Ask an expert


sandiaj

We had a car accident a couple of months ago. We were turning left at a Give Way, T intersection and were looking right. No traffic so we started to move forward. We were suddendly hit by a rubbish truck backing up the road from our left. Who is at fault? We were hardly moving, but we were still moving forward. He was moving backwards quite quickly. I can attach a diagram if need be.

Anon

Hi there,
In most cases the reversing party is at fault as they are travelling in the opposite direction of traffic flow and must do so with caution and make sure the way is clear for the complete manoeuvre (same with car parking). However there is also responsibility for a motorist to look ahead and make sure the way is clear before entering any roadway. One might be infringement worthy and one might be accident causing or both. Insurance or the Police if they attended would need to make that call on sole responsibility in some of these trickier situations.