No Win, No Fee for Road Accident Claims!
When two lanes become one, accidents can easily occur. There are a lot of lanes on our roads that close in to one lane forcing traffic to merge, and when people are not paying enough attention, or being impatient, they can become road accident hotspots.
So what are the rules of the road when it comes to accidents where traffic merges, and who is at fault?
The Highway Code that dictates the general rules of the road stresses a lot about the importance of taking care when changing lanes. Generally speaking, the vehicle moving in from one lane to another must give way to vehicles already established in a lane.
Where two lanes merge in to one, it can become a bit of a battle between vehicles merging effectively. Merging in turn is often cited as best practice, but it’s important to remember that the vehicle that needs to move over as the lanes merge really should give way to those who can carry straight on.
Normally in a situation with two lanes, those moving from the lane that’s narrowing need to take extra care not to merge in to vehicles already established, or try to force their way in. It can easily be argued from a compensation claims perspective that the vehicle already in the lane is blameless.
However, you do get drivers who take this too far and purposely fail to give way by speeding up in the perceived knowledge that they have the right of way. Whilst they may have that right of way in principle, purposefully trying to undertake or overtake a vehicle that needs to merge in to the lane just to be difficult or get ahead is poor practice and can shift the blame.
So, it is circumstantial. All drivers should take extra care and try and merge in turn where traffic needs to flow from two lanes in to one – so if an accident occurs, the blame could be with either party depending on who has acted irrationally, or the blame could of course be split between both drivers equally as well.
We can look at damage areas to vehicles and get statements from witnesses to help so it’s always important to take everyone’s details at the scene of an accident, and if trouble may be brewing or someone needs medical attention, call the authorities.
When it comes to making a claim for personal injury compensation, you can contact us on our free phone number of 0800 634 75 75 and we can advise you as to whether you may have a case or not.
