Rear Ended a Semi, Not My Fault

[sg132]

My question involves a traffic accident in the State of: Massachusetts

On an interstate, in the middle lane, driving at the speed limit (65 mph). Visibility was good and traffic was fairly heavy.
A semi, in the right lane, began wavering in a way not necessarily indicative of changing lanes. A police officer had pulled over another semi, and the one that was still moving was likely trying to get out of the right lane due to move-over law. In front of me, there was enough room for something up to the size of a 15-passenger van, but definitely not room for a semi.

The semi had no lights on, no turn signals, no indication of changing lanes- and then it did. I attempted to brake to give it room (I suspect I was in its blind spot) and get into the left lane; traffic was too heavy on both left and right to change lanes. There was no way I could physically stop, despite slamming my brakes as hard as I could. I brushed the semi, resulting in damage to my hood and headlights. The semi slowed down as soon as it pulled in front of me, and my passenger recalled seeing brake lights. The semi did not stop or even appear to acknowledge the impact.

Fault was not made clear in the accident. The responding officer (who witnessed the accident) did not issue citations, was very rude, and acted uncaring as soon as he realized none of us were dead or critically injured. When I finally got a copy of the accident report a month later, the personal information for both myself and the other driver (who was ultimately found) was incomplete and incorrect, and the description of the accident was incorrect. The damage to the car was far more significant than I had suspected at the time, and it was not drivable. My insurance was unwilling to do anything, and the other driver's insurance didn't do anything either.

Do I have a cause for taking this to court? The ultimate damages were fairly steep due to some minor injury and the car being totaled (it was old and didn't need much to make the damage more than the value). This accident also happened in the middle of a cross-country move and easily tripled my moving expenses. The trucker had changed lanes improperly and left the scene of an accident (misdemeanor hit-and-run, I believe). Do I have a case for pressing criminal charges? I'm just very displeased that someone got away with this; even if the actual accident was my fault, aren't hit-and-runs an actual criminal thing?

[Disagreeable]

A case for what? You have no proof or evidence of anything except that you failed to maintain control of your vehicle and you failed to safely react to the presence of an emergency vehicle. In the future, I suggest when you see an emergency vehicle on the shoulder, you respond by slowing and allowing all other traffic to safely navigate around the situation. You endangered the life of an emergency responder with your "Every man for himself" attitude. Paying for your arrogant indifference is cheaper than a having lost a life.

[jk]

Do I have a cause for taking this to court?

You can try by realistically, I don't see you winning.


The truck did pull over in front of you so apparently there was enough room for him to do so. At that point, regardless of his actions, you needed to slow down so to create a safe distance area between the two of you. If you were already slowing down, (and presuming the truck was going approximately the same speed as you when he pulled in front of you), the truck slowing should not have been an issue. You are suggesting the truck was able to slow down more quickly than your vehicle. That isn't likely.


You also are presuming the truck driver was aware you hit him. I don't know if you have ever driven or ridden in a semi but for him to notice you hit him, the impact would have to be quite severe. He weighs up to 80,000 pounds so it is going to take a lot of force from you to jar his truck enough that he would think he was hit.

Did you attempt to stop him or did you just go to pull over immediately?

[Disagreeable]

Next time, be observant and move to the inside lane, before reaching the police car.