Last weekend I was driving in the fast lane of a motorway. A motorcyclist was coming up between my lane and the lane next to me. A lady in that lane pulled straight in front of the motorcyclist. He hit her car, flew off his bike and through the rear windscreen of the car in front of me, before falling back on to the road. We all stopped. Miraculously, the motorcyclist got up and was able to speak after a few minutes. I spoke to the lady. She asked where the motorcyclist had come from and said she had not seen him. I said he was going between the lanes of traffic and that she had pulled in front of him. She said that was not possible, she had been in front of me all the time! I said ha, suit yourself lady, but I am going to provide the motorcyclist with a witness statement.
The motorcyclist called me on the 'phone this week. He was out of hospital and pretty much no worse for wear. We talked about what had happened and I reitterated my willingness to act as a witness. He mentioned in passing that the lady who experienced him flying through her rear windscreen was a bit confused. She had got the impression that I felt she was to blame for the whole thing. :smack: I almost put the 'phone down in embarassment.
I may be in the confused line too. You’re going to provide witness that the cyclist was splitting lanes and ran into the back of the woman when she changed lanes. She insists that she didn’t change lanes, although you saw her do so.
I doubt that it’ll really make a whole lot of difference though. Whether or not it is illegal for the cyclist to split lanes in your area, it sounds as if he was travelling a lot faster than traffic which could mean a reckless driving charge. And he hit her from the rear which is usually means it’s his fault anyway.
I think what Invidious meant was he thought he was talking to the lane changing woman when he was really talking to the woman whose window the motorcyclist went through. She was in front of him the whole time. It wasn’t her fault.
The OP says there are two cars – the one that hit the motorcyclist and the one that the motorcyclist flew into. The OP was embarrassed because he had conflated the two, much as the readers of this thread are doing.
Regarding lane-splitting, it depends a lot on the situation. I don’t know where the OP lives, but splitting may or may not be illegal, restricted, or controlled there. If none of these apply, then the judgement of the motorcyclist (and of any investigating officer) comes into play. In California, there are no restrictions on lane-splitting other than those inherent in the vehicle code – speeding, illegal lane changes, and reckless driving. It’s the duty of every driver to signal a lane change and ensure that no one is in the way before changing lanes; if the motorcycle was proceeding legally, “I didn’t see him” is no excuse.
Aaaargh. I pit myself again. Not only do I bring confusion to the scene of an accident, I compound that confusion in my description of it.
To clarify: I confused the two car drivers. I was talking to the blameless lady who had the misfortune of having a motorcyclist launch himself through her rear windscreen. That is a bad enough experience on its own, without having some oaf getting all judgemental and attributing blame.
With regards to lane splitting: I do not know what the legal position is here in the UK. It is, however, quite common in congested traffic. My sympathy went out to the motorcyclist because the car changing lanes did so without giving sufficient notice and without checking that it was safe to do so. If there is a law against lane splitting, so be it. The motorcyclist will have to deal with that when it comes to legal or insurance claims.
Whether or not lane splitting is legal, a person should certainly make sure no one is there before changing lanes. I mean even if the motorcycle was doing something wrong, it doesn’t mean the woman changing lanes had a right to do so without looking.
I’m glad you will go to court for the motorcyle guy. I had someone go to bat for me in a situation where it looked like I was at fault, but really wasn’t. It made all the difference.