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a guy turned left directly in front of me. no one could have avoided hitting him. He turned in front of me but I did the hitting.
My car is totaled and I have liability only. I have given my insurance all the info and explained what happened.21st Century.
It's been almost a month and havent heard from his insurance. Geico. I did try to call Geico but got nowhere. I'm wondering if I should take my loss and let sleeping dogs lie since I did the hitting even though I believe he is at fault.
Not enough info to tell, however generally speaking, left turns in CA must yield to oncoming traffic and be made with "reasonable safety". If s/he turned into oncoming traffic and there were no other circumstances (see below), they should be found at fault.
Potential other circumstances:
-entering intersection on stale green or yellow light, or, of course, a red light.
-speed approaching or entering intersection
-you being distracted/texting
Quote:
Originally Posted by UpstateJohn
Do you all not do police reports in CA?
More rare than other states, in my experience. Incidents must be reported to the DMV, however on-site reports are more typical when fatalities/injuries are present or multiple agencies present (i.e. fire); or in smaller municipalities.
Nowhere near enough information OP and none of us witnessed it. All we have to go on is your understandably biased two sentence description. For all we know you don't tend to leave enough following distance.
You either called GEICO or didn't. If you didn't, then call.
You either reached somebody and reported the claim, or you didn't. If you didn't, you keep calling.
Keep calling until you get an adjuster and a claim number.
After I made this post I went on Geico website and did make a claim. I was able to tell my side of the story. It took awhile there were a lot of questions and I had all the info.
Even though I believe he was at fault I did the hitting so who knows who will be judged at fault. So I'm wondering if I should have taken my loss and kept quiet?
This is all very common, and things depend on state laws. In my state (MA), a person whose car is hit because he tried to cut across the traffic is at fault. I know somebody who has been in this situation -- twice. Once their car was hit, and later they hit a car like that. In both cases the driver doing the hitting was found not at fault.
So if you reported the accident within the required period of time, and CA laws are similar to MA in this respect, the other car's insurance might end up paying for your damaged car. YMMV!
After I made this post I went on Geico website and did make a claim. I was able to tell my side of the story. It took awhile there were a lot of questions and I had all the info.
Even though I believe he was at fault I did the hitting so who knows who will be judged at fault. So I'm wondering if I should have taken my loss and kept quiet?
I already explained that - in CA - this is rarely true. In your side of the story, what would have lead to outside circumstances to make it your fault?
After I made this post I went on Geico website and did make a claim. I was able to tell my side of the story. It took awhile there were a lot of questions and I had all the info.
Even though I believe he was at fault I did the hitting so who knows who will be judged at fault. So I'm wondering if I should have taken my loss and kept quiet?
No, no need to take the loss. At least not without putting up a fight.
Making a left turn and failing to yield is not only a traffic violation but it's also negligence.
California Vehicle Code 21801(a):
"The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left or complete a u-turn upon a highway or turn left into public or private property or alley shall yield the right of way to all vehicles approaching from the opposite direction which are close enough to constitute a hazard at any time during the turning movement and shall continue to yield the right of way to the approaching vehicles until the left or u-tun can be made with reasonable safety"
Unfortunately, California also has 21801(b):
"A driver having yielded as prescribed in subdivision (a), and having given a signal when and as required by this code, may turn left or complete a U-turn, and the drivers of vehicles approaching the intersection or the entrance to the property or alley from the opposite direction shall yield the right-of-way to the turning vehicle."
Emphasize that he turned suddenly in front of you and you had no chance to avoid hitting him.
No, no need to take the loss. At least not without putting up a fight.
Making a left turn and failing to yield is not only a traffic violation but it's also negligence.
California Vehicle Code 21801(a):
"The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left or complete a u-turn upon a highway or turn left into public or private property or alley shall yield the right of way to all vehicles approaching from the opposite direction which are close enough to constitute a hazard at any time during the turning movement and shall continue to yield the right of way to the approaching vehicles until the left or u-tun can be made with reasonable safety"
Unfortunately, California also has 21801(b):
"A driver having yielded as prescribed in subdivision (a), and having given a signal when and as required by this code, may turn left or complete a U-turn, and the drivers of vehicles approaching the intersection or the entrance to the property or alley from the opposite direction shall yield the right-of-way to the turning vehicle."
Emphasize that he turned suddenly in front of you and you had no chance to avoid hitting him.
(b)cvc is only a defense if the other party can claim they had control of the intersection and Vega failed to yield. Very rare since they would have to prove all of the conditions in (a) were met (as mentioned earlier - distracted/intoxicated/excessive or increasing speed).
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