Hit vehicle that was in middle of road at night with no lights on.

[cma7723]

What is the name of your state? TX

Here is the jist of what happend:
Husband was coming home from work at 3 am (We live out in the country) Under neath a dark bridge, a car had recently had an accident, evidently driver fell asleep and hit guard rail and his car was spun to middle of the road, no lights, no nothing. By the time my husband could make out what was there, he was breaking already but hit the other car and called 911. According to Trooper and all cops at the scene, they kept telling my husband that there wasn't alot he could do, it was so dark and the guys car could not be seen under the bridge in time, the highway curves a bit towards the bridge so that is why he didn't see it right away. Anyhow, Both cars are totaled and this kid has his father claiming the accident was all my husband's fault but no one got any tickets or my husband didn't but they may have and they didn't call police when the guy hit the guardrail in the first place. So are we completely liable or were they partially at fault? Please help, insurance adjusters are being very rude and threatening us, but we are so confused. We even went down and taped the highway rales and everything. Good thing too, because they already fixed it. By the way this all happend 9/19/03
Thanks,

Christina and Benjamin

 

[Jeter]

It will be your word against theirs. Get a good lawyer who can use as much evidence as possible to substantiate your claims. maybe there are red flags that you haven't explored.

 

[cma7723]

Hopefully

Well at this point we are waiting to get the final word from the adjusters and possible just get a consultation with a lawyer to see if we have enough evidence to support what happened. Thanks for you reply, I am researching everything right now because we just feel like we got royaly bit because this kid had no insurance on his car but his father had insurance on him and there is no telling whether they are trying to claim the entire car as our fault when he had an accident because of falling asleep minutes before my husband hit him and he had a passenger with him that was still in the car and he was outside of the car evidently because my husband got out and saw the guy standing there zoned out, not knowing what happened. Really weird case and I know we are going to be worn out from this, but we'll see if a lawyer thinks there is any worth in fighting it, because we believe so, but the adjusters don't.

Thanks for the help, anything else anyone has to add would be helpful, I'm sure I will be looking around on the forums.
Greatly appreciate it.
Christina and Benjamin

 

[stephenk]

If any of the insurance companies try and place the blame on your husband, just copy and give them this article from the L.A. Times (9/24/03). Have them note that the driver of the abandoned car was arrested for manslaughter.

Tanker Truck Blast Kills Driver, Forces Evacuations

By Sharon Bernstein and Deborah Schoch, Times Staff Writers


A northbound tanker carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline overturned and exploded on the Long Beach Freeway in Bell Gardens early Tuesday, killing the driver and forcing the evacuation of about 150 residents.

William Schenk, 62, a veteran driver for Arco and its parent company, BP, died in a fireball that neighbors said was visible for blocks, after his truck swerved to avoid a car that had been abandoned on the freeway near Clara Street about 2 a.m.

"There was a lot of smoke and commotion, and people were running," said Antonio Cardenas, who was evacuated to a nearby park with his wife, teenage children and other family members. "I saw a big ball of fire in two places."

The cleanup after the accident snarled traffic well into the afternoon. The California Department of Transportation closed the 710 from the Century Freeway to the Santa Ana Freeway until about 2:20 p.m.

For some neighbors, the incident confirmed fears that the freeway, which carries nearly 50,000 big rigs per weekday, poses a danger to their community. Although they believe that the freeway needs to be modernized and improved, they fear losing their homes or risking more accidents if it is widened.

"These communities are at great risk from hazardous spills and from diesel-truck traffic," said Gilbert Estrada, public health organizer with Physicians for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit group that focuses on environmental health and related issues. He has opposed a proposed expansion of the freeway.

"It's just a matter of time before something very serious happens," involving more than one death, said Rosa Carrillo, a Bell Gardens resident who lives five houses away from the freeway and could lose her home to an expansion.

The owner of the abandoned car, Manuel Godines, 26, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on suspicion of manslaughter, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Gordon. Godines had apparently lost control of the vehicle, which went up the embankment and ended up facing the wrong direction. He left the car in the right-hand lane about 2 a.m., Gordon said.

At least one driver phoned the CHP to report the abandoned vehicle, which did not have its hazard lights on, the sergeant said. Schenk's truck swerved and jackknifed three to six minutes after the call came in, Gordon said, while officers were still on their way.

"That's just tragic," said BP external affairs chief Walter Neil, who, after visiting the scene, described the tanker as looking "like a beer can opened up."

Schenk was a 36-year employee who had never had an accident driving the double-tankers across Southern California, Neil said. The driver had filled up his tanks at the company's South Gate facility and entered the freeway at Firestone Boulevard to make deliveries to service stations.

Gasoline ran into the sewers Tuesday morning, said resident Cardenas, 64, prompting neighbors to evacuate in pajamas and slippers.

"The freeway should be used for the cars or the small trucks," he said. "Most of the accidents here are the big trucks like this one."

Stephanie Williams, vice president of the California Trucking Assn., said tanker-truck accidents involving gasoline are rare but often deadly.

"Any time you have a petroleum tank accident, it's a bad accident," she said. In "the majority of these accidents with gasoline and natural gas, the driver dies."

Like the neighbors, Williams said she was concerned that the freeway — old, crowded and full of potholes — was unsafe. "The 710 is a freeway that needs help," she said.

 

[cma7723]

this helps, thanks

It's weird that recently happened, thanks for the reply and info.

Christina and Benjamin