Car accident...who's at fault?

[Doodoo]

So I was involved in a car accident earlier today...3 lane highway with side streets on the left and right side. I'm in the left lane and another lady is in the center lane about a car length in front of me. She decides to try to make a left hand turn from the center lane but sees the car in front of me at the last minute and swerves back to her lane. This whole time, I'm thinking this lady is gonna side swipe the car in front of me. So she gets back in her lane and I thought to myself that was a close call...but no...she lets the car in front of me pass and decides to make the left hand turn...I go "Oh shit!!" and slam on the brakes. I end up hitting her in the rear driver side quarter panel with the corner of the front passenger side of my car after skidding for a few feet. I didn't get her insurance info since she didn't want to talk to me...so I called my company and they're going to send out someone tomorrow to take my statement to investigate. So who's fault would this accident fall on? The police report has her stating that she attempted to make a left turn from the center lane. The last time I was rear ended, it was over 6k in damages...I don't even think my car is worth that much anymore...2001 Lexus GS300. Other car was a 2001 Toyota mini van driven by a lady in her 60s.

 

[BoomerD]

Obviously her fault...but you know how it works...you COULD have avoided the accident. You SAW what she was trying to do...yet you didn't back off and let her make the turn...insurance companies will determine you to be 50% at fault...just because you were there.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Here it would be an improper turn not in safety. If she entered your lane and crossed the path of your vehicle while making the turn she is 100% at fault.

So was the impact in your lane of travel with her crossed into it or did the skid send you into her lane?

 

[DCal430]

Did you get her contact info?

Was their much damage, if so, why didn't you call the police to come?

 

[Ns1]

The police report has her stating that she attempted to make a left turn from the center lane.

I don't see how this could possibly be your fault.

 

[boomerang]

Did you get her contact info?

Was their much damage, if so, why didn't you call the police to come?

You've posted in the wrong thread. This thread is about a car accident with a description that answered a lot of potential questions right in the first post.

 

[Mixolydian]

Women drivers.

 

[DCal430]

You've posted in the wrong thread. This thread is about a car accident with a description that answered a lot of potential questions right in the first post.

He just said she didn't give him the insurance info, not that she wouldn't give him any info.

Also he only were he hit, not how much damage was actually done.

So no he didn't answer those questions.

 

[Doodoo]

He just said she didn't give him the insurance info, not that she wouldn't give him any info.

Also he only were he hit, not how much damage was actually done.

So no he didn't answer those questions.

There wasn't much damage, but enough. I'll need a new bumper and quarter panel. Not sure if the scuffs on the headlight will buff out. I actually got out to see if she was ok, but she totally ignored me and got on her cell phone...so I just walked back to my car to wait for the police. The impact was in my lane. If I didn't slam on the brakes I would've probably hit her right in the driver side quarter panel. At the time I thought it would've been 100% her fault, but when I spoke to the insurance company they said it couldn't be determined and they'd have to get my statement. That totally caught me by surprise...then again...this is NY so who knows...

I told the officer my side and when he came back after speaking to the other driver, he said that she said she didn't see me when trying to make the left.

 

[Danimal1209]

Totally and completely her fault. She broke the law.

I can't stand people that are terrible drivers. I mean, IT'S NOT A HARD THING TO DO!!

 

[OverVolt]

Instead of explaining you could have just posted this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLuaPZWkvZ0

(Family guy clip)

 

[Schfifty Five]

So I was involved in a car accident earlier today...3 lane highway with side streets on the left and right side. I'm in the left lane and another lady is in the center lane about a car length in front of me. She decides to try to make a left hand turn from the center lane but sees the car in front of me at the last minute and swerves back to her lane. This whole time, I'm thinking this lady is gonna side swipe the car in front of me. So she gets back in her lane and I thought to myself that was a close call...but no...she lets the car in front of me pass and decides to make the left hand turn...I go "Oh shit!!" and slam on the brakes. I end up hitting her in the rear driver side quarter panel with the corner of the front passenger side of my car after skidding for a few feet. I didn't get her insurance info since she didn't want to talk to me...so I called my company and they're going to send out someone tomorrow to take my statement to investigate. So who's fault would this accident fall on? The police report has her stating that she attempted to make a left turn from the center lane. The last time I was rear ended, it was over 6k in damages...I don't even think my car is worth that much anymore...2001 Lexus GS300. Other car was a 2001 Toyota mini van driven by a lady in her 60s.

If what you say is true, how could anyone (you or the cops) be unsure of who's fault this was?

You were in a lane that I assume is designated for a left turn or go straight at said intersection. As long as you can go straight in the left lane, the center lane can not do anything else but go straight.

How could the cops not automatically claim her at fault?

How could you walk away w/o her insurance info?

How could you walk away w/o making the cop write in the report that it was her fault?

edit: If the police report says she was trying to make a left turn lane from the center lane, I'm going to say that it will be viewed as her fault.

 

[dbk]

Well I wouldn't totally assume that you would be scott free because she was the one that committed a traffic violation. My friend was in a similar situation where a car on the outer left turn lane encroached into the inner one. He was behind the car that was encroached upon rear ended the car in front of him. However, the car in front of him was able to stop in stop to avoid being hit by the crazy driver. The insurance determined that my friend didn't maintain enough distance and was deemed liable for rear-ending the car in front of him even though none of it would've happened had the other driver not come into his lane.

It sounds like she just cut you off but who knows what the insurance co might say. I don't know how you let her off without providing her insurance info. I would've call the police right then and there - especially if I was in the right.

 

[CA19100]

Remember, if you're in a state with comparative negligence, you braked, you honked, and you swerved. If you failed to do any of those three things, you contributed to the accident and will have to pay part of it. (This is per my wife, who used to work auto insurance claims.)

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Remember, if you're in a state with comparative negligence, you braked, you honked, and you swerved. If you failed to do any of those three things, you contributed to the accident and will have to pay part of it. (This is per my wife, who used to work auto insurance claims.)

Pretty sure that swerving is never recommended if you don't have the time to check your surroundings and react.

Well I wouldn't totally assume that you would be scott free because she was the one that committed a traffic violation. My friend was in a similar situation where a car on the outer left turn lane encroached into the inner one. He was behind the car that was encroached upon rear ended the car in front of him. However, the car in front of him was able to stop in stop to avoid being hit by the crazy driver. The insurance determined that my friend didn't maintain enough distance and was deemed liable for rear-ending the car in front of him even though none of it would've happened had the other driver not come into his lane.

It sounds like she just cut you off but who knows what the insurance co might say. I don't know how you let her off without providing her insurance info. I would've call the police right then and there - especially if I was in the right.

Tailgating is bad driving and your friend likely deserved it. The op was in a different lane. Not applicable.

 

[jagec]

Remember, if you're in a state with comparative negligence, you braked, you honked, and you swerved. If you failed to do any of those three things, you contributed to the accident and will have to pay part of it. (This is per my wife, who used to work auto insurance claims.)

I guess they never teach these guys to separate your braking and steering?

 

[LTC8K6]

Honked? Not sure I want my hand on the airbag cover when I'm about to crash.

 

[DrPizza]

I'm going to give a slightly different reply:
You're an ass. At least when you're driving. You clearly saw that she was trying to make a left hand turn and realized there was a car along side her when she attempted to shift lanes. Rather than be polite and allow her to enter the lane, you apparently closed the distance to prevent her from entering your lane (otherwise she would have had plenty of room.) Well, at least it's pretty logical to assume this happened. Otherwise, your claim is that she was trying to turn left. Then decided, "no, I don't need to turn left." Then re-decided to turn left. While this accident was her fault, by the rules of the road, it was 100% preventable if you were a courteous (not to mention, defensive/intelligent) driver. But, you were in too much of a hurry, so now your car is damaged.

 

[Murloc]

it's her fault regardless of how not nice he was being.
She crossed into someone else's lane, without looking in the side mirror and the blind spot and caused an accident.

But it almost always takes 2 to tango so the insurance will try to say you weren't driving safe or something and that you could have prevented the accident.

 

[Farang]

Fault is a funny thing, a lot of times if comes down to how you tell the story. In this case it was her fault. But the situation you described might also be described as her changing lanes to make a left and you rear-ending her.

Example I was taking a right onto a street with heavy traffic. I was nosing my way in slowly and this guy wasn't having it, but I kept inching in (I was working--I don't blame working people for driving like assholes they have places to be). We scraped together.

My statement was I had gone partway into traffic and stopped. He inched forward and hit me.

The guy was an idiot and said bla bla bla he was trying to get in and we collided.

Only one of those statements show clear fault.. and it ended up being his.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I'm going to give a slightly different reply:
You're an ass. At least when you're driving. You clearly saw that she was trying to make a left hand turn and realized there was a car along side her when she attempted to shift lanes. Rather than be polite and allow her to enter the lane, you apparently closed the distance to prevent her from entering your lane (otherwise she would have had plenty of room.) Well, at least it's pretty logical to assume this happened. Otherwise, your claim is that she was trying to turn left. Then decided, "no, I don't need to turn left." Then re-decided to turn left. While this accident was her fault, by the rules of the road, it was 100% preventable if you were a courteous (not to mention, defensive/intelligent) driver. But, you were in too much of a hurry, so now your car is damaged.

Dumbest post yet. You know how else it could have been 100% preventable? If the dumb lady knew how to drive properly.

 

[Doodoo]

I think if she actually changed lanes and then tried to make the left, the accident wouldn't have occurred since she would have still been moving forward at the time. She tried to turn left from the center lane and I pretty much hit her on the side of her car. If I reacted a half second slower, I would've tboned her and hit her right in the driver side door.

It all happened so quick that I don't think I would've had the time to back off and let her make the full turn. If she had went to go left the first time her car wouldve hit the rear side of the car next to her.

 

[jagec]

I'm going to give a slightly different reply:
You're an ass. At least when you're driving. You clearly saw that she was trying to make a left hand turn and realized there was a car along side her when she attempted to shift lanes. Rather than be polite and allow her to enter the lane, you apparently closed the distance to prevent her from entering your lane (otherwise she would have had plenty of room.) Well, at least it's pretty logical to assume this happened. Otherwise, your claim is that she was trying to turn left. Then decided, "no, I don't need to turn left." Then re-decided to turn left. While this accident was her fault, by the rules of the road, it was 100% preventable if you were a courteous (not to mention, defensive/intelligent) driver. But, you were in too much of a hurry, so now your car is damaged.

Well, now she has an at-fault accident on her record, and he has to take his car to the body shop and worry about how much of it is going to be covered.

The system worked in this case.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I think if she actually changed lanes and then tried to make the left, the accident wouldn't have occurred since she would have still been moving forward at the time. She tried to turn left from the center lane and I pretty much hit her on the side of her car. If I reacted a half second slower, I would've tboned her and hit her right in the driver side door.

It all happened so quick that I don't think I would've had the time to back off and let her make the full turn. If she had went to go left the first time her car wouldve hit the rear side of the car next to her.

Doodoo, it seems pretty clear cut you were not doing anything wrong and that the lady is at 100% fault. I can't believe anyone would try to put you at fault here.

 

[DrPizza]

Dumbest post yet.

20-something years of driving, I average somewhere around 30k miles per year. In the past couple of decades, I've had ZERO accidents, except a deer that landed on the road 2 feet in front of my car. ZERO moving violations. Plenty of close calls that were avoided by ME being aware of my environment. He already stated he was aware that she was trying to move left. He put his car into a position to prevent her from doing that - barely. And completely ignores that many drivers don't have their rear view mirrors set properly & don't see that spot.

In other words, as I said above, the accident is her fault, but he could VERY easily have avoided it if he didn't drive like an ass.

This site describes the exact same situation:
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~gdguo/driving/BlindSpot.htm
Except, in that case, the driver on the right side waited to move to the left lane. In the OP's case, he clearly witnessed her attempting to move into the left lane. I maintain that her mirrors weren't set properly AND the OP put himself into harms way.

If you see someone shooting a gun, and between pulls of the trigger, you jump in front of the gun, whose fault is it that you got shot? Clearly the person who pulled the trigger. But you're the moron who jumped in front of the gun. Driving in a manner to intentionally prevent someone from making a turn is aggressive driving.


Edit: or to put it another way in fewer words:
You saw she was trying to move left. You had two choices: give her space, or block her from moving left. You chose the latter. Accident happened. Nice going.