Crunch

[major_clanger]

Wednesday afternoon, at about 4pm, I was driving back after the second and final day of a rather difficult and draining court case in Dudley. As usual, I took the Wolverhampton Road with the intent of turning onto the Hagley Road to come in to Birmingham before taking the ring road to the Jewellery Quarter and our house.

The junction looks like this; I was approaching from the bottom right planning to turn left onto the Hagley Road which is the main road running along the top of this picture.



Note that there is a small car park to the left, with a row of shops, and that there is a 'keep clear' lane to allow access to it across the road just before the junction.

My view as I approached the junction was rather like this, from Streetview:



In my case, the left hand filter lane was clear, but the other lanes were blocked with static traffic. I indicated left, pulled into the left hand lane and headed down towards the left filter.

As I was about 10 metres from the 'Keep Clear' box, doing about 20 mph, a red car came out in front from the stationary traffic to my right, heading towards the small car park. I immediately jammed on the brakes and felt the anti-lock engage.

The stopping distance at 20 mph is about 13-14 metres. I found myself instinctively turning left, but the outcome was inevitable. With a loud bang, I hit the red car just behind the mid pillar.

After a couple of seconds the other car pulled ahead into the small car park. I did the same, noting that my Mini still seemed fully drivable.

We got out and the first thing I did was ask the other driver if she was OK. She seemed to be, and there was nobody else in her car.

"The van driver waved me out", she said. Apparently the driver of a van that had been stopped in the middle lane had seen her waiting and waved her to pull out. Evidently he hadn't looked in his left wing mirror (I wouldn't like to think that he'd done it deliberately). By now the lights had changed and he'd driven off.

I had a rather messed-up front offside bumper. The other car (an Audi A5) had come off superficially rather worse.



We exchanged details and it transpired that we were both with the same insurer (Hastings). Nobody being hurt, our cars seeming to be drivable, and there being no damage to any other property, we didn't call the police but headed on our way - it was not too far for me to get home.

Hastings have been very helpful; once they confirmed the other driver was another one of their customers the matter was handed to their 'Intervention Team' and I was called back within an hour to be told that the other driver had admitted liability. My Mini is now with the local main dealer being assessed for repair, and we have a Vauxhall Corsa, new 2015 model, as a temporary replacement.

A few months ago I had an increasingly agitated driver trying to wave me out across a junction, seemingly oblivious to the stream of traffic on her inside she was trying to get me to drive into. If there's an area of driving I think needs extra reinforcement, it's that you should not try to give directions out of misguided politeness if it's going to lead another driver to think it's safe to pull out when it isn't.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Ouch!

Glad you're both okay though.

[nou]

That doesn't sound fun. Glad you're OK and there's not going to be insurance faff.

I've experienced that as a pedestrian too — drivers trying to direct me to walk out into traffic when I've already gauged the situation and realised it wouldn't be safe. Some of them even seem to get angry when I don't comply! And some of them are insistent to the point of causing an obstruction themselves (e.g. other traffic has pulled up behind them while they're waving their arms at me).

[major_clanger]

I learned about that as a pedestrian after a no doubt lovely little old lady tried to kill me by stopping at a pedestrian crossing when her light was green to wave me on. If I'd been a bit more preoccupied I might not have noticed that my light was still red and that the car in the inside lane fast approaching from my left was showing no sign of slowing down.

[nou]

Ouch!

[murphys_lawyer]

Very glad no-one was hurt.

[coth.livejournal.com]

That could have been deeply unpleasant. I'm glad you both got off as lightly as you did.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

It occurred to me that a more impatient driver than me might have seen the clear filter lane and green filter and accelerated. I was taught to brake approaching junctions irrespective of the light colour, and I'm glad I did.

[davidwake.livejournal.com]

Glad you are OK.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Ouch! Glad you're OK.

[pennski.livejournal.com]

Glad you're both ok and that she has admitted liability - that will make the claims much more straightforward.

[dorispossum.livejournal.com]

Im glad to hear you're both ok.

[secritcrush.livejournal.com]

Glad no one was hurt and that the other driver admitted it was their fault.

[ladymoonray.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad you're OK.

Lou's father was killed by a scooter when a man in a van waved him clear to walk across the road. I don't believe *anyone* who tells me it's safe if I can't see it with my own eyes. I wish people just wouldn't do it.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

Glad you and the other driver are both OK and the insurance company is playing ball.

I'm forever having to decline the 'offer' of drivers who pull up when we're taking the dogs across the road to the rec and wave us across - into the path of traffic in the other lane (though at least they acknowledge that pedestrians exist!)

[ms-cataclysm.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about accident -hope neither of you are too shaken.

Great pictures -very clear explanation of accident. That seems an inherently dangerous junction though.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Glad you're fine. If you're going to have an accident this seems to be a good way of doing it.

And your legal training shows in your description of the accident!

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

It's a very busy junction. The Hagley Road is one of the main routes into Birmingham from the south-east direction, while Wolverhampton Road is the main road from Dudley and surrounding areas. I can see why that crossing area is there, otherwise traffic from any other direction would have to go some way down Wolverhampton Road and turn back in order to reach that cluster of shops (I think there's also a small hotel there). However, it is an uncontrolled turning across a busy junction where traffic is splitting three ways. I'd be interested to know how many other accidents happen there.

[ms-cataclysm.livejournal.com]

I think that a traffic light or two there certainly wouldn't hurt and would be good for the local businesses.

[fanf]

Glad you are ok and that the insurance is not too much faff.

I get particularly vexed by motorists who have priority but who stop and invite me to cross their kill zone. I would be much happier if they would keep moving and get out of the way so I can cross safely.

[unwholesome-fen.livejournal.com]

Yes, my worst cycle accident was when a white van started to overtake me, then stopped alongside and flashed a car coming the opposite way to turn into the side street, meaning I inevitably ended over its bonnet.

[gummitch.livejournal.com]

Glad you're unharmed. (Curious coincidence that the Streetview picture includes a white van and a turning red car.)

[makyo.livejournal.com]

Ouch! Glad you're ok.

If there's an area of driving I think needs extra reinforcement, it's that you should not try to give directions out of misguided politeness if it's going to lead another driver to think it's safe to pull out when it isn't.

My usual route onto campus crosses a busy dual carriageway (the Fletchamstead Highway) with a toucan (?) crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, and a less busy one (Charter Avenue) without a crossing. With the latter, it's just a matter of waiting for a suitable gap in the traffic and wandering across when one occurs.

But about once a week or so, a helpful driver will stop and wave me across. Unfortunately, there isn't a universally understood hand signal for "thanks very much, that's very kind, but there are two other lanes of traffic that aren't currently stopping, and which might well run me over".

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Indeed! If the van had been back a bit (on the arrow) and there had been traffic in the lanes to the right, that's what I was faced with - so of course could not see the red car!

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Had a little old lady, no doubt very sweet, try and kill me by doing just that a few years ago. Luckily I wasn't quite so preoccupied that I didn't notice that the lights were in fact against me and that the car coming up on her inside wasn't slowing down...