[barrowvian]

Hi,

I was driving along the A127 and was driving past a slip road that connects to the A127. I was about half way along the length of the slip road. A driver in a van came down the slip road and made a hasty attempt to cut right in front of me; he didn't indicate and just pulled out, and hit my car. He caused damage to the front wing. I pulled over and got his details, however, he felt that I was in the wrong for not letting him out. Not that I had time to manoeuvre, given the fact he just pulled out with no indication. I am right in believing that slip roads work in the same way as a Give Way, whereby he has to give way to the traffic on the highway that he is attempting to connect to?

On a side note; he stunk of alcohol, so I phoned the police. No sooner had I started calling the police he got in his van and drove away. I'd already managed to get his vehicle details and pictures of him and the damage. The police weren't interested as he'd already left the scene, but that's another rant for another day.

I guess I'm just looking for some sort of verification that I was in the right here. That I wasn't required to just give way for him and that he is the one in the wrong by just pulling out in moving traffic.

I've attached an email to show you what I mean. I'm the blue car, he's the red car, and the little green star is where the collision occurred. Any information or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[IMG]http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg486/barrowvian/impact.***[/IMG]


*****edit, the forum doesn't seem to want to allow me to attach my image.

[Santa]

Trick with images, this forum.

From the look of it the van driver was at fault here. We have been discussing slip road etiquette on another thread and the highway code is clear:

Rule 259
Joining the motorway. When you join the motorway you will normally approach it from a road on the left (a slip road) or from an adjoining motorway. You should

give priority to traffic already on the motorway

check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane

not cross solid white lines that separate lanes or use the hard shoulder

stay on the slip road if it continues as an extra lane on the motorway

remain in the left-hand lane long enough to adjust to the speed of traffic before considering overtaking.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by Santa

Trick with images, this forum.

From the look of it the van driver was at fault here. We have been discussing slip road etiquette on another thread and the highway code is clear:

But that quote from the HC is about motorways: the OP was on an A road.

However, there would presumably have been a give-way line (an possibly sign) on the slip road.

[barrowvian]

Hi,

Thank you for your replies.

Unfortunately with my profile not being able to attach an image it's difficult to tell .... Basically, the slip road comes down from the junction and runs alongside the A127, as you'd expect. It's a fairly long slip road too, so it's not like there was a rush before running out of road. Even if he did run out of road though, I'm assuming he still needs to give right of way to the vehicles already on the road? The white line between the main road and the slip road is what you'd see on a give way (e.g. shorter, more frequent white lines). I cannot recall if there was any give wall signs etc because I wasn't using the slip road.

He just cut in as though he had the right to join the road without waiting for me to either pass, or allow him him. Not that there was any time to do the latter as he came up on my left side, undercut me and tried to pull in directly in front of me. Rather than him slowly down and cutting in safely.

[Jack Reacher]

What is the cost of repairing any damage to your car. I would report the accident to the police by visit to a police station. And express your belief that the driver had been drinking alcohol

[Santa]

Dual carriageway or motorway, makes no difference at all, unless you can tell me where to find it.

[barrowvian]

I called the police at the side of the road and expressed that I felt he had been drink driving. Once he knew the police were coming, he left. I called the police again and have been given a crime reference number. I'm guessing not much will be done about this now as there is no way of proving this and once he'd left the scene, the police weren't interested. Once again another prime example of our fine police service.

Anyway, I have his insurance details so will be making a third party claim against him.

I just wanted to asses my case of "who's right and who's wrong". Looking at the majority of info I've found on here and online it looks like a pretty solid case. But you never know with insurance companies.

[smudger]

I can't believe that the police weren't bothered about the van driver leaving the scene, especially if he had been drinking?...................At the same time he did give you his details, so he was under no oblication to stay, ....or was he?..........................As for the crash, he was at fault at traffic already in the main road has priority, good luck.

[Jack Reacher]

If that A road has SOS telephones, then you could have used one of those to phone the control room. In my experience if a serious matter is reported, then a vehicle can be tracked by CCTV and Police Interceptors can subsequently Stop and speak to the driver, and examine the vehicle.

If the vehicle is defective they can put an immediate prohibition order on the vehicle and get it towed off the motorway forthwith.

[98selitb]

You were the totally innocent party in the accident. He had to give way to you. Etiquette does dictate that you should move over if possible to allow traffic to merge onto the dual-carriageway/motorway, but that is only custom and not law/rules, so that means nothing in terms of liability.

All you need to do to show us the location is provide a link to Google Street View.

I'm surprised the police weren't interested, as he may well have still been over the drink-drive limit if they had immediately attended his location and tested him, as alcohol takes hours to wear off. That, coupled with proof that he had been driving beforehand, would be sufficient for a prosecution. I thought the police took drink driving seriously. Disappointing!

Good luck with the claim anyhow. From your description, it sounds like he was 100% at fault. I trust you have informed your insurance company.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by Jack Reacher

If that A road has SOS telephones, then you could have used one of those to phone the control room. In my experience if a serious matter is reported, then a vehicle can be tracked by CCTV and Police Interceptors can subsequently Stop and speak to the driver, and examine the vehicle.

If the vehicle is defective they can put an immediate prohibition order on the vehicle and get it towed off the motorway forthwith.

Jack/Dennis - have you actually read any of the posts above? The OP has said TWICE that he did phone the police at the scene.

[barrowvian]

Again, thanks for the replies.

These are the coordinates of where the incident happened on Google maps; 51.580753, 0.368078.

Yes, the experience with the police was disappointing. Their reasoning was that because he had provided his details to me and that he had now left the scene there was no reason for them coming to the site. Fair enough I understand that there isn't much they can do about it there and then if he's not there. But I've just reported a potential criminal offence to them. Ah well, not much I can do about that now.

I have called my insurance and informed them of the incident, but not registered a claim, I've only given them the details for information.

I have also called his insurance and raised a third party claim with them. Will see how it goes and update as I go along.

[Santa]

I suspect that since you have no evidence - pictures for example - he will deny having been involved and say he was 100 miles away at the time; probably suggesting that you are some kind of scam artist.

[barrowvian]

I meant I have no evidence of the drink driving.

I have plenty of evidence of the incident; pics of both vehicles, pics of where the incident occurred with both vehicles in the image, pics of the driver, pics of the drivers license, and a video of the driver getting back in his vehicle and driving off as I'm on the phone to the police having just reported him for suspicion of drink driving.

[Santa]

Having pictures makes a world of difference. Send copies to his insurer together with a quote for your repairs and see what happens.

[barrowvian]

So a quick update on this ... not that there is much moving forwards.

I guess unsurprisingly, the guy that hit my vehicle has made a number of false statements to his insurance provider. He's now claiming that rather than him pulling out of the slip road and hitting me, apparently I was distracted by something and pulled into the slip road and hit him.

Looks like this will probably be yet a further drawn out process resulting in the insurance companies not being able to prove who's at fault and nothing happening.