have done the same myself, your not going to wait until a gap appears in the first lane to squeeze into rolling traffic, if its going that slow and you can take off in the passing lane without it effecting the speeds of anybody behind you (make them have to brake) then it should be 100% legal, the other party were the ones doing the manouvre to probably jump back into the 1st lane further up the road, your mate was the one already making progress in that lane so whether he was on it 25m or a mile it should make no difference imo
I would grt your mate to stand by it as if i was in the other parties shoes and i was pulling out i would have been wary of cars coming from that junction
 

Coog

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I was taught that you should never pull into the road if there's someone in either lane. They can change lane at any time therefore you should wait till both lanes are totally clear. I'm afraid your friend was at fault.
 

stevieturbo

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I was taught that you should never pull into the road if there's someone in either lane. They can change lane at any time therefore you should wait till both lanes are totally clear. I'm afraid your friend was at fault.

Clearly the other car also pulled into a lane that wasnt clear though....as he drove into the car which was simply driving in a straight line at that point.
IMO any rights or wrongs of his actions are gone by that stage. It's kind of hard to understand how the car that did hit him from behind, didnt actually see him though.
 

Coog

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I know what youre saying but if cars were going fast enough in the nearside lane to be able to smash into the back of him then he shouldn't have pulled out in the first place and should have expected cars to be switching lanes too. If the other car was doing the same speed in the offside lane he wouldn't have pulled out. I was always told to wait till the road was clear on both lanes before joining because there's no guarantee of anyone sticking to their lane.
 

Rocko

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If this was the crash at the Ramble Inn, Jeff Gormley gave me an utter bollocking one day for doing that exact thing at the exact same place in his 406 coupe.
 

Coog

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I've nearly went into the back of a few people on the Belfast road who pull out into an empty overtaking lane just as I'm pulling out to overtake someone at 50 mph. Road needs to be clear before pulling out in to it.
 

Sgt_Major

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Don't think this was near ballymena, guy lives in Belfast.

I've pulled into the passing lane before, but gunning it in the bm usually left any other cars behind lol.

Really hard one to call, as there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer that I can find.
 

adam1942

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When I was learning to drive my instructor said you always had to pull in to the far lane (e.g. furthest left) however I'd expect this was because if any cars travelling at speed couldn't slow down in time I'd get wiped out. I also suspect if the traffic is at a near standstill on the left lane then yes you'd have no other option to pull in to the outside lane...

Would be good to know the outcome!
 

pablo

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hit on the side means the other guy pulled out into the fast lane and into the side of your mate. no excuse for that one but could see it go 50/50 for sure.
 
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