Where does fault lie in this scenario
Discussion
A neighbour has just popped round to ask for my thoughts on this incident.
His wife was driving along the lane to the village, a farmers quadbike with a cab and a pick up truck type back was coming the other way.
The road is narrow but there was space for the vehicles to pass so neither pulled over or stopped
As they passed each other, a dog stuck its head out of the flat bed and was hit by my neighbour's door mirror. The dog was killed and the mirror smashed.
The farmer is ranting at my neighbour's wife saying its her fault, she killed his dog, she should have pulled over to let him pass.
My inclination is to think that the farmer is responsible for not having the dog properly secured, that he could have pulled over as easily as my neighbour's wife.
My neighbours wife didn't get a registration number (she thinks the quad may not have had a number plate). I think it should be road registered and have a plate. She does have the farmers phone number, and he is ranting at her on the phone.
Whose fault do we think this is?
How is insurance likely to view it?
Should it be reported to the Police (dog unrestrained, vehicle potentially unregistered)?
His wife was driving along the lane to the village, a farmers quadbike with a cab and a pick up truck type back was coming the other way.
The road is narrow but there was space for the vehicles to pass so neither pulled over or stopped
As they passed each other, a dog stuck its head out of the flat bed and was hit by my neighbour's door mirror. The dog was killed and the mirror smashed.
The farmer is ranting at my neighbour's wife saying its her fault, she killed his dog, she should have pulled over to let him pass.
My inclination is to think that the farmer is responsible for not having the dog properly secured, that he could have pulled over as easily as my neighbour's wife.
My neighbours wife didn't get a registration number (she thinks the quad may not have had a number plate). I think it should be road registered and have a plate. She does have the farmers phone number, and he is ranting at her on the phone.
Whose fault do we think this is?
How is insurance likely to view it?
Should it be reported to the Police (dog unrestrained, vehicle potentially unregistered)?
paul_c123 said:
The law says it needs reporting as an accident.
As to blame, was the car over half the width of the road? Was there a line down the middle of the road? etc
No line in the middle of the road, enough space for the vehicles to pass. Two cars can usually pass at that point. A quad bike is narrower than a carAs to blame, was the car over half the width of the road? Was there a line down the middle of the road? etc
SmoothCriminal said:
Farmer is ranting to divert blame from himself because he is a 
who killed his dog.
Exactly. If I was the car driver I would be mortified, but not her fault. A neighbours d who killed his dog.head boyfriend drives round with his dog sat on his lap, unsecured, hanging out of the window. It is terrifying to see. paul_c123 said:
blueg33 said:
No line in the middle of the road, enough space for the vehicles to pass. Two cars can usually pass at that point. A quad bike is narrower than a car
Was the car over an imaginary centreline? It is more important than whether the vehicles are different widths.I was going to post a google streetview, but the camera really distorts it, it makes the road look footpath width whereas in reality two cars can pass.
paul_c123 said:
I don't know who is to blame then. But I think a large proportion of it, unfortunately, is the dog's fault.
NahI'm a dog owner. My dog's safety is my responsibility, as are my kids etc.
The only difference is the dog sometimes listens to me.
The farmer's fault 100%, and he knows it (which is why he's so angry with the neighbour's wife)
They could both be in the wrong, it's not 'either/or'.
Neither should be aiming to pass that close with no room for error.
The speeds of the two vehicles might be significant too.
I'm not sure imaginary centre lines matter much in rural lanes, there are rarely sharply defined road edges to measure them from and nothing is straight.
Rural etiquette suggest that a vehicle further from the hedge on its side might be at fault. But sometimes you can't expect people to go into potholes etc.
'Room for two car to pass' can be mm to spare or plenty to safely pass both doing 40mph.
If the other vehicle is going too fast for the space available, you should slow down or stop, even if you think it's your priority.
For sure the dog should be under control, but a driving/roadcraft god would anticipate anyone on a quad being a tt.
Neither should be aiming to pass that close with no room for error.
The speeds of the two vehicles might be significant too.
I'm not sure imaginary centre lines matter much in rural lanes, there are rarely sharply defined road edges to measure them from and nothing is straight.
Rural etiquette suggest that a vehicle further from the hedge on its side might be at fault. But sometimes you can't expect people to go into potholes etc.
'Room for two car to pass' can be mm to spare or plenty to safely pass both doing 40mph.
If the other vehicle is going too fast for the space available, you should slow down or stop, even if you think it's your priority.
For sure the dog should be under control, but a driving/roadcraft god would anticipate anyone on a quad being a t
t.OutInTheShed said:
They could both be in the wrong, it's not 'either/or'.
Neither should be aiming to pass that close with no room for error.
The speeds of the two vehicles might be significant too.
I'm not sure imaginary centre lines matter much in rural lanes, there are rarely sharply defined road edges to measure them from and nothing is straight.
Rural etiquette suggest that a vehicle further from the hedge on its side might be at fault. But sometimes you can't expect people to go into potholes etc.
'Room for two car to pass' can be mm to spare or plenty to safely pass both doing 40mph.
If the other vehicle is going too fast for the space available, you should slow down or stop, even if you think it's your priority.
For sure the dog should be under control, but a driving/roadcraft god would anticipate anyone on a quad being a tt.
Two cars can easily pass safely there at 20-30mph . Been doing it for 26 years and never even had a close call at that location. Cars are rarely doing much more than 20mph owing to the shape of the lane further alomg.Neither should be aiming to pass that close with no room for error.
The speeds of the two vehicles might be significant too.
I'm not sure imaginary centre lines matter much in rural lanes, there are rarely sharply defined road edges to measure them from and nothing is straight.
Rural etiquette suggest that a vehicle further from the hedge on its side might be at fault. But sometimes you can't expect people to go into potholes etc.
'Room for two car to pass' can be mm to spare or plenty to safely pass both doing 40mph.
If the other vehicle is going too fast for the space available, you should slow down or stop, even if you think it's your priority.
For sure the dog should be under control, but a driving/roadcraft god would anticipate anyone on a quad being a t
t.Farmer’s fault.
If 2 cars can pass then there’s not a driver here that wouldn’t continue on their way and pass the oncoming vehicle. Some of us would slow down to give a wider safety margin, but stop/pull over when there’s no apparent reason to do so? Nah.
OTOH, the farmer knew about his dog being in the back, far more reason for HIM to know there was an additional potential hazard, and take preventative measures. Especially as he hadn’t secured his load/made it safe for transport.
Farmer knows he’s in the wrong which is why he’s so angry. I’d either block him or ask for his registration details for the incident logging - that might shut him up because there’s a fair chance it’s not registered for the highway.
If 2 cars can pass then there’s not a driver here that wouldn’t continue on their way and pass the oncoming vehicle. Some of us would slow down to give a wider safety margin, but stop/pull over when there’s no apparent reason to do so? Nah.
OTOH, the farmer knew about his dog being in the back, far more reason for HIM to know there was an additional potential hazard, and take preventative measures. Especially as he hadn’t secured his load/made it safe for transport.
Farmer knows he’s in the wrong which is why he’s so angry. I’d either block him or ask for his registration details for the incident logging - that might shut him up because there’s a fair chance it’s not registered for the highway.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff