Left Turn Hits Right Turn, Who is at Fault? (West: car insurance, law)

[thedead]

Hi All,

Looking at the following link: https://www.google.ca/maps/@30.49607.../data=!3m1!1e3

Can you please give let me know your thoughts? I was going East on Gattis, making a right turn. I stopped at the light and then made a right. The driver going West had a protected left turn and turned into the right of the two lanes hitting me.

Who is at fault?

[Trainwreck20]

The right turn on red will always be at fault - you always have to yield the right of way when turning right on red.

As far as I know, there is no law that says a left turn has to remain in a designated lane unless there are more than one left turn lanes. Therefore they have the right to enter the lane you were turning into, so you have the lower priority and must yield.

After stopping, standing until the intersection may be entered safely, and yielding right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully in an adjacent crosswalk and other traffic lawfully using the intersection,

[bpvarian]

I believe Trainwreck20 is correct, unless there are multiple left hand turn lanes, you can swing into any of the lanes that you want when turning left.

[cafecivet]

Just checked with my wife who recently worked processing car insurance claims, and she agreed that the person with a protected left turn has the right of way.

[thedead]

Thank you!

Curious, in the exact same situation if it was not a protected who would be at fault?

If there was two left lanes turning into 3, would the right turn still be at fault?

[Trainwreck20]

There was a random discussion a while back, and I don't know if anything was definitive, but it is likely that the 2nd (wider) left-turn lane could go into the 2nd or 3rd lane on the destination road, and the 1st (sharper) let turn lane would be dedicated to the 1st lane on the destination road. Unless, of course, there are lines painted on the road otherwise.

But basically, the right turn on red car will always be at fault if any other car uses that same lane legally. If someone is in that lane illegally (i.e. ran a red light), then you would not be at fault.

[Ronaldon]

Whenever you turn right on red, you have yield to EVERYONE - pedestrians and cars - because there's no situation when someone should yield to you when you're turning right on red. To put it differently, right turn on red is a privilege, not a right (kind of). This is why some states don't even allow right turns on red, to avoid this confusion.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Ronaldon

Whenever you turn right on red, you have yield to EVERYONE - pedestrians and cars - because there's no situation when someone should yield to you when you're turning right on red. To put it differently, right turn on red is a privilege, not a right (kind of). This is why some states don't even allow right turns on red, to avoid this confusion.

Which states?

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico have allowed right turns on red since 1978, except where prohibited by a sign or where right turns are controlled by dedicated traffic lights. (In June 1978, Maryland became the last state to allow right turns on red.

[Ronaldon]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Which states?

My bad. That should've been countries.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Ronaldon

My bad. That should've been countries.

Right turn on red in the UK would be entertaining, though !