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Tonyhu

I would like to know for how long you are allowed to drive on a flush median before turning right. My question arises from a collision I had with another car while I was turning right from a driveway onto the flush median
I was indicating a right turn across two lanes to reach the flush median. The cars on the inside lane were stopped for lights 100 metres up the road and queued past the driveway, however a gap had been left for me. As I drove into the gap a car approached in the outside lane but stopped to let me proceed. I then drove into this gap and onto the flush median to check for cars on my left, but was hit by a car driving on the flush median from my right. The traffic regulations say that you cannot overtake on a flush median and the road code says that you may only use a flush median to slow down to wait to turn right
This car entered the flush median 90 to 95 metres before his intended right turn and was accelerating, rather that slowing down to turn right and had already overtaken 4 cars before hitting me, meaning he was still 60 metres away from his turn
In this case, am I liable because I was turning right across traffic? Or him for overtaking on the flush median while not intending to slow and to turn right
Many thanks

ABayliss

It is not always easy to determine who was at fault in incidents such as this. Please forward details of where the accident occured to aatech@aa.co.nz and we will try to provide an opinion.

weidachen1

Hi Tony, I got the same situation as you this morning. Could you tell me that eventually who is liable for this accident. My email is weidachen@hotmail.com

ABayliss

It is our view that from the information Tony provided us with, in his case the other party seems to be at fault. However, we've also seen similar incidents where the opposite applies. We will be interested to hear how Tony gets on with his case.

Nofo01

Hi there. I had the exact same thing happen to me this morning and would like to get some advise or find out who's at fault here. I have a witness who is willing to support me if there's a dispute. He is one of the drivers who let me pass through before i crashed into the car on the flash median.
Many Thanks

ABayliss

As no two accidents are necessarily the same, it's difficult to say for sure. Any car driving on a flush median must do so with caution, but equally, any car making a right turn or crossing the path of other traffic must give way to the right.
If you are insured, the best advice is to put this in the hands of your insurer who will act your behalf. If not, you may need to represent yourself if a dispute arises.