Accident when overtaking a turning car: who is to blame

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Maneuvering is considered a difficult aspect of road traffic. Moreover, even experienced drivers can break the rules when turning left. This is fraught with fines and sanctions from the traffic police. Traffic rules are aimed at minimizing the risk of accidents when turning left. Therefore, the driver must know the traffic rules and comply with the established norms.

Traffic regulations when turning left with comments

The general rules for making a left turn are enshrined in Section 8 of the Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation. It is important to comply with the following standards:

Attention! If you have any questions, you can chat for free with a lawyer at the bottom of the screen or call Moscow; Saint Petersburg; Free call for all of Russia.

The left turn maneuver near tram tracks is permitted if the driver does not create an obstacle to the passage of railway transport (clause 8.5 of the Russian Traffic Regulations).
Read also: What is the penalty for overtaking on the right: let’s look at the provided penalties and other nuances
When turning left, you need to take the extreme left position (clause 8.5 of the Russian Traffic Regulations).
It is necessary to turn in such a way that when leaving the intersection of roadways the car does not end up on the side of oncoming traffic (clause 8.6 of the Russian Traffic Regulations).
If the paths of cars intersect, and the order of movement is not stipulated by current legislation, the driver of the vehicle approaching from the right is obliged to give way (clause 8.9 of the Russian Traffic Regulations).

1) For those who turn left.

If you plan to make a left turn in order to avoid an accident, you must be guided by the provisions of Section 8 of the Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation. Current legislation requires:

Notify other road users about the planned maneuver. To do this, you need to turn on the turn signal (clause 8.5 of the Russian Traffic Regulations). If it is missing or faulty, giving a signal using your hand is acceptable. The citizen must indicate in advance the direction in which he intends to turn. Moreover, it is necessary to try to ensure that other road users notice the signal. Turn off the turn signals only after the maneuver is completed.
The driver must not interfere with other road users or create the risk of an accident when turning left.
The driver is obliged to give way to a tram in the same direction and to oncoming vehicles (clause 8.8 of the Russian Traffic Regulations).
The maneuver must be performed from the extreme left position. However, if the width of the roadway does not allow the action to be carried out, a U-turn or turn from the right shoulder is allowed. In this case, you need to let oncoming and passing cars pass (clause 8.8 of the Russian Traffic Regulations).
Giving a signal to turn left does not give the citizen any advantage over other road users.

2) For those who overtake.

First of all, the driver is obliged to follow the general rules for overtaking. They are reflected in section 11 of the Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation. Paragraph 11.1 states that overtaking can only be done if there is a free lane on the road. The maneuver should not lead to emergency situations or create interference for other road users. If the car ahead has already given a signal to turn left, overtaking is strictly prohibited (clause 11.2 of the Russian Traffic Regulations). The maneuver cannot be performed in a number of other cases. They are reflected in paragraphs 11.2 and 11.4 of the Russian Traffic Regulations. Overtaking is prohibited:

at a pedestrian crossing;
at a railway crossing and 100 m before it;
in an area where visibility is severely limited;
at controlled intersections;
at intersections with unregulated traffic when driving on a secondary road;
in tunnels, on bridges, overpasses, overpasses;
if the car moving ahead began to avoid the obstacle and gave a corresponding signal;
if the car moving behind begins to overtake.

What drivers need to remember

Situations involving the analysis of an accident that occurred when making a left turn are quite controversial. Therefore, reinsurance is better than risk. To prevent accidents at a U-turn, as well as when making a left turn, it is important to take into account the markings, installed road signs, light signals or instructions from the traffic controller.

Before making a left turn, each driver must inspect the road from all sides, taking into account existing priority rules, make sure that there are no serious obstacles to his movement, and that he will not interfere with other motorists. Blind spots not visible in mirrors must also be taken into account.

A motorist who decides to overtake must remember the riskiness of such a road maneuver. At the same time, in order to prevent an accident, the following rules must be observed: adherence to the speed limit and a calculation of whether the car will have time to complete the maneuver without interfering with oncoming traffic.

It is also necessary to maintain an interval and take into account the fact that the situation may not go according to plan due to various unforeseen circumstances. For example, this could be making a left turn from another motorist.

Therefore, in addition to mandatory compliance with traffic rules, it is recommended to install a DVR in the car, which will help in studying the circumstances of the accident, even if the culprit fled the scene of the accident.

Who is to blame for an accident when turning left?

Determining who is at fault for an accident depends on the characteristics of the incident. Let's say a driver turns left from the right lane at an intersection. The situation is quite typical. It is presented in the diagram below.

Considering the above situation, many drivers talk about the presence of an obstacle on the right. If you follow this rule, the blue car must give way to the red one. However, in reality the situation is regulated by clauses 8.5 and 8.7 of the Russian Traffic Regulations. From the provisions of the legal act it follows that in the presented situation the red car is to blame. The driver will be punished for not taking the extreme position before the turn, which resulted in an accident when turning left.

In practice, there may be no stripes. In this situation, you will need to take the extreme left position. If there is two-way traffic, but there are no markings, you need to visually divide the road in half. To turn left, you need to position the car so that if another driver wants to be to the left, he will be in the opposite direction.

Signs should be taken into account. Consider the situation presented in the diagram below.

The Russian Traffic Regulations do not say that signs of special instructions cancel the effect of paragraph 8.5 (Before turning left, the driver must take the appropriate extreme position in advance). At the same time, both cars made a turn in the permitted trajectory. Here it is worth turning to judicial practice. It all depends on how the judge looks at the situation. It may be decided that compliance with clause 8.5 of the Russian Traffic Regulations is of paramount importance. In this case, the driver of the red car will be punished. If the representative of the authorized body considers that both drivers are not violating anything, clause 8.9 of the Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation comes into force. In this case, the driver of the blue car is obliged to let the red car pass, since there is an obstacle on the right.

All vehicles may only turn left.

The presence of signs does not mean that it is not necessary to comply with clause 8.5 of the Russian Traffic Regulations. In this case, the driver of the red car is found guilty.

A person turning from the far left may try to immediately get into the right lane. In this case, the risk of an accident, shown in the diagram below, increases.

There is an opinion that when turning, drivers are required to move to a similar lane. However, there is no such requirement in the traffic rules. A driver turning from the far left position may immediately move into the far right lane. Analyzing the accident reflected in the above diagram, the inspector will determine that the driver of the red car violated paragraph 8.5 of the Russian Federation Traffic Regulations.

However, if markings are applied indicating the trajectory of movement, the driver of the blue car is found guilty.

When making a left turn, a citizen may refuse to let an oncoming car pass. As a result, an accident will occur.

Determination of guilt in an accident when turning left is carried out taking into account the traffic light signal, if present. Additionally, priority signs are taken into account. They regulate the order of passage of vehicles. If the intersection is controlled and the light is green for both drivers, the blue car is found guilty of the incident. He violated paragraph 13.4 of the traffic rules. If the light is red, both drivers are violating.

When the intersection is unregulated and there is a red car on the main road, the blue vehicle remains at fault. If blue is on the main board, the fault will be seen in the actions of red.

The oncoming driver can turn right. An accident will occur if one of the cars tries to get into someone else's lane.

If the driver of a blue car wants to change lanes to the second row, the person is obliged to give way to a red vehicle (clause 13.4 of the Russian Traffic Regulations). However, the exact opposite situation is possible. If Red wants to occupy the left lane, and Red also tries to get into it, the interpretation is rather ambiguous. The fact is that clause 8.6 of the Russian Traffic Regulations states that a driver turning right should move as far to the right as possible only if possible. This means that if a person driving a red car had such an opportunity, but did not take advantage of it, the person will be found guilty of an accident. In the diagram, the red car is not required to give way.

For those who overtake

Before overtaking, the driver must make sure that there is no other vehicle in the overtaking path.
Make sure that his maneuver will not interfere with other road users.
Overtaking is prohibited if the vehicle in front has signaled a left turn.
Overtaking is prohibited if there is an intersection ahead and the road is not the main one.

Below is a U-turn sign, is a left turn allowed? Photo:

So, is it possible to change lanes at an intersection and into which lane?

There was a traffic accident at an intersection: things are always difficult at an uncontrolled intersection, especially if it is not controlled and has several lanes in one direction and the other. Therefore, identifying the culprit of an accident at such an intersection is always difficult, since not two, but more cars may be involved in the accident.

As a rule, accidents on such busy sections of the road occur in case of non-compliance with traffic rules when turning left at an intersection or in the following cases:

One of the traffic participants did not notice the maneuver of another car.
The first driver decided to turn around when turning left, but the one following him misunderstood the maneuver and, when turning left, caught up with the first participant in the movement.
Haste and inattention when turning, the driver turns left one after another, leaving no gap for oncoming traffic.
A common violation is when two cars turn left from two lanes when one is allowed.

With these types of accidents, a thorough investigation of the accident is required, with the involvement of video recording cameras, eyewitnesses, etc. At the same time, the rules for driving through an intersection when turning left and the rules for turning left at an intersection are prescribed in the traffic rules.

Below is a left turn sign photo:

Most often, this type of accident occurs for the following reasons:

A driver who wants to turn left turns left too late.
The driver, turning left, did not make sure that he was not interfering with any of the participants. At the same time, the car that was moving behind was already overtaking.
A driver going to overtake does not have time to brake in front of the pedestrian crossing, which is located immediately after the intersection, thereby violating the rules of overtaking.

Such accidents very often occur on the road and it can be problematic to find someone at fault for such an accident.

When to overtake

As a rule, overtaking at uncontrolled intersections is allowed only if you are driving on the main road and crossing a secondary road at the intersection. The second condition is that there are no prohibitory markings about crossing the road at this location.

But the traffic rules also prohibit overtaking a car in front that is turning left. Therefore, you always need to ensure that a number of rules are followed; if the overtaking person has already started overtaking, and after that the car in front turned on the collar and began to turn left, then he will be wrong.

Also, if the overtaking person began his maneuver after the car in front had already turned on his collar and began to make a turn, then the overtaking person would no longer be in the wrong. But in both cases there is always a human factor.

Justification

The one who turned will always say that he immediately turned on his collar, saw no one, there was no interference, and therefore calmly began to turn left. In turn, the overtaking person will say in his defense that he did not see the collar turned on and therefore went overtaking without hindrance.

How to remember

In this case, according to clause 8.1. Traffic rules when making a turn should not create obstacles for other road users.

Therefore, most often the person who turns is found guilty, less often it is mutual guilt. It is very rare that the overtaking person is found guilty if it can be proven that the collar was turned on in advance, before the overtaking maneuver was made.

Turn left or right only if the traffic situation permits this action and in accordance with traffic rules.

Below is a no left turn sign photo:

Accident while turning at an intersection

The situation is considered classic. Typically, an accident occurs according to the following scheme:

A driver who wants to make a left turn should drive into the middle of the intersection.
The citizen crosses the lane and begins to perform the maneuver.
The oncoming driver does not have time to react.
As a result, a collision occurs.

Attention
Usually, traffic police officers in an accident when turning at an intersection find the person making the turn guilty of the incident. However, the specifics of the situation are taken into account. Sometimes the fault may be attributed to the driver who was driving straight ahead. For a complete explanation of the situation, contact an online lawyer on our website.

Accident while overtaking a person turning

An accident can occur if two cars are driving in the same lane. The vehicle in front turns left. The driver driving behind at the same moment decides to overtake. Participants in an accident when turning left see the situation differently. A driver wanting to turn slows down to make the maneuver. He doesn't know that the car behind is already close. The second citizen does not know the reasons for the slowdown of the car in front. The person believes that the decrease in speed just happened and decides to overtake. Both car enthusiasts begin to make a maneuver. As a result, an accident occurs.

IMPORTANT

Blame for an accident when overtaking a car turning left is determined depending on the situation. Usually, traffic police representatives take into account who turned on the turn signal first. This person will be found innocent. The procedure for assessing the situation is carried out taking into account the video recorder and witness testimony.

If drivers do not want to get into an accident when turning left, experts advise signaling the planned maneuver in advance. The person behind must understand that slowing down can be done for a reason.

How to avoid an accident and prove that you are right in an accident

In resolving controversial situations, it is very important to find out who first started the maneuver. To prove their innocence, participants need to describe in detail their actions that preceded the accident, including speed of movement, traffic light indicators, and the possibility of emergency braking. The best evidence, of course, will be recordings from street cameras or a video recorder. Testimony from witnesses will be helpful.

To avoid an accident when making a left turn, the driver should follow simple rules:

make sure that there is no vehicle behind that is about to overtake;
turn on the left turn signal in advance;
start moving to the far left position in your lane;
carefully monitor signs and traffic lights;
do not turn if it is unsafe to do so.

Accident when turning left on a yellow traffic light

If the movement was carried out at a yellow traffic light, it all depends on how the inspector or judge looks at the current situation. Any driver involved in an accident can be found guilty. Traffic police representatives take into account the evidence presented. The presence of video recording, as well as the presence of witnesses, is taken into account. To clarify your specific situation, consult a free online lawyer in the chat at the bottom of the screen or by phone.

Accident when turning left at an intersection when one of the cars is already at the intersection

An accident occurs if a person about to turn reaches the middle of the intersection and only then begins to prepare for the maneuver, notifying other road users. The citizen lets other cars pass and then makes a turn. However, a car moving in the opposite lane cannot always be noticed; there are times when a car jumps into an intersection unexpectedly. As a result, cars collide. Guilt is determined depending on the presence of priority signs, markings, and traffic lights.

For your information

A driver making a left turn must inform other road users in advance about the upcoming maneuver. A car owner driving straight needs to more carefully assess the situation on the road. It is possible to assign mutual fault in an accident. To clarify your specific situation, consult a free online lawyer in the chat at the bottom of the screen or by phone.