[PeterLegend]

Hey guys, I need your advice/opinion on my car accident situation. The accident occurred 2 months ago when I was traveling straight into an intersection and the other driver did not yield when executing a left turn (the light was yellow as I entered the intersection). She claimed that I ran a red which I didn’t, I know she was wrong for turning early and not yielding unfortunately there were no independent witnesses and no video footage. The other party’s insurance has now communicated 50/50 blame which I don’t want to accept. I told my lawyer that I want to reject because I didn’t do anything wrong, so why should I be paying anything…The latest update I got was the attorney from State Farm (my insurance) is reviewing if we can win this case.

The question is can I win? Hypothetically if I ran a red light it means that the other driver was also in the intersection when it was red. I know I had the Right of Way on my side too…

 

[enne]

It would help to add your location to your profile. State/county/city laws, assuming you're in the USA, might come into play here (though right-of-way is mostly the same everywhere).

Can't really give you legal advice but yeah.

 

[RickBlaine]

Pete:

1) Can you provide a link to your accident thread a couple of months ago, just as an info post?

2) I too have State Farm, and I find their attorneys to be aggressive, but tempered with business costs. They may run a background check on the other party- if she is clean, they may determine through a cost/benefit analysis that financially, there is nothing to gain by fighting it. Her claim of being in the intersection- while waiting to turn left as the light turned red, is not technically illegal in the state I live in. You are supposed to "wait until it is safe to proceed". Then again, you may be in Canada or Hong Kong or Angola- I don't know.

3) You are probably the biggest advocate for a Russian Dash Cam now....

4) You can update your User CP to include your city under your username so members could give you better help- as "enne" mentioned.

 

[219553]

Based on your description, both of you entered the intersection on yellow. In theory you had the right-of-way, but in that situation the 50-50 split sounds about right, especially without witnesses or video.

Unless you have a huge amount of points on your license or chargeable accidents on your policy, I'd say it's not worth fighting: pay your deductible and move on.

Hypothetically if I ran a red light it means that the other driver was also in the intersection when it was red. I know I had the Right of Way on my side too…

Which boils down to, "Maybe we both ran the red, but I had right-of-way." I would advise you not to repeat that argument anywhere an insurance adjuster or a cop could hear it.

 

[200366HFP]

3) You are probably the biggest advocate for a Russian Dash Cam now....

I drive around with my Go-Pro on the dash for this very reason.

 

[MikeNC]

Without witnesses or video, that is a tough one to win in court I'd think. If the light was yellow when you entered the intersection, a judge may stick with the idea you share fault unless you can prove (a) the light changed when you were too close to the stop line to safely stop, or if not that, then (b) you were not accelerating into the yellow (in some states, it is explicitly illegal to do that and it is a citeable offense, others its a gray or "judgement" area).

So, in the absence of witnesses or evidence to the contrary, the court's own decision may be the two of you split the responsibility as it is a case of your word against theirs. You can argue all you want that you're in the right, but can you prove it before a judge?

 

[PeterLegend]

I'm located in Los Angeles, CA. The accident occurred in Compton where I work (yeah I know it's a bad area).

My driving record is clean, I've been driving for almost 10 years now. No parking tickets, speeding tickets or red light violations.

I was driving through the intersection at 30 mph, usually when people run red lights they speed up. If I did then the damage would of been much worse.

Here is the link to my previous thread with pictures.

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/86-9th-generation/342001-2013-accord-v6-coupe-totaled.html

 

[08EX-L]

That sucks... here in Canada if you turn infront of someone driving through an intersection... even if its yellow you are at fault... someone did that a block from my work and ended up killing a poor guy waiting for a bus... the car turning was charged... even though the guy was speeding through the intersection.

 

[enne]

Unfortunately as MikeNC said, if you have no proof that you either were too close to the stopping line to stop safely and continued into the intersection through the yellow light, the court doesn't have much to go on to rule in your favor.

 

[djkev21]

was anyone charged?

 

[PeterLegend]

No, the police came to the scene and said to exchange information. They didn't fault either driver, I filed a police report several days after the accident since they didn't write one.

Well so far from the responses it looks like I'm going to get screwed.

I was hoping to get diminished value for my car too...I guess i'll be keeping her for 10-15 years then.

 

[MikeNC]

Well, wait and hear what State Farm says. If they stick with accepting the 50:50 offer you can sue privately but that would be expensive too, and again, if she sticks to her story and with no witnesses it would likely not be worth pursuing. It's tough without witnesses or traffic cam footage or dash cam - something to give you an edge to sway a judge over one side's story versus the other.

At least the repairs sound like they were done well so you have a good running car back out of it.

 

[14v6]

If she was in the intersection and waiting to turn and you went on a yellow regardless of the laws, I think that you are at fault, like you want the red carpet thrown out for you when there is a yellow. If she turned at the intersection without having been stopped there waiting to make a turn, then she is basically doing the same thing as you, hoping that someone would stop on the yellow. Either way, since a yellow was involved, I think that it's a bit of a leap for you to think that you are 100% not at fault, sorry.

 

[RickBlaine]

When I lived in DC I rear-ended a lady in some beater. 100% my "fault", or was it?

I was driving a Civic, she was in some Mazda beater. The light turned green she pulled away- I took my foot off of the brake but did not hit the gas yet. She stopped in the intersection, deciding to turn left. Like an idiot, I was looking at my gf's coffee and not paying attention. I tapped that lady's bumper. No damage, no scratches, but I was an idiot. I was at fault. This is the only car accident I ever caused.

A police officer was in the car next to us and saw this! I was issued a warning ticket (no damage, no sound, no verification that I actually hit her), but she was given a verbal warning by the officer for stopping for no reason.

A few months later I get served right outside of the White House (I worked there) as I was being sued for $60,000. I had State Farm, and my attorney, Mr. Cy Picken of MD, went about investigating. Turns out the lady was a professional victim, getting rear ended about every 2-3 months. Same "doctor" would issue medical treatments for her in the thousands, and the same "body shop" would issue estimates in the $3,000 range. Her "employer" would issue letters saying she could not work for months.

Turns out State Farm lawyers talk to other insurance company lawyers- and everyone knew about her. So I was the test case. We fought back. Jury trial. Even though I was found "liable" as I was the dummy who rear-ended her, she was awarded $0. Then, at the conclusion, she apologized to me saying that she was forced to sue me as she had no future.

As we exited the courtroom, she was arrested for fraud. Her attorney, her doctor, and her employer were not charged- just her. She had made a "living" for 3 years doing this- looking in her rear view mirror for idiots (that'd be me!) distracted by their high-maintenance girlfriends (DC has 'em by the truck load!), pulling away, then stopping to get hit.

By the court date, my gf was now an ex-gf. Thankfully, she did not have to come in to testify as I probably would have been denounced and then arrested for being "mean".

 

[219553]

I just looked at the thread describing the accident, and I'm not getting it.

Am I the only one having problems with the fact that all of the damage is on the passenger side of the car? If anything, the pictures posted look like they should be pictures of the other car, the one turning left, not the one going straight.

 

[Seech]

Yes, there should be a drawing or something. I don't get where the cars were going either. Probably opposite directions?

 

[PeterLegend]

Yes, opposite directions, I was heading north and she was heading south making a left turn into the intersection.

There was also a truck heading north waiting to make a left turn as well, I believe this truck blocked her view of me, I noted this in my statement as well. But obviously I don't have a photo to prove it.

I'm at work right now so I can't do a drawing...

 

[Seech]

Yes, opposite directions, I was heading north and she was heading south making a left turn into the intersection.

There was also a truck heading north waiting to make a left turn as well, I believe this truck blocked her view of me, I noted this in my statement as well. But obviously I don't have a photo to prove it.

I hate those cars waiting to make a left turn standing in the middle of the intersection well knowing they will be there way beyond the yellow light most of the time as the incoming traffic is busy. If you know you went on yellow, it should be their fault.

 

[enne]

Which one of you reached the intersection first? It can't be proved obviously but I'd like to know. Also, how did the person turning left crash into your right side? I'm not sure I'm understanding the situation correctly.

 

[hdtouring]

Hypothetically if I ran a red light it means that the other driver was also in the intersection when it was red. I know I had the Right of Way on my side too…

As stated by other posters, this is not necessarily true.

According to CA law, "running the red light" means "entering the intersection when the light is red," not "exiting the intersection when the light is red." The law also says you can enter the intersection only when "it is safe to do so," regardless of the light.

If the other driver had entered the intersection when the light was not red, and had been waiting in the intersection to make the turn. You had the right of way only when the light was not red. When the light was red (you "run the red light"), you didn't have the right of way.