[OT] Girlfriend got in an accident. Need your help/advice

[spicyricecake]

From what I was told she was passing a 2 way intersection and was waved to go, and was hit from the side by a scion XB who was speeding (according to gf)

Cop said there's no way to prove how fast she was going, so he gave her a citation for failing to yield to intersection.

My question is:

can this be fought in traffic court, and if so what are her chances?
Will her car be considered totalled, and if so, how much will she get? she's gonna need a new car after if that's the case.

I know everyone on this forum is really helpful when it comes to accidents and wanted to get some help... thanks guys.


Pictures taken:

http://ronniemyers.imgur.com

[DAEMANO]

Get an attorney. You wont regret it.

[soundman98]

note-- i didn't follow ^that^ advice, so maybe your milage may vary

but been there, done that, got the pictures to prove it.. same situation..


was trying to turn left across a 4 lane road(north/south road, was trying to head south) with a center turn lane, was waved across the 2 north lanes, and t-boned in the turn lane. both insurance companies said it was my fault because i was the one crossing the road, and liability fell on me because i was going against the flow of traffic.. luckily, i had full coverage, and that was my first accident, so didn't take too big of a hit on it...


good luck though!

[spicyricecake]

Thank you guys! So basically there's no way to prove that it wasn't her fault? she said she was stopped at the stop sign for a solid min before she went... I don't see how that's considered "failing to yield"

[shellslinger]

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

From what I was told she was passing a 2 way intersection and was waved to go, and was hit from the side by a scion XB who was speeding (according to gf)

Cop said there's no way to prove how fast she was going, so he gave her a citation for failing to yield to intersection.

My question is:

can this be fought in traffic court, and if so what are her chances?
Will her car be considered totalled, and if so, how much will she get? she's gonna need a new car after if that's the case.

I know everyone on this forum is really helpful when it comes to accidents and wanted to get some help... thanks guys.


Pictures taken:

http://ronniemyers.imgur.com

Take this from a claims adjuster, without hearing the other side it will be hard to determine who is at fault.

However, here is my opinion, if she had a yield sign or stop sign and she proceeded to go when the other party did not have a yield or stop sign then she will be primarily at fault for the accident. It does not matter if the other driver in the other lane let her go into traffic. She did not have the right of way, someone may argue with me on this but compounding this with the fact that she was cited with a citation for failure to yield does not look good. If she's at a stop sign and she proceeded to go, she needs to maintain proper look out before entering an intersection.

Also, yes from the looks of it the car is a total. Side air bag deployment with possible frame damage.

[Koa]

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

From what I was told she was passing a 2 way intersection and was waved to go, and was hit from the side by a scion XB who was speeding (according to gf)

Cop said there's no way to prove how fast she was going, so he gave her a citation for failing to yield to intersection.

My question is:

can this be fought in traffic court, and if so what are her chances?
Will her car be considered totalled, and if so, how much will she get? she's gonna need a new car after if that's the case.

I know everyone on this forum is really helpful when it comes to accidents and wanted to get some help... thanks guys.


Pictures taken:

http://ronniemyers.imgur.com

fucking scions- wait...

[initialc]

sucks.., but even if she waited an hour.. if the other party doesn't have a yield, then she failed to yield to oncoming traffic

[_______]

Yeah I think the right of way factors into this whether the guy was speeding or not so I have a feeling its not looking good on that end. The car though looks to have a good chance of being totaled so hopefully that is to be in your favor.

[Speed2th]

I guess another guy don't have stop sign ?

[spicyricecake]

she was waved by someone to go, and she saw that no car was coming and had room to drive across. But no, the other party did not have a stop sign.

This is her first accident. What's the increase in premium going to look like for her if this can't be fought?

[pinski]

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

she was waved by someone to go, and she saw that no car was coming and had room to drive across. But no, the other party did not have a stop sign.

This is her first accident. What's the increase in premium going to look like for her if this can't be fought?

If the other party didn't have a stop sign and hit her as she was in the intersection, it's 100% her fault. Even if another driver waves you, you still have to check your surroundings to make sure it's safe to proceed.

[spicyricecake]

I think the point is that she did check all surroundings, but did not see the XB. I wasn't there so I can't attest to it, but she says she made sure there weren't cars coming but the XB just came speeding through. (not sure if this makes sense to you guys, but I know what she means)

I suppose it doesn't matter anyway since the cops says there is no way to prove that she was speeding. The other girl lucked out on this accident I suppose.

Thanks for all the replies guys I'll keep you posted

[vroom4]

Were there any sonic booms heard in the area? Because that's how fast they mustve been going for her not to see.








Sounds like she made a mistake. Take the punches and move on.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

she was waved by someone to go, and she saw that no car was coming and had room to drive across.

Obviously that's not true, because a car hit her. If no car was coming and she had room to drive across, that would mean the xB wasn't there. Since the xB WAS there, there WAS a car coming, and she did NOT have room to drive across.

Someone waving you out doesn't give you right of way. Someone speeding doesn't give you right of way.

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

I suppose it doesn't matter anyway since the cops says there is no way to prove that she was speeding. The other girl lucked out on this accident I suppose.

The other girl didn't luck out. She got her car smashed when your girlfriend failed to yield the right of way. It doesn't matter if she was speeding. She had the right of way, and your girlfriend didn't yield to it.

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

can this be fought in traffic court, and if so what are her chances?

From what you have described here, no. She'll lose. Unless you have left something pertinent out of the details. It seems a pretty straight forward failure to yield from what you described.

Originally Posted by spicyricecake

Will her car be considered totalled, and if so, how much will she get? she's gonna need a new car after if that's the case.

That depends on what coverage she has. Not all insurance is the same.

If she just has liability insurance, your girlfriend's insurance gets to pay for the other girl's car and medical expenses. Your girlfriend would get nothing.

If she has comprehensive coverage, your girlfriend's insurance gets to pay for both the other girl's car and medical expenses and your girlfriend's car. Whether your girlfriend's car is totaled and how much she'll get will depend on the repair estimate and the value of the vehicle. If it is totaled, she'll get the market value of the vehicle as it sat before the accident plus some other expenses like tax and tag. You can get a rough idea of how much the car was worth by going to Edmunds or Kelley Blue Book and looking for an average value, although that's not always accurate.

Her rates will probably increase after this. There's no way to know how much until she gets the bill.