Re: Can This Single Vehicle Accident Be Successfully Blamed on Another Driver
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T.Del
This is mainly an assumption on my part based on her description of the incident. Considering the speed limit of that road and the distance she describes between the location of her u-turn and that next wave of traffic, there should have been plenty of time for slowing down. I believe the other driver made the choice to attempt to pass her, rather than sacrificing any of his speed or time. I do think she misjudged the speed of the oncoming traffic, but she did not pull out in front of them at an unsafe distance.
I do realize this is just my opinion.
The speed limit Is actuslly irrelevent. A driver is obligated to judge the actusl speed of oncoming vehicles and act accordingly.
And the fact the other drivers had to react to her pulling into their path proves it was not safe for her to pull out. Only if she could pull out without interrupting traffic would it be considered “clear”. Yes, often times people have to slow down to avoid hitting a person and life goes on. That doesnt mean it was proper that they had to slow down.
Re: Can This Single Vehicle Accident Be Successfully Blamed on Another Driver
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PMMH
She shouldn't have pulled out if there was enough room for her to make it only if every oncoming vehicle slowed down significantly to accommodate her. That's now how driving works. You don't pull out into oncoming traffic with the assumption that everyone will be able to stop themselves from hitting you.
I never implied this. I stated that there was a misjudgment of the speed of the vehicles, not the space. No one was cut-off. She realized that the vehicles were going faster than she expected (faster than she could accelerate to match the speed of) after turning into her lane and seeing them closing in in her rear view mirror. If she had the time to observe this in her rear view mirror after making the turn, and re-act to it by maximizing her acceleration, then the other driver behind her had even more time, considering he also watched her make the u-turn. No one was cut-off.
Re: Can This Single Vehicle Accident Be Successfully Blamed on Another Driver
Your description does not remove the possibility they were “cut off”
She shouldn’t have “expected” them to be going any speed. She should have observed them long enough to determine their speed and then calculated if she had enough time to safely pull out given the distance at the time. Whether she misjudged the speed or the distance doesn’t really mattter. She is negligent in either case and an accident resulted.
Observing somebody closing in in the rear view mirror takes almost no time so it does not allow one to conclude there was adequate time or space for the driver to react safely. You can watch a car 5 feet behind you for a fraction of a second and realize they are moving faster than you are.
Re: Can This Single Vehicle Accident Be Successfully Blamed on Another Driver
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T.Del
I never implied this. I stated that there was a misjudgment of the speed of the vehicles, not the space. No one was cut-off. She realized that the vehicles were going faster than she expected (faster than she could accelerate to match the speed of) after turning into her lane and seeing them closing in in her rear view mirror. If she had the time to observe this in her rear view mirror after making the turn, and re-act to it by maximizing her acceleration, then the other driver behind her had even more time, considering he also watched her make the u-turn. No one was cut-off.
She literally pulled out in front of a car who had to swerve to miss her. It doesn't matter if she "perceives" that the car should have had enough time to slow down enough to not hit her. She already proved that perception is not accurate by misjudging the speed of the cars to begin with. The oncoming cars had the right of way, she pulled out after she misjudged their speed, and an accident happened. When she chose to pull out into oncoming traffic, she didn't get to expect everyone else to slow down or move to not hit her. She admits she misjudged the speed of the other cars. You can argue all you want that everyone else should have been fine, but they weren't. Can I shoot a gun into a crowd and then say, "Well, everyone should have had enough time to duck and not get hit?"
Re: Can This Single Vehicle Accident Be Successfully Blamed on Another Driver
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T.Del
This is mainly an assumption on my part...
Which means nothing.
Your wife's beliefs don't mean much more unless she has some specialized training we don't know about.
Re: Can This Single Vehicle Accident Be Successfully Blamed on Another Driver
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T.Del
was a misjudgment of the speed of the vehicles, not the space. No one was cut-off. She realized that the vehicles were going [B]faster than she expected [/B](faster than she could accelerate to match the speed of) after turning into her lane and seeing them closing in in her rear view mirror.
That's called negligence, no matter how you spin it.
Re: Can This Single Vehicle Accident Be Successfully Blamed on Another Driver
They could have gotten the driver info from the license plate. There's several websites that will run plates for a fee. They can also locate her via phone number, which the lawyer could have obtained by FOIA requesting the 911 call. As callous as it may sound, she would've been better off just driving away without making that 911 call. Or make the call without incriminating herself.
I've actually asked lawyers about a situation similar to this that happened to someone I know and they said the fault would mostly or entirely lie with the car that swerved and lost control. She should be good but wouldn't surprise me if some unscrupulous lawyer sues her.
Re: Are You Liable if You Cut Off a Car That Goes Off the Road Without Hitting You
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T.Del
I guess my question here is, can the responsibility of this accident be put on her?
Of course.
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T.Del
This means that the lawyer he is using gave him our address.
Not necessarily, but it doesn't matter. I also wonder how you purport to know that the person in question was the other driver.
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T.Del
Is this normal?
Whether it is or isn't "normal" (and regardless of what "normal" means) is legally irrelevant.
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T.Del
Should she contact her insurance company, or wait for them to contact her?
She should have contacted her insurer ASAP after the accident. She should read her policy regarding her duty to notify the insurer of any potential claims.