Auto Insurance Claims: Is it worth appealing my MA Insurance Surcharge?, insurance surcharge, oncoming traffic

Question
Greetings,

I was at an intersection of a small side street in MA, stopped at a stop sign.  The intersecting street onto which I was preparing to turn is like a parkway, a large, median-divided two way road.

I looked both ways, and saw no oncoming traffic except a massive pickup truck approaching from my left.  From a full stop, I began my left hand turn across the road, as the large pickup truck completed its right turn onto the street on which I was stopped.  As I pulled out, another driver passed the turning pickup truck on his left while he completed his turn.  I did not see the other vehicle until the moment of impact, and I hit the car passing the truck.  My speed at the time of the accident could have been no more than 5 mph.  I imagine the other vehicle must have been traveling at a significant speed, as a tap from the front end of my car sent the other driver's vehicle spinning off the road and into the yard of one of the street's residents.  

To the best of my knowledge, the street onto which I was turning, while a large wide road, is only a one lane road, with no designated turning lanes.  

This truck was literally so massive that I could not see the vehicle directly behind him (nor did my fiance, who was in the car behind me at the stop sign) and judging based on the size of this vehicle, the woman with whom I collided could not see me.

The road is poorly lit (the accident occurred well after sundown) and the road conditions were wet, as it had snowed recently.

I am just wondering if there is any possible way that I could win an appeal based on these circumstances, or if the nature of the accident insures that I would lose my appeal.  In MA, I only need to prove that I am NOT MORE than 50 percent at fault for a successful appeal.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Hi Justin,

Based on your explanation of events I would say that you would likely not win an appeal. Regardless of the fact that you could not see the car beghind the truck, it was in fact there. And the car had the right of way tobe on that road. Since you violated the rigt of way, you would be considered to be at fault.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh