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I was traveling south and other car was at intersection facing east and turning left which is north. The other driver had a stop sign and I did not. I swerved left as the other driver pulled out in front of me and he hit me in the front of my car. The other driver ended up being an off duty state officer. The police are trying to say that I am at fault for this because I swerved left instead of hitting him straight on. Any thoughts?
There are a couple of intetesting points here but ultimately unless one of you had a dash camera you will likely be found at fault because it was a cop. It may not be right or fair but you probably won't want to waste too many hours fighting it and making enemies.
First off, the person at the stop sign has the duty to yield. They have the responsibility of making sure it's clear and safe to pull out. He was wrong and he pulled out when it wasn't safe.
The problem lies in your reaction, which was a perfectly normal and common reaction to seeing an inevitable crash. HOWEVER, and I can't stress this enough, this is the reaction that will always end up costing you more. If someone or something pulls out or runs out in front of you, the best thing to do is usually to just hit it. This goes especially for deer and other animals in the road. Hitting a deer in the road is considered a no-fault comprehensive claim that likely wouldn't result in a rate increase. As soon as you try to swerve to avoid hitting the deer and you go off into the ditch or hit something else it becomes an at-fault collision claim where you lost control of your vehicle. Scored and charged very differently insurance-wise.
You did what most people would do, but you've also given them a reason to blame you because you "lost control of your vehicle" when you swerved. If it were anyone other than a police officer I would probably say you should fight it but honestly it's likely to cause you more trouble than it's worth. Sometimes life just isn't fair.
Did you end up in the north bound lane where the collision accured? When the two cars colided and stopped, how far away was the east bound street the cop pulled out of?
I was roughly on the yellow line when he hit me and he pushed me into the ditch of the north bound lane. The east bound street was probably about 20 feet away.
Would it help if he told me he was distracted from his ex wife? If so, who would I say this to? The police never took my statement but just called to tell me that we were both at fault. I already filled the claim. Should I tell the insurance when they call back?
Would it help if he told me he was distracted from his ex wife? If so, who would I say this to? The police never took my statement but just called to tell me that we were both at fault. I already filled the claim. Should I tell the insurance when they call back?
Tell the insurance company everything, tell them its not your fault. Take the cop to court. If he wins, appeal. If what you say is true, he is clearly at fault.
I was traveling south and other car was at intersection facing east and turning left which is north. The other driver had a stop sign and I did not. I swerved left as the other driver pulled out in front of me and he hit me in the front of my car. The other driver ended up being an off duty state officer. The police are trying to say that I am at fault for this because I swerved left instead of hitting him straight on. Any thoughts?
This reminds me of a TV news report, I saw years ago. A TV station camera man was traveling to an assignment when he saw a really bad rear end car crash, so he stopped to film it. When interviewed, the driver said he stopped his car at an intersection to make a left turn and was yielding to oncoming traffic, when he got hit at a high rate of speed from behind. The other driver immediately apologized to him and accepted full responsibility. Then when police arrived, they started patting the other driver on the back and telling him it was not his fault. Then they issued a ticket to the guy who got rear ended, for impeding traffic. It turned out the other driver was an off duty police officer, who was late for work and speeding at a ridiculously high rate of speed to get to the police station to start his shift.
Anyway the police chief, saw the news report, and called the TV station to do an interview the next day. In the interview the chief said that no ticket should have been issued, and that he had personally cancelled the ticket. The reporter then asked, if the cop who rear ended him would be cited for causing the accident. The chief then ended the interview with saying, no, no one would be cited for the accident. It was just an unfortunate accident, that couldn't be helped. The cop was a good dedicated cop who was just in a hurry to get to work on time.
So basically yeah, when you have an accident with a cop, you are at fault. Regardless of the circumstances.
A few months ago I was passing through an intersection and my light was green. As I neared the middle a cop went flying through a red light and came inches from t-boning me. His lights weren't on and he just ran the red light. I saw his face coming at me and he was looking at his phone. He slammed on his breaks as did I and he was screaming at me and making gestures towards me like I did something wrong.
This is why you should invest 50 bucks in a freaking dash cam.
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