Car accident I was cited for and placed at fault

[mobbdeep]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

Hello,

On Sept 1st, I was involved in a car accident where I was hit head on. I was leaving Walgreens making a left hand turn across the two lanes of traffic closest to me to get to the other side of lanes and be on my way. The traffic closest to me came to a full stop as the stop lights at the 4 way intersection was red and they didn't want to block the driveway of where I was. They waived me on so I slowly proceeded coasting across checking my directionals and the center lane was all clear along with the side of traffic where I was getting to. As I got across, cleared my directionals and attempted to leave the center yellow lanes, a car riding in it for a good amount of time to pass the stopped traffic and get to the 4 way intersection, slammed on his brakes and hit me head on.

The Denver Civilian Crash Investigator put me at fault after showing up, taking a 2 minute questioning from the other driver, taking a 2 minute questioning from me, then sitting in his car for 10 mins to write me a citation for "not paying attention as I was crossing traffic." The driver told the Officer that he was making the immediate left turn that just so happened to be a couple of feet of the accident. Based on that, the Officer cited me. Not only that, the Officer presented me the citation and asked how fast the driver said he was going and he said less than 10 miles an hour and when I said that was a lie, the Officer said "yes, and since he lied to me, I reduced you from having to go to court for a 3 point citation to deducting a point off and it being 2 points where you have to pay the $125 ticket." On the ticket, it shows "Point Deduction: 1," making it 2 points.

My insurance said they couldn't do anything regarding the damage of my car because I didn't have collision, and just minimum state liability. Understandable. At this point, I have to contact their insurance provider and hope they accept liability. I already filed the claim with his insurance company and haven't spoken to the adjuster because they haven't called me to get my statement.

With all of this being said, today, I was able to call the dispensary where this guy said he was making that left turn into to get camera footage and after reviewing it, there was no left turn being made. He was going at least 25 mph down the center yellow lane to get to the 4 way intersection bypassing the stopped traffic and as he saw me leaving the center lanes, he slammed on his brakes and hit me.

Since I've got this footage (which I can post here if needed as there's no faces or license plates showing), I am wanting to go to court at the suggested court date and fight the citation. Regarding his insurance company, how should I go about presenting the camera footage to the adjuster whenever they call me? I turned the camera footage over to my adjuster but I'm not sure what that will do. I am wanting to fight this as much as possible as I believe I was not at fault based on the camera footage and the Officer not even investigating the scene of the accident but rather taking the other drivers story and placing me at fault. I'm not sure what to do as I've never been in an accident before.

Thank you and sorry for there being a lot to read!

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

Regarding his insurance company, how should I go about presenting the camera footage to the adjuster whenever they call me?

If you really want to do this right, see a personal injury lawyer before you talk to the insurance company. You do not want to say anything that would end up working against you. It is very easy for you to say something that you think would be helpful to your case but that the defendant's insurance company can turn against you. You also have to make sure that what you say doesn't conflict with what you already told the cops and your own insurance company, as any inconsistency in your statements will most certainly be used against you. You can provide the video you have. The defendant will get that in discovery anyway if you sue the other driver. But be very guarded about what you say before you talk to a lawyer.

 

[Zigner]

Based on your story, you were at fault. Just sayin'

 

[mobbdeep]

If you really want to do this right, see a personal injury lawyer before you talk to the insurance company. You do not want to say anything that would end up working against you. It is very easy for you to say something that you think would be helpful to your case but that the defendant's insurance company can turn against you. You also have to make sure that what you say doesn't conflict with what you already told the cops and your own insurance company, as any inconsistency in your statements will most certainly be used against you. You can provide the video you have. The defendant will get that in discovery anyway if you sue the other driver. But be very guarded about what you say before you talk to a lawyer.

I will do that then. Also, yes, everything corresponds with my side of the story I explained to the officer along with the recorded statement I gave my adjuster.

Based on your story, you were at fault. Just sayin'

Please elaborate. I was already clear in then out of the center yellow lines. It wasn't until I was leaving that line where my passenger side tire already crossed it, that he hit me as he was riding that center median for a good minute which you cannot do. However, I have the video on Dropbox if you'd like to see it.

 

[adjusterjack]

You were at least partly at fault for failing to yield to the oncoming vehicle. The other driver may have been partly at fault depending on where he entered the center turn lane.

I would need to see the video. Post a link here.

Also post a google map location so I can see where your driveway was along with the position of the other lanes.

 

[mobbdeep]

You were at least partly at fault for failing to yield to the oncoming vehicle. The other driver may have been partly at fault depending on where he entered the center turn lane.

I would need to see the video. Post a link here.

Also post a google map location so I can see where your driveway was along with the position of the other lanes.

I PM'd you the video and location since I can't post it here due to identification.

My car is the orange one. I'm coming across the street which you can see by the green box in the video. I only started to accelerate from coasting across traffic once I was leaving the yellow center median. The left turn he was saying he was going to make is the immediate left turn into the parking lot where this camera on the building was, which clearly he wasn't. In the aftermath pictures, my passenger side tire is still positioned outside the yellow line and in the lane of traffic where I was intending on going. His car is still completely centered in the two yellow lines.

Even if I were to "yield" to his vehicle, I would have been hit head on. There was no avoiding this unless I would have saw him coming or just went a completely different route.

 

[Zigner]

Even if I were to "yield" to his vehicle, I would have been hit head on. There was no avoiding this unless I would have saw him coming or just went a completely different route.

You failed to yield when you started your maneuver. If you can't see well enough to safely execute the maneuver, then you don't even start it. That's driving 101.
Having said that...I understand the situation you were in and I know that it's VERY common practice to do exactly what you did. That doesn't make it right, just common.

 

[mobbdeep]

You failed to yield when you started your maneuver. If you can't see well enough to safely execute the maneuver, then you don't even start it. That's driving 101.
Having said that...I understand the situation you were in and I know that it's VERY common practice to do exactly what you did. That doesn't make it right, just common.

Thank you for elaborating. Of course me asking here is to understand whether I was in the wrong or not and if I should try to fight the ticket. I sent you the video via PM if you'd like to check it out. I get what you guys are saying about yielding before maneuvering but I feel as if I did because it wasn't until I started accelerating to attempt to leave the center median (which part of my car was already in the lane I was expected to be in), that I was hit by the driver. It would be different if I just bolted across traffic to the other side but that wasn't the case at all.

Please read my last reply to adjusterjack with an explanation of where my vehicle is from the beginning and that my approach to the center median was slow and then I started accelerating out of it once from what I could see was clear.

 

[adjusterjack]

ven if I were to "yield" to his vehicle, I would have been hit head on.

No. Yielding means you let cars go by without being hit. Being hit means you didn't yield.

There was no avoiding this unless I would have saw him coming

That's the thing. You didn't see him coming probably because your view was obstructed by the vehicle waving you through. Proceeding when your view is obstructed is negligence.

or just went a completely different route.

Much preferred. Your type of accident is a very common one. People get hit all the time crossing lanes of traffic from a driveway. It's very dangerous. Optimally, if you wanted to go west on Evans you should have gone East until you could safely turn around and go West.

Here's my analysis of the video and the map.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oasis+Cannabis+Superstore/@39.6784002,-104.9140407,134m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x876c7de2352e586b:0x4c7435fba1454fbb!8m2!3d39.678747!4d-104.9145933?hl=en-us

The aerial view reveals that the center lane is an unrestricted turn lane used by vehicles going in both directions. There are many driveways on both sides of the street so vehicles can be entering and leaving the turn lane anywhere and any time without warning. It also reveals a long line of cars waiting to make the left turn from Evans to Monaco Pkwy. In that photo there is a car entering the turn lane just opposite of the driveway you exited. I expect that during periods of heavy traffic vehicles would be entering the turn lane even further back.

I posted the video in case anybody else with a Dropbox account wants to see it.

Video deleted due to identifying information.

Your maneuver should have been made with extreme caution. It wasn't. You came out of the driveway quickly, crossed the lanes and entered the turn lane facing westbound without stopping to check for oncoming vehicles. The video is pretty conclusive. It doesn't matter where the other vehicle came from. It could have entered the turn lane from behind the maroon SUV/Minivan that was stopped there and you still would have hit it.

Another thing I noticed from the video is that there is a black car in your driveway signaling to make a left turn out of the driveway and moving slowly forward while your car appears from his right and you cut in front of him in a hurry to cross the lanes to go West. I can see part of the front of your car appearing below the green box. The black car exited slowly behind you and completed the turn without mishap.

I put you at 100% at fault for the accident.

One might argue that the other driver was using the turn lane as a travel lane and driving too fast for conditions but, as I already indicated, it wouldn't have made a difference. You would have hit any car that turned up in front of you regardless of where it came from.

 

[mobbdeep]

Your maneuver should have been made with extreme caution. It wasn't. You came out of the driveway quickly, crossed the lanes and entered the turn lane facing westbound without stopping to check for oncoming vehicles. The video is pretty conclusive. It doesn't matter where the other vehicle came from. It could have entered the turn lane from behind the maroon SUV/Minivan that was stopped there and you still would have hit it.

Another thing I noticed from the video is that there is a black car in your driveway signaling to make a left turn out of the driveway and moving slowly forward while your car appears from his right and you cut in front of him in a hurry to cross the lanes to go West. I can see part of the front of your car appearing below the green box. The black car exited slowly behind you and completed the turn without mishap.

In the video, you can see the car turning signaling left as I was too. I was just scooched over a little bit enough for you to see his turn signal and definitely did not cut that person off. It's clear I was there making the left turn as well, you just couldn't see my turn signal due to the green box being in the way. Also, you can see my car approaching slowly if you look closely under the green box. Of course there was no mishap of the black car because I was already hit. Had it been the black car first, the same thing would have happened. He approached differently halfway in the 2 lanes of traffic because he was going around the accident. It wasn't until I was leaving the center lane that I proceeded to accelerate quicker. Another thing is, you can clearly see he was flying down the yellow center lane way before McDonald's, not when the maroon SUV/Mini an came to a stop. That guy was riding the middle lane way before any of the traffic came to a stop and it's 100% visible in the video.

 

[adjusterjack]

Bottom line here is that the video doesn't help you, it works against you.

You crossed the lanes and turned into the turn lane without stopping to check for oncoming vehicles. Doesn't matter how fast or slow you were going. Doesn't matter where the other car came from. You would have hit it. That makes you the proximate cause of the collision.

I know you don't like reading that and you believe otherwise.

You'll just have to wait and see what the other driver's insurance company does when its claim rep sees the video.

Feel free to report back with the results.

I could be wrong.

 

[not2cleverRed]

In the video, you can see the car turning signaling left as I was too. I was just scooched over a little bit enough for you to see his turn signal and definitely did not cut that person off. It's clear I was there making the left turn as well, you just couldn't see my turn signal due to the green box being in the way. Also, you can see my car approaching slowly if you look closely under the green box. Of course there was no mishap of the black car because I was already hit. Had it been the black car first, the same thing would have happened. He approached differently halfway in the 2 lanes of traffic because he was going around the accident. It wasn't until I was leaving the center lane that I proceeded to accelerate quicker. Another thing is, you can clearly see he was flying down the yellow center lane way before McDonald's, not when the maroon SUV/Mini an came to a stop. That guy was riding the middle lane way before any of the traffic came to a stop and it's 100% visible in the video.

Perhaps you should consider taking a defensive driving class. That would help with your insurance rates.

That is the only legal advice I can give, since you just refuse to accept what you have been told here.

 

[mobbdeep]

Bottom line here is that the video doesn't help you, it works against you.

You crossed the lanes and turned into the turn lane without stopping to check for oncoming vehicles. Doesn't matter how fast or slow you were going. Doesn't matter where the other car came from. You would have hit it. That makes you the proximate cause of the collision.

I know you don't like reading that and you believe otherwise.

You'll just have to wait and see what the other driver's insurance company does when its claim rep sees the video.

Feel free to report back with the results.

I could be wrong.

Thank you for the explanation and giving me a better understanding. My whole point in this thread was asking if I should fight this and was wanting different point of views, not to just blatantly ignore your guys' POV. Of course I'm going to defend certain things that are pointed out but I appreciate your feedback.

Perhaps you should consider taking a defensive driving class. That would help with your insurance rates.

That is the only legal advice I can give, since you just refuse to accept what you have been told here.

Thanks for your feedback. I'll consider that!

 

[quincy]

Adjusterjack’s post was reported so the moderator can remove your video link, mobbdeep. It is not a good idea to publish personal identifying information on a legal (or, for that matter, on any public) forum. What you have posted here about your car accident potentially could be used against you.