Caporegime
I agree it was 100 percent the lorry drivers fault but you always need to be careful around foreign lorries giving plenty of room. You never know what they are going to do!
Hit by Lorry this morning! - Dashcam footage
- Thread starter Malt_Vinegar
- Start date
Do we know his intention was not to turn left though? The way I see it, the lorry simply could not make that left turn without coming over into the 2nd lane.
Although I think it's the lorry drivers fault, I have to say I'm in the camp which thinks you did perhaps put yourself in harm's way a bit there. Foreign lorry driver, not obvious on the line he's taking - a bit of caution might have avoided the whole thing.
I'm saying all this with the benefit of hindsight though - in all honesty, I would have been very tempted to do the same as you did, so a bit unfair to criticise too much.
However, damage looks minimal - best of luck getting it sorted
I'm saying all this with the benefit of hindsight though - in all honesty, I would have been very tempted to do the same as you did, so a bit unfair to criticise too much.
However, damage looks minimal - best of luck getting it sorted
To sum up could it have been avoided......................Yes
Can anyone really blame the OP for not avoiding it......No
Will the OP approach the same situation differently next time......Most probably
There is always something that could have been done AFTER the event.
Can anyone really blame the OP for not avoiding it......No
Will the OP approach the same situation differently next time......Most probably
There is always something that could have been done AFTER the event.
Soldato
Although I think it's the lorry drivers fault, I have to say I'm in the camp which thinks you did perhaps put yourself in harm's way a bit there. Foreign lorry driver, not obvious on the line he's taking - a bit of caution might have avoided the whole thing.
I'm saying all this with the benefit of hindsight though - in all honesty, I would have been very tempted to do the same as you did, so a bit unfair to criticise too much.
However, damage looks minimal - best of luck getting it sorted
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I have viewed it a number of times and tried, as best I could, to put myself in that position, clearly the lorry's fault, especially when you look at the lane designations on streetview (http://goo.gl/JI513J).
My overall feeling is I would have been indicating left all the way down from before I was alongside the lorry (who knows if the lorry might have seen that and slowed to allow you pass if you had) and I would have definitely done a life saver/over the shoulder glance as I was about to turn left once on the roundabout. I've been in far too many situations where others have got it wrong on roundabout lanes where this split second glance has saved me.
All this is easy to say in hindsight ofcourse. I hope it gets resolved hasslefree for you!
My overall feeling is I would have been indicating left all the way down from before I was alongside the lorry (who knows if the lorry might have seen that and slowed to allow you pass if you had) and I would have definitely done a life saver/over the shoulder glance as I was about to turn left once on the roundabout. I've been in far too many situations where others have got it wrong on roundabout lanes where this split second glance has saved me.
All this is easy to say in hindsight ofcourse. I hope it gets resolved hasslefree for you!
The driver continued straight on to his drop point further up the minor road (straight over the roundabout).
I had to follow him to his final destination to get his details whilst on the phone the police. To answer earlier questions, I was actually running early this morning, so was in no particular hurry!
Accidents exchange are dealing with the claim, as due to the complexity (dealing with foreign lorry company) they can offer me protection from extra costs in the mean time.
They have assessed the footage and agree the driver is 100% at fault and have taken my claim on that basis.
I am still at Jaguar, waiting for the car to be assessed, and hire car to be delivered.
To answer some of the questions in the thread. Yes, I agree, in hindsight it would have been more sensible to wait for the lorry. Had I seen any indication from the turn signals that he was attempting to cross three lanes I would have kept well out of it!
The reason I use that lane is that at the top of the junction is the A3 and I generally prefer to get ahead of slow moving traffic in the let most lane so I can join the A3 safely. I have got stuck behind very slow moving traffic whilst going uphill on the A3 slip, (the slip is steep and bends sharply) and this means joining 65mph+ traffic at a slow speed, which I like to avoid.
Driving is always a learning experience, and I feel that I have taken a valuable lesson from this particular experience. Lorries will sometimes make unusual movements, and assume nothing
I have no doubt that some people would disagree with what I did, and at the end of the day there was an incident. So clearly there is room for improvement in my reading of such a situation, despite not being at fault, driving more defensively may have meant I avoided the incident entirely.
I had to follow him to his final destination to get his details whilst on the phone the police. To answer earlier questions, I was actually running early this morning, so was in no particular hurry!
Accidents exchange are dealing with the claim, as due to the complexity (dealing with foreign lorry company) they can offer me protection from extra costs in the mean time.
They have assessed the footage and agree the driver is 100% at fault and have taken my claim on that basis.
I am still at Jaguar, waiting for the car to be assessed, and hire car to be delivered.
To answer some of the questions in the thread. Yes, I agree, in hindsight it would have been more sensible to wait for the lorry. Had I seen any indication from the turn signals that he was attempting to cross three lanes I would have kept well out of it!
The reason I use that lane is that at the top of the junction is the A3 and I generally prefer to get ahead of slow moving traffic in the let most lane so I can join the A3 safely. I have got stuck behind very slow moving traffic whilst going uphill on the A3 slip, (the slip is steep and bends sharply) and this means joining 65mph+ traffic at a slow speed, which I like to avoid.
Driving is always a learning experience, and I feel that I have taken a valuable lesson from this particular experience. Lorries will sometimes make unusual movements, and assume nothing
I have no doubt that some people would disagree with what I did, and at the end of the day there was an incident. So clearly there is room for improvement in my reading of such a situation, despite not being at fault, driving more defensively may have meant I avoided the incident entirely.
Soldato
No doubt the lorries fault.
I cannot see any indicators going yet it is creeping into the next lane.
On the face of it I am not sure I would have overtaken it there, however I don't know that bit of road so that would be unfair.
I cannot see any indicators going yet it is creeping into the next lane.
On the face of it I am not sure I would have overtaken it there, however I don't know that bit of road so that would be unfair.
Soldato
My Biker-Fu felt a disturbance in The Force as the lorry moved further over the white line between the 2 left turn lanes, so I would have hung back to see what the lorry was up to as I drive a slow car.
If I drove a more sporty car and felt I had plenty of time to safely navigate around the lorry without impeding its progress, I'd have done what the OP did.
Either way, the lorry driver has to bear the lion's share of the blame for not indicating that he was intending to do something other than going left and failing to notice the Jag once it was in front of him.
Ah okay, At least you could follow him and get his information. I think you were very luckily. It could have been a lot worst. Do you know what hire car you will be getting? but if you look at the film slow, he was in your lane before you when around the roundabout.
Man of Honour
In the far left lane when both left AND middle lane are solely for turning left, there is absolutely no way that the OP could have expected even a foreign driver to be turning right. I would've found myself in exactly the same position as him. The lane straddling is just because of the size of the vehicle and, in my opinion, has nothing to do with intended direction of travel.
Man of Honour
I've driven that junction many hundreds of times (daily commute from guildford to richmond for 5 years...) done that very maneuver nearly as many & totally agree it was the lorry's fault.
Even driving defensively you can't predict when someones going to do something totally daft, the lorry was wide for the junction, in the left lane of three (the number of times people use the middle for straight on at that junction is unreal, but thats an easy mistake to make if you ignore all of the signs).
Even driving defensively you can't predict when someones going to do something totally daft, the lorry was wide for the junction, in the left lane of three (the number of times people use the middle for straight on at that junction is unreal, but thats an easy mistake to make if you ignore all of the signs).
Soldato
OP
I'd have done the same as you and expected the wagon, which is already tight left to remain left-ish.
Naturally I'd be wary considering it's a left hooker and they are known to regularly stuff up roundabout manoeuvres but I'd still have done what you did.
Truck drivers fault 100%
I'd have done the same as you and expected the wagon, which is already tight left to remain left-ish.
Naturally I'd be wary considering it's a left hooker and they are known to regularly stuff up roundabout manoeuvres but I'd still have done what you did.
Truck drivers fault 100%
Associate
I drive past there every day and get on the A3 northbound there in the morning. I have noticed more foreign lorries cut across into the middle lane when turning left there, though you do get british ones doing it too from time to time.
Its just poor lane positioning by the lorry maybe not being used to the side of the road to drive on and positioning too much to the right, and I also see some lorry drivers cut across to stop over-zealous overtakers from causing a hazard when the lanes merge as you go around the sweeping bend to get onto the A3.
I'm not about to place blame but I feel I wouldn't have raced past like that. I probably would have stayed level with him if anything which might still have avoided the collision.
But I drive like a nut-case sometimes and I wasn't there so who am I to judge! Glad you're ok!
But I drive like a nut-case sometimes and I wasn't there so who am I to judge! Glad you're ok!
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To answer some of the questions in the thread. Yes, I agree, in hindsight it would have been more sensible to wait for the lorry. Had I seen any indication from the turn signals that he was attempting to cross three lanes I would have kept well out of it!
The reason I use that lane is that at the top of the junction is the A3 and I generally prefer to get ahead of slow moving traffic in the let most lane so I can join the A3 safely. I have got stuck behind very slow moving traffic whilst going uphill on the A3 slip, (the slip is steep and bends sharply) and this means joining 65mph+ traffic at a slow speed, which I like to avoid.
Driving is always a learning experience, and I feel that I have taken a valuable lesson from this particular experience. Lorries will sometimes make unusual movements, and assume nothing
I have no doubt that some people would disagree with what I did, and at the end of the day there was an incident. So clearly there is room for improvement in my reading of such a situation, despite not being at fault, driving more defensively may have meant I avoided the incident entirely.
Thats a reasoned assesment of the event which should be commended.