MiseryInNJ
Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania.
This incident happened to my girlfriend recently.
She had just gotten a used car, and, about a week later, had driven into Philadelphia to pick up her son.
She waited at a red light to make a left turn at an intersection.
The green arrow came on. The oncoming traffic was two lanes, and still had a red, and there were one or two cars waiting there. One of the lanes was open, the waiting cars were in the other lane.
My girlfriend proceeded to make the left turn, and then was struck by a vehicle that approached through the empty oncoming lane.
The impact was great enough to destroy the grill and do significant damage to the front-right part of the bumper of my girlfriend's car, as well as wrinkling the hood. It also damaged the bumper of the oncoming vehicle (a Ford F150 pickup), and tore it's front-left tire off the rim.
Finally, the force was enough to push my girlfriend's car into a fire hydrant nearby, thus doing damage to the left corner of the car as well.
Based on the damage, it is our estimate that the other driver must have been doing more than the posted 25 MPH.
At the time, a passing witness stated that he had heard the other drier admit to the police officer that he had blown the red light. The witness asked if my girlfriend wanted him to make a statement, but at the time, still a little unnerved by the whole experience, she declined, stating that if the guy was being honest, then everything should be okay.
The other driver also stated to both my girlfriend and the police officer that his wife was in labor - presumably that was why he was in such a hurry.
The police officer did not stay until everything was cleaned up, but left BEFORE the tow trucks he called showed up.
The other driver did not have his driver's license on him. We are not yet sure whether it's just he didn't have it on him, or if he did not have a valid license.
The other driver, we have come to find out, was driving his wife's vehicle. Her insurance policy explicitly excluded her husband from coverage.
This happened a little over a week ago. Today, in the mail, my girlfriend received a ticket in the mail that says she violated Section 3303A2 with a description of "Failure to give way" The ticket in the summary section also says that:
"Operator did not yield to right away causing accident"
I assume that he meant "right of way" rather than "right away"
How is this possible if she had a green arrow, and the other driver:
1) Ran a red light
2) Was driving a vehicle that he was not allowed to drive based on the insurance coverage
We don't have money, so can't really afford a lawyer. What recourse do we have?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT:
Here's what I've been able to determine for the "section violated" of 3303... it doesn't even seem to apply since it states rules about passing a vehicle that is going in the same direction that you are. Here's the text:
This incident happened to my girlfriend recently.
She had just gotten a used car, and, about a week later, had driven into Philadelphia to pick up her son.
She waited at a red light to make a left turn at an intersection.
The green arrow came on. The oncoming traffic was two lanes, and still had a red, and there were one or two cars waiting there. One of the lanes was open, the waiting cars were in the other lane.
My girlfriend proceeded to make the left turn, and then was struck by a vehicle that approached through the empty oncoming lane.
The impact was great enough to destroy the grill and do significant damage to the front-right part of the bumper of my girlfriend's car, as well as wrinkling the hood. It also damaged the bumper of the oncoming vehicle (a Ford F150 pickup), and tore it's front-left tire off the rim.
Finally, the force was enough to push my girlfriend's car into a fire hydrant nearby, thus doing damage to the left corner of the car as well.
Based on the damage, it is our estimate that the other driver must have been doing more than the posted 25 MPH.
At the time, a passing witness stated that he had heard the other drier admit to the police officer that he had blown the red light. The witness asked if my girlfriend wanted him to make a statement, but at the time, still a little unnerved by the whole experience, she declined, stating that if the guy was being honest, then everything should be okay.
The other driver also stated to both my girlfriend and the police officer that his wife was in labor - presumably that was why he was in such a hurry.
The police officer did not stay until everything was cleaned up, but left BEFORE the tow trucks he called showed up.
The other driver did not have his driver's license on him. We are not yet sure whether it's just he didn't have it on him, or if he did not have a valid license.
The other driver, we have come to find out, was driving his wife's vehicle. Her insurance policy explicitly excluded her husband from coverage.
This happened a little over a week ago. Today, in the mail, my girlfriend received a ticket in the mail that says she violated Section 3303A2 with a description of "Failure to give way" The ticket in the summary section also says that:
"Operator did not yield to right away causing accident"
I assume that he meant "right of way" rather than "right away"
How is this possible if she had a green arrow, and the other driver:
1) Ran a red light
2) Was driving a vehicle that he was not allowed to drive based on the insurance coverage
We don't have money, so can't really afford a lawyer. What recourse do we have?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT:
Here's what I've been able to determine for the "section violated" of 3303... it doesn't even seem to apply since it states rules about passing a vehicle that is going in the same direction that you are. Here's the text:
Last edited:
