Traffic in Derby around the Markeaton roundabout is being seriously delayed after an accident involving a lorry and a Nissan Micra earlier this morning. This is on my usual route to work; as I attempted to join the A38 the whole carriageway was blocked by a two trailer lorry with the rear trailer having tipped over across the lanes. According to sources from the Derby Telegraph no one was badly hurt.
But it got me thinking about roundabout accidents once again, as I have had plenty of near misses (none my fault!) myself when drivers cross lanes and pull out in front of you. And although, thankfully, no one appears badly hurt in this incident, it got me thinking about the “what if’s” in a situation where vehicles are involved in a serious accident on a roundabout.
Can You Claim?
Roundabouts are a natural accident hotspot because people are prone to make mistakes on them. If a driver isn’t familiar with the area, they may end up in the wrong lane and decide to switch at last minute. Drivers are prone to not paying enough attention when joining them either.
Whether you can claim or not depends on who is at fault. If you are correctly proceeding in your lane and someone merges in to your lane, it sounds like they are at fault. If someone cuts across an exit because they were in the wrong lane, again, it sounds like you have a claim as they are at fault. If someone has pulled on to a roundabout when you are already established on it, you have a good chance of success as well.
If the other driver is to blame, you should have a successful road traffic accident claim to make.
What to do
If you are involved in a serious roundabout collision, you should put a claim in right away as you have the right to claim for personal injury compensation and you will likely end up financially out of pocket as well. Vehicle damages tend to be fairly heavy as well, but you are of course entitled to claim back for the cost of repair or replacement of your vehicle.
There are set procedures and rules for these types of cases that should allow a claim to be resolved in the shortest time possible, and ensure the insurers for the driver at fault accept the blame early to allow you to recover your financial expenses and losses without delay.
