If I accept payment from other drivers' auto insurance company, can I still appeal it or a file lawsuit later

[Mark_A]

I agree with you that the insurance company wants to minimize their loss.

And I believe that the video along with your explanation potentially could help you argue that you were not partially at fault for the accident.

However, the video could also work against you. I would leave out of any explanation that you were concentrating on the light in your lane and the traffic in the oncoming lane and could not pay attention to the other cars around you. It is your job as a driver to be aware of everything that is going on around you, even the drivers who are driving irresponsibly next to you.

Keep in mind that this is just my opinion after viewing the dash cam video. Take it for what it’s worth, an opinion offered by some guy on an internet forum.

Thanks for your input. Generally, I believe that I am much more aware of other vehicles than most other drivers. I always try to avoid driving right next to someone whenever feasible. However, there has to be some reasonableness test applied, because one cannot always be aware of things happening in all directions at the exact same moment. The other driver swerved into me suddenly, not gradually, as can be seen by the sharp turn of his wheels. I didn't say that I was only looking at the light the entire time, but at the time he sharply swerved into me I was looking at the light. At some point, I have to look at the light to obey the traffic signals and to avoid collision with oncoming traffic when I was about to turn left.

 

[Zigner]

I agree with quincy that your statement that you weren't paying attention to the traffic around you does more harm than good. You were intent on racing to make your turn and not paying attention to anything else. (That's how it sounds.)

 

[LdiJ]

I agree with quincy that your statement that you weren't paying attention to the traffic around you does more harm than good. You were intent on racing to make your turn and not paying attention to anything else. (That's how it sounds.)

He said he was slowing down to stop because the light was still red for his turn lane at first (then turned flashing yellow). That doesn't sound like "racing to make your turn". In fact, there are very limited circumstances where anyone would/could "race" to make a left turn on a flashing yellow.

Therefore I disagree with you on that part. I kind of disagree with you and Quincy on the OP's explanation too. I see your point, but I found his explanation to be very reasonable and logical in terms of what actually happens when you are driving in such a circumstance. It is not even a somewhat regular happening for someone to sharply veer into a left hand turn lane after the line has turned solid.

 

[Zigner]

He said he was slowing down to stop because the light was still red for his turn lane at first (then turned flashing yellow). That doesn't sound like "racing to make your turn". In fact, there are very limited circumstances where anyone would/could "race" to make a left turn on a flashing yellow.

I understand the OP's explanation. S/he was approaching a RED anticipating it to change to a flashing yellow. S/he was focused on oncoming traffic and the still-red light so that s/he could get a jump on that signal as soon as it changed. I don't believe the OP's speed estimate to be credible, because of the fact that the OP was ONLY focused on oncoming traffic, which means there was no looking at the speedometer.

Frankly, I don't understand why the OP couldn't focus on surrounding traffic, considering s/he was approaching a red light.

With all that said, I don't believe the OP bears any fault, but I am playing devil's advocate here. The OP needs to be aware of what the other side may claim, particularly when it comes to assigning fault.

At the time of the accident I was focusing my attention straight ahead and upward at the traffic light for the left-hand turn lane I occupied, which was red at the time of the accident, and soon after the accident turned to flashing yellow left arrow (meaning I could have proceeded to turn left if there was no oncoming traffic). This can be seen in the video, although it may be hard to see the flashing yellow "arrow" and may just appear as flashing yellow. I could not simultaneously look at both the traffic light ahead for my lane and look at the oncoming traffic to determine whether I could safely turn left, and at the same time look at someone driving in an adjacent lane right next to me who was in the straight-ahead lane which is designated for proceeding straight ahead across the intersection.

 

[quincy]

He said he was slowing down to stop because the light was still red for his turn lane at first (then turned flashing yellow). That doesn't sound like "racing to make your turn". In fact, there are very limited circumstances where anyone would/could "race" to make a left turn on a flashing yellow.

Therefore I disagree with you on that part. I kind of disagree with you and Quincy on the OP's explanation too. I see your point, but I found his explanation to be very reasonable and logical in terms of what actually happens when you are driving in such a circumstance. It is not even a somewhat regular happening for someone to sharply veer into a left hand turn lane after the line has turned solid.

I based my response strictly on what I saw in the video and on Mark’s explanation of the accident. He did not appear to me to be slowing down despite the cars in the other lanes still braking. But I accept whatever anyone else sees in the video. My suggestion to him, to eliminate from his explanation that he was not paying attention to what was going on in the lanes next to him, however, still stands.

As to cars cutting into a turn lane at the last minute, in my experience this is not an uncommon occurrence - not that my driving experiences in Michigan have any relevance to Florida.

 

[adjusterjack]

1 - Mark_A's speed is irrelevant. He was in the proper lane at the proper time. And even if somebody does think it's relevant, I watched the video several times. There are three turn arrows on the road. He passed the first one. As he approached the second arrow I detected a slight reduction in speed as if he took his foot off the gas or had already been slowing down.

2 - Changing lanes over the solid line may be common but it is still negligence. The other driver had a duty to yield to vehicles that were properly in the turn land. He failed to yield and caused a collision. That's negligence.

3 - I agree with the admonition - never admit to anything like "I didn't see" "I wasn't looking" "He came out of nowhere."

Well, there's the opinion of a retired claims adjuster. Maybe a penny or two more than two cents worth.

 

[Mark_A]

I agree with quincy that your statement that you weren't paying attention to the traffic around you does more harm than good. You were intent on racing to make your turn and not paying attention to anything else. (That's how it sounds.)

I appreciate your thoughts. But that is not what I said.

First, I was not racing to make my turn. In fact I was slowing down because, although the straight ahead lane had a green light, the left turn lane I was driving in had a red light so I was preparing to stop. That is what is shown in the video. The dashcam video shows my speed via a GPS connection, although there is probably a slight lag when the speed is changing (up or down). The speed limit was 45 mph, and I was slowing down at 21 mph when the accident occurred precisely because the left hand turn light was red.

What I tried to explain is that the reason why I know the left hand turn light was still red (even though straight ahead lane was now green) is that I looked at it. and if I am looking at the traffic light I cannot be simultaneously at that exact moment be looking in every other direction. That doesn't mean that I never looked at the traffic around me, because I did do that. But I cannot continuously look in all directions at the same time, and the accident happened very fast (not slowly or gradually).

I also tried to explain that that the other driver did not use a turn signal, that I was already occupying the left-hand turn lane when he sharply turned into me, and that his car was dark blue and difficult to see at night when he was side by side with me.

Also, the view of the accident from the dashcam is not the same view as seen by me as the driver of my car. My view was from a couple of feet to left of dashcam, and several feet behind the windshield where the dashcam was mounted, and about one foot lower than the dashcam view. So it was much more difficult for me to see if his dark blue car at night was sharply and illegally turning into my lane from the my drivers seat than it was from the dashcam position. For example, the dashcam can see the reflections from the aluminum wheels of the other car as it turned into me, but I could not see the aluminum wheels from my driver's seat even when looking in that direction, when both cars are roughly side by side.

 

[Mark_A]

1 - Mark_A's speed is irrelevant. He was in the proper lane at the proper time. And even if somebody does think it's relevant, I watched the video several times. There are three turn arrows on the road. He passed the first one. As he approached the second arrow I detected a slight reduction in speed as if he took his foot off the gas or had already been slowing down.

2 - Changing lanes over the solid line may be common but it is still negligence. The other driver had a duty to yield to vehicles that were properly in the turn land. He failed to yield and caused a collision. That's negligence.

3 - I agree with the admonition - never admit to anything like "I didn't see" "I wasn't looking" "He came out of nowhere."

Well, there's the opinion of a retired claims adjuster. Maybe a penny or two more than two cents worth.

Thanks, I am sure that will help me.

 

[Zigner]

I appreciate your thoughts. But that is not what I said.

First, I was not racing to make my turn. In fact I was slowing down because, although the straight ahead lane had a green light, the left turn lane I was driving in had a red light so I was preparing to stop. That is what is shown in the video. The dashcam video shows my speed via a GPS connection, although there is probably a slight lag when the speed is changing (up or down). The speed limit was 45 mph, and I was slowing down at 21 mph when the accident occurred precisely because the left hand turn light was red.

It's all about perception. When driving next to stopped vehicles, 21mph can be seen as quite fast.

What I tried to explain is that the reason why I know the left hand turn light was still red (even though straight ahead lane was now green) is that I looked at it. and if I am looking at the traffic light I cannot be simultaneously at that exact moment be looking in every other direction. That doesn't mean that I never looked at the traffic around me, because I did do that. But I cannot continuously look in all directions at the same time, and the accident happened very fast (not slowly or gradually).

And THAT is why this isn't something you should mention. Your primary focus should be on the surrounding traffic since you already know what's ahead of you.

I also tried to explain that that the other driver did not use a turn signal, that I was already occupying the left-hand turn lane when he sharply turned into me, and that his car was dark blue and difficult to see at night when he was side by side with me.

That's irrelevant since you weren't looking at the surrounding traffic.

Also, the view of the accident from the dashcam is not the same view as seen by me as the driver of my car. My view was from a couple of feet to left of dashcam, and several feet behind the windshield where the dashcam was mounted, and about one foot lower than the dashcam view. So it was much more difficult for me to see if his dark blue car at night was sharply and illegally turning into my lane from the my drivers seat than it was from the dashcam position. For example, the dashcam can see the reflections from the aluminum wheels of the other car as it turned into me, but I could not see the aluminum wheels from my driver's seat even when looking in that direction, when both cars are roughly side by side.

All the more reason to focus on possible threats from the surrounding traffic and not the color of the signal.

Again, this is from the Devil's Advocate point of view. Your dashcam should help you greatly, but your explanation of events shows errors you made. you should be very careful about what information you offer up.

 

[Mark_A]

It's all about perception. When driving next to stopped vehicles, 21mph can be seen as quite fast.

And THAT is why this isn't something you should mention. Your primary focus should be on the surrounding traffic since you already know what's ahead of you.

That's irrelevant since you weren't looking at the surrounding traffic.

All the more reason to focus on possible threats from the surrounding traffic and not the color of the signal.

Again, this is from the Devil's Advocate point of view. Your dashcam should help you greatly, but your explanation of events shows errors you made. you should be very careful about what information you offer up.

 

[quincy]

All some of us are saying, Mark, is don’t talk yourself into 15% fault.

 

[Mark_A]

All some of us are saying, Mark, is don’t talk yourself into 15% fault.

That is good advice, and that will help me. I was just correcting some things that I felt like were errors in fact, such as racing to make the light, when in fact I was slowing down because the left-hand turn lane light was red. At the end of the video, you can see that the red light for left turn changed to flashing yellow arrow, which meant I could turn left if there was no oncoming traffic. I have driven this same exact rout and left turn several hundred times in the last 17 years.

 

[Zigner]

That is good advice, and that will help me. I was just correcting some things that I felt like were errors in fact, such as racing to make the light, when in fact I was slowing down because the left-hand turn lane light was red. At the end of the video, you can see that the red light for left turn changed to flashing yellow arrow, which meant I could turn left if there was no oncoming traffic. I have driven this same exact rout and left turn several hundred times in the last 17 years.

One must never become complacent.

 

[Mark_A]

One must never become complacent.

I hope you are not suggesting that I was complacent, just because I have taken that same left hand turn several hundred times at that intersection. I can't just stop dead in the left-hand turn lane because there are cars in the straight-ahead lane that are not moving, or barely moving. I consider myself to be a world-class defensive driver, and I have avoided collisions many times with people changing lanes illegally or without looking, but this is one time when someone did something crazy that I couldn't get out of the way of.

 

[Zigner]

I hope you are not suggesting that I was complacent, just because I have taken that same left hand turn several hundred times at that intersection. I can't just stop dead in the left-hand turn lane because there are cars in the straight-ahead lane that are not moving, or barely moving. I consider myself to be a world-class defensive driver, and I have avoided collisions many times with people changing lanes illegally or without looking, but this is one time when someone did something crazy that I couldn't get out of the way of.

86% of people consider themselves to be above-average drivers.

Look, I've said it several times. I do NOT think you have any fault in this. Take what I'm sharing here as pointers on how to adjust your way of communicating about this matter.