Interesting car accident...*No pix*

[5000Audi]

Well on saterday night i was comming back from a hockey game and seen this happen...

comming down 4th street NW south to 16th ave.. notice the light is yellow so i start to slow down... a car is in the intersection turing left onto 16th and the light is now red, A guy comes blowing through the intersection and the girl in the turning car hits the car in the drivers door... to be honest i didnt know how both parties didnt see it comming because i seen it comming before it happend...

I put my hazards on and got out and made sure everyone was ok, the older guy in the car blwoing the red light was hurt seeing how he got smunched on his door and the guys head hit the window.. but i called 911 and like 3 mins later everything was on site...

But question that i keep wondering Who is at fault?

The guy ran a red light...?
Or the girl not yielding to oncomming traffic?

both i see are at fault but im not sure who insurance would put at fault...?

Any thoughts?

[yue]

my friend almost got into the same situation when he was turning left so he asked a cop.

the girl turning left is at fault. even though the guy blew through the red he "technically" has the right of way.

[JordanAndrew]

Originally posted by yue
my friend almost got into the same situation when he was turning left so he asked a cop.

the girl turning left is at fault. even though the guy blew through the red he "technically" has the right of way.

Actually this is not true. The guy ran the red light and if this was in a witness statement, the fault would be given to the guy running the red.

I'm going to assume that the guy hit the girl that was yielding? If the answer to this question is yes, 100% positive that the other party blowing the red will get dinged.

And why am I positive about my answer? Simple, I was in the same scenario earlier this year. I was yielding to oncoming traffic while trying to make a left turn, the light starts turning from green, then yellow and now red. Since I'm already in the middle of the intersection and I can't reverse back to the turning lane I had no choice but to turn. All the oncoming cars appears to have slowed down and actually came to a complete stop. I then start to commit my turn and out of nowhere one of the cars starts speeding up as if they were trying to beat the red light. I was already in a collision course at this point and so the car that ran the red hit my car on the rear quarter panel hitting me hard enough to hit me towards another car which TOTALLED my car.

Everyone got out ok, I had some minor injuries. I got out of my car to make sure everyone was ok. The driver of the car that ran the red was an old Chinese lady who at first denied to running the red light.

Insurance paid my car off and gave me a cheque for it a week after. I asked them who was found at fault and they said the woman who ran the red was at fault. I had no tickets issued to me at the time of the accident, the woman who ran the red obviously got the redlight ticket.

Everytime I make a left turn nowadays it kinda brings back flashbacks and I get scared every now and then especially if I'm in the same situation.

[5000Audi]

funny thing that made it more interesting was the girl yeilding hit the guy running the redlight... right in the drivers door.. that she hit the gas and banged into the guys door... so i dunno. so like i said i dont see how iether of them didnt see it comming...and she hit the guy pretty hard the door was dented in a good 6-10 inches by guess...

[JordanAndrew]

Originally posted by 5000Audi
funny thing that made it more interesting was the girl yeilding hit the guy running the redlight... right in the drivers door.. that she hit the gas and banged into the guys door... so i dunno. so like i said i dont see how iether of them didnt see it comming...and she hit the guy pretty hard the door was dented in a good 6-10 inches by guess...

Did you happen to fill out a witness report then? Did you see this unfold yourself? If you saw the man running the red light then he is still at fault and hopefully you do the right thing and fill a witness report stating that you saw the guy run the red light.

[5000Audi]

yeah i gave my name and number to both drivers and said give it to the police or whatever if they need a statement, since i could not stick around as i had to get home...but i have gotten a phone call since and went to the cop shop and filled one out so yeah as to my statement i just clearly said
Girl was sitting at light when red and started to go when guy ran light and she hit him... could not really get into detail as it was so confusing to me on how it happend haha let alone how the drivers stated it is beyond me...

[Kennyredline]

If you are the first person at an intersection waiting to turn left, you have to get across the stop line, which means you have the right-of-way once traffic clears, and it is safe to make your turn. The douchebag running the light is at fault legally, but the woman turning should have looked around before going, it sounds like she panicked because the light was red, and she was still in the intersection, she just went without checking.
Also, there is only one vehicle allowed over the stop line waiting to turn left at a time, although nobody practices that.

[Zero102]

Once the left turner begins her turn, they have right of way over all traffic. That said it is their responsibility to ensure conditions are safe (i.e. no traffic) before beginning their turn.

It's in the TSA. So, following this logic it is the girl's fault entirely, but typically if there is a red light involved one could argue she had the right to expect it would be safe, and these will typically settle 50/50.

If the guy smoked her in the passenger door then we would be looking at closer to 100% his fault given the red light. They're both got a good fight in for them with their insurance companies.

[anarchy]

Had a buddy go through the same thing recently. He was waiting to turn left, and the lights were turning red. A chick was going straight and was braking to a stop, but as it turned red she decided to book it through and hit him.

The verdict? He was at fault, because apparently witnesses said she had JUST crossed the line as it turned red, but she was already over it.

So in other words, she has right of way, and as long as she's not running a red (car crossed the line just previous to it turning red), then my buddy's at fault.

For the op's situation, if witnesses testify that the man had indeed run a red, then he will be at fault.

[Kennyredline]

Originally posted by Zero102
Once the left turner begins her turn, they have right of way over all traffic. That said it is their responsibility to ensure conditions are safe (i.e. no traffic) before beginning their turn.

It's in the TSA. So, following this logic it is the girl's fault entirely, but typically if there is a red light involved one could argue she had the right to expect it would be safe, and these will typically settle 50/50.

If the guy smoked her in the passenger door then we would be looking at closer to 100% his fault given the red light. They're both got a good fight in for them with their insurance companies.
What's the TSA?

[revelations]

Transportation Safety Act

[cloud7]

Originally posted by revelations
Transportation Safety Act

You mean the Traffic Safety Act.

I always look for oncoming vehicles in that situation and make sure no one is going to run the red light before I go, since there is not really a rush for me to turn as I am already passed the stop line. Therefore no chance for me to get a red light ticket and the traffic on the side street is supposed to wait for me to clear the intersection first before proceeding.

[rc2002]

The vehicle in the intersection has the right of way. If the car making the left turn hit the driver's door of the car going straight then that's a pretty good indication that the guy ran the light. I hope they throw the book at him. Too bad he didn't get injured more - might've taught him a better lesson.

I hate people who run blatant red lights like that. It plugs up the intersection for others going the cross-wise direction because they have to wait for it to clear.

[5000Audi]

yeah he CLEARLY ran the red light...like probably a good 3 seconds of red before he got into the intersection...

[88jbody]

She obviously had the right of way. but she should also confirm that it is safe to proceed before going. not sure how a court would blame fault but it for sure is not 100% her fault, becasue he did run the light and she would have expected fro traffic to be stopping for the red light

[Kennyredline]

They might be both found at fault, but I'd be suing the guy separately for whatever I could get.