“Yellow Lines” mouse killings on the Vilnius-Kaunas road: who would be to blame in the event of an accident? | Business

15 minutes already wrote about the situation on the Vilnius-Kaunas highway a month ago. A braid of yellow lines makes the car’s smart systems question which direction to drive. Drivers also have doubts: should they comply with KET requirements and turn nowhere, or should they ignore the priority yellow lines?

Practice shows that, despite marking with yellow lines, drivers save their property (cars) and even lives. However, a flawed precedent is forming: after seeing the illogical road markings, the driver begins to think that such lines are drawn elsewhere only for beauty. In other words, such situations encourage situational morality, where the same rules do not apply everywhere and not to everyone.

The latest images were submitted by readers last Sunday. Although “Via Lietuva” promised to warn the contractors and solve the problems, it seems that everyone works in the way that is most convenient for them. The chaos of yellow lines on the A1 motorway has not disappeared. However, the dangerous “yellow spots” (an analogy with the emergency black spots) have moved to other places.

One of them, filmed by the reader Rasa, when entering Kaunas both by the Kaunas Lagoon and the bridge over the Krunas. Already after the end of the speed limit.

“At first, when the repair zone started, everything seemed to be fine. We drove according to the yellow lines and yellow arrows painted on the asphalt. And then suddenly such nonsense. Maybe the road workers just painted it and forgot it?” – asks the reader. True, she notices that the driving trajectory indicated by the lines (into the oncoming traffic lane) is blocked by temporary cones.

Who will be at fault if an accident occurs

How do insurers, police, traffic specialists and Via Lietuva itself assess such a situation?

Driving educator Artūras Pakėnas says that it is a lack of work culture. From the series – ah, it’ll be fine. Let the drivers not be surprised, we need to work, not paint, we are road workers, not painters.

A. Pakėnas, head of the “Amplius LT” driving school, states that it is not safe to drive on such a highway, and road users must answer if an accident occurs due to their fault.

Tomas Lizūnas, insurance product manager of insurance company “Balcia”, agrees that the mentioned situation is complicated and drivers can really get confused whether to follow traffic rules (follow yellow lines) or react to the current situation and make a decision to violate KET, but probably avoid traffic event.

The insurer could claim compensation from road users…

“In a situation where a solid yellow line is crossed and a traffic accident occurs (a collision with another TP due to a solid yellow line being crossed), the person who violated the KET would be considered the culprit. He or his insurance company would be required to cover the damage under compulsory insurance. It is important to mention that in such a case, the driver should contact the police and record the situation that caused the incident due to ambiguous road markings. In this case, the insurer could demand compensation from the road users”, commented Tomas Lizūnas.

Jorūnė Liutkienė, senior specialist of the Communication Department of the Police Department of the Republic of Lithuania, says that according to current laws, legal and/or natural persons supervising roads must ensure that the road and its structures (including technical traffic regulation measures) are in technical order, aesthetic, comply with Lithuanian standards and normative construction technical documents. Therefore, the legal and/or natural persons supervising the roads are responsible for the proper installation of yellow lines.

What does “Via Lietuva” think?

And what does “Via Lietuva” (former Directorate of Roads), which is the legal entity, think about such a situation encountered on the highway for the first time. Will they point the finger at the roadworks company again and be done with it?

“We draw your attention to the fact that road signs (for example, No. 627 Change of lanes) are being erected in front of the road section under repair (the construction site of which has already been handed over to the contractors carrying out the work), which inform drivers in advance of changes in the traffic organization.

Drivers should be even more careful on the road, follow and follow road signs during road repair works. However, the photo you sent shows that the road markings are not clear, so we immediately instructed the contractors to evaluate the traffic management decisions of this section as soon as possible and make corrections. Additionally, we would like to inform you that road renovation works will start in this section from tomorrow.

Please note that according to the Road Traffic Rules, drivers on roads where road repair works are being carried out should follow the established traffic organization schemes, which are indicated by vertical and horizontal markings. In cases where the vertical and horizontal road markings differ, drivers should follow the instructions of the road markings.

The construction site of this section of the road, which is ready for repair, has been handed over to contractors who are responsible for its proper maintenance, according to all requirements.

This year, while carrying out road repair works, we also use new solutions that ensure maximum traffic safety, that is, in the sections of the road repaired during the works, traffic in opposite directions is separated not only by signs, but also by additional curbs. This will help to ensure greater safety of road users on the roads, which is the main priority of Via Lietuva”, commented Jolita Orentaitė, Head of the Communication Department of Via Lietuva.