Questioni was in an accident recently and my car is pretty much considered totaled their is damage to my right side of my car mostly rear right door and the pillar as well as a large portion of my right quarter panel the other vehicles injury go as far as his bumper falling of with no real damage i have already contacted the other parties insurance and mine him waiting on call backs from both one from a claims adjuster from my insurance and another from theirs but any way the way the accident happened was i was going threw a yellow light and was 90% threw the intersection when the other party hit me supposedly the other party sd he had green after he hit me the police were clld and they sd they had no witnesses we are free to go they towed my car and twenty minutes later came back and sd they had a witness gave me a citation/ticket for failure to stop on red they didn't give any of the witnesses info such as name or statement as to what the witness sd happened my question is in this case from an insurance point of view wld this be my fault considering the amount of damage done to my car vs his as well as the percentage amount that my car was in the intersection very hard to miss being that i drive a 1991 chevy caprice classic "big car" and their was another car stopped at the light he went threw and they seen me and didnt go witch leads me to beleive he was trying to anticipate the light turning green and was never at the light he was more than likley still moving while he pulled up to the light
AnswerHi Devon,
I hope that you do not decide to "shoot the messenger" when you read what I have to say, but I think you would prefer to hear my genuine opinion instead of something sugarcoated to make you feel better. Short summary: you CAN prevail if the evidence is good, but it sounds like you are going to get stuck with this on your insurance records as an "at-fault" accident.
I will go beyond what you asked and provide some suggestions for avoiding an increase in your insurance rates AND for ways to keep your trusty ride from being totaled. This sounds like something our insurance adjuster experts here would dispose of in two sentences, but it is IMPORTANT to you, Devon, so I am going to put in well over an hour of my time to go over a number of concepts and ideas to help you understand how to minimize the impact of any findings that you were at fault—AND, irrespective of fault, how to keep your car, since the $$ you would get will not buy you any kind of reliable new ride.
This is waaaay too much time to give a simple red light violation case, according to some experts here, but if you are willing to read and understand what I am going to write, AND to do the work necessary, then I think it will be worth my time to try to help you.
Here are the four topics, then, Devon:
#1. Why your insurance company will pay.
#2. Suggestion to avoid insurance rate increase.
#3. How to fight against liability, including witness interview and fighting the ticket
#4. How to keep your trusty ride from being totaled.
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#1. Why your insurance company will pay.
Absent any evidence in your favor, here is what happens on yellow light accident claims. They look at the fact of where you were hit on the right middle to rear and conclude that you were in the intersection, and almost clearing it. But those facts almost always end up with fault attributed to the driver who was trying to beat the yellow light.
Unfortunately for you, they have a witness. That is the capper on this case. You can talk all you want about how safe it was when you entered the intersection, but the third party has no axe to grind in this fight, so his testimony is what will kill you.
AND, by the way, this appears to be a four lane road, if I read your facts correctly. You mentioned that there was already another car stopped at the light you went through. I assume you mean that it was stopped in the same direction of travel as the vehicle that hit you. That would mean a four lane roadway.
What they will say is that it is sometimes OK to run a yellow light on a two lane road, but you just do not have the time to make it across a four lane roadway on a yellow light. Hence, the fact that it is a four lane road will count against you. BUT see below, wherein I am going to argue on your side that four lanes counts against the other guy. (That is what we trial lawyers do: argue both sides of the case!!)
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#2. Suggestion to avoid insurance rate increase.
Assuming, as it appears will be the case, that your company will pay for the damage to the other driver's vehicle, you might be able to fight having this be a reason to raise your insurance rates.
Here is how it works, Devon. If you cause an accident and your company pays out $$ as a result, then you are likely going to get stuck with a rate increase next time around. How can you fight that rate increase? There is no sure way, but here are two ideas that have worked for people in the past.
You can—and SHOULD—protest IN WRITING ONLY their decision to pay that guy. Write a good letter laying out the facts and send it via e-mail or certified mail to the adjuster for your company. Tell them why you were not at fault.
In this case, it will be your insurance company that will make the decision, and they will likely decide against you. They will pay the damages to the other party and they will charge you with an "at-fault" accident and put you in the line for a likely rate increase.
The second part of your defense is to claim that the $$ paid was less than an amount to qualify as "at-fault" IF your state has a monetary threshold. See if this makes sense, Devon.
Would it be fair to make an insurance rate increase if your company only paid out $100 in damages? Of course not! Hence, most all states have set a monetary threshold for damages that will allow the insurers to increase rates. For example, in my state, that was set at $750 last I checked. So, in my state, if the bumper damage you mentioned cost only $700 to repair, then the insurer could not increase your rates since the amount paid was less than the $$ threshold.
You mentioned that there was no real damage, so maybe just reattaching a bumper with some minor repairs to the bumper could keep those costs below your state threshold. I would call your state insurance commissioner http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php about insurance at-fault designations and any monetary accident payment threshold they may have set.
Include this argument in your letter that you are going to send to your own adjuster
AND, while you are on the phone to the insurance commissioner, be sure to ask what procedures they have for you to fight a decision to pay the other party and hence to designate this as an at-fault accident on your record.
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#3. How to fight against liability, including witness interview, and fighting the ticket
OK, Devon, here is where you can really prevail if you are willing to do some work and if you get a bit lucky.
(a) fighting liability.
Use the four lane road as an argument against the other guy. Point out that he had PLENTY of time to see that you were in the intersection since it is a four lane road, and by the time he hit you, you were almost clear of the intersection. Argue two things, Devon.
First, point out that he has A DUTY to keep an eye out and to exercise due care and caution when approaching the intersection. In this he FAILED inasmuch as he should hav even you in the intersection and if he was going at a slow speed, he could have avoided the accident.
Then the second part of your argument is that he had the last clear chance to avoid the accident. The car in the lane next to him had not moved through the intersection, so this guy should have seen that the other car was still at a stop and he should have slowed to check out whether or not it was clear before he proceeded to plow thru the intersection.
(b) get a copy of the police report (call the police and they will tell you now to do it—or ask your adjuster for a copy in case she already got one). Call the witness that is named. The officer will have put down the name and contact info for the witness. BE FAIR AND NOT ARGUMENTATIVE. Just try to understand what it is that they think they saw. Then, ask them about your side of it. If this is the guy in the other lane who was stopped, ask him if he did not see your car. The reason he did not enter the intersection is because he saw you were in it. DO NOT get all caught up in whether you had a right to be there or not—just get this as the basis for your argument that the guy who hit you DID NOT EXERCISE DUE CARE AND CAUTION when approaching the intersection. For example, get the witness to say that he sat there with his brake lights on. Hence, the other driver should have seen brake lights and slowed down as he approached the intersection.
(c) go to trial on the ticket if you are so inclined. Or skip it and pay the fine. It makes NO difference whatsoever to your insurance case whether or not you pay the fine on the ticket. That information is used by adjusters, but in reality it is inadmissible evidence were there to be a civil trial (i.e. in a personal injury claim case, not likely in your situation).
More than half the time the witness will not show up or the officer will not show up. If they need both of those guys and the guy who hit you in order to make their case on the ticket, chances are less than fifty percent that all three will show up.
One worry about fighting the ticket with a trial is that the judge might increase the fine. Sometimes the fine is increased at trial if the judge finds that this was a very serious breach of duty, but judges will not arbitrarily punish a defendant for exercising his right to a trial. Hence, if you are so inclined, and willing to do the work, you can ask for a trial.
Prepare both photos and a drawing of the intersection. Measure as best you can during low traffic hours, or get measurements from the city or county engineer's office. They can print out a copy of the intersection if you wish. Use Google maps if available, both the map drawing and the satellite photo.
What you are trying to show is where your car was hit, and where the witness was at a stop and how much time the other guy had to see you and avoid the accident. You need to ask the engineer how much time there is on the yellow light, and go and measure the cycle yourself. From that measurement, and your testimony that you entered upon the light just turning yellow, you can prove that this guy could not have received a green light until you were clear of the intersection.
Something else is bothering me about a hit so hard. You cannot afford a reconstruction expert in such a small case, but from the amount of destruction your vehicle suffered, it would seem that there was a pretty hard impact. Since the momentum was not coming from your vehicle, the hitting was done by his vehicle. Someone could testify that there was some pretty good speed here. You do NOT get that kind of impact if the guy had been at a stop and was just starting out thru the intersection. Seems like he was already going like 25mph and approached the light and never slowed down. IMHO, that is the kind of speed that would be necessary to do the damage you described to your car.
If you do decide to fight the ticket, do NOT allow the officer to testify to anything any person told him UNLESS that person is in the courtroom. For example, unless you object, the officer might try to tell the judge what the witness told him. OBJECT to that as hearsay unless the witness is present in the courtroom. Same thing on the testimony of the guy who hit you. OBJECT unless he is in the courtroom.
The officer's opinion as to who is at fault is IRRELEVANT to the civil action, and it is also IRRELEVANT to the ticket charge. He can give his opinions in his shower at home if he wants, but he CANNOT give his opinion that you were at fault in the courtroom. His opinion is based upon hearsay, and he is NOT qualified to make an opinion since the conclusion of whether or not you ran the light or failed to yield right of way is SOLELY for the judge AND you must object if the officer trys to put in his opinion.
#4. How to keep your trusty ride from being totaled.
Irrespective of fault, you do have the right to compensation on your own insurance collision coverage, less your deductible. You can get a few bucks for your car if it is totaled, but that will not give you any purchasing power toward a good vehicle. If you liked your car, try to save it by this method: Lower Repair Costs With USED and/or NON-OEM Parts
SAVE YOUR RIDE FROM BEING TOTALED BY REPAIRING WITH USED and/or NON-OEM PARTS and STIPULATING TO IGNORE SOME COSMETIC DAMAGE.
Rather than taking the low offer of cash and trying to find a vehicle that will be reliable, many people put the money into fixing the wreck with used parts, leaving aside cosmetic damage (who cares if you drive a 19 year old car with some bumps and bruises -- especially when that will reduce the repair bill a ton??).
So the first thing, if you are happy with the performance of your car, or if you have put a lot of money into maintenance or repair, would be to explore ways to keep the car.
Ask what the body shop would charge to repair your vehicle with USED and/or NON-OEM parts. You can negotiate to leave a lot of cosmetic damage showing to save money. I would not be surprised to see up to 65% come off their repair bill in that case. If you have a car that was running fine, why not keep it, even if you have to drive around with some dents showing?
Find out the maximum amount that the insurance company will pay for repairs before they elect to total your vehicle. This will be a percentage of the vehicle's FMV, e.g. 70%. Then arrange for your repairs to be done within that limit.
That is about is, Devon. I trust that my extra time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
