Who is at fault in this car crash scenario?

I was making a left turn to go into the college campus.I was traveling SOUTH as I approached the solid green light, and I waited for ~ 3-4 minutes until traffic cleared. I see a purple pt cruiser enter the campus through a RIGHT TURN ONLY lane and it is coming from the south (so the direction its headed in, is north), behind it approximately 15-20 feet is a honda accord that is in the TURN ONLY LANE as well and it looked as if it was going to turn into the school. It was too close to the intersection to change lanes so i start entering the turn. the honda accord hit the right side of my car at where the front wheel is and smashed the wheel into the body of the car. the police arrogantly told me i was at fault and did not look around to check the possible speed or anything. the other driver claimed that the speed they were traveling in was 40 mph. mind you my whole right front side was completely destroyed and my car is totaled from the impact. the police looked up the wrong tag and told me that this tag was not belonging to my car- (she typed in the wrong characters.) Then she made out the ticket to my father who is the one who owns the vehicle; but he was not in the accident, he was at work. i was put down as fault, but i do not see how if the other driver was going straight on a turn only lane and trying to change at the intersection it is my fault. who would be at fault if it was taken to court? thank you. there were no witnesses also..



People get confused. There are two types of "fault". One type is where you receive a citation for a traffic violation, that fault is determined by a judge when/if you go to court on the charge. (in your case I would recommend you going and pleading your case) The other "fault" is to determine who pays for damages in case of an accident. Insurance companies determine the second kind of fault based on police reports, witness reports and driver(s) statements. One type of fault has nothing necessarily to do with the other type. It is true that insurance companies place a great deal of weight based on the police report. However, if you don't agree with their findings, you can appeal. Appeals almost never are successful though. No one here can determine either type of fault. Good luck




If he was in the turn only lane and then went straight and hit you he should be at fault. If your left turn was a left turn yield on green it would be your fault. I had a hard time understanding what you are trying to explain.




Unfortunately in an accident like this, if i were the officer i would have cited both of you and had you pay for your own damages. Why, you had to cross an oncoming lane therefore you didn't give right of way or waited until the road was clear before making your move. The other driver made a simple error but also made a lane change in an intersection. People go straight out of a right turn lane all the time. A simple error but since you were turning you had to give way. Sorry.





Also, your father should not be ticketed, you should. Check with the officer's supervisor to see if she made an error.




From your description, in your situation, you cannot turn across oncoming traffic which you did. If that car (that hit you), actually made the right turn, you would have been in conflict with the driver anyway and may have hit them in the driver's side. It's a timing issue. You had to be into your turn for the other driver to have hit you as described. If they went ahead and made their right turn, how close would you have been to hitting them in their driver's side?





Always presume the other driver will do the unexpected. Just because you have a green light doesn't mean you have the absolute right of way into an intersection. Just because a driver has their turn signal on, doesn't mean the will make the indicated turn.





I would be interested in the town and the intersection that this accident occurred. I'm not a lawyer.