alcohol detected on other drivers breath

[dperuzzi1013]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? tennessee

my girlfriend made a left turn at an intersection where her light was red and the cross traffic had the flashing yellow. she was struck by a vehicle while she was making that left. the police claimed it her fault because she failed to yield. but she says the car was pretty far away before she made that turn. she didn't notice if it was speeding or not. the other driver had a scent of alcohol on her breath but the cops did not give her an accurate blood alcohol test. they just did some field sobriety tests. which i've heard you could pass those with some adrenaline in your system. i believe its probably been proven im not sure. but they basically went off that. also the other driver failed to put any defensive driving into play. no skid marks. didnt swerve out of the way. didnt do anything at all to try to prevent it. one witness actually stated it looked like shed was trying to flee the scene before she realized her wheel had fallen off. she didnt stop her car till the next intersection. my girlfriend was driving without insurance in my brothers car. we didnt know it didnt have insurance. that isnt the problem though. its the who is at fault thing. i thought to some degree people shoudl be driving defensively and be aware of the cars around them. even after the accident the other woman just sat in the tow truck and just kinda mumbled her words. she seriuosly seemed pretty drunk. she didnt really speak. she wouldnt talk to us. never opened the door. nothing. its liek she knew she was getting away with it. i really dont know what else to say. thats about all the details. is a breathalyser required if alcohol is detected? i would imagine if it was post-accident... or is it just my girlfriends fault and there is nothign to do about it. i dont know if negligence comes into play on the other drivers part i dont know how it works. but any answers would help. thank you.

-David P.

[racer72]

The simple fact is any vehicle making a left hand turn must yield to all oncoming traffic regardless of the condition of the driver.

[xylene]

Originally Posted by racer72

The simple fact is any vehicle making a left hand turn must yield to all oncoming traffic regardless of the condition of the driver.

If the other driver was DWI than he could be fully or partially responsible by negligence.

Even sober a speeding driver who pegs a left turning car bears some, even total, responsibility.

However there is no DWI and the accident team seems to have found no speeding...

[Roo]

The other driver may not have been drunk, they may have a medical condition such as Ketoacidosis.

[xylene]

Originally Posted by Roo

The other driver may not have been drunk, they may have a medical condition such as Ketoacidosis.

They could have been slugging whiskey.

The salient point is that they were not charged with DWI.

[ecmst12]

Your girlfriend is at fault and will have to pay for the damage. She can make her brother split it with her for letting her drive the car and not telling her it was uninsured (he shares the liability as the owner of the car). The definition of defensive driving is to know when you do NOT have the right of way and yield to those who do. The other driver had the right of way, she must have misjudged the speed and hopefully she will be more defensive in the future. The other driver did not have a duty to yield and she did, plain and simple.