Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodsy
ITD,
So your driving down the 3 lane highway, overtaking a slower car in the middle lane. You change lanes and commit yourself to passing him. All of a sudden he abruptly slows and swerves into your lane..... You have already committed to passing him, your in your lane so you brake abruptly and swerve the opposite way into the lane he just left to avoid the collision. Had their been a collision who would be at fault?? Is it your fault? Or the slower guys fault? If I am to follow your logic its your fault as you didn't prepare for or leave enough room for the slower driver's erratic driving.
You have reasonable expectation that the other car saw you overtaking him and there was no reason you should expect anything other than he continues on his current path and speed as you go around him. The law says he is supposed to use directional to signal a lane change and look before changing lanes to make sure the lane is clear, if the lane isn't clear he is not supposed to enter it. This scenario happens every day on highways of NH.
Same basic rules apply in this situation.
Its pretty much the same situation here just with bigger distances. Instead of 10' lanes we have the 150' safe passage rule. The onus is on the Formula for avoiding the collision and he did just that. There was no collision. However this doesn't absolve Laser of potentially causing the collision by failing to keep a proper lookout and failing to obey navigation rules. Had Laser kept a proper lookout and checked before he changed course and speed he would have seen the bow lights of the Formula, been able to determine the Formulas course and this whole situation would have been avoided. The Formula as the GIVE WAY boat had the reasonable expectation that Laser as the STAND ON boat was aware of his position and would proceed accordingly. The STAND ON boat has just as much responsibility as the GIVE WAY boat when it comes to accidents. Both skippers are tasked with avoiding collision.
Woodsy
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Sorry Woodsy, I don't think we're going to agree here, the overtaken vessel has the right of way, driving on a road is a completely different animal and not applicable here. If you pass another boat at the minimum 150 feet you are begging to be t-boned and you will have no time to explain your parsing of the stand on / give way nuances to the other boat.
I also don't agree with your statement that by the "being passed" boat turning right he becomes the Stand on boat during a pass, there could be any number of reasons why a boat might have to make a turn, if the "being passed" boat needs to maneuver, then the give way boat needs to give way, not try to proclaim he was in the right because the "being passed" boat needed to turn and was crossing him port to starboard. In a lawsuit that defense would most certainly fail.
It's a big lake out there, pass far enough away so that if the boat being passed changes course you have the time and space to avoid a collision. If you pass closer than that then you are being foolish. If you are in a situation where you can only pass at 150ft then you should wait until you have more room. I also think that as the give way vessel, you need to keep yourself in the position to give way, there are many things that can cause a stand on boat to deviate its course, a smart captain will be ready for that in a position to act.
That being said, it's also wise to scan 360 degrees, have your head on a swivel when piloting a boat. Unlike driving a car, where you can anticipate most traffic conflicts due to roads and lanes, in a boat you can be hit from any angle at any time. I specifically look for boats behind me when I turn because I am truly amazed at how many spatial awareness deficient boaters there are out there.