Who is at fault?

Question

Hey all. I was rear-ended today. Called 911 and all that. Cop just asked me what happened. Told him I was making a right turn and got hit. Then he talked to the person who hit me and tried to tell the police that it wasn't their fault...

Anyway, Police didn't tell me anything after that. Would I just assume that the whole deal isn't my fault? I don't want to be surprised by my insurance company telling me I was at fault.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I was just rear-ended pretty bad yesterday...no matter what 99% of the time if you're rear-ended the other party is at fault...they were either following too close or weren't paying attention.  In my case the guy wasn't paying attention...so I hope he's smart enough to admit fault. Then again, that's what lawyers are for :)  Even if you didn't have your signal on, that doesn't give anyone the right to hit you then blame it on you..."Oh he didn't have his signal on...so I hit him...but it's his fault" LOL.  The only way it wouldn't be your fault is if you were in reverse and they hit you.  I knew someone who had no brake lights..they got hit from behind, and they still won the court case...enough said.  It's not your fault...don't worry about it.   Good luck!

Answer 2

You were not at fault.  You should go to the police station and get a copy of the police report.  In many places they will not mail it to you.

Answer 3

if you stopped in the middle of turn (like all you people do ) your at fault.only if went to go and stopped its  your fault.

Answer 4

Sorry for your accident but It really doesn't matter whose "fault" it was.  Either his insurance company will pay or yours will.  Fault is  determined by the insurance companies and/or the police so what we say here doesn't matter anyway.

Answer 5

If you cut in front of him to make the turn, he would not be at fault, you would. But if you just made a legal right turn, you shouldn't have any problem. He probably was just  going too fast or he wasn't paying attention.

Answer 6

If you signaled to make the turn it shouldn't be your fault. If you just stopped suddenly in front of him to turn w/o signal then it might be. Get a copy of the accident report from the PD to make sure.

Answer 7

In almost all cases, the person in the rear side is at fault.

You the person in the front cannot do anything to prevent that person from hitting you.  And the other person should have been far back enough no matter what you did.

Good Luck...

Answer 8

WELL, you don't give enough information for a fault determination.  

If you were turning right on red, and the guy that rear ended you had the green and was going through the intersection, it's possible you could be found partly at fault for this.  

Go talk to your agent, and ask them for their opinion.

Police do not determine fault.  They can only offer a non-binding opinion.

Answer 9

Second that. A friend of mine was sitting at a traffic light a couple years ago when another guy hit him from behind.

The cops were called and the other guy claimed my friend's

stop lights weren't working, which was hard to prove afterward

because the guy broke them when he hit the car. My friend's

insurance company took over and after about a year they beat the rear-end guy hands down. Strange thing was the

cops didn't find anyone at fault at the time. I've never seen

a case where the one who rear-ends another car is not guilty.

The driver coming up behind the stopped car is responsible for paying attention and applying his brakes. If your insurance company is worth anything at all they will fight for YOU,

their customer, because they don't want to have to pay off

the other driver. Hang in there and let your insurance handle

it. That's why we all pay out the yang to have the darn stuff!