Auto Insurance Claims: Proving Fault in an Automobile Accident, automobile accident, left ear

Question
Hi,

I was recently involved in an auto accident in which the other driver was at fault. I spoke with her insurance company and they told me she is blaming the accident on me which infuriates me because I am not at fault for this. I have a few details, as well as photos, about the incident that could possibly prove that it was her fault. I was traveling in the left lane since I was going to make a left turn at the upcoming traffic light, so I had no intention of switching into the right lane, which the other driver occupied. She was a little bit behind me, possibly in my blind spot since I did not notice her car next to mine right away. All of the sudden, her car collides with mine, side by side. In the photos, my car has its paint scraped from the front passenger side wheel, past the back wheel. On her car, her front side view mirror is broken and there is a little bit of paint scraped off the driver door. To me, the pictures justify what actually happened but of course if someone else saw them, they could think differently. To me, it looked as if she was on a cell phone when I tried getting her to pull over to the right side of the road. It all happened so fast that I am not totally sure whether or not she was holding a cell phone to her left ear. When i confronted her, i furiously asked her why she hit my car and whether or not she was paying attention. All she said was she was sorry and she did not see me which is basically admitting fault. I have a witness that I was following and he said he saw her car hit mine in his rear view window. He also said he heard her say she did not see me. The problem is, I already submitted my recorded statement to her insurance company but I kind of just gave them the gist of what happened. I wasn't really thinking of all the details to include because I thought the other driver would admit fault for the incident. I was wondering what would happen if she didn't admit fault. Could I take her to court for this? There were no police involved since they said if no one was injured and everyone was cooperating (which i thought she was at the time) then they don't need to come assist us. This situation makes me so mad, it could have been avoided if she was not using her cell phone at the time and actually paying attention to the road but instead she is blaming the situation on me. Thank you very much for your help.

Answer
Jessica,

A sideswipe situation is always hard to evaluate.  Each driver says the other was at fault.  Your witness is VERY helpful.  I would get him to sign a statement for you that says that he saw her move into you.

That should pretty much resolve the question of who's at fault.

Best regards,

Ernest Ferraro