Accident/insurance fault questions

What is the name of your state? CO

Greetings.

I was in a fender-bender recently and I was the only one who received a ticket. A couple of questions:
- If I fight it in court and win, who is declared as "at-fault" with regards to insurance?
- If I fight it in court and lose, can the other person still be declared as partly at-fault (even though they didn't get a ticket)?

Thanks.What is the name of your state?

What happens with regard to traffic offenses is only coincidentally related to the civil liability. I've had people obviously at fault rear end me and not get tickets and be at fault. I've had people who were cited (when the I was not) and my insurance company while not assessing me any fault was never able to recover from the others insurance.

Hmmm, interesting. So I guess what I should really ask is this: how are the at-fault percentages assessed? And by who?

The insurance companies will determine fault based on the facts of loss. What happened? We can probably tell you what they will find.

ecmst12 said:

The insurance companies will determine fault based on the facts of loss. What happened? We can probably tell you what they will find.

Click to expand...

I was in a passing zone, passing 2 cars at once (there is at least 1/2 mile visibility ahead). The first car made a left into a private drive when I was at his rear bumper and... boom. The trooper gave me a ticket for unsafe passing because (based on skid marks) he determined that I wouldn't have completed my pass before the zone ended (right where the intersection was). The other guy didn't get a ticket because the trooper said 1) he had no obligation to look behind or to the right when he made his turn and 2) he may not have been able to see around the car that was between us.

My issues are:
- I positively saw no signal and no brake lights (the turn is only about 30-40 degrees, so I guess he didn't need to slow down too much)
- The other car had no sideview mirrors so I'm thinking the driver didn't even look. Even with a car between us, we were on a slight curve so he should've seen me if he looked (and if he had looked, there's obviously no way he would've turned).
- I disagree with the assertion that the skid marks prove I wouldn't have been back in the right lane before the passing zone ended.
- Part of the CRS states that no passing is to be done within 100' of an intersection. Then why does the passing zone continue right to the intersection? What if it was my first time ever driving on that road?

LastInLine said:

- Part of the CRS states that no passing is to be done within 100' of an intersection. Then why does the passing zone continue right to the intersection?

Click to expand...

Lane markings are supposed to mirror what the law says, but they don't always do so. The trooper was right to ticket you based on the law.

LastInLine said:

What if it was my first time ever driving on that road?

Click to expand...

Then you probably shouldn't have been passing two cars at once on an unfamiliar road.

ecmst12 said:

The insurance companies will determine fault based on the facts of loss. What happened? We can probably tell you what they will find.

Click to expand...

Any suggestions?

The other driver was making a LEGAL left hand turn, and you were passing 2 cars. Who do you think is at fault? Let's reverse it. You go to legally turn left and get hit by another car that is passing you. Who's fault is it?

LastInLine said:

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Yes - Other driver, 0%
You - 100% at fault

Yep. Those answers sum it up. I can't imagine any different fault determination.

Am I missing something, or doesn't fault require that I was doing something wrong? I was making a LEGAL passing maneuver and there were NO markings of an upcoming intersection. So if the markings don't match the law, I'm still at fault? Something doesn't add up.

Are you saying that it was legal of you to hit the vehicle in front of you?

moburkes said:

Are you saying that it was legal of you to hit the vehicle in front of you?

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Haha... come on now, I'm asking a serious question.

What if there was a car (B) in front of him (A), and A pulled out to pass B while I was already passing A? It's the same situation... there's an assumption that someone may be passing you when you're in... gee, a PASSING ZONE. In my case, it's not like the guy was at an average intersection (i.e. one not in a passing zone). And, he was moving with the speed of traffic with no indication he was turning.

I'm confused. If we presume for a moment that the OP's story is 100% true and could be proven (which is obviously a huge leap, since the other driver and cop will probably claim the opposite), then how was the front car's left turn legal without a signal? I agree that if the front car had a signal, then the OP is dead in the water whether the front car looked back or not, because as the rear driver he would need to yield to a legal left turn. As it is, we have one car illegally turning left into another car that is making an illegal pass, so the OP is arguably half liable. (There is no way the OP will be able to convince them that he is 0% liable unless he can somehow show that did not make an illegal pass, AND prove that the front car failed to signal).

All that said, I think the OP is completely out of luck, because all we would need is for the other driver to deny not signalling, and with the support of the cop the insurance companies are likely going to find him fully liable. It's hard to prove that someone failed to signal without independant witnesses.

42-4-1005. Limitations on overtaking on the left.
Statute text
(1) No vehicle shall be driven to the left side of the center of the roadway in overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction unless authorized by the provisions of this article and unless such left side is clearly visible and is free of oncoming traffic for a sufficient distance ahead to permit such overtaking and passing to be completed without interfering with the operation of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or any vehicle overtaken.

I think the last phrase is the one the judge is going to quote right before he tells the OP he is responsible for damages!