I had a car accident around 6.30pm on Hoddle Street

[u/Jaijai44444]

Did anyone witness it?
Nothing terrible happened, just some scratches on our cars.
Initially I wasn’t particularly upset about it as these things happen sometimes. I was open to a friendly exchange of details.

However, when we pulled over the driver of the other car went straight into a rant about how it was all my fault.

To explain what happened. The other driver was in the far left lane and was completely stopped behind a bus. I was driving in the lane to the right of him.
The traffic was moving pretty quickly, perhaps 60-70kmh. The car in front of me obscured my view of his stationary car until we were fairly close.

He had his indicator on but at that stage if I put on the brakes hard enough to allow him time to get out, the car behind would have rear ended me.

He drove into our lane anyway right as I was going past him, into the side of my car.

His logic was that he was indicating and therefore he lets one car go and then I must let him in.
My logic is that he waits for the lane to be clear.

Did I mess up though? I’ve been confidently incorrect before.

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[u/Automatic_Pirate_407 → u/[deleted]]

I must’ve missed that rule when I first got my license 🤣

[u/Automatic_Pirate_407]

Yeah no, he’s in the wrong. Old mate said as long as I’m indicating I can hit other cars and get away with it.
Scary what kind of people are on our roads these days 😂

[u/Soft_Run_55 → u/Automatic_Pirate_407]

100%. Only buses have that entitlement apparently, indicate and go without a care in the world. Cars have to wait for it to be clear. Other driver merged when unsafe, definitely at fault.

[u/theatreddit]

It doesn't matter what other people think. Your insurance company is going to make the decision. Just raise it with them.

[u/Jaijai44444 → u/theatreddit]

Yes the insurance will sort everything out, thank you.
I’m the kind of person to always assume I’m at fault in general and tend to over apologise.
Was looking for reassurance because it is entirely possible that I misunderstood a road rule.

[u/Wolf3188 → u/Jaijai44444]

You definitely didn't.

Guy is a tool, hopefully insurance is easy to deal with. See this kind of behaviour so often on our roads now, people are wound up and stressed.

[u/Jaijai44444 → u/Wolf3188]

Thanks!
We all make mistakes sometimes and no one was injured so I couldn’t understand where his rage was coming from. Literally just a few scratches on a car.
However, you’re right. Life is stressful for most of us right now. I can empathise with that for sure.

[u/yet-another-redd → u/Jaijai44444]

His rage was like due to the bus he was stuck behind. People are just impatient and behave like a tool to the next gentle person. I tell you these fb and yt shorts are ruining it for all.

[u/adflet → u/yet-another-redd]

Prob shouldn't have been driving in a bus lane though if he didn't want to get stuck behind a bus.

[u/JoJo_kitten → u/adflet]

Probably should have threatened to call the police... He likely would have been booked for driving in a bus lane as well. Lols.

[u/-cadmunt- → u/Jaijai44444]

Nah, you good.

[u/AddisonDeWitt333 → u/theatreddit]

This. Just pass his details, and his insurance company's details, on to your insurer.

That's what they're there for. You don't need to do anything, or make any sort of decision.

[u/wokwok__]

“Indicator means he must be let in” ahahah what an entitled prick. Indicating only means you want to turn, not that everyone else has to let you

[u/Jaijai44444 → u/wokwok__]

Yeah, he was also an asshole the entire time which I found more annoying than the accident itself.

[u/Responsible_Tone4945 → u/wokwok__]

I love how he has just invented a road rule and is now mad that no one is following it, and is willing to risk his own and others property and health just to enforce it. Fkn wild.

[u/jpchippy]

He is 1000% in the wrong, and his behaviour was his way of trying to intimidate you into accepting blame.

[u/Jaijai44444 → u/jpchippy]

Thank you for the reassurance.
He also thought he had a ‘gotcha’ moment at one point which really rubbed me the wrong way. I was having trouble finding my wallet and asked if a digital license would be ok. He wasn’t ok with that, which is fine. He didn’t believe they were a thing and assumed I was being dodgy.

When I found my wallet my NZ license was visible and he exclaimed ‘oh, so you don’t even have an Australian drivers license!’ with this smug look on his face. I do have an Australian license and had been working for a short time in NZ.

It was such an irritating interaction. Cant we just exchange information without all of this bullshit?

[u/legsjohnson → u/Jaijai44444]

not terribly surprising behaviour from someone who thinks the traffic needs to part for him because he wants to change lanes

[u/Curious_Breadfruit88 → u/Jaijai44444]

Just for your future knowledge you have no legal obligation to show him your license (physical or digital) after an accident. All you have to tell them if your name and your address

[u/mpember → u/Curious_Breadfruit88]

And what happens when one driver discovers that the other gave false information?

The police no longer hand over information about the registered owner of a vehicle.

Whether the law requires it or not, I'm still going to be asking for some form of evidence that the information being provided is correct.

[u/Curious_Breadfruit88 → u/mpember]

Not your problem, you give the info to your insurer and they deal with it. I would never give my license information to a random who crashed their car into me

[u/Practical_Win_4736]

Not at fault. Indicator is a request. You are not obliged to let him in. If he forced his way in and collided with you, he’s at fault. His attitude is as bad as his driving.

[u/Daegonx]

Indicators are a request, not a right

[u/Jaijai44444 → u/Daegonx]

I wish I had thought to say this at the time!

[u/moonshwang → u/Jaijai44444]

An indicator is literally for indicating that you want to turn after all. It doesn’t simply permit you to turn just because you want to

[u/hollyjazzy]

You were in the right, he is wrong. Indicators are to show you wish to turn when safe, not a demand that I’m turning whether or not someone is in the way.

[u/dyahnov]

An indicator communicates an intention to change lanes; it doesn't give the driver priority or create a right to move into an occupied lane. The driver changing lanes must make sure it is safe to do so.

[u/mpember → u/dyahnov]

Depending on the type of vehicle, an indicator may result in other vehicles needing to give way if safe to do so.

[u/Nousernames-left → u/mpember]

Correct for Buses and Emergency Vehicles (with beacons and sirens on) but not for Joe blow in his clapped Holden commadore

[u/sezziefromtheblock]

I’m sorry that happened to you, it was 100% his fault! Best of luck getting that sorted, hopefully someone saw something.

[u/Jaijai44444 → u/sezziefromtheblock]

Thank you for your kind response.
I feel better now. I’m in bed with a tub of ice cream.

[u/Specialist_Emu_6413]

“His logic was that he was indicating and therefore he lets one car go and then I must let him in.”

Bahahahaha wtf is this even 😂 the guy is clearly an idiot.

[u/fraqtl]

He was stationary. You were moving at a good clip. He needs to give way.

Let your insurance sort it out. He was trying to get you to admit fault which as everyone knows is something you don't do even if you were 100% at fault.

[u/Stuck_In_Purgatory]

Your indicator is not a magical "right of way" sign.

It's an indicator of where you want to go. He wants to drive into moving traffic, he has to wait for a clear gap.

Instead he just drove straight into a moving car. That's on him for sure lmao

[u/yet-another-redd]

You are in the right. Blinkers don’t mean right of way. He has to wait for a clear gap to safely merge into the next lane. You should get a dash cam.

[u/value-no-mics]

Indicating doesn’t give right of way.

Just don’t tell him that, let him tell your insurer his belief.

[u/Sexdrumsandrock]

People think in Australia you have to ascertain blame so they get all angry. Just get details and pass on to your insurance

[u/RandomMagnet]

Reasons to have a dashcam...

[u/JoJo_kitten]

Nah. He was probably trying to bully you into admitting liability.

Stationary and changing lanes, needs to give way to all moving traffic. You had the right of way, as you were already moving.

If it's the bus lane, fairly sure there's CCTV there. I got booked about 30 years ago driving in the bus lane too early.

Your insurance will sort it out.

[u/Available_Suit6377]

People just making up rules now. Driving is more stressful than it needs to be because your always need to anticipate drivers pulling this type of nonsense.

[u/chief_keem]

https://giphy.com/gifs/UqKD7TU0igaUE

[u/Alternative-Camel-98]

Hey, if you have Facebook the local neighbourhood page might be a good place to find witnesses.

[u/chilli_enema_detox]

I turn now, good luck everybody else!

[u/mrnaughty666]

Let insurance deal with this weasel to the system not Ur fault op indicators mean nothing

[u/hyperpig_]

Good advice from most here, but consider getting a cheap dashcam too.

[u/luv_lee]

https://giphy.com/gifs/UqKD7TU0igaUE

[u/BurazSC2]

I genuinely want to know if the other driver thinks the " give way to this bus" sign on the back of the bus applies to cars behind the bus, too.