There are a number of things a driver can do to end up being negligent and responsible for a road traffic accident. Speeding is not necessarily negligence in itself, but it can certainly be a contributing factor when it comes to why a driver is at fault.
We’ll take a look at a few examples when you may be able to make a claim for personal injury compensation as a result of a speeding vehicle.
Rear end collisions
A driver can end up colliding with the back of you by going too fast for the circumstances. If they failed to stop in time, they may well have been travelling at a speed which would not allow them enough time to brake and stop in the event you needed to stop.
It can also be down to not paying attention or driving too close to the back of your car as well.
Head on collisions round a bend
It’s common for head on collisions to be caused by a driver who ends up veering on to the wrong side of the road by trying to drive round a bend too fast. Speeding may certainly be a contributing factor here, but again it’s more the fact that they merged in to your lane that makes them blameworthy. If this was caused by them going too fast, then speeding is certainly a factor – but they’re at fault for driving on your side of the road negligently.
Emerging from a junction
If a driver tries to pull out of a junction and fails to slow down and have the proper care needed to look out for vehicles on the main road, they will likely be at fault of they pull out on you. Again, it’s more the fact they have failed to give way that makes them at fault, but speeding can of course be the cause as to why they failed to stop and give way appropriately.
What about speeding in general?
You may have noticed that all three of the examples above can be accidents in themselves without the driver at fault speeding. As I said at the start, speeding in itself is not necessarily negligent. It may be a criminal offence, but it doesn’t necessarily mean someone is at fault for an accident.
It’s clear to see that speeding can be a contributing factor of course. But the real question as to whether a driver is at fault or not is more to do with whether they have breached any of the rules of the road that caused the collision.
A popular argument many people will try and make if they pull out of a junction and go in to the path of a vehicle established on the main road is that the other driver on the main road was speeding. You can see why the other driver speeding could certainly mean that you may have taken all reasonable care to emerge out of the junction, but it can be very difficult to prove that the other vehicle was speeding, and it still doesn’t necessarily make them negligent. A driver must take a lot of care when pulling out so if you see a vehicle and you can see its approaching fast, you need to wait for it to pass you.
