Accident during lane change by a convoy: Who bears responsibility?
A few folks like to speed along country roads and pass entire groups of vehicles. While this isn't against the law, there are some things they should take into account, as a court case illustrates.
Even though drivers don't have to drive as close to the right edge as they can for overtakers to pass, if an incident happens during the maneuver, the overtaker could be the sole one accountable. This is what the Ellwangen District Court declared in a case pointed out by the ADAC (case number: 1 S 70/23).
In this particular situation, someone was driving on a five-meter-wide road with one lane going in each direction, no median strip, and no shoulder adjacent to the main path. The speed limit was 100 km/h.
An accident takes place while overtaking
A group of around ten vehicles had formed an orderly line. The driver attempted to pass each car in the line individually. As he drew near to the last three cars in the line, he brushed against an oncoming car's front side. There was some damage. The man then sought to receive compensation from the opposing party's liability insurance.
His rationale: Since the other person had made a small movement to the left, while he was already overtaking alongside the car, the other individual was entirely responsible for the accident as they had broken the right-hand traffic regulation.
However, the insurance company wasn't keen to cover the costs. They used the extremely meandering and unclear road layout as well as the narrow road as reasons not to pay. The person overtaking had performed the overtaking in a questionable traffic situation, which had triggered the crash. The trial ensued.
Does the court side with the overtaker's reasoning?
The other accident participant stated that he hadn't yet fully returned to the right after coming through a curve. The court had no issues with this, asserting that it didn't signify a right-hand traffic violation. However, since there was no shoulder next to the actual road at that spot, it wouldn't have been practical for the individual to drive entirely to the right.
In addition, his relatively slow speed of 63 km/h was evidence of the road's need for a cautious driving approach at this specific point. However, the overtaker was driving at 95 km/h when the mishap occurred.
The verdict: There's no requirement to drive particularly close to the right of the edge to enable an overtaker's treacherous maneuver. It was also evident: Overtaking cars is generally allowed. Nonetheless, due to the winding road layout and the narrow road, it wasn't safe to overtake in this situation.
The driver's negligence was considered more significant, with the risk of the other collision participant decreasing. Moreover, it couldn't be shown that the other person had subtly swerved to the left, as the claimant contended. The judge concluded: The liability insurance of the person who was overtaken doesn't need to cover the costs. The column jump is responsible solely because they overtook in a challenging traffic situation.
