who would be a at fault if we had collided?

[joko]

a coule of weeks ago, i was parked at the side of the road in designated bays that do not block the road at all...just behind me was a bus stop, which is not a bay sort, so the bus blocks the traffic for a moment...

as the bus had only just stopped, the way was clear for me to pull out...i checked my mirrors and there was no car beside the bus....so i pulled out...but as i did a car overtook the bus and flew round into my lane.

we didnt collide but they beeped me...

to my mind, i have right of way here and i cant be expected to know that they are going to overtake the bus...i know they might do, but i cant sit and wait on the offchance ... you could not see a car overtaking from where i was, until its out the other side so itd have made no difference anyway...

surely they should have been aware that there may have been a vehicle in front of the bus and been ready to pause...
they are the ones performing a manouvre and moving into the wrong lane.

but if theyd hit me...who would have been blamed?

i think them...but am i wrong?

cheers

[DTCwordfan]

Both wrong, joko more so,.....peeler is right......due care and attention they call it I believe.

[factor-fiction]

I don't really understand something here, joko. If you were were parked behind other cars in a row of bays and the bays were directly in front of teh path of a bus you must have pulled out into a second lane or onto the other side of the road. If that's the case then you wouldn't have been able to see if the new lane was clear
Just where did you 'pull out' into?

[Davethedog]

Whilst I understand what your saying Peeler the requirement must lie with the overtaker, if thier had been a collision there is no insurance company who would have found Joko guilty. Maybe knock for knock but I doubt it.

[PeelerPal]

I don't think I am joko because if you could see then surely you would have seen the other vehicle overtake the bus and therfore should not have pulled out!

Sorry if I am sounding slightly stupid, perhaps I am not grasping it at all

[joko]

factor...im trying to get the google map thing to show the layout but i dont know how to do it...

basically the road is the widths of 4 vehicles....2 for travel, 2 either side for parking...i was parked at the side of the road facing the way i was traveling...(they are not bays, just a space to park) immediately behind me was about 2 other cars, then a bus stop....the bus has to stop in the traffic lane...it cannot pull in.

the bus pulled up, travelling in the same direction as me....i checked the bus was not going to move anywhere sson, and i pulled out in front of it and continued in the direction i was facing...

in fact it took me a wee while to realise why the other car had beeped...there was no near miss, or any slamming on or anything...they just hadnt expected me to be in front of the bus when they got round it

had it been a car they would possibly have seen the top of my car angled ready to come out...but as it was a bus they couldnt...

[PeelerPal]

I think this is a very tricky subject but as DT is saying, care and attention should be undertaken by all road users including the bus driver, if the bus stop is in a place that causes a hazzard for other road users then there is a local government liability. the difficulty here is prooving who has right of way and from the evidence I have heard from joko, assumption is not cause for a valid right of way.
If the bus driver is indicating that he/she has pulled over then it is everyones obligation to ensure that thay can proceed safetly.

[joko]

peeler...how could i have seen the car overtake the bus if it hadnt done it til i was practically in the road - and it was behind a bus?

how can i see what i car is doing behind a bus?


why is it ok for the other car to pull out blindly, not knowing if their path is clear til they get past the bus...yet i can see my lane...it has only a stopped bus in it, but i am wrong?

i really dont undertsand how people think a blind overtaker was right here

[joko]

exactly peeler...and my lane, both behind me and in front of me was totally clear...

the overtaker was overtaking whilst being unable to see ahead.

[PeelerPal]

you have answered your own question joko, if you can't see you shouldn't proceed util it it SAFE to do so. you are at fault case closed!

[joko]

if you type L23 6SA, into google maps, i was parked right beside cohens chemist...which is noted on the map too...i was facing the direction of traffic

[joko]

peeler - I COULD SEE!

it was the overtaker that couldnt see ahead!

please try to read the posts properly before you answer...

[PeelerPal]

let me give you a scenario and you can answer it for me.

a normal highway, 2 lanes cars parked either side and you are travelling along that road and you slightly encroach the oncoming lane because the road isn't wide enough. One of the cars on the parked row decide to pull out in front of you. who is at fault?

[joko]

by the very nature of overtaking, people move very fast...this car shot around at high speed, in order to impatiently beat the bus...
when i looked in my mirror and blind spot there was no car there...

[PeelerPal]

so you could see so you decided to pull out in fron of an over taking vehicle?

[DTCwordfan]

I go back to due care and attention

Yes the guy behind the bus was a loon to assume that eh had a clear run around the bus and that there was nothing there. He would be charged with the offence if ther ehad been a serious pile-up.

As you would have been too, it is a reasonable probability that there is a car behind a bus and that it may (in italics) be coming through. Therefore to blithely pull out as if the bus was protecting you is wrong. My ex failed her UK driving test for something similar - she came through on the inside of a very large truck on the outside of her going onto a roundabout. Fail as "you can not assume that the truck is correct to pull out and that it is clear beyond him" just as you can not assume either.

In a prang, the insurance cos may well have gone knock for knock - but if the bus had been involved in it as well both of you would have the book thrown at you for driving without due care and for dangerous driving too.

[PeelerPal]

saying that people move very fast to over take is also not a defence, the law still remains the same and people should not change their driving pattern because of an obstruction.

[joko]

your scenario is hard to understand and not relevant peeler...

if the car could clearly see me and still pulled out then them of course...but this is not the same thing...

[PeelerPal]

please listen to DT Joko, he/she is on the button

[TWR]

You may take this the wrong way but here goes, if you had any experience of driving, you should have seen what you had done with your parking that there could have been an accident waiting to happen! what I mean by that, the forward going traffic in your direction had an obstruction " the bus" if you had given the bus more room to park then there would not have been a problem. I have seen this happen many times, a little forward thinking goes a long way Joko.

[DTCwordfan]

lol peeler, I will go and slip into my comfie bra and panties now and put on my skirt....