Whose fault? Cars coming in opposite directions make turns onto same st, one hits other in left most lane.?

They turn onto a street with two lanes but the car turning right does not turn into the right most lane but instead turns into the left most lane. Meanwhile the car turning left form the opposite direction also turns into the left most lane and they both collide.

Assune this is California.
1) When a car turns, the car should/(or is it must?) turn into the left most lane when turning left or the right most lane when turning right.
2) Car turning right has the right of way, but this car was in a right turn only lane. Does right of way still apply?

Who is right? Who is wrong? Who will the adjustor side with if both parties deny liability?
Additional Details
Some more details...
1) Intersection was a stoplight intersection and both cars had the green light. (There are no L/R turn/arrow lights.)
2) Car turning right was in a right turn only lane as marked by a white colored right turn arrow on the street and there are no white guide/lane markings showing which lane the car turning right must go into; neither are there lane markings for the left turning car coming from opposite direction.

I think it all boils down to these arguments:

RIGHT TURN CAR:
-I have the right of way because I am not turning left, I'm turning right!
-And because I have right of way I can choose any lane I want!

LEFT TURN CAR
-The other car was in a right turn only lane but did not turn right into right most lane!
-I turned left onto left most lane, my lane, and other car hit me!

Rebecca

The car that turned right into the left lane is at fault

silly4dolphins

If 2 cars on one road (approaching from oppositte directions) turn on to another common road and they collide on the left lane side, then the car that turned to the right is at fault because they seem to be over to far. They shouldn't have collided they should be one in front of the other.

Michael M

The car making a right hand turn is not at fault. He has the right of way and it doesnt matter that he made a mistake by getting into the left lane. The driver making a left turn shouldve been able to maintain control of his car and shouldve been driving defensively. You have to predict that people are going to do stupid things with their cars and drive accordingly.

Oh! The Humanity!

The car turning left is at fault. The car turning right can go into either lane (if there is only one right turn lane.)

hbarrass

When you make a turn, there is no (general) requirement to turn into any particular lane. The exception is if you are using a filter lane or similar that guides you into one specific lane of the road you are entering. If you did not cross a solid white line when making teh turn then you were within the law.

When you make a left turn you must yield to oncoming traffic. That includes cars that are making a right turn into the road you wish to enter.

Therefore the car making a left turn is at fault. It failed to yield.

redunicorn

The car that went into the left hand lane is at fault. This happened to me in Wisconsin and he had to pay for the accident.

cosaxteacher

I would guess that the person that turned left onto the street would be considered at fault. They did not have the right of way, and they had more time to adjust for the car turning as they had better visability. I think the claims adjustor will do something similar to an 80/20. 80% at fault for the left turn driver, 20% for the right turn driver for making an illegal lane change.

All insurance companies say to deny responsibility until it is determined.

If I follow you on this.........regardless of the ignorance of the one that turned right............He had the right of way...........the one that was turning left.....had the responsibility to 'wait' for the oncoming... to do his thing..........

in conclusion.........the one that turned left............was at fault.. had He waited ample time.............the one that turn "wide" into the wrong lane................could have still had time to go........on his way...........

Nelson_DeVon

I think the person who took the two lanes is at fault. In your example that is the car turning right.

bostonianinmo

Assuming that there are two lanes to turn in to, each vehicle MUST turn into the proper lane. The vehicle truning right must turn into the rightmost lane and the one turning left must turn into the leftmost lane.

The usual rule of yielding to the right (the car turning right in this case) does not apply because there are two lanes to turn in to.

So, in the scenario presented, the vehicle turning righ would have been at-fault had there been an accident. The vehicle turning right would have been cited for "failure to maintain proper lane direction" if it was witnessed by a cop.

themainsail

The car making the left turn into the left most lane has the right-of-way. The car turning right has to yield.

Drakestone

Unless California law has been changed, the car turning right has the right of way over the car turning left, therefore the car turning left is technically at fault.

oklatom

A complicated question with a very simple answer. Common law, which applies to all states as far as I know, is that you must finish your turn in the lane you began your turn in. If you need to switch lanes, that is done later, not at the same time as the turn. So a vehicle turning left must end up in the left land after the turn, not the right lane. If he needs to turn right in the next block he must change lanes AFTER the turn and AFTER making sure the lane is clear. Likewise the car turning right must stay in the right lane until the turn is finished, not turn immediately into the left lane. The car turning right and changing lanes is at fault.

joe c

The car that turned right into the left lane its their fault

â™ªâ™«jessyâ™«â™ª

they are both at fault and I dont think either insurance company will pay

cookiedada

By the rules of the roads in Illinois , Person making right turn has the first right of the way.
The person making left turn can only make turn when it is safe to do so. hence the person making left turn is in violation, also he hit from behind,so its his fault.

I have assumed here that there was no four way stop.

If there was a four way stop or three way stop, then the one who stopped first had the right of way.

Mom of 4 & chem/phys teacher

The car turning left is at fault. The driver must wait until traffic is clear, and not make assumptions about what someone turning right is going to do. It's also very dangerous to make assumptions about someone with the turn signal on, because not everyone turns when it's on. But that's beside the point.

meteve

if they are going in opposite directions and one infringes upon the other, then the guy infringing would be at fault. it could possibly be both are at fault.

Rhonda

The car turning right is at fault.

lild d

THE STATES

fly_awa

I'm reasonably certain it's universal practice in the US that when performing any turn, it's proper to enter into the closest lane, never crossing over into the next lane until you've safely completed the turn. At that time, after checking to make sure the lane is clear, you can put on your turn signal and then move into the next lane. That would translate into the right most lane when turning right, and the left most lane when turning left.

C B

You are right. when you make a turn you must stay in the nearest lane to you then move over into the other lane once you have fully entered and progressed down the lane.

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