Things often get tight when overtaking in two-lane construction zones. What about liability if one vehicle doesn’t stay in its lane and the other is too wide for its lane?
In a two-lane construction zone, a Porsche Cayenne driving in the left lane was overtaken by a truck driving on the right, which veered slightly into the left lane. The Porsche was significantly damaged in this collision.
The truck driver’s insurance only wants to cover half of the damage
The Porsche driver demanded full compensation for the damage amounting to almost EUR 5,600. The truck’s car insurance only wanted to cover half of the damage. Among other things, she argued that the Porsche was too wide to drive in the left lane and should not have overtaken the truck.
A traffic sign in the construction area indicated that for the left lane is prohibited for vehicles that wider than 2.10 meters are. The Cayenne driver assumed that his vehicle was only slightly wider at 2.12 meters.
The overtaking Porsche was a good 9 centimeters too wide for the left lane
The expert evidence showed that the At 2,194 meters, the Porsche was significantly wider than the permitted vehicle width. The difference of a good 9 centimeters could have had a significant impact on the accident. According to the expert’s assessment, the damage would probably have been less or perhaps non-existent if the vehicle had been narrower.
Court sees breaches of duty by truck and Porsche drivers
The Hagen Regional Court agreed with this point of view. She saw one on the Porsche driver Breach of duty of care, which had an impact on the accident. The truck driver, in turn, as determined by the expert, entered the left lane about ten centimeters, although there was still around 70 centimeters of space to the right of him to the right lane boundary. He is to be charged with a violation of Sections 1.7 of the StVO.
Porsche driver only receives 50 percent of the damage
Taking into account the mutual breaches of duty and causal contributions, the court came to a conclusion Liability ratio of the two people involved in the accident 50 percent each. It was assumed that both vehicles had the same operational risk. There was no impact on the truck being potentially more dangerous to operate.
(LG Hagen, judgment of March 22, 2022, 4 O 101/20)
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2023-10-12 05:32:54
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