Taken out by a u-turn

Last September I was riding to work as doctor in Croydon. I saw that there was the usual queue of slow moving traffic so I went to filter by on the right as I have always done. I would guess my speed was around 15mph and the limit for the road was 30mph. There were no junctions where the accident happened.

A car in the queue pulled out on me to do a U-turn with no indicator illuminated. My insurer’s solicitor has said that I should accept a 50/50 liability offer that we received, but I recall reading something where the biker succeeded in full in similar circumstances?

Oliver, Coulsdon

Answer

Every case will turn on its own facts as no two accidents are truly identical. I would need sight of the police report, witness statements, and any video footage that may be available to provide accurate advice.

That said, your case appears to be on all fours with the case of Davis-v-Schrogin. In that case, there was one lane in each direction and the motorcyclist was overtaking a line of traffic on the offside. The motorcyclist achieved 100% because he was established and was there to be seen had the other driver looked. The other driver failed to indicate so there was nothing the motorcyclist could have done to avoid the accident. Assuming the evidence backs up your account then you should succeed 100% and you should tell your solicitor about Davis-v- Schrogin or consider switching to a specialist motorcycle accident solicitor.