Geico insurance claim

scythelx · #1 06-08-2007, 10:11 AM

What is the name of your state? Connecticut

All,

I was recently involved in a low speed impact car accident which damaged the passenger whole side of my vehicle. I was driving in a single lane local road with an emergency lane on my right. I had come to a 4 way intersection where the car in font of my was making a left hand turn ( signal on ) which per law I was able to pass on the right to continue going straight. The person behind me attempted to pass me on the right as well ( I did not have my blinker on ) to make a right hand turn, but ended up crashing into my vehicle because there was no more room on the road. The cops were called and the other party was cited for making an improper pass.

In short, Geico is laying 40 % of the responsibility on me and 60 % on the offending driver. There reasoning is that “I have a responsibility to keep a proper lookout ". I explained to them that I had no idea that they were going to drive in the emergency lane and attempt to pass me, but I essentially got no where with them. The other driver is unable to make a claim against my insurance, but I find this sort of shady when a police report means nothing to an insurance company. I'm able to contest this claim with Geico, but it will goto an in-house arbitration panel to which my adjuster said that I will not win.

Is there any recourse? Should I pursue this, or is it myself that is being unfair?

scythelx · #2 06-08-2007, 10:13 AM

I've also found similar cases like mine...

[url]http://www.automobileinsurancereview.com/geico-insurance/[/url]

scythelx · #3 06-08-2007, 10:23 AM

I also forgot to mention that both our insurance companies are Geico!

ecmst12 · #4 06-08-2007, 10:58 AM

Do you have collision coverage on your vehicle?

scythelx · #5 06-08-2007, 11:35 AM

Yes, I do.

ecmst12 · #6 06-08-2007, 11:54 AM

So you should be able to recover 60% of your deductible, at the very least. The fact that you didn't have your signal on to change lanes probably added to your % responsibility.

scythelx · #7 06-08-2007, 02:21 PM

Correct, I'm able to recover 60 % of my deductible. With this settlement includes a blocking from the other party being able to place claim on my policy since they hold the greater % of fault.

ecmst12 · #8 06-08-2007, 03:28 PM

Your only other option would be to not accept any money from the other guy's policy and instead sue him in small claims court, and hope that the judge will assign him a higher percentage of fault. But for what you stand to gain ($100? Maybe $200?), I really doubt that it would be worth the filing fee and the time it would take.

Ozark_Sophist · #9 06-08-2007, 05:16 PM

You said it was a single lane road and you attempted to pass on the right a vehicle waiting to make a left turn. Passing on the right is a no-no, so unless there was a dedicated left turn lane, you were also at fault.

Your state DMV assigns three points for passing on the right. You were lucky you were not cited and can collect anything from insurance.

IrishNodak · #10 06-09-2007, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozark_Sophist

You said it was a single lane road and you attempted to pass on the right a vehicle waiting to make a left turn. Passing on the right is a no-no, so unless there was a dedicated left turn lane, you were also at fault.

Your state DMV assigns three points for passing on the right. You were lucky you were not cited and can collect anything from insurance.

I hope you were talking about the OP specific state. Because I am "allowed" per driving laws to pass on the right on SOME single lane roads in my state when the driver in front of me is making a left turn. We have a road where it's done all the time and it's perfectly legal. Many states allow it. It just has to be done safely.

I think if they had had DIFFERENT insurance carriers Geico might have ruled differently. But since they both have Geico and they are actually paying out on both claims then they really had no choice.

Ozark_Sophist · #11 06-09-2007, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishNodak

I hope you were talking about the OP specific state. Because I am "allowed" per driving laws to pass on the right on SOME single lane roads in my state when the driver in front of me is making a left turn. We have a road where it's done all the time and it's perfectly legal. Many states allow it. It just has to be done safely.

I think if they had had DIFFERENT insurance carriers Geico might have ruled differently. But since they both have Geico and they are actually paying out on both claims then they really had no choice.

In all the states I've lived in, passing on the right was illegal. I looked it up for the OP's state as well (illegal=3 points).

Ozark_Sophist · #12 06-09-2007, 11:23 AM

[quote=IrishNodak;1648504]I hope you were talking about the OP specific state. Because I am "allowed" per driving laws to pass on the right on SOME single lane roads in my state when the driver in front of me is making a left turn. We have a road where it's done all the time and it's perfectly legal. Many states allow it. It just has to be done safely.

[quote]

It is only legal in your state when there are two or more lanes in the same direction of travel. The OP stated it was a single lane. Thus, it would be illegal in your state as well.

[url]http://www.revenue.state.co.us/mv_dir/formspdf/2337.pdf[/url]

IrishNodak · #13 06-09-2007, 11:00 PM

That's not true. I think you are reading laws about highways. I can name many roads in our town/city where it's allowed. They are local roads..i.e. streets and avenues not highways. It is even mentioned in the drivers manual for our state. If I could post a link to that I would.

efflandt · #14 06-10-2007, 08:49 AM

In states or areas that do allow passing on the right, that is only allowed in the normal travelled portion of the road (regular traffic lanes for going straight). When you say emergency lane, it sounds like a lane you should not drive in or use for passing. Besides that you failed to signal your lane change. But since the other vehicle should not have been using the emergency lane as a right turn lane either, you both are at fault.

Just Friday I saw people driving along in an emergency lane like it was a normal traffic lane even though it was clearly marked with a solid white line and angled white lines all across it to the left, to give you the idea that you should merge left if you found yourself in that lane (ie, entering from a side street).

Just because you see other people doing it, does not make it legal.

Ozark_Sophist · #15 06-10-2007, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishNodak

That's not true. I think you are reading laws about highways. I can name many roads in our town/city where it's allowed. They are local roads..i.e. streets and avenues not highways. It is even mentioned in the drivers manual for our state. If I could post a link to that I would.

If you noticed, I linked to your state drivers manual where it clearly states no passing on the right unless the road is one way, or has more than one lane in both directions. Even then, it specific prohibits passing on a shoulder or emergency lane. You can only pass on the right if there is a driving lane with which to pass with.