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Watch terrifying moment caravan crashes into truck while trying to overtake it – but who’s to blame?

thescottishsun.co.uk 3 days ago

THIS is the terrifying moment a caravan crashed into a large truck while trying to overtake - but can you tell who's to blame?

Dashcam footage captured the horror moment as both vehicles travelled at speed along a busy dual carriageway.

A truck driver shared dashcam footage of the moment they tried to join a busy dual carriageway
A truck driver shared dashcam footage of the moment they tried to join a busy dual carriageway
As they approach the route via a slip road, a caravan overtakes on the outside
As they approach the route via a slip road, a caravan overtakes on the outside
However, a second car, also towing a caravan, then swerves across the lorry's path
However, a second car, also towing a caravan, then swerves across the lorry's path

In the clip, which went viral on YouTube, the viewer is given the point of view from the lorry's windscreen.

The HGV enters the route via a slip road which merges into the inside lane, with the extra lane tailing off into the hard shoulder.

As it joins the flow of traffic, a car towing a caravan can be seen overtaking.

This first caravan makes the manoeuvre perfectly safely and continues on its way as the truck filters in behind it.

However, seconds later, the camera catches the front end of a second car swerving across in front of the larger vehicle.

The black car appears to be straddling the centre line separating the two lanes, suggesting it has pulled out sharply to get around the truck as it joined the lane.

The lorry driver is forced to pull onto the hard shoulder to avoid a severe smash.

As the clip rolls on, we can see that the car making the wild overtake is towing a grey caravan, with pieces of metal flying off it as they are knocked loose by the impact.

Even more horrifyingly, the caravan then begins to pull from side to side behind the car towing it after being knocked out of kilter, putting surrounding motors at risk.

Despite the near-miss, the caravan owner failed to stop and hurtled off along the road as the video comes to an end.

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But who was at fault for the crash?

Well, it all comes down to an easily missed road sign to explain it.

Right at the start of the video, just as the truck enters the dual carriageway, it passes a white sign bearing a triangular black shape which looks a little like the Eiffel Tower.

This indicates that lanes are set to merge as the slip road disappears.

Under Rule 259 the Highway Code drivers should give priority to traffic already on the main road and match their speed to the flow of traffic to allow them to join without causing other drivers to change course.

That would suggest the truck was actually at fault for joining the carriageway improperly.

However, the caravan owner likely also has to bear some responsibility as the video shows that there was no traffic behind them and yet they made the overtake far too close to the truck.

To be safer, they could have pulled into the outside lane to complete the overtake rather than illegally straddling the two.

Bits of metal flew off the van due to the impact as the two came together
Bits of metal flew off the van due to the impact as the two came together
The caravan then swayed back and forth after being knocked out of kilter
The caravan then swayed back and forth after being knocked out of kilter
However, the Highway Code suggests that the truck was at fault
However, the Highway Code suggests that the truck was at fault
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