No one to blame?
Discussion
Interesting to see that the HGV driver in this incident has kept his licence: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/1016...
I'm not saying this is a wrong decision; the evidence showed that he could not see or hear the car trapped on his front bumper. Apparently, the on slip that the car driver was using to join the A1 merges with the main road to become the new lane 1, meaning that as she joined the main road she was effectively undertaking the HGV. Presumably (although the report does not say) the lorry driver then, seeing nothing in his mirrors, moved left to be in the new lane 1, clipping the car with his nearside front bumper.
This is a common enough road layout and it seems somehow wrong that you can have an accident of this type with no one to blame! What do we think, the car driver for not either hanging back or accelerating hard to clear the lorry or the lorry driver for not checking his nearside thoroughly enough? Or do we agree with the court that it was one of those things with no one in particular to blame?
As a car driver I would try to avoid being trapped inside a lorry, knowing he would want to pull in if the road ahead was clear, but I'd also expect the basic rules of the road to apply and not to have the lorry wipe me out! A situation where a car with a good turn of acceleration is a real safety factor.
I'm not saying this is a wrong decision; the evidence showed that he could not see or hear the car trapped on his front bumper. Apparently, the on slip that the car driver was using to join the A1 merges with the main road to become the new lane 1, meaning that as she joined the main road she was effectively undertaking the HGV. Presumably (although the report does not say) the lorry driver then, seeing nothing in his mirrors, moved left to be in the new lane 1, clipping the car with his nearside front bumper.
This is a common enough road layout and it seems somehow wrong that you can have an accident of this type with no one to blame! What do we think, the car driver for not either hanging back or accelerating hard to clear the lorry or the lorry driver for not checking his nearside thoroughly enough? Or do we agree with the court that it was one of those things with no one in particular to blame?
As a car driver I would try to avoid being trapped inside a lorry, knowing he would want to pull in if the road ahead was clear, but I'd also expect the basic rules of the road to apply and not to have the lorry wipe me out! A situation where a car with a good turn of acceleration is a real safety factor.
You'd be surprised how often lorries side swipe cars, especially foreign lorries where the blind spots in their mirrors make seeing UK cars more difficult.
As far as I'm concerned the car driver should have had the sense to NOT sit right there and either let the lorry passed, or accelerated passed it and away.
Of course, in a perfect world she also shouldn't have been expecting a lorry to side swipe her... but then I guess some people think about how they are driving and the potential hazards around them, and some just bumble along without a care in the world. I know I NEVER sit beside a lorry and get passed them as quick as possible so I'm back into their field of view. In fact, thinking about what I actually do, I just realised that I hang back, wait for the car in front of me to get well passed the lorry then quickly nip passed and catch back up to the car again. Thus ensuring that I'm in the lorry's blind spot for the minimum time.
I bet she learnt a lesson there though, I can't imagine just how confused / frightened she must have been barreling down the m-way attached to the front of a lorry LOL
As far as I'm concerned the car driver should have had the sense to NOT sit right there and either let the lorry passed, or accelerated passed it and away.
Of course, in a perfect world she also shouldn't have been expecting a lorry to side swipe her... but then I guess some people think about how they are driving and the potential hazards around them, and some just bumble along without a care in the world. I know I NEVER sit beside a lorry and get passed them as quick as possible so I'm back into their field of view. In fact, thinking about what I actually do, I just realised that I hang back, wait for the car in front of me to get well passed the lorry then quickly nip passed and catch back up to the car again. Thus ensuring that I'm in the lorry's blind spot for the minimum time.
I bet she learnt a lesson there though, I can't imagine just how confused / frightened she must have been barreling down the m-way attached to the front of a lorry LOL
gdaybruce said:
Interesting to see that the HGV driver in this incident has kept his licence: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/1016...
I'm not saying this is a wrong decision; the evidence showed that he could not see or hear the car trapped on his front bumper. Apparently, the on slip that the car driver was using to join the A1 merges with the main road to become the new lane 1, meaning that as she joined the main road she was effectively undertaking the HGV. Presumably (although the report does not say) the lorry driver then, seeing nothing in his mirrors, moved left to be in the new lane 1, clipping the car with his nearside front bumper.
This is a common enough road layout and it seems somehow wrong that you can have an accident of this type with no one to blame! What do we think, the car driver for not either hanging back or accelerating hard to clear the lorry or the lorry driver for not checking his nearside thoroughly enough? Or do we agree with the court that it was one of those things with no one in particular to blame?
As a car driver I would try to avoid being trapped inside a lorry, knowing he would want to pull in if the road ahead was clear, but I'd also expect the basic rules of the road to apply and not to have the lorry wipe me out! A situation where a car with a good turn of acceleration is a real safety factor.
Someone will be held to blame, just ask the insurance company.I'm not saying this is a wrong decision; the evidence showed that he could not see or hear the car trapped on his front bumper. Apparently, the on slip that the car driver was using to join the A1 merges with the main road to become the new lane 1, meaning that as she joined the main road she was effectively undertaking the HGV. Presumably (although the report does not say) the lorry driver then, seeing nothing in his mirrors, moved left to be in the new lane 1, clipping the car with his nearside front bumper.
This is a common enough road layout and it seems somehow wrong that you can have an accident of this type with no one to blame! What do we think, the car driver for not either hanging back or accelerating hard to clear the lorry or the lorry driver for not checking his nearside thoroughly enough? Or do we agree with the court that it was one of those things with no one in particular to blame?
As a car driver I would try to avoid being trapped inside a lorry, knowing he would want to pull in if the road ahead was clear, but I'd also expect the basic rules of the road to apply and not to have the lorry wipe me out! A situation where a car with a good turn of acceleration is a real safety factor.
Nobody being prosecuted is a different matter, but there are plenty of collisions that don't result in a prosecution.
Although insurance companies sometimes apportion blame 50/50.
Still, I guess it's reassuring that the courts can decide that an accident is an accident with no need for one party to be deemed culpable. An avoidable accident, none the less, either through better awareness and anticipation or simply by fitting better mirrors to HGVs to eliminate a fairly obvious blind spot.
Still, I guess it's reassuring that the courts can decide that an accident is an accident with no need for one party to be deemed culpable. An avoidable accident, none the less, either through better awareness and anticipation or simply by fitting better mirrors to HGVs to eliminate a fairly obvious blind spot.
ScoobyChris said:
Piersman2 said:
I bet she learnt a lesson there though, I can't imagine just how confused / frightened she must have been barreling down the m-way attached to the front of a lorry LOL
Or possibly she just held the lorry driver responsible and her behaviour is unchanged 
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