Woman runs red light, hits me, claims she had green light, I get a ticket? Huh? Help!

[wj94]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

On Friday, I was driving to work and made a left turn on a green arrow (this is important) to get on the on-ramp for the highway. As I was about halfway into my turn, I was broadsided in the passenger door by a driver who ran the red light on her side. No witnesses stopped to give a statement, and she told the police that she had a green light and that she was "100% sure it was green" and also that she was "not distracted whatsoever." She stated that she saw it change to green from the previous intersection, and also that she had to change to the right lane from the left lane in order to pass the cars lined up in that lane. There were approximately 5-7 cars in that lane, none in the right lane. There is no left turn signal on her side, she can only go straight or make a right turn to the on-ramp.

Since there were no witnesses, the police charged ME with failure to yield and gave her no citation. Unbelievable. The investigation is still ongoing, and I am trying to prove to the officers (and later the courts) that there is no way she could have had a green light so that she will be charged. It takes approximately 10 seconds to get from the spot that she "saw it change to green" to the spot where she hit me. If the light was green as she says, surely the people in the left lane would have been moving sometime within that time frame and struck me before she did. Since they were obviously not moving, there must have been a red light, correct? Here is a rough diagram to show what I am saying:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y47/wj94/accident.jpg

My belief, that I am 99% sure of, is that she was on her cell phone and not paying attention. I already figured I'd have to hire a lawyer to subpoena her cell phone records and defend me, but I am curious if my argument has any legal standing. She hit me going approximately 25-30 mph, and there were no skidmarks to indicate braking. The street the accident occurred on was a 45mph zone. If any more information is needed, I'd be glad to provide it.

[justalayman]

No witnesses? what happened to the 5-7 drivers of the 5-7 cars in the left hand lane that you drove directly in front of just before this person hit you?

[wj94]

Originally Posted by justalayman

No witnesses? what happened to the 5-7 drivers of the 5-7 cars in the left hand lane that you drove directly in front of just before this person hit you?

They all decided to be good citizens and drive (illegally) around the accident. There was roughly 20-30 cars around and not a single person stopped to make a statement. It took about 15 minutes for the police to arrive, so they were not able to ask anyone to give a statement either.

[mike_lee]

Go to the intersection at the same time of the day as your accident and hold up a sign "Did you witness this accident? Please call 555-5555 etc. Try to leave the sign on a pole with the telephone number visible, even better if you can include photos large enough to see from a passing car. For a 'big gay theatrical touch' park the damaged car close to the accident site You may need to do that 2 or 3 days but I'm sure someone will come forward.

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by mike_lee

For a 'big gay theatrical touch'.

can't say I have ever heard that before

[wj94]

Originally Posted by mike_lee

Go to the intersection at the same time of the day as your accident and hold up a sign "Did you witness this accident? Please call 555-5555 etc. Try to leave the sign on a pole with the telephone number visible, even better if you can include photos large enough to see from a passing car. For a 'big gay theatrical touch' park the damaged car close to the accident site You may need to do that 2 or 3 days but I'm sure someone will come forward.

I thought about that. Might have to give it a shot this week and hopefully catch someone that was on their daily drive home and saw it happen. However, I can only assume that I will not be that lucky at this point and try to figure this out myself. Any advice?

[ecmst12]

You have pretty much no chance of getting her charged with running the red light. You do have a chance of beating your ticket but that won't affect the fault determination for insurance purposes. Red light disputes with no witnesses pretty much always get marked down as "driver vs driver" - your insurance pays your damages (if you have collision) and denies hers, hers does the same to you. Virginia is a contributory negligence state, so ANY percentage of fault assigned to her will prevent her from recovering from you.

[Ozark_Sophist]

No skid marks are not an indication she didn't apply brakes. Think ABS.

[mike_lee]

I've witnessed accidents and the thought that the person might need a witness never crossed my mind. we've all seen those accidents when we take our foot off the gas and wait for the impact, someone was parked dutifully at the red light and clucked her tongue as they watched that lady cheat the caution light and smack right into you. You have to find that person.

At stake is, of course, insurance rates if you're at fault for damages to both cars it goes up, plus if you were ticketed it goes up again. And little known fact ,this will also impact your credit rating. So don't let this get cold.