Oh my god!

[Lisa]

I was on my way to go Christmas shopping today and the scariest thing happened to me!!! I came around a corner and headed down a small hill and there is a set of lights right at the bottom of the hill, I came down that hill and there was a guy with his brakes on for no reason that I could see (he said afterward that he was pulling over "I have the right to pull over!" but he had NO signal or anything on), going about 5kms, I was coming up on him too fast (I was going the speed limit) and I had to quickly switch into the fast lane. I looked and there was no one beside me, just someone behind me in that lane, so I switched so I wouldn't hit the idiot who had his brakes on. The person behind me (I found out afterward that she had looked down to change a song, and looked up and there I was) came up and around me on the left, in the middle meridian area and she hit some loose gravel, spun around, did a 360 and hit a car that was coming out of a parking lot, waiting for his turn to come onto the highway. No one was hurt, but the girl who went around me, her car was quite smashed up. She also has an "N" and had too many people in her car, her friend's breath smelled like alcohol (I didn't notice this, but my friend who was with me did) and she admitted (to me at least) that she had been playing with her radio. No one I've talked to says it was my fault, the guy who had his brakes on said it was absolutely my fault, he told the police "I had nothing to do with this, I don't even know why I need to be here, I want to get on my way!" He YELLED at me, telling me it was my fault. Has anyone been in a situation like this before? The police said that the people who were actually involved, who had their cars smashed would have to report it, but I would probably get a call cuz I was there. There was one witness who saw most of it, but not all of it. I don't think I was at fault, I did what I had to do to avoid hitting someone, I looked and thought I could get passed her, I don't think I could have done anything different. Am I wrong, was I at fault? If anyone has been in this kind of scenario and can tell me what happened with that scenario, that would be good.

 

[Crossbuck Farms]

Were u a witness? I've only been in 3 accidents. One was my fault the other 2 wre not.

 

[tshack]

I can't believe he yelled at you! That's rude.

We were in an accident like that several years ago. COming home from Christmas, in town going the speed limit, and this little toyota jumped in front of us jsut as a lady in front if him slammed on her brakes to turn left. He slammed on his when he figured out shew as stopping and we did the same only didn't have enough room to stop plus the roads were wet. Cody got the ticket, and the idiot cops woudlnt'; listen to us about this stupid kid jumping in front of us. IF he hadn't been in a hurry to pass another car it woudln't of happened as we coudl of stopped.

I woudln't worry about it too much unless they call you, then have you and your friend tell them about what happened.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Did you indicate?? If you did you are in the clear, if you did not- well, it is a matter for someone else to decide. Basically you swerved to avoid someone who had indicated he was stopping. He is quite right, he was in the right, he does have a right to stop. You should have stopped behind him and you should have been going slowly enough to do so, unless you indicated to pull out round him, and you were clear to do so. The girl who was fumbling in her music will not admit that. Her having too many people in the car is a separate issue, it would not affect her driving, only her license, I think you will get a call, but the Police may well decide that, since no-one was injured it is a civil matter. The insurance companies will then decide what they will do.

 

[Annetta]

It's true, the fellow that was stopping ahead of you was perfectly in the right. He does have the right to stop, and as long as he wasn't actually in the process of turning, he didn't need to have his turn signal on--he can merely slow down in preparation of turning without needing the signal light on.

Hopefully you did flick your signal light on in the instant before you changed lanes, but if the driver behind looked down at her radio she won't know if you did or didn't signal.

Because she changed lanes & spun out without hitting you, I don't believe you will be in any way to blame. She should have been driving in such a way, at such a speed, that she could change lanes without spinning out and hitting another car which was not even actually on the road...

Here 99.9% of the time if you rearend someone, you are the one 100% at fault. I know how annoying it is when a car switches lanes without signalling & jumps across right in front of you....especially if that car then piles on the brakes! I've had it happen to me, and thankfully have been able to stop in time. Here if someone does that & I rearend them--yes, I am at fault. If however I were to hit them partly on the side of their vehicle, ahead of the rear bumper, then they would be considered to be at fault because that proves they cut so closely in front of me I didn't have a chance to stop. If I hit them square from behind, bumper to bumper, then the assumption is that I should have had time to stop & didn't, either because I was driving too fast, or because of inattention...not always fair I believe, but that's the way it works here.

Definitely, Lisa, if you'd not changed lanes & hit the fellow that was stopping ahead of you, you would have been to blame, even if you were driving the speed limit and no faster. As it is, though, you should not be responsible in any way. You are a witness and nothing more.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

actually with accidents it is rarely black and white- he didnt have to put his signal on.. even if you did turn yours on it doesnt mean you have no responsiblity to the chain reaction it doesnt make you exempt

All fo that said.. you might have to make a statement to ins. companies and whatever you do.. go slow think about your answers before you say them and dont let them pressure you into saying anything

if it were to go to arbitration a place most accidents end up you might be found partially liable that is the case in most accidents.. I had a girl make a left hand turn in front of me.. i was found to be 20 percent responsible where they came up wtih that number I dont know

At this point I wouldnt stress to much about it and should it come to a civil case a good lawyer will surely point out she had to many people in her car distracting her and causing her to not focus on her driving (which is why they have that rule in the first place)

 

[Lisa]

Were u a witness? I've only been in 3 accidents. One was my fault the other 2 wre not.

I think the police said that yes, basically I was a witness.

Did you indicate??...The girl who was fumbling in her music will not admit that. Her having too many people in the car is a separate issue, it would not affect her driving, only her license, I think you will get a call, but the Police may well decide that, since no-one was injured it is a civil matter. The insurance companies will then decide what they will do.

First, yes, I'm pretty sure I did signal. Since you're in the UK, you won't know our driving licence laws. Her having too many people in her car is against her type of licence, because the government has deemed that teenagers with too many people in their car is a cause of accidents. This will likely go against her, IMO. The police did say that since there is conflicting stories (apparently everyone gave a different story

) ICBC will have to sort it out.

All fo that said.. you might have to make a statement to ins. companies and whatever you do.. go slow think about your answers before you say them and dont let them pressure you into saying anything

I've been told this by a few people, so I will make sure I put the statement into my own words, if asked for it.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your opinions, advice and concerns!

 

[Miniv]

If the first driver (the yeller) was pulling over, he should have had his signal on. There is a law in most states regarding how many feet or yards one should have put the signal on before either pulling over or turning.

It sounds like a long list of chain reactions by several drivers and I bet eventually the result will be that everyone involved will have a share of the blame.

Good luck,

MA

 

[Minimor]

It surely can vary from province to province to state...

if it were to go to arbitration a place most accidents end up you might be found partially liable that is the case in most accidents.. I had a girl make a left hand turn in front of me.. i was found to be 20 percent responsible where they came up wtih that number I dont know

I was involved in just such an accident on Oct. 18th; my first day back to work after a 5 week vacation, & I ran a quick errand at morning coffee break....just had to drive 9 blocks to the tire shop & half way there an old fellow made a left hand turn in front of me. I wasn't speeding but didn't have a hope of stopping. The front left corner of my truck got him in the middle of his grill. The police would make no guess at blame, because that is solely up to our provincial insurance agency, Autopac. As I expected/hoped, Autopac assessed the other driver with 100% blame, I was not at fault at all. Now, had the fellow been further into his turn so that I hit him somewhere on the side/front corner of his truck, that would have been another matter--then I'd have been at least 50% at fault, possibly even more than that, because if he was that far into his turn, I should have stopped before hitting him.
Likewise, had I tried to miss him & swerved into another vehicle (there was one waiting at the stop sign on the side street he was turning onto, and there was a car behind him) then I would have been 100% to blame for hitting that other vehicle. From other people I know that have been in similar accidents, the old fellow that turned in front of me wouldn't have been at fault in the accident had he not actually been involved in the accident...perhaps that doesn't seem fair, but that's the way it generally works here. We have 1 insurance company for vehicles and no fault insurance, so massive lawsuits to assess blame and collect compensation just don't happen here.