Distracted Drive runs red light and totals my vehicle - Virginia

[electricguy]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I was involved in an auto accident the first week of November 2018. A 23 year old female was heading South and driving distracted and ran the red light and totaled my 2007 Ranger. I was heading North but stopped in the Left Turn only lane waiting for my turn arrow to turn green. Two vehicles were ahead of me waiting as well. The East/West bound lanes had the green light. After about 90 seconds, my Left Turn Arrow turned green (travelling West). The two vehicles ahead me began their turn and I followed. They made it thru but as I turning, the girl that hit me was speeding thru the Southbound Right Turn only lane and hit me head-on. My truck did a 540 degree spin, bounced over the median and into the Eastbound lanes. After I came to rest and managed to gather myself, I got out and walked over to her vehicle. I said you ran straight thru that red light. She said she thought the light was yellow and trying to beat it, and admitted to looking at her "radio".

I was transported in an ambulance to the emergency room, examined and had x-rays. I had a very sore neck and spine. I contacted her insurance company to begin the claim process. I have seen an orthopedist and next week I'm going for an MRI. I have medical bills racking up, I have missed several days of work, and will need physical therapy and will miss more days because of this.

My truck was totaled which is very upsetting as it was my fathers truck that I received after he passed away. Her insurance company is using all the usual tactics, not returning calls, not giving me any information as to how to get reimbursed for my injuries or loss of work or pain and suffering.

What is the recommendation from the experts here and do I have a case?

 

[not2cleverRed]

1) Did the police respond? What does it state in the police report? Has she been cited for any violations?
2) What does your insurance company say?

a) You are not entitled to more than the fair market value of your vehicle. Sentimental value doesn't count.
b) Medical bills should be covered, if they exceed what's covered by your health insurance.
c) Short term loss of income is not covered, generally.
d) Do not settle until you are through with treatment. Or, if the injuries are have more long lasting effects, determine the costs of that before settling.

These things take time - your body is still healing, and the other driver's insurance is trying to find a way to find their client not at fault. You may yet have a "case", but you have to pursue the insurance thing a whole lot longer than a couple of weeks before trying that.

 

[HighwayMan]

Unless the other driver admits to what you think she did then more than likely it will be a he said/she said situation. Were there any documented witnesses to the collision? If not then don't expect to get anything at all from the other driver's insurance.

 

[FlyingRon]

Actually, medical bills should be covered PERIOD. Your own insurer, when they find out it was due to an accident caused by negligence of another will want them to pay out rather than them.

 

[adjusterjack]

Her insurance company is using all the usual tactics, not returning calls, not giving me any information as to how to get reimbursed for my injuries or loss of work or pain and suffering.

That's because her insurance company is not your insurance company and owes you nothing until a court of laws says so and says how much. Meantime, her insurance company is contractually obliged to defend her, if she has a defense.

When you make a left turn and get hit you are presumed to be at fault because you failed to yield to oncoming vehicles. You say you had the green arrow, she says she had a yellow light. Her version is more credible because of the presumption. The presumption can be overcome by witnesses or by her admission (to others, not you) that she ran the red light. Were there any witnesses that came forward at the time? Did she admit to anybody else or the police officer that she ran the light?

Whether you have a "case" or not depends on whether you can prove (not just say) that she ran the red light.

Actually, medical bills should be covered PERIOD. Your own insurer, when they find out it was due to an accident caused by negligence of another will want them to pay out rather than them.

If you mean that OP's insurance company (A) will want the other driver's insurance company (B) to pay, that's not (A)'s choice. (A) has a contractual obligation to OP to take care of his covered losses first and then subrogate against (B).

Short term loss of income is not covered, generally.

In a personal injury claim, loss of income due to the injury is compensable from day one.

 

[FlyingRon]

If you mean that OP's insurance company (A) will want the other driver's insurance company (B) to pay, that's not (A)'s choice. (A) has a contractual obligation to OP to take care of his covered losses first and then subrogate against (B).

No, I'm just saying that it is not the case that the at-fault driver and hence their insurer (B) only owes what the injured party paid out of pocket. Insurer (A) will want to subrogate and you should not release any claims against (B) just covered the stuff over what (A) already paid.

 

[xylene]

You had a personal injury accident severe enough to require EMS transport, and it resulted in loss of income, and serious painful ongoing medical treatment from which you have not yet recovered.

and

you were apparently not at fault. In controlled intesections with turn arrows, turn arrow signals DO convey right of way.

Her claim "it was yellow" is near certain to be baloney (excpet the extremely unlikely case of signal malfunction - which are engineered with multiple redundancies to be fail safe)

You should contact a lawyer.

 

[not2cleverRed]

You had a personal injury accident severe enough to require EMS transport, and it resulted in loss of income, and serious painful ongoing medical treatment from which you have not yet recovered.

and

you were apparently not at fault. In controlled intesections with turn arrows, turn arrow signals DO convey right of way.

Her claim "it was yellow" is near certain to be baloney (excpet the extremely unlikely case of signal malfunction - which are engineered with multiple redundancies to be fail safe)

You should contact a lawyer.

That's been my experience, and the way it's supposed to work in most states.

Furthermore, even if some traffic engineer got it wrong and there were a yellow light while opposing traffic had a green arrow, yellow means proceed with caution. (<-- In spite of the Bostonian "floor it before it turns red" interpretation.)

 

[HighwayMan]

But it's all he said/she said at this point unless there happened to be a witness.

 

[not2cleverRed]

But it's all he said/she said at this point unless there happened to be a witness.

Or camera.

 

[Just Blue]

That's been my experience, and the way it's supposed to work in most states.

Furthermore, even if some traffic engineer got it wrong and there were a yellow light while opposing traffic had a green arrow, yellow means proceed with caution. (<-- In spite of the Bostonian "floor it before it turns red" interpretation.)

Uheeemmm....I would like to point out that is not limited to Boston. I've seen that in every state on my recent journey out west.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Uheeemmm....I would like to point out that is not limited to Boston. I've seen that in every state on my recent journey out west.

That's because of Car Talk.

 

[xylene]

The damage on the cars will also be telling, as would black boxes / car computers etc.
Not to mention the site reports from law enforcment.

All that is far from a head scratching 'he said / she said / we'll never know' situation.

 

[HighwayMan]

The vehicle damage won't be different depending upon who had a green or red light. Neither would black boxes provide useful info, if the vehicles in question even have them.

Police reports? If they're like around here they won't be of much use unless they document witnesses to the collision. Unless someone was seriously injured/likely to die I doubt much of a real investigation took place.

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? Virginia
What is the recommendation from the experts here and do I have a case?

See a personal injury lawyer or two. Most give free initial consultations and that is the best way to find out what you might realistically expect to get from the other driver. The insurance company for the other driver will naturally delay as much as possible and will low ball offers to self-represented persons because they know that self-represented people don't know truly how much their case is worth and they don't know how to do a proper job of suing the other driver to get what they are entitled to get. They'll take you more seriously once you get a lawyer, but that still won't guarantee a fast resolution, unless you want to settle cheap.

My truck was totaled which is very upsetting as it was my fathers truck that I received after he passed away.

You get nothing for sentimental value in a lawsuit.

And while it was your father's, a truck will end up wearing out eventually and you have to get rid of it unless you want to put an absurd amount of money into keeping it going. My grandmother wanted me to keep everything she had after she died. I didn't. I realized that while those things were special to her, they would do her no good after she died and most of the things were not special to me, either. It was better to just let them all go. Keeping things out of sentiment can become a burden. I kept a couple things that were truly useful to me, but if they at some point are no longer useful I'd not be sad to let them go. And I kept two small things that I most associate with her and do treasure those. But in the end, it is my memory of her that is what is really important rather than what keepsakes I may have.