On Saturday I was taking my girlfriend somewhere. I pulled up to an intersection at which I needed to get into the left turn lane, but there were double yellow lines, so I had to wait behind the cars in front of me, which were stopped at a stop light. I came to a complete stop, shifted to first gear, had my left blinker on, and as soon as I was past the double yellow lines, I looked to my left and then pulled into the left turn lane.
About 1.5 seconds later -- with my entire car already in the left turn lane, but still at about a 20 degree angle -- I heard a crash. I hardly felt it, but I put the car in neutral, pulled the E-brake, and turned on my hazard lights. An old lady had hit me, and her vehicle wasn't even in the lane :| It was half in the left turn lane, and half in the lane going the opposite direction! I rolled down my window because she was trying to talk. The first thing she said was, "You pulled out in front of me!!"
That was probably confusing. Here's a diagram. My car = red, old lady = grey, stopped cars = yellow.
I didn't get any tickets. However, the officer did say, "one witness was unsure if you used your turn signal." :| He told me that since I insisted that I had used my signal, and the witness was unsure, he wouldn't hand out a ticket, although he could have. I know I did, and so did my girlfriend.
Now for the interesting parts:
-Right before she was allowed to leave, the old lady said to my girlfriend and me, "I'm diabetic, and I've been sucking on a cough drop to maintain my sugar. I need to go home and eat dinner or I'll pass out."
WHY WERE YOU DRIVING THEN!?
-She kept trying to discuss the accident with me. I finally told her that we're not supposed to discuss the incident. Her response was, "[chuckling]I don't care about that.
-Right after she had hit my door, she backed up, and then pulled up right next to my car. She wanted us to both move our car's to a parking lot across the street. I told her that we were supposed to leave our cars there, but she kept moving...
-The old lady was the police officer's neighbor. Shouldn't he have called in someone else?
............................................................................................................................................
Everyone has been telling me that the old lady was at fault, not me. I'm getting nervous though, because neither of us recieved any tickets, we both have State Farm Insurance, and the lady kept telling the officer that it was my fault. They'll probably make each person pay for the damages, and my rates will get jacked up (I won't even be 18 for another couple months...).
Comments?
About 1.5 seconds later -- with my entire car already in the left turn lane, but still at about a 20 degree angle -- I heard a crash. I hardly felt it, but I put the car in neutral, pulled the E-brake, and turned on my hazard lights. An old lady had hit me, and her vehicle wasn't even in the lane :| It was half in the left turn lane, and half in the lane going the opposite direction! I rolled down my window because she was trying to talk. The first thing she said was, "You pulled out in front of me!!"
That was probably confusing. Here's a diagram. My car = red, old lady = grey, stopped cars = yellow.
I didn't get any tickets. However, the officer did say, "one witness was unsure if you used your turn signal." :| He told me that since I insisted that I had used my signal, and the witness was unsure, he wouldn't hand out a ticket, although he could have. I know I did, and so did my girlfriend.
Now for the interesting parts:
-Right before she was allowed to leave, the old lady said to my girlfriend and me, "I'm diabetic, and I've been sucking on a cough drop to maintain my sugar. I need to go home and eat dinner or I'll pass out."
WHY WERE YOU DRIVING THEN!?
-She kept trying to discuss the accident with me. I finally told her that we're not supposed to discuss the incident. Her response was, "[chuckling]I don't care about that.
-Right after she had hit my door, she backed up, and then pulled up right next to my car. She wanted us to both move our car's to a parking lot across the street. I told her that we were supposed to leave our cars there, but she kept moving...
-The old lady was the police officer's neighbor. Shouldn't he have called in someone else?
............................................................................................................................................
Everyone has been telling me that the old lady was at fault, not me. I'm getting nervous though, because neither of us recieved any tickets, we both have State Farm Insurance, and the lady kept telling the officer that it was my fault. They'll probably make each person pay for the damages, and my rates will get jacked up (I won't even be 18 for another couple months...).
Comments?
