Insurance claim question, who's at fault?

[PandaBear]

The driver of the car with the dash cam? or the car it hit?

Corolla: from 1 freeway to another, merging 2 lanes to the left, hit at the driver side front fender
C-HR: merging right, at a higher speed than the corolla merging left, hit at the rear passenger side (quarter? rear passenger door?)

Nobody is hurt, if you are the insurance company who you think is at fault?

 

[Whipcitywrencher]

Dash cam driver

 

[doitmyself]

In Michigan, definitely the car with dashcam was in the wrong.

" When a vehicle is merging onto the freeway, that driver must yield the right of way to vehicles already traveling on the freeway. MCL 257.649(7) states: A driver entering a roadway from a roadway that is intended for and constructed as a merging roadway, and is plainly marked at the intersection with the appropriate merge signs, shall yield the right-of-way to traffic upon the roadway that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard and shall adjust their speed to enable them to merge safely with through traffic."

The argument could be made that the dash cam driver was already merged and was now just changing lanes. Still guilty for not yielding to the vehicle already in the lane to the left.

 

[atikovi]

Looks like the left fender of dashcam car hit the right quarter of the other car. I'd say dashcam car at fault. Wasn't dashcam car driver looking over their left shoulder before moving left? If so, this probably wouldn't have happened.

 

[PandaBear]

That's what I suspect too. Except that I was wondering if the other car was also changing lane and was passing while changing lane. Yes, the argument of entering the highway should yield, and also it is 1 lane over, but it looks like the dashcam driver is merging 2 lanes at once too.

 

[dishdude]

Dash cam driver's an idiot. Nice paint on his hood.

 

[slo town]

Dash cam driver is at fault. His first mistake was crossing the solid white line. That is illegal, plain and simple. And then it appears he starts merging across multiple lanes in one fell swoop, which may not be illegal. But, multi lane change swoops show impatience and disregard for other drivers.

And why did it take so long for Mr. Dash Cam to get all the way off right lane and onto the shoulder?

Scott

 

[Alfred_B]

Dash cam driver's case is not boosted by the fact that he crossed solid lines merging into the highway just before the accident. Shows reckless attitude.

 

[Jethro_Bob]

1st accident dash cam driver, 2nd accident at 1:15 - not enough info.

 

[NO2]

I've seen those type of accidents before. Usually the windows explode and the tires blow. The drivers were very fortunate no one was injured.

 

[wings&wheels]

Dash cam driver is at fault initially, but neither one of those two seem to have any concept of how to safely cross lanes, pull over or generally operate in moving traffic.

 

[demarpaint]

Dash cam driver.

 

[Bud]

Originally Posted by demarpaint
Dash cam driver.


No question.

 

[14Accent]

Both of those driver's should have their license's taken away. This is exactly why there are so many accidents. These two idiots come to COMPLETE stops on a 5 lane freeway in the middle of the day, trying to get to the shoulder.

WHEN NO ONE IS INJURED, PROCEED TO THE NEAREST SAFEST STOPPING POINT! The middle of the freaking freeway is not it! I hope the dash cam video get's them both charged with reckless driving and some hefty fines.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by 14Accent
I hope the dash cam video get's them both charged with reckless driving and some hefty fines.

Odds are, the police don't even show up or if they did, they only take each driver's information. They weren't there, there were no injuries, so the police are not going to accident reconstruction.

 

[JTK]

I also feel as though the dash cam driver is at fault and traffic rules/laws would support this. Problem is, who is paying for what damage, you're at the mercy of the insurance company's decision. You could say the HR-V driver should have had situational awareness and had adequate time to react by slowing down, moving over, etc. Insurance companies will potentially see it that way.

I've been down that road even though the other guy blew a stop sign and was ticketed as such. I was told because I smacked him towards the rear quarter panel I should have been able to react by stopping in time.

Oh.. and the two of them stopping on a freeway light that? WOW they're lucky no one was killed.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted by Bud
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Dash cam driver.


No question.


Yes the car changing lanes does not have the right of way.

 

[sasilverbullet]

Similar thing happened to me, I was moving one lane to the left, the other was moving from a third lane to the middle also. Because I was "in front" (sorta) and the truck hit my drivers side rear door, USAA said it was the trucks fault because they should have seen me.

Sort of the same except for the cam car moving over the lines and doing two lane changes at once.

If I was the judge, they were both at fault.

 

[geeman789]

Looks like they both hit each other ... 50 / 50.

 

[Leo99]

In NJ each driver is assigned a fraction of the fault. I'd say 60% fault of dash cam driver.