Hypothetical situation...

Wether the vehicle in front has or has not got working lights isn't an issue. You are supposed to leave a safe distance....
After all, if you hit a parked car because there were no lights on would you be in the right ???
As far as I know, and I know somebody that had this happen to them.... At a roundabout the car in front pulled away and crossed the give way road markings. Then they decided to stop as the way was not clear. My mate drove into the back of them as he was looking ontothe roundabout. The car in front was found at fault because he had actually crossed the road markings and as such was deemed to have cleared th junction.

Originally Posted by Furry Ginger One

As far as I know, and I know somebody that had this happen to them.... At a roundabout the car in front pulled away and crossed the give way road markings. Then they decided to stop as the way was not clear. My mate drove into the back of them as he was looking ontothe roundabout. The car in front was found at fault because he had actually crossed the road markings and as such was deemed to have cleared th junction.

That seems harsh - how many times do you see a car already on the roundabout change its mind, or not indicate at all? Too easy to think it's clear when it's not.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by Furry Ginger One

Wether the vehicle in front has or has not got working lights isn't an issue. You are supposed to leave a safe distance....
After all, if you hit a parked car because there were no lights on would you be in the right ???
As far as I know, and I know somebody that had this happen to them.... At a roundabout the car in front pulled away and crossed the give way road markings. Then they decided to stop as the way was not clear. My mate drove into the back of them as he was looking ontothe roundabout. The car in front was found at fault because he had actually crossed the road markings and as such was deemed to have cleared th junction.

eh? lucky barsteward! That's insane if that's normal practice.

A parked car generally doesn't change what it's doing so not a great comparison, brake lights help because cars don't stop instantly. Brake lights give you that time to react (they shorten thinking time which is a good proportion of a braking distance). It all depends on the scenario.

Dave, true. Not a great comparison but if the car in front crashd into the car in front of him without braking then it would still be questionable if you were drving with a safe distance or not. The very fact that it is called a safe distance is contradicted as soon as there is an accident because it obviously isn't a safe distance. I tend to find myself driving or riding always thinking of an alternative direction if he vehicle in front stops suddenly.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by Furry Ginger One

. I tend to find myself driving or riding always thinking of an alternative direction if he vehicle in front stops suddenly.

Me too, but unfortunately only after I crashed when I first got my SV.
Mostly down to inexperience/poor road reading, I was riding a distance behind the car which I could have stopped in had I have had advanced warning it was stopping (brake lights/having an eye on the car when it decided to stop ) the car stopped for a (completey concealed, unsignposted) right hand turn. There was very low,bright evening sunlight which completely concealed the brake lights, as we went through a speed camera just before the turn I have a feeling the car must have started stopping and the brake lights were concealed (either that or he slammed the anchors on but either way the brake lights were never visible) by the time I had glanced down at my speedo for the camera and looked back up at the road he was more or less stationary.
That hurt, but a good example of how brakelights would have helped, if I had have seen lights before looking at the speedo I would never have looked. Once I was aware of the change in his speed there was just no time to think (or not for my brain atleast), I don't even remember having time to reach for the brake lever but a witness claims he saw the front end juddering heavily so I must have managed to.

I still accept it was my fault though!