Tom R.

lets separate two things here, the value you will get if you have collision insurance (do they have collision insurance in canada), and liability.

if you have collision your ins co pays you and goes after the other guy. if you don't have collision ins you have to go after the other guy for the damage to your car.

now liability. If you have collision insurance it doesn't matter as long as you are not putting in a lot of claims. if you don't have liability it is for the judge or ins adjuster from the other co to work out with you.

now liability for personal injury - go to doctors and get the needed medical treatment. after you know what the actual damages are to you and your girlfriend discuss suing the other driver. don't be surprised if your girlfriend sues you. if she is injured she should sue you and the other driver, and let your ins cos decide.

now most important, stop trying to analyze who is right and wrong on a web board. every state and every country has different laws.

when I spoke to a true porsche expert about the value of my car when it was stolen i mentioned this board. he basically said that other than technical advise the advise here is no different than the advice you would get from a bunch of guys sitting around a bar. Not meaning to insult anyone, but he is correct. think about it.

let the lawyers practice law, the students study, the mechanics repair, etc.
good luck

Rich Sandor

944S boyee! Sorry to hear about the accident. I'm willing to bet that your car is totalled - I'm sorry - But just be glad you and your girl are both alive and not dead!

About the accident. I had a very very simliar accident a few years ago. I was making a left turn at a busy intersection. I saw a minivan coming towards me. My light turned yellow, and when I looked back at the minivan it looked 100% like all the body weight was being transferred forwards, and that it was braking. My light had been yellow for a while now, so I looked left, didn't see any peds, and inched forwards when my dad yelled STOP! The minivan changed his mind and decided to run the light, which by then was red. He sheared the licence plate right off my car, but didn't do any serious damage to my bumper.

At the claims center, the insurance adjuster insisted that it was 100% MY FAULT because the onus in on the person turning LEFT to make sure it is clear. Well I said to her: "Are you ****ing kidding? Are you on crack? Go and **** yourself - there is NO WAY that this is 100% my fault!"

So I took it to arbitration, and explained why it wasn't my fault. The verdict was changed to only 25% my fault and 75% the fault of the other guy. My insurance didn't go up AND the other guy had to pay 75% of my deductible, and I got to tell off the insurance adjuster lady afterwards!

Antonio951

""when I spoke to a true porsche expert about the value of my car when it was stolen i mentioned this board. he basically said that other than technical advise the advise here is no different than the advice you would get from a bunch of guys sitting around a bar. Not meaning to insult anyone, but he is correct. think about it.

let the lawyers practice law, the students study, the mechanics repair, etc.
good luck""


Tom R. Very well said.

Jeff928S4

There were no lights involved. The SUV stopped because the cars ahead of him were all stopped at a red light (which was a ways down the road behind me), so he must have figured he would let me through while he was waiting. He flashed me to go, I looked in the lane he wasn't in and it was empty, so I went.

Jeff (944S Boyeee)

Red1

Glad to hear you are (mostly) ok. The car can be replaced, and from the sounds of it, you'll have no choice about that.

I think the terminology for your incident would be "Failure to yield the right of way", and that the onus is on you, I'm afraid. Just be glad you're not laid up in the hospital with a basketful of broken bones.

sweanders

This sounds more like a lane change accident that went wrong then. Since you had already crossed the road when changing to the free lane and the other guy hit you from behind.

Did you use your indicator when swithcing between the lanes?

Did the police do any tests for alcohol or drugs when they arrived to the scene?

Peckster

Bummer, man.

I don't trust guys that wave me on either, unless traffic is stopped. Why would he even bother, if there was only one car behind him? You would have been gone faster if he'd just kept driving.

That guy screwed you up thinking he was doing you a favor. What a moron. And if he hadn't been driving an SUV, you would have been able to see behind him, so he's a double moron.

Rich Sandor

Jeff, there is one other thing you need to keep in mind is you are going to dispute the adjuster's decision on your fault: There is a section in the motor vehicle act of BC, that states that if another vehicle is blocking or occupying the space in an intersection, and blocking oncoming traffic, then, the oncoming traffic must yield to the vehicle which is blocking traffic, until it has cleared the intersection.

This means it's not okay for someone to hit you , just because you are in their way. If he had the chance to see you, and he still hit you, he is partially at fault.

You must go online, or to your local DMV, and find out if Nova Scotia has a similar section in the NS Motor Vehicle Act/Law (or whatever you guys call it over there..)

You may still be at fault, but maybe not 100%. You have to use the system to your advantage. If the guy did not even brake when he hit you, or didn't try to move to avoid you - he wasn't looking and deserves a fraction of the fault!!

I hope you have full collision on your car! GL getting a 951, and I hope you and the gf get better soon!

Cheers,
Rich

Danno

Boyee, sorry to hear about your crash. Glad you and your girl survived!

Let me see if I understand this correctly. The SUV stopped for you at the intersection, you finished left-turn and the guy from behind the SUV goes around it and hits you? Like this?



I think being at an intersection complicates matters because there's multiple right-of-way issues. Did the cop cite someone on the spot for the accident?

I know of one right-of-way law that's in California, and that is you're at fault if you give it up. It's a misconception that pedestrians always has the right of way. By the word of the law, they only have right-of-way in an clearly marked crosswalk with the light in their favor. If they try to cross on a red-light, tough luck. Same thing with crossing in the middle of a block; thru-traffic has right of way:



If a pedestrian hops out in front of the green car A, the driver has right-of-way and only has to make "reasonable" efforts to avoid the J-walker ($80 j-walking fine in S.B.). It comes down to the judge & jury to figure out what "reasonable" evasive manuveurs are and if yours were appropriate. Of course, they wouldn't want you to swerve into oncoming traffic or onto the sidewalk and wipe out 10 kids. So the pedestrian is at fault.

A related incident would be if the green car was to stop, give up his right-of-way and waving the pedestrian into the street. Like Andrew said, nice people and traffic makes for a bad combination. I HATE people who do this, not only because they hinder 10 people to help 1 which is lower total benefits overall than making 1 wait while 10 go by, but also because it's dangerous.



In the case where a car stops to let a pedestrian J-walk across the street, if a car in the next lane (purple-B), who hasn't given up his right-of-way, was to come along and smear the j-walker all over the street, it's actually the fault of the guy in the green car A who stopped!

So this appears similar to what happened to you. The guy in the SUV gave up his right-of-way and waved you into oncoming traffic. The fact that it was an intersection I think complicates this matter. Also I'm not familiar with the laws in your area, so check with an attorney. Good luck!

ACG

944S boyee, sorry to hear about your accident.

First off, I suggest going back to the scene and taking pictures of the accident scene. Also take lots of pictures of the damage done to the car. Do you have a copy of the police report?

My hunch is this is going to be a "failure to yield" investigation, and it sounds like you and the SUV driver may have to split the responsibility between each other. The question is how much? I believe the adjusters are going to be looking at where your car is hit. For example, if you are hit mostly in the rear, it is more than likely going to point to the fault of the SUV. If you are hit on the side, the adjusters may point to you as partially at fault.

How fast was the SUV when it turned into the lane before hitting you? I would make a strong point that the SUV was accelerating down a hill. Check also to see if any eye witnesses commented if the SUV gave a turn signal before he turned into the lane.

Once again, I am sorry to hear your pain of losing the car. I'm glad to hear that you and your GF made it out in one piece.

peanut

Sorry to hear your terrible news. I know it won't seem much consolation now but it could have been a lot worse if one of you were seriously hurt thank God you weren't. Cars can be replaced right
Put it out of your mind till after christmas and i'm sure you'll get loads of help here Your g/f sounds like she needs the attention and care right now yes!?
Merry christmas m8

Kevin Baker

Same thing happened to me one night when I was 17 or so. See above "Failure to yeild right of way" Just because the vehicle in the lane nearest you gave you the "go" doen't mean much. They were "yeilding" to you. You still had the responsablity to check the other lane for traffic. If you were crossing their "lane" and their direction of travel, then you have to yeild. Sorry to hear about your car I know it sucks. When it happened to me I had JUST gotten it (Honda) out of the shop from the last accident

John Anderson

I just went thru an accident like this, however...I was on the other end of the deal. It was a two way road, no left turn provision (just a broken yellow line the distance of the road), no lights etc etc. Basically, you stop turn on your signal, wait for oncoming traffic to clear, then turn left. Well, I was the oncoming traffic, Large Chevy SUV, 19 year old female driver, I'm doing 50mph, she is coming towards me, starts to slow, hugs the center broken line like she wants to go left in front of me, I take my foot off the throttle to slow (at that point there was room for me to slow and let her turn in front of me), I start slowing then I see her come to a complete stop, a common jesture that tells me she is letting me pass by before she wants to turn left. Well...as it turns out, she waits until I am just a few feet from her SUV, changes her mind and runs out in front of me...I hit her square in the side. She was found at 100% fault on the police report, reason? She was responsible for making sure the oncoming traffic lane was clear and safe before turning lft. She shot herself in the foot further by telling the Police officer that she saw me coming and that I was going "really really fast", obviously thinking this little info would help her out...but it killed her, the Police officer used that bit in a note on the report telling us that she was even further negligent if she did infact see me speeding, and still proceeded to make a lft in front of me. Bottom line, you turn left infront of oncoming traffic, its your responsiblity to be absolutely certain that all traffic has passed or cleared before making the left.

Did you see the car behind the SUV? If so, why didn't you wait for him to stop or pass by? If tyou did not see him, would you expect himj to see you? Afterall, he was obeying the law and was simply altering his path to move around a vehicle that was topped in his lane. Maybe he thought that vehicle was making a left and simply wanted to keep his pace and decided to move into the right lane and pass him by.

Hope you and your Girlfriend are well.

Take Care

joseph mitro

944S Boyee-
Very sorry to hear about the accident and I hope you and your girlfriend are not seriously hurt. Hope the car is not totalled although i suspect it probably will be.
Private mail me when you get a chance.

JustinL

Danno, I totally agree with your J-walking example. I've had J walkers swear at me for not stopping for them, they don't realize that I may be saving their lives by being an *******.

I have a much worse time on my bicycle that I ride to work every day. I've been stopped at intersections and one car will stop and wave me out onto the street thinking they're doing a good deed. One lady was stopped for a good 30 seconds waving me across a 4 lane road, and I was shaking my head back at her. If I go out onto that street and turn into a juicy hood ornament, it's my fault.

Drivers are generally predictable in that they will almost always do the most foolish thing possible at worst time possible. I'm a firm believer that 90% of accidents are preventable if both parties are paying attention and thinking ahead. The oncoming guy that hit you should have been paying attention to the situation unfolding in front of him and expected you to go for that left turn. But by the same token you should have assumed that the oncoming traffic was going to flow into the open lane beside the SUV and waited for a better opening.

I'm glad you and your girl are ok and you'll be back on the 944 bandwagon in no time. Do get to a doctor and check things out ASAP if for nothing else than the peace of mind.

Good luck,

Justin