Help with accident???

[JVD]

Hey guys. Wondering if anyone can help out who knows the law or has dealt with something similar to this before.

I don't have collision and Terrible Driver's insurance company is trying to tell me they don't think they're at fault.

Here's the story.

I'm in the furthest right of 4 lanes, rolling up to a red light. I downshift into second and start to coast to a stop. As I'm about 5 car lengths from the instersection my light turns green. I see Dumb and DumbER turning from my left onto the road I'm on, so I take it easy. Once I see they've safely turned onto the road I'm on I move my foot from the brake to the accelerator. Literally 2 full seconds after my light turned green Terrible Driver comes flying from my left side. I had zero time to react so I just brace for impact. I was going about 35KM/H and Terrible Driver must have been going around 50KM/H because I just clipped his rear passenger side wheel. This sent him into a truck(Guy stopped on RED) which was stopped at the opposite side of the intersection from which Terrible Driver entered.

Terrible Driver claims he was stuck in the intersection behind someone turning left until the light turned red. Then he tried to clear the intersection.

Guy stopped on RED has no information other than "I stopped when I saw the light turn yellow... then didn't pay attention and got struck by Terrible Driver."

Terrible Driver's insurance is trying to tell me I am liable because I didn't wait for the intersection to clear.

Can anyone confirm anything here? How should I go about proving I am not at fault? How can they prove Terrible Driver was "stuck" in the intersection? Am I fucked?

There were no witnesses that stopped, if that matters.

Here's a diagram.

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3971/accidentk.jpg

...and here's a pic of my car in relation to Guy stopped on RED's truck. As you can see Guy stopped on RED was stopped right at the stop line... like Terrible Driver should have done at the other side of the intersection.

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/1953/accpic.jpg

Any help is appreciated.

[JVDSKYRINE]

Hey gord what was the ticket the cops gave the guy who ran the red??

[JVD]

Hey gord what was the ticket the cops gave the guy who ran the red??

Oh ya. Forgot to mention that.

He was given a ticket. Not entirely sure what it was. Failure to obey traffic signals or something like that...

[ESmorz]

Get yourself a traffic lawyer and tell them to fuck themselves.

You don't even want to know the hell I have been going through with that dumb broads insurance, even with a police report and her statement saying she was at fault.

Oh and...

http://www.northeastern.edu/aac/images/fist.png

Subaru.

[FRoSt415]

Get the Police report! If you dont have the offcers name or any of the numbers or names of the people involved then just go @#$#@ yourself up for being an @$$.
Call your insurance company, make sure u have all the informaton u could gather, then go forward and call the terrible drivers insurance company and speak to someone handeling the claim. threaten them saying u have a police report and no that the driver ran a red light and recievied a ticket for t as well. Good LUCK

[Mi Beardo es Loco]

the guy obviously admitted he was in the intersection on a red, which is illegal. Your light was green....hes at fault. Anyways, why is his insurance company contacting YOU? Didnt you contact your insurance? Your insurance should be fighting this for you. Theyre probably trying to get you admitting something on tape so they could escape liability. Dont talk to them. Just tell them that youll get a lawyer if you have to. Maybe your neck is starting to feel a little tense lately since the accident.

[emersonLP]

Terrible driver should not have ENTERED the intersection if he could not clear it. If there is 1 person in front of him in the intersection turning left - then his ass should not be in the intersection too. Sounds like he ran the light. No question about it.

[Sil-Abc]

hows your back? must be hurting after such a brutal hit *wink wink* :D

[CrimsonRockett]

You're not at fault.

The accident I was in 2.5 years ago was very similar to this.

My light turns green, I go into the intersection about to make a left, taxi cab comes plowing through crashing into my entire driver's side in the process. He ran the red light.

His insurance called me trying to say I was at fault for not waiting. My only response was "talk to my lawyer." and hung up.

The entire process sucks, but it's worth it.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii246/CrimsonRockett/Wrecked%20S13/000_2044.jpg

Yours wasn't anywhere near as bad as mine, but with lawyer, they'll pay up.

[carnagexxxx]

Hey JVD, sorry to hear about what happened to you.

First, I'd like to mention that I am a LICENSED insurance professional. Try to refrain from taking advice from those who do not know insurance law and only comment on past experience. Also, please take my word when I say that it is in your best interest to pursue this in the most calm way possible. You truely do get more flys with honey than vinegar.

I'll mention that insurance law is different from one state to the next. That being addressed, I'm sure that since you are in Canada the laws could be vastly different as well. For instance, the state that I do business in has a law called "comparative negligence". This means that each driver involved in an accident has a percentage of fault. Looking at your situation, I can see that you might be a small percentage of fault, albeit small (maybe 20% since you didn't wait for the intersection to clear). Some insurance companies will take a situation like this and say they won't take responsibility for the claim. They leave it up to you to take the person to court where you will most likely go to an arbitration hearing.

Concerning the ticket the person received:

Regardless of whether or not someone recieves a ticket, it does not mean anything in regard to an insurance claim. The reason this is has to do with the "innocent until proven guilty" addage. A ticket could be thrown out of court even if they are guilty. This said, most insurance claims do not weight things such as tickets.

As I do not know insurance law in Canada I would advise to talk to someone who is, namely your insurance company representative.

[JVD]

Cool, thanks for the help guys.

At the moment Terrible Driver's insurance company is trying to make my insurance company pay 50%. I told the lady that's not happening. NO WAY.

I'm dealing with my insurance company now. Hopefully they can help me out.

My back has actually been quite sore lately. I don't know if it's accident related, but I'm only 21. Sore back has NEVER been an issue. Might mention that to them.

It's just frustrating because I just got the car. It looked so nice and now it looks like shit because of some negligent driver. Now I have to sit around and wait on everyone else to sort their shit out so I can get back to how it was.

[r6_240sx]

It's clearly "Terrible Driver's" fault. Although tons of people do this, drivers are not suppose to be yielding in the middle of the intersection, period.

This is exactly what can happen when you do.

You're back hurting is normal, especially the next day after the accident occurred. Didn't feel at that time because of all the adrenaline.

Just get the police report, insurance is going to ask for it anyway and it should be a win win case.

Good luck.

[JVD]

Well... just as a little update.

I'm getting fucked over. Basically, "no one is at fault" as my adjuster tells me. I had the right of way... and terrible driver had the right of way because he stated he was stuck in the intersection waiting for someone to turn in front of him.

Even though "neither of us are at fault" I have to pay for 50% of the damages.

What the fuck? Such fucking bullshit. I should seriously go back to that intersection and do exactly what he did. Get my car totalled. Fuck some other poor good driver over for being so stupid as to enter an intersection on a green light.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

I want to kill someone.

[Taniguchi_Is_#1]

how badly damaged is your car?

[JVD]

how badly damaged is your car?
Damage looks minor.

Got a quote for $2500 and they didn't notice the mount on one of my headlights is broken.

Sooooo.... I might just try to get like $1500 cash from them and fix it myself. Find a stock bumper and headlights. Do all prep myself and just have someone spray for me.

I dunno. Might still fight it. Need to do some more reading and maybe talking to a lawyer.

My adjuster told me not to go to court. He said he's lost multiple cases like this. Seems like the law is just not on my side for this.

[Walperstyle]

I dunno. Might still fight it. Need to do some more reading and maybe talking to a lawyer.

My adjuster told me not to go to court. He said he's lost multiple cases like this. Seems like the law is just not on my side for this.

Wait. The guy that is saying its your fault is saying not to go to court because he has lost cases? That to me sounds like you are saying 'he himself has lost trying to pin bs on people like me, so I should be nice to him'?

I'd speak to a lawyer, armed with police reports.

[sleep]

can you read?

His ADJUSTER said that to him.

[JVD]

can you read?

His ADJUSTER said that to him.

Yes, exactly.

I'm just waiting for the insurance to pay me out. Gonna get like $1200 or something.

New bumper is like $200 so it's no big deal. Just more of a hassle than anything.

[Walperstyle]

still getting ripped off. I got $3500 for my 240 three years ago when I wrote it off, and it was my fault.

and yes, i can read, I still dont understand what your ajuster ment by those words. But ive never been to court, so maybe I'm missing something. I just thought you would go take your insurance company to court for saying its your fault, therefore, why would you care what your adjuster says.

[g6civcx]

First, I'd like to mention that I am a LICENSED insurance professional. Try to refrain from taking advice from those who do not know insurance law and only comment on past experience. Also, please take my word when I say that it is in your best interest to pursue this in the most calm way possible. You truely do get more flys with honey than vinegar.

I also agree.

I'll mention that insurance law is different from one state to the next. That being addressed, I'm sure that since you are in Canada the laws could be vastly different as well. For instance, the state that I do business in has a law called "comparative negligence". This means that each driver involved in an accident has a percentage of fault. Looking at your situation, I can see that you might be a small percentage of fault, albeit small (maybe 20% since you didn't wait for the intersection to clear). Some insurance companies will take a situation like this and say they won't take responsibility for the claim. They leave it up to you to take the person to court where you will most likely go to an arbitration hearing.

This is completely true!

Concerning the ticket the person received:

Regardless of whether or not someone recieves a ticket, it does not mean anything in regard to an insurance claim. The reason this is has to do with the "innocent until proven guilty" addage. A ticket could be thrown out of court even if they are guilty. This said, most insurance claims do not weight things such as tickets.

Also correct. Even if they pleaded guilty, it would be hard to use a criminal conviction for insurance purposes.

As I do not know insurance law in Canada I would advise to talk to someone who is, namely your insurance company representative.

This is where I disagree. The insurance company does NOT, repeat, does NOT, represent your best interest.

My standard advice for this situation:

1) Obtain legal counsel ASAP. If your attorney is stupid, fire and get a competent one.

2) Obtain a medical screening ASAP. Even if you feel fine, you could have brain damage or internal soft tissue injury that won't show up until much later.

3) Do NOT speak to anyone without your attorney present. Not even your insurance company rep or law enforcement. I personally never give any statement to anyone without my attorney present.

4) Delete all of your original comments and ask the admins to lock and delete this entire thread.

By giving your account of the incident on paper, you just handed the other party the case. If your recollection changes, or if new evidence comes to light that contradict what you posted, you now have even less credibility than you did before.

Prepare your statement with your attorney and stick with one single story.

Otherwise a competent attorney will break you on the stand.

Good luck with your case.