Who was at fault here?

[mad1]

Right, heres the situation and what happened......mate o' mine was pullin out of a junction to go right, now the traffic on the right stopped and gave him way, and there was no traffic comin from the left, so as he pulled out a motorbiker who had overtaken the cars that had stopped to give way.....well, me mate hit him.................so who was at fault, the motorbiker who overtook and was over the line - into the oncoming traffic lane? Or me mate, for not watchin and payin enough due care and attention.............police were there but they said it had nothing to do with them (police)......so like a lot of pple are siding with me mate.........but who would u say is at fault, cause me mate has to now pay for the damage, but theres still a small debate................if it was the bikers fault, wouldnt he have to pay his own damage??????

 

[Angela Harlem]

The bike was at fault maddie.

He not only crossed the line, but he was riding in a way in which he could not see clearly what was coming up (due to the line of stopped cars he was overtaking) and therefore SHOULD have slowed down so your mate wouldn't hit him.
Your mate, as expected when turning right, I assume you drive on the same side of the road here, could see the line of stopped cars, and no one really expects a bike to be coming the WRONG way towards him.

If I was your mate, I'd fight this in court. If it happened here he'd lose points for it.

 

[mad1]

hmm, but the biker may not have been too much over the line....thats the prob.....although the guy, the biker was like 70 odds.!

 

[Angela Harlem]

Maddie, over the line or not is really a small issue. A motorbike is not allowed to overtake in the same lane as another vehicle. Even thought they can usually fit next to a car, he has broken the law.

Its a shame the cops didnt see it as their place to do anything...

Hope your mate works this out maddie.

 

[mad1]

hmm, well erm, listen!

I just thought there u said we drive same roads as u, is this correct?????

I thought in Europe u ride on the other lane.......ok, lets take u and I Angie.......say we are standing next to each other, ur on the left, Im on the right, now we turn and face Australia (west

), where Im standing if thats a lane, the traffic would be coming towards me.....and so with u, it would be comin from behind......obviously

so ya, is that the way u drive?????

anyway he was pullin out from work so was turning into 'your' lane hun-bun........thats were the prob is.............see I put myself in Thomas's position.................if the cars to my right stopped to give way, I'll pull out to the centre of the road to check traffic from left, as he didnt see any, and as anyone would prob do, he continued round turning his head and *bump*

But ya see some old drivers in general like...........*tut tut*

 

[ACROB@T]

..its the bikers responsability to anticipate activity ahead of him and act accordingly when overtaking traffic..its no different to when you reach a straight road yourself and have to judge whether you can complete the manouvre with regards to what is ahead of you because its always on your mind and always taken into consideration..especially with traffic moving at a speed which would dictate that vehicles will be filtering in and out of junctions..some would argue your friend should have checked both sides a few times to be certain but I doubt they drive by their own words..not everyone would anticipate another vehicle coming the opposing way in that situation