What is passing law?

[countrygirl5464]

What is the name of your state? New York

My husband was passing another vehicle in a legal passing zone ( straight away with single dotted line ). This passing zone also pasted by a side street that crossed over the major route my husband was traveling on. A vehicle came to the stop sign at the side street and proceeded to turn right and hit my husband head on. My husband was in the left lane because he was in the process of passing another vehicle. The driver of the vehicle that hit my husband says my husband's at fault because he should not have been passing by the side street. What is the law here? The single dotted line goes right by the side street. Doesn't that mean a driver has the right to pass there even if there is a side street? Wasn't it the driver who had the stop sign's responsibility to make sure it was safe before he pulled out from the stop sign? Was anyone at fault?

 

[stephenk]

Your hubby was passing another car while going through an intersection? That is not legal.

 

[countrygirl5464]

My husband was traveling on a rual road, but with a speed limit of 55 mph. Being a rual road (hills, curves), there is only a certain distance within the passing zone. The single dotted line, which allows vehicles to pass in both directions, does go straight through the junction and in order to completely and safely pass another vehicle within that passing zone, you would have to pass through the junction, no matter which direction you were traveling. My arguement is if you are not suppose to pass another vehicle through a junction, why is there a passing zone there?

 

[racer72]

The lack of a solid no passing line does not mean the area is a legal passing zone. As stephenk said, passing someone through an intersection is illegal, the presence of the cross street makes the area a no passing zone. That is generally taught as part of basic driver's training.

 

[countrygirl5464]

I spoke with a gentleman at the New York State Dept. of Traffic Safety, who is in charge of putting the lines on the road my husband was traveling. This gentleman is the one who determines which sections are to be deemed passing zones. He was very familar with the area my husband was traveling and said that it was determined a safe and legal passing zone, even though it went through an intersection. I told him that I had been told by others that passing through an intersection was illegal, regardless of there being a single dotted line and the gentleman at the NYS Dept. of Traffic Safety told me that wasn't true. If they put a single dotted line there, then it was legal to pass, even if it goes through an intersection. Vehicle's approaching from the side street have the stop sign and they have to yeild to traffic before crossing over or turning onto the main road. He even provided me with documentation to back this up. This documentation being a publication of Vehicle & Traffic Law of New York State. I thought this site was suppose to give accurate legal advice, but I apparently received wrong information here.

 

[tammy8]

Okay let's add something else here. Suppose your husband was passing a car in a passing zone and that car decided to turn left into a street and a collision occured. Then your husband would be atfault.

The advice here has been given by experienced attorneys.

File the claim with your insurance company and let them decide who is really at fault.

 

[stephenk]

so your belief is that a right turning car has to be aware of vehicles aproaching from their left AND also cars that may be driving from their right in the wrong lane of traffic?

Okay go with that argument. Make sure you get the New York DMV guy to be your traffic expert.

 

[countrygirl5464]

Ok, stephenk, so your saying when you come to a stop sign, you don't have to look left AND right to make sure traffic is clear before turning onto or crossing over a main road. What if there's a pedestrian? They travel against traffic and would be on the left side of the road. There are many circumstances were there might be something on the left side of the road. I always thought that when you come to a stop sign, it is your responsiblity to completely look in both directions and make sure nothing is coming in either direction, in either lane, before you pull out from the stop sign. Be it a vehicle, tractor or pedestrian. But you just said a driver turning right at a stop sign does not have to be aware of traffic in both directions. I think any pedestrian traveling in that left lane would disagree.
So, the next time I come to a stop sign and are turning right, I'll only need to look to my left, right? Since you said I don't need to be aware of anything that's coming from my right. So, when I make my right hand turn, if I hit anything, it's not my fault, right?

 

[stephenk]

being aware of a pedestrian walking across an intersection is one thing and is a reasonable expectation.

having to look to the right for a car driving in the wrong lane is not a reasonable expectation.

I guarantee that the other driver will say they looked left and right and when looking to the right did not see any bicycles or pedestrians, plus the only traffic approaching from the right were in their correct lanes. When the other car pulled forward, that is when your hubby crossed into the oncoming lanes.

So, go ahead with your argument that hubby had the right of way while traveling in the wrong lane. It may work. Funnier things have happened in New York.

 

[tammy8]

What does your insurance company say???????????

 

[knotcops]

You were driving on the wrong side of the road, legal only when you don't hit someone else coming the other direction. It is up to you do it safely. This thread is ridiculous.

 

[countrygirl5464]

In response to tammy8...as it turned out, I was contacted by our insurance company today and they did find the other driver (the one who pulled out from the stop sign) 100% at fault. It was determined that my husband was in a legal passing zone and had every right to be in the left lane overtaking another vehicle at that section of road. NYS does not consider all intersections automaticly no passing zones. The lines down the middle of the road determine the passing zones, no matter where they are. The other driver was not at the stop sign when my husband pulled into the left lane to pass, which the other driver did admitt to, so my husband did use caution before changing lanes. The other driver was found at fault because according to NYS vehicle and traffic laws, when a driver approaches a stop sign, that driver must yield to traffic, in both directions, before turning onto or crossing over the main road. And since NYS does put passing zones by side streets, a driver at a stop sign must yield to traffic in both directions and in both lanes. Also, NYS vehicle and traffic law states if you pull out from a stop sign and alter a vehicle to change course and/or speed you've violated the stop sign, which the other driver was found at fault for doing, since he had the stop sign. Looks like we'll be getting our deductable back and all you who told me my husband was at fault, obvisously don't know NYS traffic laws. I guess I went to the wrong site for help.
And your right knotcops, this thread is getting ridiculous!