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- Jul 23, 2012
My question involves a traffic accident in Washington D.C.
My research into this has basically said that the person making the left turn is always at fault when there is a situation of yielding to make a left turn across an intersection. My circumstances are slightly different and I would appreciate any insight on this. Here is the story:
I am at an intersection making a left turn, there is an opening in the traffic for me to make the turn so I proceed. There is another car that is oncoming that begins to slow down because they see me crossing, it is a good distance away (I don't know the exact distance but it was far enough away for a safe turn to be made) and there was another car directly behind that one. The car behind the one that slowed down to let me cross makes a hard right turn into the other open lane (I know this because I saw the weight of the car shift hard and dip on the right side's suspension) and began to quickly accelerate towards me (I also heard a loud revving after the hard lane change). So the car the made the quick lane change accelerated quickly toward me and hit the rear passenger side of my car behind the rear door.
I am trying to determine if the insurance company will find me at fault for this accident, I don't think that I am because I had an opening to cross and the other driver only hit me because they were trying to get around the other car that slowed down as they saw I was crossing the intersection. I don't think I should be held liable for the accident because the car that hit me only became visible at the time they swerved into the next lane, at which point I was already in the intersection having nearly completed my crossing before getting clipped in the rear bumper area. Up until the time it quickly changed lanes it wasn't visible at all.
I am thinking that the area of the damage to my car proves this point. How could I be liable for a failure to yield when I am nearly crossed and am hit by a driver that quickly switches lanes and accelerates aggressively? I found the security company that has footage of the accident from the surrounding buildings, I plan to use that to show the other car quickly accelerating past the one that slowed down as I crossed the intersection. Couldn't speak to anyone from there directly yet (left a voicemail), but would I need a subpoena from a traffic lawyer to obtain the video of the accident occurring? Or can that just be sent to the insurance companies? Is this evidence that I can use to prove that I am not at fault?
I am still waiting to hear from my insurance since I just filed the claim last night, so I do not yet know how my insurance will deem who is responsible but everything I've looked into so far says that I would be.
Thank you for any help.
My research into this has basically said that the person making the left turn is always at fault when there is a situation of yielding to make a left turn across an intersection. My circumstances are slightly different and I would appreciate any insight on this. Here is the story:
I am at an intersection making a left turn, there is an opening in the traffic for me to make the turn so I proceed. There is another car that is oncoming that begins to slow down because they see me crossing, it is a good distance away (I don't know the exact distance but it was far enough away for a safe turn to be made) and there was another car directly behind that one. The car behind the one that slowed down to let me cross makes a hard right turn into the other open lane (I know this because I saw the weight of the car shift hard and dip on the right side's suspension) and began to quickly accelerate towards me (I also heard a loud revving after the hard lane change). So the car the made the quick lane change accelerated quickly toward me and hit the rear passenger side of my car behind the rear door.
I am trying to determine if the insurance company will find me at fault for this accident, I don't think that I am because I had an opening to cross and the other driver only hit me because they were trying to get around the other car that slowed down as they saw I was crossing the intersection. I don't think I should be held liable for the accident because the car that hit me only became visible at the time they swerved into the next lane, at which point I was already in the intersection having nearly completed my crossing before getting clipped in the rear bumper area. Up until the time it quickly changed lanes it wasn't visible at all.
I am thinking that the area of the damage to my car proves this point. How could I be liable for a failure to yield when I am nearly crossed and am hit by a driver that quickly switches lanes and accelerates aggressively? I found the security company that has footage of the accident from the surrounding buildings, I plan to use that to show the other car quickly accelerating past the one that slowed down as I crossed the intersection. Couldn't speak to anyone from there directly yet (left a voicemail), but would I need a subpoena from a traffic lawyer to obtain the video of the accident occurring? Or can that just be sent to the insurance companies? Is this evidence that I can use to prove that I am not at fault?
I am still waiting to hear from my insurance since I just filed the claim last night, so I do not yet know how my insurance will deem who is responsible but everything I've looked into so far says that I would be.
Thank you for any help.
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