Failure to yield in TWLTL?

[leftinwa]

What is the name of your state?My wife was involved in an accident in the state of Washington about two weeks ago.

The officer arrived on-site after the accident. There were no witnesses other than my wife and the other driver. He eventually issued my wife a citation based on his best evaluation of the evidence. He said my wife failed to yield to the truck which was already in the center lane. He was very nice, and said this is his best understanding with limited information, and we should work it out in court.

The road in question was three lanes, one in each direction plus the center two-way left turn lane. My wife was pulling into the center and had her front end clipped as a truck behind her was trying to pass. The officer said that since the truck was already in the lane, he had the right-of-way, and my wife failed to yield to him. The citation was for RCW 46.61.140 "Driving on roadways laned for traffic".

I've done some research, and Washington has a law RCW 46.61.290 "Required positions and method of turning at intersections" which seems much more appropriate. This law states "A vehicle shall not be driven in this center lane for the purpose of overtaking or passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction."

A local police precinct's website (Lynnwood PD) states on this topic "vehicles traveling down this lane are not at anytime allowed to pass traffic that is either stopped or proceeding in the same direction".

So how then can an officer make a claim that my wife failed to yield to traffic that is not allowed to be passing in that lane? (The term "yield" seems incompatible with this type of lane)

I am only out my deductible, plus I will have to pay the citation, then any increases in insurance rates. I'm not sure how far I should want to go with this. Hiring an attorney seems to be overkill, but I can't stand the thought that I've been screwed-over here.

My insurance company sees this as my wife's fault because their "rule of thumb" says the person changing lanes is usually at fault. I thought the person who did the hitting was usually at fault, but I guess there are always exceptions...

How will the insurance company rule fault? Will they wait for the outcome of the legal proceeding, or is their determination independent of that? (Have they already decided?)

Thanks in advance for anything helpful anyone can provide.

[wirry1422]

This seems to be a pretty complex case of which you probably already have a better grasp on the laws and statutes in involved in determining fault in this incident, than i or any other poster could, just based on our indirect knowledge of the case. If I were you in this situation, i would not hire a lawyer, but i would plead not guilty to the citation, and at court I would simply present the statutes and reasoning that you have set forth here, and i think that you have a very good chance of having the citation dismissed. As far as the insurance company, if one vehicle involved in the accident and not the other, has been issued a cite related to the crash, they usually find that cited driver at fault. However, if the citation has later been dismissed due to material facts in the case (due to the merits), not just due to a technicallity, then that court judgement should be brought to the insurance company's attention, which may cause them to render a revised determination of fault. Remember, with insurance company determinations, they often issue findings of fault in complex cases such as this, in percentages. So, for example, they may issue an initial determination based on the citation of total (100%) fault to you. But, if the citation is dismissed based on the merits, then they may revise their decision to make a final determination of 50% fault, meaning they have essentially said the crash was equally yours and the other driver's fault. Or they could issue a 60/40 or 70/30 or any combo determination of percentage of fault. What this means for you is that the monetery payment amount will be reduced by the percentage of fault that is assigned to you. So if, after your deductible, the final payment amount for damages to you is determined to be $1,000, but your fault is determined to be 60%, than your payment would be $400. So bottom line, fight the charges, and submit the results, if in your favor, to the insurance companies for revised determination of fault. Hope that helps a little.

[leftinwa]

Thanks Wirry1422,

I appreciate your taking the time to respond at such length, and with such thoughtfulness. Your response helps very much.

Ron