“I Was Involved In A Major Accident And I Don’t Know If I Will Be Charged Or Not.”

I was making a left hand legal turn on a green light, a driver came through the lane I was supposed to be going into ran the red and hit me head on as I was turning into my lane. When the officer came he was telling me that I was racing and driving recklessly because apparently there was reports of street racing in the area. I was not charged on the scene for this but I’m scared i am going to be wrongly accused for something that wasn’t my fault and that I didn’t do. I had a friend in the car with me at the time of the accident. The officer wouldn’t listen to my story and didn’t take witness statements either. This accident happened on March 30th and my insurance company Still hasn’t gotten a police report and I haven’t been charged yet (hopefully I don’t) what should I do in this situation.

It's hard to tell what happened because your explanation isn't clear. If you're waiting to make a left, turn, and someone in the through lane hits you, then you're likely to be seen as the one at fault almost every single time.

It's called turn not in safety. The onus is on the driver in your position to only turn when it is safe to do so, to assume that anything can happen. You're likely not going to be able to prove anyone ran a red, if that was the case.

No, you're not going to get charged with racing, but you could very well be charged for the accident (turn not in safety).

An officer has 6 months to file a charge. Fault as determined by your insurance is independent.

bend wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:17 am

It's hard to tell what happened because your explanation isn't clear. If you're waiting to make a left, turn, and someone in the through lane hits you, then you're likely to be seen as the one at fault almost every single time.

It's called turn not in safety. The onus is on the driver in your position to only turn when it is safe to do so, to assume that anything can happen. You're likely not going to be able to prove anyone ran a red, if that was the case.

No, you're not going to get charged with racing, but you could very well be charged for the accident (turn not in safety).

An officer has 6 months to file a charge. Fault as determined by your insurance is independent.

NOO i made the turn safely and he wasn’t coming through the green light. He ran through a red light in stopped lanes that were waiting for their light to turn green. I was going through a green light making a left hand turn in the intersection and he was waiting in the other lane to the left of me which had a red light.

bend wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:17 am

It's hard to tell what happened because your explanation isn't clear. If you're waiting to make a left, turn, and someone in the through lane hits you, then you're likely to be seen as the one at fault almost every single time.

It's called turn not in safety. The onus is on the driver in your position to only turn when it is safe to do so, to assume that anything can happen. You're likely not going to be able to prove anyone ran a red, if that was the case.

No, you're not going to get charged with racing, but you could very well be charged for the accident (turn not in safety).

An officer has 6 months to file a charge. Fault as determined by your insurance is independent.

Also another thing I have video of people at the scene saying they say him run a red light and hit me while I was making a left hand turn on a green light. Would this help me at all?

To clarify: you had a "protected" or "advanced" green signal, he was traveling in the opposite direction and had a red signal?

whaddyaknow wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:06 pm

To clarify: you had a "protected" or "advanced" green signal, he was traveling in the opposite direction and had a red signal?

Yes

You should be fine then. Post back here if anything changes.

Agreed. If you have an advance green and witnesses can verify that, then I wouldn't expect anything to come from this.

If you have a green and are waiting in the intersection to make a left, the light turns red, you proceed to complete your turn, and someone tries to squeeze through the signals, then it can be a whole can of worms where you can be charged. This is probably the most common situation.

whaddyaknow wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:12 am

You should be fine then. Post back here if anything changes.

There has been no police report yet and the other party hasn’t filed a claim and it’s been over 2 weeks now, but my insurance company said they’re deeming me at fault until the police report comes in because I made a left hand turn... this is b.s

zman2000 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 12:17 am

There has been no police report yet and the other party hasn’t filed a claim and it’s been over 2 weeks now, but my insurance company said they’re deeming me at fault until the police report comes in because I made a left hand turn... this is b.s

That sucks! Hopefully it all works out OK in the end. I can't offer any suggestions on dealing with insurance companies, sorry.

zman2000 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 12:17 am

There has been no police report yet and the other party hasn’t filed a claim and it’s been over 2 weeks now, but my insurance company said they’re deeming me at fault until the police report comes in because I made a left hand turn... this is b.s

Did you submit the video you have to the adjuster?