How I hate car accidents..., UPDATED with Police Report Options

[saleeka]

Tonight driving home from my parents house I had the misfortune of getting hit in my Accord... So I'm driving on a 2 lane 35 mph road, with a seperate left turn lane. As I approach the light to make a left turn, it is green (no arrow), so I procede to get out into the intersection a bit to make the turn. Light stays green for a good amount of time, but too much traffic is coming so I cannot make the turn. Light begins to turn yellow, and there is still cars coming thru, so again I wait. I see the light turn red on me, and there is still a chrysler minivan driving towards me. I still wait. I then see him slow the van by noticing the front of the hood dip down a bit indicating braking. I proceded to make my left turn, and before I can realize what has happened, my car is hit on the front side of the passenegr side by this van, and my car has rotated about 90 degres in the direction of the van. Hood is smashed in, front bumper cracked, both front fenders destroyed or warped, cant open the driver side door, and there is body metal lodged in the front wheel well.... Cars everywhere on all sides of the intersection see this, so I procede to coax my car to the side of the road to get out of the way, van does the same. Call the police, get there, wait for them to talk to me because they went to the van first. Their passengers are 2 people my age or slightly older, man driving, and a female passenger. as they are talking I learn of two things. First- the driver has NO licence... Great, just great... Then, after this, I learn that its her van, and its not insured!!! Needless to say, I was quite angry about the situation now. Told the police the exact same thing as above, clarified a few details with them, and yeah... The only logical explanation to as how hard he hit me would be that he started to stop for the light, and then prolly thought that he could make it so he got back on the gas, and then saw me get smashed into... I'm angry about this because my insurance is now going to go up because these people thought it to be ok to have no insurance on this van, and even better, have someone without a license drive it who enjoys running through red lights... I had to get that off my chest, but seriously... It makes me that much more angry because of the disregard for the law by these people by having no license and no insurance in a state where thats against the law

This post has been edited by saleeka: Aug 9, 2006 - 2:23 PM

[elvasoshexai]

damn that sux man... we get that a lot in canada too... and it's illegal to drive w/o insurance here too... except.. no matter what... even if the guy ran a red doing 180 in a 40... the guy making the left turn would be at fault for accident (but other guy would still get ticket for going so damn fast and running a red)

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Aug 1, 2006 - 9:53 PM

[Toyoca]

isnt it still your fault? you both had reds but he was going straight

[saleeka]

as far as im aware, since I wont see the accident report for a couple days until its done, is im less at fault for the fact that here in MN anyway, in drivers ed they taught us to get into the intersection when you have a green and a left yield turn, and the fact that I was in the intersection with it green for a long period of time long before the van ran through it after it was already red... regardless MN is no fault so im still screwed just annoys me that the person who hit me shouldent have been on the road in the first place...

[amysmojo]

Saleeka, sorry about your bad day babe. That frikin SUCKS! What was the driver thinking!?

It works the same way here, if your turning left & you have a green arrow then you have the right of way but if theres just a solid green light then you wait in the middle of the intersection until its clear to go. Not everyone in my town knows this though which is annoying...because if they wait behind the line instead of in the intersection then we both end up missing the light

I hope your insurance doesnt go up. Mine just went up by an EXTRA $100 bucks a month for a ticket from a year & a half ago that they just now discovered....*bleh*

[axelrduvirage]

i know i'm not making any friends here but...when waiting for the intersection to clear while turning left YOU MUST STAY BEHIND THE STOP LINE!!!! so friggin' what if you miss a light. safety and courtesy must prevail. i'm no angel-- i speed, i play my ICE too loud, i have even been known to indulge behind the wheel (never drink though) but i will never enter an intersection without the right of way. TOO MANY IDIOTS THAT DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE AND YIELD TO OTHERS. now i feel much better thank you.

[amysmojo]

i know i'm not making any friends here but...when waiting for the intersection to clear while turning left YOU MUST STAY BEHIND THE STOP LINE!!!! so friggin' what if you miss a light. safety and courtesy must prevail. i'm no angel-- i speed, i play my ICE too loud, i have even been known to indulge behind the wheel (never drink though) but i will never enter an intersection without the right of way. TOO MANY IDIOTS THAT DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE AND YIELD TO OTHERS. now i feel much better thank you.

ummm okay first of all breath. . . dont forget to breath! its the most important "meal" of the day lol jk Alright. . . im not sure if you read my post right. You said that too many idiots dont know how to drive and yield to others. But waiting in the intersection till its clear IS yielding so...ya. And here where I live its not against the law. We are taught to do it.There is nothing un-safe about it... okay thanks lol

[Fastbird]

Saleeka, from what it sounds like, I hate to say this but you're most likely going to be found at fault for "failure to yeild" to oncoming traffic. You're actually fortunate that you didn't get a ticket on the spot for it.

[BlackCelicaGT94]

i know i'm not making any friends here but...when waiting for the intersection to clear while turning left YOU MUST STAY BEHIND THE STOP LINE!!!! so friggin' what if you miss a light. safety and courtesy must prevail. i'm no angel-- i speed, i play my ICE too loud, i have even been known to indulge behind the wheel (never drink though) but i will never enter an intersection without the right of way. TOO MANY IDIOTS THAT DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE AND YIELD TO OTHERS. now i feel much better thank you.

ummm okay first of all breath. . . dont forget to breath! its the most important "meal" of the day lol jk Alright. . . im not sure if you read my post right. You said that too many idiots dont know how to drive and yield to others. But waiting in the intersection till its clear IS yielding so...ya. And here where I live its not against the law. We are taught to do it.There is nothing un-safe about it... okay thanks lol

Yep - this is how we are taught to drive. You sit in the intersection yielding for traffic.

Sorry to hear stud about the accident :-(

[Bitter]

sue them for the damages.

[saleeka]

I'll let you all know what the police report says for sure when it comes, and i know i'm going to be at some fault to the insurance, but the cops certainly diddent give me any indication they thought I was in the wrong... And i'm not making this up, they do teach you to wait in the intersection when you have to yield here, so i dunno

[amysmojo]

I'll let you all know what the police report says for sure when it comes, and i know i'm going to be at some fault to the insurance, but the cops certainly diddent give me any indication they thought I was in the wrong... And i'm not making this up, they do teach you to wait in the intersection when you have to yield here, so i dunno

Yeah keep us posted, dont worry we believe you! like I said we are taught the same thing over here

[jess_i_74]

One car is allowed to pull into the intersection; that way, at least one left-turn gets through every light. If the light turns red, the left-turner still goes, since he is already in the intersection. It's pretty much standard procedure from what I can tell.

[BlackCelicaGT94]

Did some research and in the washington drivers guide it says this

Drivers must not enter an intersection unless they can get through it without having to stop. You should wait until traffic ahead clears so you are not blocking the intersection.


but i know i was taught in drivers ed that we could sit in the intersection. I even asked some people around me and they said the same. if it was against the law then people would be pulled over left and right.

[JonCars17]

It's just like in Driver's Ed they taught me that I could go over 5 mph on the speed limit.

And I pull out in the intersection aswell, I just don't pull out infront of someone

[bloodrain]

Insurance is seriously a waste of money, you pay every month, and dont get into an accident, then you get into an accident, pay the deductible, and your insurance raises. I pay $250 a month for full coverage, i've had my car for 3 years without even a dent. So I just paid $9,000 in the past 3 years, for what? My car could only sell for $5000, maybe! I coulda bought a new one, and had a 3s swap done by now, fckin insurance.

[mzztoyota]

Jesus you guys pay a lot for insurance...or is that just for newer cars? Both cars I've had are over 10 years old, and I just pay like 450 yearly and I'm insured for the year...

If that had happened to me, here on this island, I would have been SOOO screwed...legal system sucks, one downside to living in paradise...so sorry to hear. I hope it somehow comes out okay in the end.

[ZacMan1987]

Insurance is seriously a waste of money, you pay every month, and dont get into an accident, then you get into an accident, pay the deductible, and your insurance raises. I pay $250 a month for full coverage, i've had my car for 3 years without even a dent. So I just paid $9,000 in the past 3 years, for what? My car could only sell for $5000, maybe! I coulda bought a new one, and had a 3s swap done by now, fckin insurance.

Right up to the point where you have an accident that totals your $11,700 Celica and does $5200 in damage to the other guy, and insurance has to foot the whole thing. Not that I intend to keep having at-fault wrecks, but I'd say that insurance was worth it there.

Back on topic, yeah that totally sucks. People who drive uninsured suck. Hope you're feeling OK and have no ill effects from the crash.

[saleeka]

/\ not only that, but just think of the serious accidents that rack up hunderds of thousands in medical bills... no insurance = your life is screwd... Either you get stuck with bills you cant possibly pay and file for bankrupcy (if you can now that laws have changed and are MUCH more strict), or your wages are garnished for the majority of the rest of your life because you were at fault... it boggles my mind that some states still have no insurance laws in regards to motor vehicles for that very reason...

[mzztoyota]

^^^ yup, friend of mine had no medical insurance, got really sick and had to be hospitalized, and now gets to spend the next 15-20 years trying to pay off her debt...it really sucks to work so hard just to pay back money and not be able to treat yourself to things you want...

insurance can totally be worth it...