Confusing situation with insurance claim... (wall of text!)

[wickedpixie]

On 28/04 I was involved in a bump at a roundabout. There are 3 lanes coming from a dual carridgeway & two exits. There was a queue in the LH lane, I was in the middle lane indicating left, checked for traffic, it was clear, I proceeded.
As I exited I was hit by a driver who had been in the LH lane behind me. He didnt stop, left the at the next exit, finally returned worried I was calling the police, I should've done, then said it was because he'd seen the kids in my car.
We drove onto a side road, he didnt want to involve insurers. I insisted, he finally swapped details & left. While we were talking I saw he was blind/partially sighted in his right eye.
I contacted my insurer who said that I wasnt at fault. He replied with a description of his intended route & a sat map of the WRONG roundabout. His description didn't match where he went after the accident. I replied with a sat map of the correct location, stated how I had stayed in lane and he had changed lanes suddenly behind me. I asked them to check his story.
This all was before 04/07. Since then my insurer has chased for a reply. NOW he responds (4 page letter!) saying I was in the wrong lane, was trying to cut in, swerved in front of him (I'd have had to driven through the car in front)
He's just trying to pick holes in my account, he's avoided my questions & changed his story AGAIN.
He's also sent a blurry photo of the dual carriageway 100 meters from the junction showing lane markings (faded) underneath yellow speed lines. There are no markings at the roundabout.
So:
~Was I in the correct lane? He wasn't.
~How close to the roundabout should the markings be? I thought the markings in his pic were for the dual carriageway, all other markings are within 20m of the roundabout.
~Surely my insurance company should be questioning his changing story! They haven't asked to see his disclaimer to the DVLA saying that he has impaired vision. Have

[Ethel]

Three lanes at a roundabout - you were in the 'straight ahead' lane and turned left, so you were in the wrong lane.

Plenty of people drive with only one eye drive - their sight isn't necessarily impaired and they can meet the standards of vision, so no disclaimer is necessary.

[wickedpixie]

thanks for your reply.

So if there are 3 lanes approaching it's left to go left and right to go right, where does the middle lane go? bearing in mind that there were only 2 exits?

And I am aware that he is allowed to drive but he DOES have to inform his insurer and the DVLA. My insurance company have not checked either...

[Ethel]

No he does not have to inform anybody about his eye condition if he meets all the visual standards for driving:

"Alternatively if you meet all the requirements set out above, DVLA don't require notification"

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLic ensing/MedicalRulesForDrivers/DG_10031253

You are clutching at straws with that one.

Was much damage done to the vehicles? If so, where abouts on the vehicles?

[wickedpixie]

Not a huge amount. he smashed his headlight and the front of his bumper so the impact was to the front of his vehicle, and by bumper on the back passenger side was split and it had been pushed across the back of the car by the impact.

What concerns me most is that it wouldn't matter if I had been in the wrong lane approaching the roundabout (despite the fact that it's not marked AT the roundabout and I was following other cars who took the same route) I was in the correct lane as i left the roundabout and he suddenly veered right and decided to take the second exit instead of the first. Also he said he was heading towards the road where we exchanged details, in which case he would have been staying in the left hand lane to turn left again at the next roundabout. He didn't need to change lanes. And when he left he headed away from where he said he was going.

I know that it's a bit of he said she said at the moment, but my account of the incident has been constant, he's changed his story a couple of times and now will not confirm where he was going.

I'm really upset about the whole thing, I've been driving 17 years and never even had a bump. I wish I had phoned the police. :(

As for the eye thing, my mum damaged her eye a few years back and although her vision was ok in the other eye she still had to inform the DVLA. That's the only reason I mentioned it.

[wickedpixie]

*edit* 14 years. I've been driving 14 years! Ageing myself prematurely there!

[Ethel]

Okay - that was your mum's situation, and everyone is different. People born with sight in only one eye don't have the difficulties others have who lose sight in later life. Forget the eye thing.

This sort of bump is usually dealt with 'knock for knock' by the insurance companies as it can be impossible to determine who was at fault.

It is not taking an unusual length of time, so be patient. Just be clear of the facts as you remember them and leave it to the insurance company to sort out.

[wickedpixie]

Ok. Thanks for the advice. I'll just have to hang on and see what they say next. I just kind of assumed it'd be quicker...

I don't suppose you know where I can find out how close to a roundabout the lane markings should be? The one's he has pointed out are far from clear and some distance from the junction and the site of the accident. I don't want to end up looking like an idiot when I reply to this latest letter.

[flip_flop]

The 'Knock for Knock' agreement between insurers hasn't existed for more than 10 years now.

[cassa333]

Actually the three lanes leading to the roundabout can be blurry sometimes.

A slip road onto the roundabout by hear has three lanes and it goes like this... left lane to go left, middle lane to go left and straight on and right to go right

What do the markings for the road say anyway?

[R1Geezer]

can you ppst a link to the google map of this roundabout?

[wickedpixie]

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=51.56 6654,0.540878&spn=0.001717,0.003433&t=h&z=18

Apparently there's an accident investigator coming out to see me soon. Hopefully that should clear things up a bit.

Cassa333 ~ the left lane is marked left only and the other two are marked straight on. But which way is straight on at a rounabout with only 2 exits? And the right lane doesn't ray righ only? Also, as the markings are that far back do they apply to the mini-roundabout ot the whole "magic" roundabout.

*very confused*

[wickedpixie]

God there were loads of typo's in that.

Sorry.

[R1Geezer]

If you turn left there are 2 lanes so on the approach, the left hand lane is for turning left only and only into the left hand lane of the 2 that you turn onto. The middle lane can be used for turning right or left into the right hand lane of the 2 lanes on the left. The right hand lane can be used for turning right or going right round and back the way you came. Now if the collision came because he was trying to go into the right hand of the 2 lanes or because he was not taking the left exit at all (and you where turning left into the right hand lane of the 2) then it's 100% his fault. If you where turning left into the left hand lane of the 2 then it's 100% your fault. if you where both doing the correct thing then you would not have collided, therefore it is someone's fault there is no knock for knock scenario available here.

[wickedpixie]

Well, he told the insurers that he was in the left hand lane and staying left. Although after the impact he drove off the second exit of the first roundabout. He said he was headed for the B1464, in which case he should have stayed in the left hand lane all the way.

Now he's saying (all in the same letter) that he was in the left lane and I cut in. THEN he says he was in the left but moving over to the right for the second roundabout, which again would take him away from the B1464.

Confused? I was.

Either way, he didn't go where he said he was going. He drove off towards the A130 (at the bottom of that map) and drove back from there after I stopped. He also left in that direction after we exchanged details on the side road ON the B1464.

I stayed in the middle lane for the first roundabout because I needed to be in the right hand lane for the second roundabout. I was in the right hand lane when he hit me.

[R1Geezer]

If you are in the middle lane turning left into the right hand of the 2 lanes then he cannot hit you unless he's wrong. He's in the left hand lane, either going right or going left but trying to get into the right hand of the 2 lanes either way it's 100% his fault. Stick to your guns do not accept knock for knock.

[johnny37]

Ethel, I havent got the patience to read all ths but surely if you have only got one eye you have to inform the DVLA. I'm diabetic which is reportable in itself but because I have had laser eye treartment due to retinopathy they send me for a visual acuity test every year. Also doesnt your insurer requires you to divulge any physical defect whcih may affect your ability to drive? I stand to be corrected!