wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

my brother was involved in a bike accident this afternoon, thankfully apart from a knackered wrist and bruised ego and his bike being a write off, he is fine.

i need some advice though as to who the fault will be attributed to.

here is the story, he was travelling down the right hand side of stationary traffic moving to some traffic lights which were on red. whilst doing so, the lights changed and a ford focus pulled out from a pub car park on the right hand side of the road and he went straight into the car over the bonnet and on to the floor.

will he be blamed for travelling down to the red light to the side of the stationary traffic or will the person pulling out of the pub car park be blamed for not looking, as i see it it could go either way, could be a case of 50/50 blame.

coulddo with knowing as he has only had this particular bike for 2 weeks and has it on 3rd party fire and theft insurance only, obviously, if they blame him, his insurance wont pay out for the bike and we already know it is a write off, he does have gap insurance so he should be ok anyway, but all the same would like to know.

rbaz

iTrader: (1)

Was he on the correct side of the road or had he crossed over in to the opposite lane?

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

bit of both from what i can gather, mostly on his side of the road, but some of it on the other side of the road.

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

tricky one while he should've looked both ways before pulling out don't know wether its legal to get to the front of the traffic, could he not say he was heading for the pub car park and is there any witness's

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

dont think he will get away with it, as believe it or not he was on his way to get the car to pick his 12 week old son up from hospital and this was the first thing he said to the paramedic when he came round. it's the bit about the travelling to the front of the queue whilst stationary thats the bind, not sure if its legal or not. he was partially on his side of the road and partially on the other side at different stages down the traffic.

bob r

iTrader: (46)

A mate of mine and a Scoobynetter was in a very similar situation when he was knocked off his bike. This was around 8 months ago and the battle between insurance co's continues.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

that worries me, or more to the point him, i work in insurance but for buildings and know how messy things can get.

bugeyeandy

Legally i'd say he's ok so long as he wasn't tearing past the queue of traffic.
This is from the highway code section 88 on motorbike manoeuvring

bugeyeandy

Although this sentence from that section could be used against him

Dave Bullock

It is perfectly legal to filter down a stationary line of traffic BUT you must exercise due care as alot of cage drivers do not look for you. I ride with police riders quite often and they encourage us to make progress by filtering where allowed.

If the focus has pulled out of the offside then it is up to him to look that the major road is clear both ways.

There is often a debate when a car pulls out from the left between the stationary traffic and takes a bike out but as I read what you've said the focus has pulled across the bike with the bike IN FULL VIEW. You don't mention how quick he was filtering. He should leave himself plenty time for any eventuallity by keeping his speed low.

Should be no contest but I'm sure that the focus driver will contest it!

Without wanting to sound like a 'know it all' I always keep my speed low when filtering and I'm doubly careful. Alot of cage drivers really do not see you!!!

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

he was only travelling slowly down to a red light so wasnt nailing it by any stretch, hopefully it will all turn out ok.

any further views from anyone?

billythekid

What was the Focus doing? Turning left or right?

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

turning left

jayb1970

A friend of mine who is a Retained fireman was on his way to a shout travelling on the busiest road in town which was also having work done on the road so there was traffic lights as well, anyway, he was trying to make progress and was filtering down the outside of the traffic and some numpty decided he didn't want to wait for the lights to change and promptly pulled across the road to do a 3 point turn and go back the other way. You know what happens next !! Yep off he went, straight over the bonnet, bit bashed up but ok, bike was a write off.

Conclusion: Insurance paid out with no question.

Might be a slightly different accident to your brothers but along the same lines.

Leslie

Its a difficult question really. If you are overtaking you are responsible for ensuring the road is clear but it is really just the same for someone pulling out onto the road. It could be said that the car driver was justified in not expecting a vehicle to be coming along the road on that side from his left I suppose, but by the same token he should still make sure the road is clear in both directions, especially ahead of him as the m/cyclist was. You may well be right with the 50/50 verdict.

Les

Dave Bullock

The car driver MUST make sure that the road is clear both ways before entering the major road from a side road. BOTH WAYS......

Dave Bullock

Why don't you drop these people a line.

Rider Support Services / Holding page

They will be in a better position than just about anyone to advise you.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Yes, but if the motorcyclist was WEAVING in and out of the traffic, (the OP says he was partly on his own side of the road and partly on the opposite side), then how was the Focus driver supposed to see him?

He MAY have looked, a quick look left, nowt there, sets off after looking more carefully to his right, where traffic SHOULD be coming from, and bang, there's the motorcyclist on top of him?

If I were the car driver, I'd be a bit miffed if I were held responsible.

I've nearly been taken out several times by motorcyclists here in Scunny, allegedly "filtering".

It's a traffic queue: so queue.

Alcazar

andy97

iTrader: (1)

case law re filtering etc for motorbikes might be of assistance, Schrogin is a case which comes to mind recently. Get your brother to get a good traffic solicitor/barrister, who will know these cases.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

he wasnt weaving in and out of traffic, he was just moving down the right hand side of stationary traffic, but obviously there was more space at some parts of the queue than others meaning he had to cross the line in the middle of the road in order to move past.

im inclined to agree with the majority of peoples replies that the car driver is at fault and he should have made sure the way was claer before joining a main road from a side road/car park in this case.

from other things ive read, police motorcyclists are encouraged to filter to the front when queuing traffic is present, so if its good enough for them then it shouldnt make any difference to normal motorcyclists.