Fortunately for the other driver there wasn't a collision today but there very nearly was.... Just wondering who you think would have been in the right?

 

Two lane carriageway and the right lane ends by merging into the left lane.

Car 1 in left lane

Car 2 in right lane

 

Car 2 is further down the road than car 1 (Boot is level with bonnet) and has been for at least 5-10 seconds

 

There's another car in front of both these vehicles in the left lane

 

Car 1 does not back off

 

Car 2 almost takes side of Car 1 off as lane finishes and it has to pull in.

 

Who's at fault if neither had backed down and there had been a collision?

Edited 20 May, 201511 yr by Sheldon.Cooper

I'd say car 2 is at fault for attempting to overtake where there isn't room to do so safely.

I'd say car 2 is at fault for attempting to overtake where there isn't room to do so safely.

Even though Car 2 had been in front for a while?

car on right hand side should of slowed then pulled in behind, BUT for the sake of avoiding an accident left hand car should of allowed right hand car in, Thats my thought anyway....

Its supposed to me merge in turn like a zip?

 

Car 2 is ahead so should merge in front of car 1.

 

Of course the manor in which he has got ahead is going to be the issue... if he's barging ahead to 'make progress', car 1 is more likely to object and then you have the situation above.

Car 2 shouldn't change lane until it's safe to do so. Period.

As the OP said, "Two lane carriageway and the right lane ends by merging into the left lane".  So it is up to the car in the outer lane to merge safely into the inner lane.  Why has car 2 been sat partially past car 1 for 5-10 seconds?  Either pass or drop behind - observation and anticipation would have shown that a conflict was possible at the merging point  Were there arrows on the road showing that outer lane should merge with inner lane?

Car 2 wasn't overtaking. Car 2 was changing lanes and as such should be aware of other traffic and only perform the maneuver when safe to do so.

Agree with all above...Although with most driving instances, a little more info would be beneficial,

 

Was car 2 over taking car 1 and not able to complete the overtake as car 1 was speeding up?

 

or was car 2 just plodding along and not making any indication that they were going to merge?

 

How long is this road?

 

I would say that both cars have responsibility for themselves and others around them. If you see a car heading towards you in your lane, do you swerve to avoid, or plough straight into it?

 

Merge lanes can be the cause for some proper stupid road rage incidents

Edited 20 May, 201511 yr by Ally_bassman

Technically I suppose car 1 is in the right but sounds like they were being abit of a k**b by not letting car 2 in if he/she was already ahead and driving sensibly.

Which car was the OP driving? Lol!

I've wondered this before, especially in heavy traffic, i.e. cars immediately behind cars 1 and 2, whereby it's not really safe to suddenly slow down, or to have to stop should there not be room. (There is a road I have in mind, where after a set of traffic lights, the lanes almost immediately merge, so there is often heavy traffic and no time to slowly back off. There's also not much room between the cars on the left for the same reason).

 

Surely due to the lanes merging, as opposed to it being the driver choosing to change lanes, there is some onus on both drivers to adopt some kind of one by one filter approach for safety reasons? Otherwise you could potentially have someone stopped dead at the merge point?

Okay bit more info as requested.

2 lanes leave a roundabout, outside lane lasts for maybe 200m then merges into left lane which continues almost forever.

cars were travelling at about 30mph

Car 2 in right hand lane went past 5 or 6 slower cars, overtook car 1 and was in front of him for 10 seconds but could not pull over into left hand lane because car 1 accelerated to prevent him doing so and ended up extremely close to rear of car in front of both of them.

Both cars held their ground, car 2 was still minimum 1/2 car length in front.

Outside lane ends so car 2 should have slowed and given way

Car in left hand lane should not have purposefully prevented car 2 from pulling in and should have given way.

If you google 'highway code overtaking' this is the top result:

 

2. Overtaking (162 to 169) 162

Before overtaking you should make sure

• the road is sufficiently clear ahead
• road users are not beginning to overtake you
• there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake

 

 

Car 2 failed the first and third bullet points.

Depends which car was a BMW:

 

Car 1 = BMW, Cars 2 & 3 not BMW's - Car 1 at fault,

Car 2 = BMW, Cars 1 & 3 not BMW's - Car 2 at fault,

Car 3 = BMW, Cars 1 & 2 not BMW's - Car 3 at fault,

 

It's really quite simple 

If you google 'highway code overtaking' this is the top result:

 

2. Overtaking (162 to 169) 162

Before overtaking you should make sure

• the road is sufficiently clear ahead
• road users are not beginning to overtake you
• there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake

 

 

Car 2 failed the first and third bullet points.

 

This was not an overtake. This was two lanes merging into one.

If you google 'highway code overtaking' this is the top result:

 

2. Overtaking (162 to 169)

162

Before overtaking you should make sure

• the road is sufficiently clear ahead
• road users are not beginning to overtake you
• there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake

 

 

Car 2 failed the first and third bullet points.

Actually car 2 had all bullet points clear. It was car 1 who purposefully prevented him from carrying out the manoeuvre.

In case you hadn't guessed I was car 2.

Big 4x4 was car 1.

Octavia vs 4x4. Normally the 4x4 would win but I was sure I was in the right. Surely you can't legally bully someone just because your car is bigger.

This was not an overtake. This was two lanes merging into one.

See post #12 "Car 2 in right hand lane went past 5 or 6 slower cars, overtook car 1 and..."

Car 2 is in the wrong. Should merge safely with sufficient room.

In case you hadn't guessed I was car 2.

 

I think maybe you should contemplate about who was being an "aggressor" on the road, and perhaps take a step back, realise that aggression in driving has no place, and breathe and relax, and pull in behind.  What is the gain at the end of the day?

See post #12 "Car 2 in right hand lane went past 5 or 6 slower cars, overtook car 1 and..."

 

It was two lanes of traffic traveling at different speeds and merging when the right hand lane came to an end. You can call it overtaking all you like, but it wasn't...

Okay, thanks all for your comments.

I really wasn't sure, never had an accident in 25 years of driving. In the above scenario I now know what should have happened.

Regardless of who is right or wrong, if car 1 consciously sped up to deliberately prevent me from merging in front of him then I too would merge into lane 1 as normal and simply pretend he wasn't there.

If neither driver would back down on the road then I doubt they'd back down with their insurers either, so it would probably end up going 'knock for knock'.  And even if it didn't, would the warm glowing feeling of 'winning' really make up for all the hassle of getting the car fixed and inflated insurance premiums for the next few years???

The driver behind will always back down, it's a brave or stupid driver who decides to deliberately ram a car to make a point.