Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
I was involved in a two vehicle auto accident and have been trying to deal with the other driver's insurance company. I was driving down a residential street [the insurance adjuster claims the skid marks showed I was going 20 mph higher than the speed limit] when another car, whose driver was not paying attention [said she never saw me; may have been on her cell phone], make a left turn from the opposite lane of traffic in front of me in order to park in her own driveway]. I hit the brakes and steered to my left to try to avoid her car, but hit its right rear by the bumper; I then proceeded into a light pole, totaling my car.
Sixty-six days passed before the insurance company finally offered me a settlement based upon my being 75% at fault and $30 a day for loss of use [$22.5 a day]. The carriers settled the other driver's car damage claim using her being 80% at fault [5% difference]. I finally got them to increase the loss of use to $45 per day but they will not back off saying I am 75% at fault. A friend of mine said it sounds as though they are using the "last clear chance doctrine" which no longer exists.
Do you think I am about 75% at fault, if I get them to reduce my fault can I claim that the loss of use offer was not reasonable so it should not expire until a later date?
Thank you very much for any response.
1 Answer from Attorneys
The key question here is how fast were you going and what do the skid marks really indicate? Insurance companies are under no obligation to do anything but reduce the amount of your claim in a matter against the insurance company of another party involved in a collision. Hiring an expert to evaluate your speed might be cost prohibitive, unless you have serious injuries, but you can use a search engine to get an approximate speed estimate based on the length of the skid marks, the type of skid marks-e.g.,centrifugal skids or skids from braking or crashing; and the use of a coefficient of friction equation, along with the approximate weight of your vehicle. You may also want to ask the insurance company with which you are dealing how they derived your speed, asking for all their calculations.
If you have other questions, I would be happy to speak with you about them.
Ben Glen
877-236-4536
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