Michel wrote: ↑06 Nov 2017, 12:50
wheeler wrote: ↑06 Nov 2017, 12:41
I would say the CRV was 100% at fault here, they should have stayed in their lane when exiting the roundabout, there is plenty of road ahead & they shouldn't have changed lane without checking mirrors/blind spot to check it was clear before moving into it.
I disagree and think it's 50-50 at best. The CRV is ahead, the OP then passes him on the left which you're not supposed to do, and the CRV is simply moving left out of the path of the faster black car, which he is supposed to do. If anything the CRV driver didn't anticipate someone under taking and pulled left into them. 50-50 or the fault of the undertaker.
I can't even believe you're saying this. In no way is the OP at fault in this incident.
In a two lane roundabout - which this one clearly was (many are not marked as such but are used as if they are, which can get dicey...) you can either have a single lane exit or a dual lane exit.
If it had have been a single lane exit then the car on the right would have been at fault because the car in the outer (left) lane has priority to use the exit, plain and simple. It's up to the right hand car to fall back and merge behind.
But given that it is a dual lane exit the car on the right is STILL at fault, because they changed lanes unsafely and clearly without looking.
They had an exit lane of their own to use, and they are required to stay within their lane as they leave the roundabout, not cut across lanes during the exit. They had absolutely zero reason to change lanes right at the exit of the roundabout, they were cutting lanes pure and simple. People do it all the time, and this time they got caught out.
On any road a car that is changing lanes is responsible for ensuring the safety of the lane change - not the car minding its own business staying in its own lane.
"Undertaking" as an excuse is nonsense - undertaking is coming up behind someone on a multilane road, passing them on the left then returning to the same lane. At no time did the OP stray from the left lane.
Undertaking is covered in rule 268 of the
motorway code:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway ... 253-to-273
Rule 268
Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right. Do not weave in and out of lanes to overtake.
"Do not" is only a recommendation not a law, if it was a law it would say you "must not" overtake on the left, not "do not" overtake on the left. This distinction in terminology is covered in the introduction to the highway code.
This advice not to pass on the left is also specifically part of the motorway code and thus not applicable at this roundabout as it was a roundabout and dual carriage-way. There is nothing in the road code that says you can't pass on the left on a roundabout or dual carriage way.
There is no 50/50 about this - the car on the right is 100% to blame and apart from slamming on the brakes there is not much the OP could have done to avoid it, and if he was focusing ahead looking for crossing pedestrians he may not have noticed the car beside him merging into him until too late.
I've had this kind of merging incident nearly happen to me a few times lately, the most recent instance was a dual lane roundabout with a
single lane exit (no marked merging area) where I was in the outer/left lane of the roundabout, indicating left to exit the roundabout with plenty of warning (about 5 seconds) and I had a large white van to my right on the inner lane whose nose was about level with my back door all the way across the roundabout, as I started leaving the roundabout he started honking his horn at me and then started angrily flashing his lights at me further up the road as if I was doing something wrong.
A complete idiot - (1) I was ahead of him the whole time and I did not accelerate past him on the left (not that it would have mattered) (2) I indicated my intention to exit the roundabout for 5 seconds, (3) I have priority in the outside lane to use the single lane exit even if he was level with me let alone when he is a 2-3 metres back.
If he's trying to exit from the inner lane onto a single lane exit its up to him to check to his left before doing what is effectively a lane change - and if someone is there he needs to drop back and merge behind them. It's not rocket science!