Auto Insurance Claims: Left Turn Accident, unmarked intersection, taco truck

Question
QUESTION: So I was trying to make a left turn but a large taco truck was blocking my view. As I was turning my car another car sped downhill and hit my left rear passenger door. I was in a 25 mph school zone area, and the man was going above 25 mph. My left rear passenger door got hit and my car turned 180 degrees into the other lane. When I tried to get out of my car, the driver's door could not open. Also, my left shoulder/collar bone area is badly bruised and swollen. There were obvious skid marks from the car indicating that his speed was above the speed limit. The CHP policeman took all our information and wrote a report. Since it was during the school's lunch, there were multiple witnesses who saw all parts of the accident. I then asked him if there was another way to prove that the man was speeding. He said that it was ultimately my fault and that his speed was irrelevant. I was wondering what my chances are of winning this case if I took it to court.

ANSWER: Hi Esther,
I must assume that (a) you had a stop sign and traffic from your left did not, or (b)this was an unmarked intersection.
Either way, the burden falls on you to verify that there is no oncoming traffic before you attempted your left turn.

It does take a greater distance to stop a car going downhill as
opposed to a car traveling at the same speed on a level street.
This could account for the skid marks.

It appears that you have no evidence or witnesses to support your
theory that he was speeding, whereas he has a copy of the police report and proof that he was paid by your insurance company.

If you should file small claims action against the other driver,
he will present those two items to the judge as proof that fault has already been decided by the CHP officer in his report and your
insurance company by making payment for his damage.

Based on the information provided in your question, you would surely
lose your case and all the money that you spend for filing and having the papers served to the other driver.

I hope that you have found this information helpful.  Your feedback by rating my response will be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Oops sorry I left some information out. The accident happened during the beginning of lunch at my school so there were at least ten people who saw the accident. At out school, we have an open lunch which means students can go out of school to eat lunch. All of them have verified that the other driver was speeding.

There were no stop signs both ways however it was in a school zone where it indicated that the speed limit was 25 mph. I was actually coming out from a school student parking lot.

Does this still mean that I would lose the case? Also the police officer was a highway patrol. Does the highway patrol officer still have jurisdiction?

Answer
Hi Esther,
Yes, the highway patrolman has jurisdiction, otherwise he would have
called a different department to the scene.

The fact that 10 students "feel" that the other car was speeding is
irrelevant.  I'm sure that they have had no training in judging the speed of a vehicle and any statement from one or more of them would simply be an opinion.  Even a police officer can not decide that a party is speeding based upon his visual seeing the car, he must use radar or "clock" a vehicle to determine it's speed.

Since you were exiting a parking lot, the full burden falls on you to verify that traffic is clear in both directions.

All the information that you have presented leads to a decision that you were 100% at fault, as has already been determined by the police
report and your insurance.

As I stated before, the decision has been made and any attempt for you to reopen it in small claims court would be a waste of time and money.

Bennie