Friend had an auto accident and campus police claimed "no fault"

[se7en]

Setup:

She works at a hospital with a university attached so the area is controlled by rent-a-cops aka campus police. 99% of the time they claim ANY accident as "no fault" and here is what happened.


She was heading east and approached her intersection where she had to make a right.
Offenders car was coming west approaching the same intersection will be making a left.

Road they were turning onto was a 4 lane road. Lights are all "No right turn on red" in area.

She pulled up and had to wait at a green light for people to walk across the street about the same time as the offender approached the intersection to make his left.

After people had passed her light turned yellow and have already pulled past the line due to the light being green and her not being able to run them over she turned into the far right lane of her desired road completing her turn.

Just before she had finished her turn is when the guy making the left impacted with her as he tried to complete his left turn. He hit her on her side just behind the door and in her rear quatrepanel.

I could have made a diagram but I thought its pretty easy but what do you guys think?

I thought since she was making a right she had the right of way over someone making a left but he just talked to her and said it was her fault he is filing it with her insurance.

Im not a legal expert so not 100% positive any insight would be awesome.

EDITS:

Update: Both parties agree the light was green as she pulled up as it was for him too. She HAD to stop her turn in order to avoid the people walking across when they should not have been again they agree on this and it is in the campus police report.

Campus police if you have never had the pleasure to work with .. .. well. They claim every accident is no fault basically to keep them from having to appear in court or complete additional reports from what I have been told by hospital security which is a different division.

People walking acorss the street ran at the time of the accident as they knew they were in the wrong so the witness would be nice but they fled.. ..

The official report on the accident does not claim anyones fault but in the description it reads "Car 1 making a right turn and was STRUCK by car2" where car 1 is her and car 2 is the guy making the left.

 

[mugs]

Sounds pretty clear that the other guy was at fault as long as she actually did stay in the far right lane...

 

[Kelvrick]

So the other guy said it was her fault and filing with her insurance?

The cops say no fault huh...

You need WITNESSES! She shoulda snapped a couple pictures of the accident scene and gotten numbers from those crossing the street.

 

[BigJ]

It's the other guys fault. When making a left turn, unless you're one of those big rigs and it's physically impossible to turn into the closest left lane, you need to turn into your closest left lane.

EDIT: Another thing is, Yellow does not mean you can go right through the light. Yellow means you're supposed to stop if able to. So if she was stopped when the Yellow Light appeared, technically she shouldn't have gone through and made the turn.

Both people messed up. I can see why it was put down as No Fault.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: mugs
Sounds pretty clear that the other guy was at fault as long as she actually did stay in the far right lane...

yep.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Well if she firmly believes it was his fault, and he firmly believe it was her fault, and there are no witnesses...
I'd believe the guy. Been hit by far too many women.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

some states are no-fault states, meaning most of the time, accidents on private property (i.e. not city streets) are called no-fault and many accidents elsewhere are called no-fault as well. Only incases of gross negligence do they waiver, and even some states then won't. Examples of private property would be parking lots, streets in developments that are not city streets, and private university campuses. Your friend may be in a similar situation.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

More about no-fault insurance

Link

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
Well if she firmly believes it was his fault, and he firmly believe it was her fault, and there are no witnesses...
I'd believe the guy. Been hit by far too many women.

The damage should verify her story. She should get her insurance involved and they'll get it straighted out I would think...

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
More about no-fault insurance

Link

I'm in NY, which is a no-fault state, but they definitely put down who's fault it was on the police report. I've got one that was 90% the other guy's fault (blew a stop sign) and 10% my fault. I think the officer said because I didn't proceed with enough caution (I was going 20MPH at the time, guy was coming from my left and hit me while I was stopping to try to avoid em) I got hit with some fault.

 

[tallest1]

"No Turn on Red" doesn't mean you can turn on yellow. Both are at fault

Edit: PS. To be honest, I think she's making up the "The light wasn't red when I turned" line. Only a woman would think that up.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: BigJ
It's the other guys fault. When making a left turn, unless you're one of those big rigs and it's physically impossible to turn into the closest left lane, you need to turn into your closest left lane.

EDIT: Another thing is, Yellow does not mean you can go right through the light. Yellow means you're supposed to stop if able to. So if she was stopped when the Yellow Light appeared, technically she shouldn't have gone through and made the turn.

Both people messed up. I can see why it was put down as No Fault.

If she entered the intersection when it was green, then yellow means it's time to clear the intersection. If you are already stopped in the intersection you need to clear out of it before the next green cycle.

 

[sao123]

we need a diagram and a copy of your states traffic laws or drivers manual.
then you can recieve the ATOT legal expert opinion.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn

Originally posted by: BigJ
It's the other guys fault. When making a left turn, unless you're one of those big rigs and it's physically impossible to turn into the closest left lane, you need to turn into your closest left lane.

EDIT: Another thing is, Yellow does not mean you can go right through the light. Yellow means you're supposed to stop if able to. So if she was stopped when the Yellow Light appeared, technically she shouldn't have gone through and made the turn.

Both people messed up. I can see why it was put down as No Fault.

If she entered the intersection when it was green, then yellow means it's time to clear the intersection. If you are already stopped in the intersection you need to clear out of it before the next green cycle.

If the light turned yellow, and she was not past the crosswalk, then she shouldn't have proceeded forward. Also, unless she was actually IN the intersection (where she would've been hit by other cars had she not turned), then I believe she should've stopped where she was. The white line at intersections is where you have to stop if there is a Red Light. You should be able to stay there if you couldn't make a turn when you had a green light.

 

[alkemyst]

Cops can take the easy way out, but even in no-fault states they can declare fault and issue a ticket to an offending driver.

The no-fault is to handle things outside where the police and witnesses lie, along with protecting one to some degree.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Cops can take the easy way out, but even in no-fault states they can declare fault and issue a ticket to an offending driver.

The no-fault is to handle things outside where the police and witnesses lie, along with protecting one to some degree.

Yes, the no-fault statutes apply only to insurance, not whether or not you can be ticketed for the accident.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Originally posted by: tallest1
"No Turn on Red" doesn't mean you can turn on yellow. Both are at fault

Edit: PS. To be honest, I think she's making up the "The light wasn't red when I turned" line. Only a woman would think that up.

I work for an accident lawyer. EVERYONE says they had the green light, sometimes with a pathological determination that disregards all evidence to the contrary, including police officers who witnessed the accident as well as red light cameras. It's never anyone's fault.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: mugs
Sounds pretty clear that the other guy was at fault as long as she actually did stay in the far right lane...

yeah seconded, you're supposed to turn into the closes the closest lane.

 

[Kelemvor]

Call the actuakl Cops. THey should be able to overturn any thing some stupid campus police officer said.

If she entered the intersection when the light was green, then she had the right of wya and did nothing wrong. It's not her fault pedestrians decided to cross thee street at the time and block her from LEAVING the intersection. Once they moved, she continued to leave the intersection and then got hit. Definitely the other person's fault.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: 1sikbITCH

Originally posted by: tallest1
"No Turn on Red" doesn't mean you can turn on yellow. Both are at fault

Edit: PS. To be honest, I think she's making up the "The light wasn't red when I turned" line. Only a woman would think that up.

I work for an accident lawyer. EVERYONE says they had the green light, sometimes with a pathological determination that disregards all evidence to the contrary, including police officers who witnessed the accident as well as red light cameras. It's never anyone's fault.

Thats irrelevant,
if the guy made a left hand turn into the far right lane, he caused the accident.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: 1sikbITCH

Originally posted by: tallest1
"No Turn on Red" doesn't mean you can turn on yellow. Both are at fault

Edit: PS. To be honest, I think she's making up the "The light wasn't red when I turned" line. Only a woman would think that up.

I work for an accident lawyer. EVERYONE says they had the green light, sometimes with a pathological determination that disregards all evidence to the contrary, including police officers who witnessed the accident as well as red light cameras. It's never anyone's fault.

Thats irrelevant,
if the guy made a left hand turn into the far right lane, he caused the accident.

If her car was still in the intersection as the light turned red, she is guilty of a traffic violation. IE Running a red light.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: 1sikbITCH

Originally posted by: tallest1
"No Turn on Red" doesn't mean you can turn on yellow. Both are at fault

Edit: PS. To be honest, I think she's making up the "The light wasn't red when I turned" line. Only a woman would think that up.

I work for an accident lawyer. EVERYONE says they had the green light, sometimes with a pathological determination that disregards all evidence to the contrary, including police officers who witnessed the accident as well as red light cameras. It's never anyone's fault.

Thats irrelevant,
if the guy made a left hand turn into the far right lane, he caused the accident.

If her car was still in the intersection as the light turned red, she is guilty of a traffic violation. IE Running a red light.

uh no, If you ENTER the intersection when the right is red, then you're running a red light. If you entered the intersection when the ligth is green and wait for pedestrians to clear to proceed thru the interseciton, then you're clearing it.... If you sitting in the intersection and the light flips, you're obviously not running the red light...

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: 1sikbITCH

Originally posted by: tallest1
"No Turn on Red" doesn't mean you can turn on yellow. Both are at fault

Edit: PS. To be honest, I think she's making up the "The light wasn't red when I turned" line. Only a woman would think that up.

I work for an accident lawyer. EVERYONE says they had the green light, sometimes with a pathological determination that disregards all evidence to the contrary, including police officers who witnessed the accident as well as red light cameras. It's never anyone's fault.

Thats irrelevant,
if the guy made a left hand turn into the far right lane, he caused the accident.

If her car was still in the intersection as the light turned red, she is guilty of a traffic violation. IE Running a red light.

uh no, If you ENTER the intersection when the right is red, then you're running a red light. If you entered the intersection when the ligth is green and wait for pedestrians to clear to proceed thru the interseciton, then you're clearing it.... If you sitting in the intersection and the light flips, you're obviously not running the red light...

What you're saying is correct to a certain extent. If you enter an intersection when the light is yellow, and don't exit it until it's red, you're guilty of running a red light. A yellow light means you need to stop if able to, but proceed if you can't.

But what I get out of the OP is that she entered the intersection when there was a yellow light, because she had to wait while it was green for the pedestrians to pass. If she did so, then she would in fact be guilty of running a red light.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: 1sikbITCH

Originally posted by: tallest1
"No Turn on Red" doesn't mean you can turn on yellow. Both are at fault

Edit: PS. To be honest, I think she's making up the "The light wasn't red when I turned" line. Only a woman would think that up.

I work for an accident lawyer. EVERYONE says they had the green light, sometimes with a pathological determination that disregards all evidence to the contrary, including police officers who witnessed the accident as well as red light cameras. It's never anyone's fault.

Thats irrelevant,
if the guy made a left hand turn into the far right lane, he caused the accident.

If her car was still in the intersection as the light turned red, she is guilty of a traffic violation. IE Running a red light.

uh no, If you ENTER the intersection when the right is red, then you're running a red light. If you entered the intersection when the ligth is green and wait for pedestrians to clear to proceed thru the interseciton, then you're clearing it.... If you sitting in the intersection and the light flips, you're obviously not running the red light...

What you're saying is correct to a certain extent. If you enter an intersection when the light is yellow, and don't exit it until it's red, you're guilty of running a red light. A yellow light means you need to stop if able to, but proceed if you can't.

But what I get out of the OP is that she entered the intersection when there was a yellow light, because she had to wait while it was green for the pedestrians to pass. If she did so, then she would in fact be guilty of running a red light.

"She pulled up and had to wait at a green light for people to walk across the street about the same time"

I don't know how you make right tuns, but 99% of people make their way at least 3/4 thru the intersection and then wait for pedestrians. I've NEVER seen anyone making a right turn sit before the white line and wait for the people to make their way across the other road before making the right turn.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: halik

"She pulled up and had to wait at a green light for people to walk across the street about the same time"

I don't know how you make right tuns, but 99% of people make their way at least 3/4 thru the intersection and then waiting for pedestrians. I've NEVER seen anyone making a right turn sit before the white line and wait for the people to make their way across the other road before making the right turn.

Ah! Ok, I was misreading it. I thought some people had tried running across her crosswalk (not the crosswalk of the lane she was turning into). She was not at fault at all then.