Who is at fault in this car accident?

I live in Sydney, Australia. I had a car accident at night. The traffic lights at the intersection were completely off at that time. I was told there was an electric fail in the area. A taxi hit me when I went across the intersection. I was driving from south to north towards CBD. The taxi hit me from my left. The damage is on the front left side of my car. I was the only one in the car whereas the taxi driver had a passenger. Can anyone tell me who was at fault? Thx.
Additional Details
I had a talk with my lawyer. He advised me that I was on a main road, but the other driver wasn't. He should be the one at fault. Does this really make a different when determining whose at fault?

vavavoom

This will be a 50/50 blame. Both drivers failed to see each other and act upon it.

scat

When the lights are out you are only allowed to crossed the intersection if safe to do so - you are all supposed to stop and slowly enter the intersection - which was the major road? that might make a difference. Not sure what the insurance will say.

AcEz

Hard to say, if the light went out then, I have no idea. Its your word, against his.

nyeviolet

I don't know about in Australia, but in the states, if a normally working light goes out it should be treated as a four-way stop.

wiseman/guru

South Africa. Should have been treated as a 4 way stop. His word against yours, they start measuring how far both cars were within the intersection and the blame is proportioned from that 70/30, or 65/35. Hope you have had the police there!
Peace.

Gambit

This rule is almost universal: If you approach an intersection that is controlled by a traffic light, and the light is not working, then it is treated as a 4 way stop. If neither you or the other party stopped then you both 50% at fault.

monique_du_bois

ohh i had an accident too .. same thing.. cept i accidentally ran the light.

I think the rule is when the lights go out, you are meant to treat it as a four way stop or give-way. I think. Either way you have to give way to the right... hmm tough one.. hope you have witnesses

John M

I hope here to give you some food for thought .

First of all Taxi drivers seem to have to take their own rules on the road . They have a passenger and their aim is to get that costomer to his destination as quickly as possible . Therefore from the way you describe the impact he was driving faster than you and his calculation to miss you failed . On the other hand you also failed to keep your eyes travelling from side to side as you could have assesed his speed and naturally you could have breaked . However according to measurements that is to say how far you were into the intersection and how far was he from the start of the intersection . I think you have a very good 70% chance of putting the blame onto him .

David H

What you have to look at here is did you stop and look just to be safe to see if any cars were coming? Im guessing no and the same goes for the taxi driver if he did not stop to check for cars coming. So basically it was nobody's fault.

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