This was the question for the court in Pykett v Clement & Anor [2011] EWHC 2925 (QB). Ms Clement collided head-on with a van travelling in the opposite direction after having made several unsuccessful attempts to overtake Mr Pykett. It was accepted that Ms Clement bore most of the blame for the accident, but Ms Clement alleged that Mr Pykett was partly at fault for not having allowed her to pass. The relevant section of the Highway Code reads as follows: “If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably whilst someone is overtaking you is dangerous.” In Smith v Cribben [1994] PIQR 218, the Court of Appeal had suggested that no liability would attach to the driver being overtaken if he simply maintained his course and speed, since he was not under a duty to extricate the other driver from the dangerous situation the other driver had created. The High Court in this case expanded on that analysis, stating that even if Mr Pykett had speeded up on the straight sections of the road, he was maintaining a steady course and speed “consistent with the changing road conditions” and therefore could not be held even partly to blame. In other words, the overtaking driver must anticipate that the other driver will naturally slow down for bends and speed up on the straights, and the driver being overtaken cannot be blamed for this provided that he is not trying to deliberately obstruct the overtaking driver.
