Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

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Fri 22 Feb 2019 23:18

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Hachiko00

My son was involved in a crash with a merc performing a 3 point turn today.

He was driving along the road and there was a merc ahead, side ways across the road. There were cars parked on the sides of the road, blocking the view. He assumed the merc was pulling backwards into a driveway or a parking space.

By the time he was near, the merc was clear of his lane and fully in the opposing lane, so he continued going and then the merc drove into his side.

Who would you say was at fault?

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 00:14

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - FP

50/50.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 08:40

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - 72 dudes

Agree with FP.

Your son "assumed" the Merc driver was going to do something he didn't.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 08:46

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - daveyjp

Down to the son to prove the Merc driver was driving poorly. If they pulled away without looking 100% Merc fault.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 08:58

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Hachiko00

I may be biased but I would still say the merc driver was mostly at fault. Of course my son isn't completely blame free and yes, he should have been more alert, but I actually worded the last part a bit wrong.

Apparently, the merc had pulled backwards and was clear of the lane, while my son was still quite far back. Merc made no move to pull out and was standing there (so even if he had realised merc was doing a 3 point turn, you'd assume merc had seen him and was giving way, surely?) and my son was going about 20-25 mph. The scratches start behind the front wheel, which means the merc must have started pulling out when he was right in front of him, no?

Honestly I'm just worried about what insurance companies will say, if the other driver decides to make a claim.

Edited by Hachiko00 on 23/02/2019 at 09:03

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 09:17

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - badbusdriver

I may be biased but I would still say the merc driver was mostly at fault. Of course my son isn't completely blame free and yes, he should have been more alert, but I actually worded the last part a bit wrong.

Apparently, the merc had pulled backwards and was clear of the lane, while my son was still quite far back. Merc made no move to pull out and was standing there (so even if he had realised merc was doing a 3 point turn, you'd assume merc had seen him and was giving way, surely?) and my son was going about 20-25 mph. The scratches start behind the front wheel, which means the merc must have started pulling out when he was right in front of him, no?

Honestly I'm just worried about what insurance companies will say, if the other driver decides to make a claim.

Should we therefore assume he does not have a dash cam?.

If so, fingers crossed. And i suggest you get one fitted for the next time (which of course, hopefully won't happen)

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 11:12

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Leif

I may be biased but I would still say the merc driver was mostly at fault. Of course my son isn't completely blame free and yes, he should have been more alert, but I actually worded the last part a bit wrong.

Apparently, the merc had pulled backwards and was clear of the lane, while my son was still quite far back. Merc made no move to pull out and was standing there (so even if he had realised merc was doing a 3 point turn, you'd assume merc had seen him and was giving way, surely?) and my son was going about 20-25 mph. The scratches start behind the front wheel, which means the merc must have started pulling out when he was right in front of him, no?

Honestly I'm just worried about what insurance companies will say, if the other driver decides to make a claim.

It’s hard to be sure from your description, no offence but describing accidents is not easy. The above suggests the Merc pulled out from the side, and hit the side of your son’s car. That to me suggests fault by the Merc. However, without a dashcam it would be hard to prove, and the descriptions given by the two parties will influence the outcome. So you might just get 50/50 by default. The earlier comment about defensive driving is a good one. I’ve lost count of the number of times a wally has pulled out in front of me, or done some other numpty move, and I avoided an accident because I was prepared eg foot above the brake, slowing, going wider or even stopping. Get him to do an advanced driving course, no need to do the test, it’s worth doing. In short, assume other road users are idiots/unsafe and drive accordingly. Of course most aren’t, but it protects you from the idiots.

Edited by Leif on 23/02/2019 at 11:14

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 09:13

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - NARU

I would say 50/50. If you're lucky 25/75%.

I escaped an armed hijacking in Africa by giving space to someone doing a strange manoevre in the road. By holding back they didn't get close enough to ram me. I apply the same defensive driving the UK and I'm sure I've avoided a bunch of collisions.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 09:43

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Bromptonaut

I'd say 5/50. The Merc driver should have been more observant, I recall one of my driving instructors telling me about keeping my eyes skinned in a 3 point turn. OTOH, if your son had been more cautious and held back until he was sure instead of acting on an assumption he'd have avoided this.

As somebody upthread says doing so is basic defensive driving.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 12:36

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Bolt

Happened to me years ago, but insurance co wanted to know point of impact on the side so photos were taken of damage to mine, damage was from rear of o/s/f wing which meant he hit me rather than the other way

the other drivers car was front o/s wing damage so was obvious he hit me though he wouldn't admit it, but due to position of damage insurance ruled in my favour

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 16:21

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Hachiko00

Other driver said he's not going to make the claim after all. Probably because he would have gotten the blame.

Sure, the highway code talks about defensive driving, but in the real world you can't rely on other drivers doing that. Whenever I'm in the middle of a manouver, I'll stop if there's an oncoming car, even if I'm already halfway out on the road. Often times they'll just continue around me.

Ultimately he was the one who pulled out, into oncoming traffic because he failed to do something so simple as to look. The damage on the cars shows that, just like in bolt's case.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 18:15

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Andrew-T

Ultimately he was the one who pulled out, into oncoming traffic because he failed to do something so simple as to look. The damage on the cars shows that, just like in bolt's case.

A contributing factor may be that since about 2000 the stylists have made it steadily harder to see out of a car. Hence the need for those all-seeing cameras, which drivers have to watch instead of the road. I'm not sure it would have helped much here though.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 17:11

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Smileyman

Merc driver should have made sure the road was safe before conducting his manoeuvre - and continued to do so as he proceeded, without causing other traffic to stop or take evasive action (and making sure any approaching traffic acted in response to his presence). Might be difficult to prove, Merc driver will say your son should have stopped and waited (an arrogant approach) - get a dashcam.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 17:40

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Bolt

Merc driver should have made sure the road was safe before conducting his manoeuvre

by the time he had done that its too late to move, too much traffic too quickly now, so its hardly possible to make a manoeuvre like that, you either do it when you see no one around and take a chance or you don't do it. round my way by the time you've checked no one is around- everyone arrives at once just as you start to manoeuvre!

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 18:41

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Hachiko00

Worsening visibility is definitely something I've noticed in newer cars. Irrelevant here though, as the guy had one of those late 90s - early 2000s A class hatches.

I'll definitely be getting dash cams, both for me and my son. Lesson learned I suppose.

Edited by Hachiko00 on 23/02/2019 at 18:47

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 19:37

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Leif

Off topic, but the old Merc A class was a horrible car, massively overpriced.

So what will the outcome be? Presumably your son is not claiming, and paying for repairs himself? When someone reversed into my car, destroying the driver’s door, and denting the B pillar and sill, the other party took blame, and it cost £1500 to repair. Seems a bit steep to me.

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 19:59

Crashed into by a car performing a 3 point turn - Hachiko00

We're definitely not making a claim. It's just not worth the hassle.

The damage initially looked a lot worse than it actually is. The door is lightly dented at the bottom. There were massive scratches down the side, but most turned out to be the other guy's paint/plastic, which we cleaned off. He's okay with leaving it as is, so we won't be repairing it at all.

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