OK, Who Was Wrong?

[Jimbo]

A driver, let's call her My Wife, pulls up to a stop sign at an intersection. She wants to go straight thru. She stops and cannot see traffic to her right because there's a building in the way so she inches forward. She says only a foot or so over the stop line. She sees a truck coming from that direction and stops. The truck has no stop sign and is making a left. He cuts his turn too close and the back of his truck crunches in my wife's front left fender and the headlight, bumper, basically everything in that vicinity. The truck driver says it's her fault since she was over the line. She says it's his fault because she was completely stopped and if he couldn't make the turn he shouldn't have ever tried. The cop issues no summonses because he wasn't there, no one was hurt, it's the truck driver's word against hers and why add insult to injury by citing them. So how do you work this out? It ain't going to be cheap fixing a 94 Pathfinder.

[Bliz]

Providing the detailed information is provided in the accident report, the insurance co should find your wife in the right since her vehicle was not moving at the time of impact.

Often times when there are obstructions as in this case, insurance companies often look beyond what would be considered a normal circumstance in determining the cause of an accident.

The fact that the other driver did not have control of his vehicle, it will likely work against him in this claim despite the fact that your wife was over the line.

Let us know how it works out.

I was in a similar circumstance years ago.

[UserRemoved1]

Stopped vehicle is indeed in the right and your insurance will say the same....but NOW the thing is if you're in MASS then you HAVE to have SOMEONE at fault....and the COP should have said who or noted same on the accident report....if he didn't then get back fast and get him to re-write it....cuz if not then it's up to your insurance co and merit rating board to do it....and YOU could be found at fault even though you were in the right....SURCHARGE time!

[Gloucester2]

If you think auto insurance in Mass is screwed up you should see it in Jersey

[mrmacey]

you need pics of the intersection document the whole incident in writing drawings and pics and attach copies sent to the insurance its alot cheaper than those surcharges! I carry a camera in my glove box just for those times when theres doubt!!

[JohnR]

Originally posted by mrmacey
I carry a camera in my glove box just for those times when theres doubt!!

Wow - you must have a LOT of accidents

[mrmacey]

when you carry the liability I do the insurance company supplies a kit with camera and all paperwork I just take pics and fill it out drop it in mail! 7 years accident free!! we wont talk about before

[UserRemoved1]

HMMM I got 3 million liability with a sep umbrella and they no give ME a camera

[mrmacey]

limo! 7 passengers all claiming neck injury I better take a pic if its not my fault if it is my fault damn camera dont work after it hit the ground!!!

[UserRemoved1]

Naw I work with large towers....if I made one fall more people would get hurt than in a limo

[mrmacey]

MASSPORT makes me have 1mill and 1.5 for out of state travel john you were here the day the girl inspected me to see if I had my camera hey salty hows the little guy doing keeping you up!!

[Jimbo]

Thanks for all the good advice. Pictures are a great idea and I will head back this evening to take some. I've been making her write down every scrap of information, quotations, details, etc she can, just in case. Unfortunately, the cop didn't issue any citations because as he put it, he wasn't there and no one was injured so he didn't see the point in getting in the middle of a he said/she said. I took her thru the same intersection this morning, stopped, inched up to check if anything was coming and sure enough a truck came up, but he saw he couldn't make the turn, stopped and waved me thru.
My wife's big concern now is how she's going to get to the Meadowlands for Springsteen on Saturday.


Re Gloucester:
"If you think auto insurance in Mass is screwed up you should see it in Jersey"
Yikes! We're smack dab in the middle of Jersey. Is that a bad thing? We have Rhody underwriters, maybe that helps?!?!

[MakoMike]

Jimbo,
Amtrack to penn station and the PATH train to the meadowlands.

[STEVE IN MASS]

Mako - um, I "lived" on the PATH while in college for 6 years back in the late 70's, early 80's, so unless it has changed, the closest it gets to the Meadowlands is Harrison or Hoboken.....

A bus from Penn in Newark or Penn in NYC to Secaucus/Rutherford, probably.....

[Jimbo]

Again, thanks for all the good advice. It looks like the other guy's insurance company is going to cover the damages and provide an equivalent rental (hopefully just in time for Springsteen). Basically he admitted he had hit a stopped vehicle in the intersection and hopefully the police report will echo that it is impossible to get across this intersection without stopping then slowly advancing to be able to check for oncoming traffic.
What really gets me is that the police admit this is a known problem with this intersection and yet they do nothing about it. The cop even named several others where similar conditions exist and the sad part of it is, he said, that there has to be X number of bad or fatal accidents before something is done.
Well I gotta go call the underwriter now to find out why, while reading our policy in this unfortunate circumstance, they dropped collision from my 2001 truck and never let me know.

[Bliz]

Happy to hear things worked out for you!

Sure glad to hear that your wife wasn't hurt as well...

[redcrbbr]

truck drivers fault even if she was stopped in the middle of the road. truck driver should have been aware and properly negotiated the turn, even if it meant having to stop.