Prang

[sam705]

Yesterday my brother wrote his car off in an accident and im keen as to what you guys think of who is in the wrong.

My brother (Jon) was heading home from work behind his workmate on a street with no marked lines. There was a parked car on his side of the road and a cark travelling towards him, driving in the middle of the road.

Jon was travelling behind his workmate (Baz) and Baz had just enough room to swerve around the parked car before the car travelling in the middle of the road got to him. By the time Jon got to this parked car the oncoming car was in the process of passing the parked car and by the time this had happened, Jon swerved into the middle of the road to avoid this parked car.

In the end Jon ended up hitting the right hand rear side of the parked car.

Could it well be my brothers fault for not applying brakes and letting the car pass, or on the other hand, the oncoming cars fault for travelling in the middle of the road in the first place?

There was a witness at the scene and she gave Jon her number, and the policeman took Baz away and told him to recall what happened.

No one was injured and the car was insured, i would just like to hear an opinion from you guys as to who you thinks fault it is, the final decision is to be made by a police traffic officer.

 

[Escapegoat]

If you brother hit a stationary car that was parked on his side of the road then he would be most likely found to be at fault. He should wait until it is safe to drive past the car, which clearly it wasn't if there was a vehicle coming the other way. Thus he would have to give way.

 

[ridingismyreligion]

I would have to say you brother is in the wrong. The car in the middle of the road would have had right of way.

Is it a two way street, if so was you brother pulling out from the curb or just driving really to the left of the street....

peace

 

[sam705]

Should have stated this in original post.

It was a 2 way street and no, he wasn't pulling out from the curb. Just simply travelling in the opposite direction.

There is parking on either side of the street, and is a 2 way street. i see it as though the car in the middle of the road caused the accident, but it can well be his fault for crashing into the parked car, as he could well have stopped and let it pass.

There was no lines painted on the road, so that goes in favour for the oncoming car.

But, isn't it common sense?

I mean, the oncoming car see's cars coming towards him, yet they still stay in the middle of the road?

But then again, there are a lot of idiots on the roads nowadays.

 

[kizza01]

Or your brother could have stopped to wait for safe passage when he could see the car was in the middle of the road.

 

[pavey]

Should have stated this in original post.

It was a 2 way street and no, he wasn't pulling out from the curb. Just simply travelling in the opposite direction.

There is parking on either side of the street, and is a 2 way street. i see it as though the car in the middle of the road caused the accident, but it can well be his fault for crashing into the parked car, as he could well have stopped and let it pass.

There was no lines painted on the road, so that goes in favour for the oncoming car.

But, isn't it common sense?

I mean, the oncoming car see's cars coming towards him, yet they still stay in the middle of the road?

But then again, there are a lot of idiots on the roads nowadays.

If the car is parked on his side of the road, he should give way to oncoming traffic first.

 

[Spanky_Ham]

A piglet from the same litter as spanky (ie closely related) hit a parked car..... well, more like glanced it, and decided to stop and do the right thing..... Mr Policeman pointed the finger of blame straight at the piglet... no excuses for hitting parked cars apparently.

 

[stoff]

When you pass a stationary or parked car it is considered overtaking. Although barely anyone does it you are meant to indicate before you pull out to pass, and when you go to pull back closer to the kerb. The other car is also meant to be travelling as close as possible to the left of the road, but as close as possible is fairly open to interpretation, whilst hitting a parked car isn't. Basically your brother is at fault.

 

[Regan of Gong]

Why were they in such a hurry to get home from work? It's not too much of a hassle to pull over and give way to an oncoming car on a small street. You're allowed to slow down and stop when driving you know.

 

[Nathan_]

If you brother hit a stationary car that was parked on his side of the road then he would be most likely found to be at fault. He should wait until it is safe to drive past the car, which clearly it wasn't if there was a vehicle coming the other way. Thus he would have to give way.

Bingo

Your bro should have waited to it was safe/clear to pass

Hitting a parked car... he's not going to be able to live that one down for awhile with his mates! Must have been a pretty bad hit if the police were called!

 

[mick1224]

Unfortunately for your brother he is at fault.

I did a similar thing in a work car once. Where I changed lanes from the middle lane to the left lane as I had to turn left further up the road.
I was behind a truck and my view was obscured, I changed lanes just before running up the back of a car waiting to pull into a drive way.
Wrote the work car off but managed to get away with just a fine - failing to give way to a vehicle in front.

 

[sam705]

I got all that information off Mum today and she understood it wrong. I talked to my brother about 20 minutes ago and he said he was behind his workmate who suddenly swerved to avoid the parked car, giving Jon not enough room to put the brakes on, so he attempted to swerve to avoid it and resulted in hitting it.

He was in no hurry.

The police ended up being called because my brother didn't know what to do and a witness suggested he ring the police. It would have been better not to ring them and to keep it between him and the bloke whos car he hit. But due to the car needing a tow truck to be removed they would probably end up getting in contact with the boys in blue in the long run.

With the law these days he will be at fault and most likely fined.

My grandfather blacked out at the wheel not long ago and ran over a median strip and a round about, knocking over a zebra sign, he ended up paying a fairly big fine for negligent driving, even though he couldn't help it. Police are just out there to get money ehh..

Thanks for the feedback lads!

 

[Escapegoat]

Unfortunatly you are right, he will still be held responsible. They will argue he should have been a safe distance behind his mate to avoid anything like this. The car behind is almost always in the wrong, trust me, I work in insurance....

 

[sam705]

Yeah, just something you have to take on the chin i guess.

If it was this certain policeman known around this area for sitting down, and giving you every possible fine available, he may well end up being very well out of pocket!

Lets hope not.

 

[sam705]

My Dad just recieved a phone call from the officer that attended the scene and he had good news.

My brother will not recieve any fines due to the officer contacting a witness that had given my brother her number, she said she could not verify the car was driving down the middle of the road, what took her eyes was my brother and his workmate taking evasive action to avoid this car.

Once my brother told the officer at the scene about this silver car travelling down the middle of the road, the officer called it a "mysterious silver car". In the end it was put down that it was this cars fault and no fines will be laid towards my brother.

That will suprise a fair few of you eh?

 

[Ryan]

My Dad just recieved a phone call from the officer that attended the scene and he had good news.

My brother will not recieve any fines due to the officer contacting a witness that had given my brother her number, she said she could not verify the car was driving down the middle of the road, what took her eyes was my brother and his workmate taking evasive action to avoid this car.

Once my brother told the officer at the scene about this silver car travelling down the middle of the road, the officer called it a "mysterious silver car". In the end it was put down that it was this cars fault and no fines will be laid towards my brother.

That will suprise a fair few of you eh?

Not really. It's pretty rare to cop a fine for an accident in my experience unless someone has been injured or someone involved was uninsured/unregistered/unlicensed/unsomething.

Sounds to me like your brother was still at fault, however being at fault in an accident doesn't automatically mean you get fined for it.

 

[sam705]

I believe it was put down that it was the silver cars fault, yet my brother could have done stuff to avoid the collison.

But as the policeman said, the witness saw my brother and his workmate trying to avoid this oncoming car and has hit a stationary car in the process.

It has been resolved now, so thats all that matters.

 

[|Matt|]

I know everyone is saying your brother is at fault and the situation ha been resolved, but I'll say something for future reference. The parked car was on his side of the street, so therefore it is his responsibility to wait for the car to pass before he moves into the middle of the street.

Had the exact same scenario occurred, but with a car on the other side of the road, your brother would have been fine.

 

[Tazed]

So, let me get this straight:
Your brother drove into a parked car and there was some sort of belief it wasn't his fault, just because he avoided another car on the road?
Sounds like a simple analysis to me.
Sorry it happened, it sucks, but it's your responsibility above all else as a driver not to drive into things.

 

[sam705]

So, let me get this straight:
Your brother drove into a parked car and there was some sort of belief it wasn't his fault, just because he avoided another car on the road?
Sounds like a simple analysis to me.
Sorry it happened, it sucks, but it's your responsibility above all else as a driver not to drive into things.

No, if the police believe it wasn't his fault, thats the final decision yeah?

He didn't drive into it on purpose, obviously.