Who is "at fault" in this accident?

We were driving eastbound on a street and were at an intersection about to turn left. The light at the time was solid green. In the westbound lane of that same street (3 lane street), there were three cars in the farthest north lane, the rest of the lanes cleared. The first car in that lane was making a right turn to travel northbound, onto the same street I was going to turn on. The car that was turning right stopped, so I proceeded to turn left into the lane closest to me. The car that was stopped proceeded to cut me off, going into the left lane that I was going into instead of their right.

I was forced to slow down, and the car that was behind the car that turned right plowed into the passenger side of my door. The police showed up, however I was not given a ticket or anything, and the issue of fault was not discussed. On the collision report, the file status shows as "concluded".

If the car that was turning right never cut me off and turned into their proper lane, the accident would not have happened.

When is fault usually decided (it seems like it was not decided at the scene), and does it seem like I would be at fault in this case?

entidtil

There is a lot of misunderstanding about "fault". In this case the involved Insurance companies, not police, will determine fault. They will base their decision partially on the police report. The guy who hit you will probably be found at fault. Simply let the two insurance companies work it out. They will anyway, no matter what you or me or anyone else says.

Libraryanna

You are at fault. You turned left in front of oncoming traffic. The oncoming traffic had the right of way. Legally, at least in some states, a car can turn into any lane. So they probably did nothing wrong.

You should have waited for all the cars in that lane to clear. You can't blame someone for not turning properly when you took a chance and turned when it wasn't fully clear.

You can still get a ticket in the mail. Sometimes they want to do measurements and get more information. I've seen cases that took six months or longer for a final report to come out.

astraea360

Did the cars turning right have a stop sign or red light? Was your green light an arrow or proceed with caution?

If the cars had a red light or stop sign and your light was green the fault is in the other driver. If they did not it would be dependent on what you insurance company thinks I would assume.

Starstruck

it was the other person's fault...he collided into you after stopping, not giving you enough time to proceed or stay back when he proceeded again...

sydkan

Yeah, You're not going to like this answer.

Unfortunately you were making a left turn on a solid arrrow. You DID NOT have the right of way. When making a left turn you have to yield to ALL traffic, even those that are making a right turn. You assumed that the vehicle in the right lane was going to stay in the right lane when he turned. This obviously was a bad assumption. You state that the loss would not have occurred unless the vehicle in the right lane had made their proper turn. Actually the loss would not have happened if you had yielded (as indicated by the light) to ALL traffic.

It's not a matter of who hit who as others state. It's what was the proximate cause. In this case it was you. you stopped in the middle of the inintersectionot leaving the other vehicle an opportunity to avoid.

The police do not decide fault between the insurance companies. they memerelyive an opinion unless they actually witness the loss. An ininsuranceompany is not obobligatedo be held accountable to a police report as I can't tell you how many times i've seen one that was inaccurate.

I'm sorry you were involved in an accident and hope you and the other drivers are okay.

EDIT: what's with all the thumbs down answers here. almost everyone is right!!! Can some not handle the truth!!!!!

Justin B

Well, usually it's a question of who has the right of way. In your case, since you were making a left turn at a green light, obviously that means you will have traffic interfering (considering there IS traffic), and that would mean that the traffic you will encounter has the right of way. When making a right turn, unless there is a sign that clearly states you need to stop, you always have the right of way. If the car making the right turn had a sign telling him to stop before turning, he would be at fault if by my understanding of your story, because he disobeyed the sign.

Whenever making a left turn, a solid green light means that the traffic you will be crossing has the right of way, and you are clear to proceed with turning when there is no immediate oncoming traffic, obviously meaning turn when the 'coast is clear'.

However, instead of a solid green light, you may seen a green arrow. The green arrow signals that the driver making the left turn has the right of way, but only while the green arrow is lit.

It is best to never discuss the fault when in a driving accident, because insurance takes care of it regardless. If either driver admits fault, their insurance provider may deny payment, where admitting fault is the same as saying it wasn't an accident.

If the driver didn't have any reason to stop (stop sign, signal, avoiding something), then he is at fault. It is usually pretty obvious when determining fault, all that is needed is to listen to both sides of the stories, determine lights, signs, and catching any inconsistencies in any story.

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