Ask an expert

A vehicle had broken down at the lights on a 2 lane road each way. The vehicle was in the left lane and some people where trying to push it with little or no success. I was also in the left lane and indicated for some several seconds that I was moving to the right lane to pass the stationery vehicle. The traffic was heavy and building up. As I proceeded to my right another vehicle came through to my right and clipped the right hand side of my car with there left hand side of their car causing damage to both vehicles. The driver of the other vehicle proceed to take photos of both cars without saying anything and then left the scene. I did check my rear vision but did not see her coming through even though I had indicated for some several seconds of my intention to move right. My Insurance company claims I am at fault for changing lanes but that is not it appears supported in the road code? I have a witness to the accident that supports my actions as above.

Hi there,
As you were changing lanes, you must give way to vehicles already using the lane you are turning into. As the road code says "Giving way means that the road user you’re giving way to (whether they are a driver, cyclist, pedestrian or any other kind of road user) doesn’t need to stop, brake or slow down, swerve or take any other evasive action to avoid you.
This rule applies irrespective of how long you indicated for and whether you saw the car approaching or not, so we would have to agree with the insurance company on this one.