(a) Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master, or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case.
A literal translation would be that "the rules will not protect you if you fail to follow either the rules or basic common sense."
(b) In construing and complying with these Rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances, including the limitations of the vessels involved, which may make a departure from these Rules necessary to avoid immediate danger.
In other words, if you are the stand on vessel (according to the rules) and you continue to stand on until the other vessel is so close that a collision cannot be avoided then you would be held accountable for playing a contributory role in the collision itself. However, if you are witnessed breaking the rules in order to prevent a collision you would not be accountable.
So as mentioned in the title: You really are damned if you don't follow the colregs, but equally damned if you do.
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