Man, what a day

[Sho'Nuff]

So I had a heck of day yesterday. As many of you know, I am an attorney in an intellectual property (specifically patent) law firm. Well, in order to actually become a "patent attorney" per se, I needed to take and pass the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Registration Exam. I took that exam yesterday, and am happy to say that the "preliminary results" indicate that I passed. This was great news for me, as the pass rate for this exam the past few years has been ~50%.

So there I am, all happy about passing the exam. I go out to my car (which is parked in a lot directly behind the test center), to find that I have been ticketed for parking in a reserved lot ($50). Although that sucked, I was still happy about passing the exam, so I got into the car and proceeded to drive home. Everything was great until I got into a car accident about a two miles from my house! There were no injuries, thank goodness, but my car was not drivable after the accident. To make things worse, the police officer gave me a warning citation for passing on the right (essentially indicating that I was at fault), which, as I will discuss, is highly questionable given the circumstances of the accident.

The accident occured on main street right at the Waltham/Watertown line in Mass. I was traveling from Watertown into Waltham. On the Watertown side, Main street is a TWO lane road, with one VERY wide lane (easily wide enough for two cars) traveling in each direction. On the Waltham side, Main street is a FOUR lane road, with 2 normal width lanes traveling in each direction. As I approached the Waltham line from Watertown, I moved to the far right of the lane, as I needed to be in the right lane once I entered Waltham. The car in front of me (~20-25 feet, speed limit was 25MPH so i was not tailgaiting) was to the far left of the lane, which is what people typically do when they are going into the left lane on the Waltham side. Well, the driver of the car in front of my decided at the last minute that she needed to make a right turn into the Watertown Bank that is right at the Waltham/Watertown line. She braked suddenly and turned (apparently without looking) right. By the time I saw her turn, there was nothing I could do but hit the brakes and swerve, but we still collided (technically she hit me in the side at ~15 mph) right at the far side of the entrance to the bank (literally less than 10 feet from the Waltham side). Nonetheless, the police officer cited me for passing on the right.

Obviously the whole accident thing put a damper on my day, but I am glad that no one is hurt. I am just a little miffed that this accident primarily resulted from poor roadway design rather than typical driver error. I plan to contact the appropriate Watertown officials to request that an appropriate sign (indicating that Main street is a 2 lane road in Watertown).

CLIFFS:
1) OP Passed USPTO bar exam and was very happy because average pass rate is ~50%
2) OP's mood slightly less elevated after discovering parking ticket on windshield of his car
3) OP's mood really brought down when he got into a car accident due to poor roadway design at the line between Waltham and Watertown, MA.

 

[moshquerade]

"3) OP's mood really brought down when he got into a car accident due to poor roadway design at the line between Waltham and Watertown, MA."

Are you going to sue?

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Well I used to work in claims for an insurance company (now have switched to underwriting), but from the sounds of it you both were heading the same direction. If that is the case and she made a right hand turn from the center lane, she would be the one at fault for an illegal turn. If you are in the curb lane and she is in any lane other then the curb lane, and tries to make a right hand turn I fail to see any way that you would be at fault for the accident. I do not know of any law in the US that says you cannot pass on the right hand lane on a non-highway.

It would be the exact same thing as if she was heading the opposite direction making a left hand turn in front of you. Either case you have the right of way (any car traveling forward has the right of way to a car thats turning, with a few exceptions like traffic lights and such).

 

[Anubis]

i know that intersection, it sucks

 

[jiggahertz]

Only in MA do they have single lanes which are commonly occupied by two cars at once. I vaguely remember the intersection you are talking about. Hartwell Ave in Lexington was never striped for years because it was legally two narrow to make in 2 lanes each way. So they simple left off the shoulder/lane markings so cars could go side-by-side.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
Only in MA do they have single lanes which are commonly occupied by two cars at once.

You've never driven in L.A. or Atlanta, have you? In those cities, having only two cars in a single lane is considered "spacious"

 

[jiggahertz]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
Only in MA do they have single lanes which are commonly occupied by two cars at once.

You've never driven in L.A. or Atlanta, have you? In those cities, having only two cars in a single lane is considered "spacious"

I spent a summer in LA and never saw 2 cars abreast in a single lane. Or lanes wide enough that would allow this.

 

[skace]

My first question is, were you actually passing her? I mean, was there intent to pass, or were you just traveling a similar speed to her until she slammed her brakes and turned into you? If it is the latter, I'd definitely argue that ticket. It is not passing on the right if someone slams their brakes and turns into you.

 

[summit]

thats what you get for living in mass

 

[compman25]

Why do they need a sign if you already knew the road went from 2 to 4 lanes? That wouldn't change the fact you crashed.

 

[Legendary]

Did she signal?

 

[Dirigible]

Congratulations on passing the patent bar!

Get your reg. #, start signing, and make sure your malpractice insurance is paid up.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
"3) OP's mood really brought down when he got into a car accident due to poor roadway design at the line between Waltham and Watertown, MA."

Are you going to sue?

Nope, but I am going to fight like hell if my insurance company finds me at fault for the accident. That would bump up my insurance payments ~$600 a year for the next 6 years.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Originally posted by: compman25
Why do they need a sign if you already knew the road went from 2 to 4 lanes? That wouldn't change the fact you crashed.

I have only lived in this area for ~5 months, and before yesterday (when the cop told me), I did not know the street was two lanes on the watertown side and four on the waltham side. Apparently a lot of other people don't either. I saw at least 15 sets of cars line up exactly the way I did while waiting for the cops to arrive.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Well I used to work in claims for an insurance company (now have switched to underwriting), but from the sounds of it you both were heading the same direction. If that is the case and she made a right hand turn from the center lane, she would be the one at fault for an illegal turn. If you are in the curb lane and she is in any lane other then the curb lane, and tries to make a right hand turn I fail to see any way that you would be at fault for the accident. I do not know of any law in the US that says you cannot pass on the right hand lane on a non-highway.

It would be the exact same thing as if she was heading the opposite direction making a left hand turn in front of you. Either case you have the right of way (any car traveling forward has the right of way to a car thats turning, with a few exceptions like traffic lights and such).

I would agree 100% with you, if the accident happend 10 feet further down the road, on the waltham side (where the road is actually 4 lanes, two in each direction). Technically the driver in front turned from a single lane.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
Only in MA do they have single lanes which are commonly occupied by two cars at once.

You've never driven in L.A. or Atlanta, have you? In those cities, having only two cars in a single lane is considered "spacious"

Actually I have driven in both of those cities. They have worse traffic than Botson for sure in terms of volume. But as for piss poor drivers, Boston is worse than them by far.