Whose fault?.....?

Question

major intersection, noon on a clear day. 2 lanes in either direction with a 5 lane used for turning.

car one is facing northbound, in turn lane to head west on another major street.

car two is heading southbound in curb side lane.

car one inches into the intersection, waiting for the traffic to let up so that they can turn left.

the light turns red. all cars at this intersection are at a full and complete stop, except for the two cars in question. mind you there is a car in the lane next to car two that is at a full and complete stop.

another note is that car one begins their left hand turn once they assume that car two, which has 1/4 of a block to go until they reach the crosswalk to stop. again, the car in the lane over has already come to a full and complete stop.

car one assumes it is clear to turn left and exit the intersection before the light turns green for west/eastbound traffic. car two runs through red light and runs into the passenger side of car one, next to front tire.

Answer 1

I'm guessing you live in a town where it's sort of a convention that left turners pull into the intersection and complete their turn as the light turns red.  They HAVE to turn, becuase they're blocking the lanes which just turned green.  While it may be very common, you should know it's also technically illegal :)

Which is why this is complicated.  Obviously the southbound guy is a plain old redlight runner and definitely shouldn't have been there by the law, by convention, or by common sense.  He was racing for the light, his view of car 1 blocked by the stopped southbound car, and he foolishly assumed there'd be no left turners.

You can never be sure but i'm guessing the law would put more blame on car 2 than car 1.  Thus making car 2 guilty as far as insurance is concerned.

Answer 2

From the information provided, car 2 is clearly at fault because he entered the intersection on something other than a green light.

You must stop for yellow lights if you can. The only time you can legally enter the intersection on a yellow is when you are so close when it goes from green to yellow that you CAN'T stop. The fact that the other southbound car (which was ahead of car 2) had time to stop proves absolutely that car 2 was either speeding or not paying proper attention to the traffic signal or both.

Car 1 may have some fault also. If he was already in the intersection when the light went from green to yellow he is probably clear. If he entered the intersection on anything other than a green, he is just as much at fault as car 2.