Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Who is to blame?

Does Vehicle 1 have a valid case to dispute blame and speed?

�Vehicle 1 (ford pick up) takes foot off gas peddle anticipating the light will turn yellow but it does not so he puts foot back on accelorator to pick speed back up and proceed (w/ a 45mph speed limit) on inside lane. �He crosses the intersection and vehicle 2 (subaru) pulls out of mini mart and proceeds directly past outside lane into inside lane in front of veh. 1 and slows to make a U-turn . �Veh. 1 slams on breaks and hits veh. 2 in rear leaving a 65 ft skid mark. �Veh. 1 driver claims he was driving aprox 40 - 45 mph. �Witness at cross walk says veh. 1 sped through the intersection to beat the yellow light from turning red. �Driver of veh. 2 was not a license driver.

Police report cause of accident: veh. 1

�Citations:Veh. 1: driving at unsafe speed . (50-60 in a 45)

Veh. 2: No license & improper postion in a two-way left turn lane to make u-turn.


Asked on 5/07/00, 2:46 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Hayes The John Hayes Law Offices

Re: Who is to blame?

It sounds like the liability is at least 50/50. Which means that whoever is contesting the liability might get at least half of their requested damages, if they can prove that the other driver was at least 50% at fault for the accident. According to your post, there are witnesses who stated that driver 1 was speeding. A case could be made that if driver 1 had not been speeding, they could have avoided the accident. Their vehicle would have stopped sooner, and they would have had more time to react to veh 2. A case could also be made against veh 2, because if they had entered the roadway in the correct lane there would have been no neeed for veh 1 to come to a sudden stop. The driver of veh 1 has a better argument than veh 2 because veh 2's illegal lane change, and the fact that they were unlicensed. I offer free consultations, so if you have any other questions, or would like additional information regarding liability, please feel free to contact my office. You can reach my office, toll free at 877-546-9918, or you can email at [email protected] with your phone number and a good time to call, and I would be happy to call you at your convenience. I look forward to speaking with you, should you decide to take me up on my offer.

Sincerely,

John Hayes

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Answered on 6/22/00, 9:54 pm


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