Overtaking Cars - Legal Status

There is some case law on this area and it is pretty common sense, thankfully.

If you are filtering on the wrong side of the road, you are putting yourself in a potentially hazardous position, so you need to take extra care. Therefore, if a cyclist is going too fast to avoid a car pulling out from a side road, through the stationary traffic, then the cyclist would usually be 50% liable for the accident.

The driver is also performing a potentially hazardous manoeuvre, as they cant see the bike filtering on the outside of the stationary traffic, so if they were not pulling out cautiously then they would usually be 50% liable for the accident as well.

Happened to me on my motorbike 3 years ago, and after a bit of research and legal advice from my solicitor, I arrived to the same conclusion.

Taken from motorbikeclaims.org.uk :

Overtaking Motorcyclist hit by a car from a side road

The most common motorcycle accident we see as motorcycle and compensation solicitors is where the motorcyclist is overtaking a line of traffic on the main road, when suddenly a motor vehicle pulls out of a side road, attempting to turn right, causing an accident. Who is at fault?

The starting point in layman’s terms is to look at the Highway Code. The general rule is if a car or motorcycle for that matter pulls out of a side road onto a main road when attempting to turn right they are at fault. You must give way to the traffic on the main road.

Therefore it is a straight forward conclusion that in the above scenario the motorcyclist is not at fault. Wrong. The problem we have is that there is another dynamic at play, the motorcyclist overtaking a line of stationary or slow moving traffic. When overtaking you must only do so when it is safe and importantly not to overtake at a road junction.

A motorcyclist is more difficult to see on the road and when overtaking at a junction is even more “out of sight” and “out of mind” especially to a motorist, at a busy junction, trying to pull out of a side road into a gap in the line of traffic. A brief opportunistic window appears, someone leaves a gap in the traffic or is “flashed” to come out. Rightly or wrongly the car pulls out, the motorcyclist does not see the car and vice versa, so the collision occurs.
Equality of blame before the law

The Highway Code is taken into account in the Courts put it is not binding on the judge. The judge will determine blame of the facts of the case.

In the end both parties have put themselves in a position where they find it difficult to see each other which is why the accident happens. The Courts therefore tends to rule that both parties are equally at fault. The Judge will apportion blame on a 50/50 basis which means that the motorcyclist and motorist will have their compensation reduced by 50%. If there is a claim and counterclaim, both will forfeit their no claims discount as well as the insurance excess.