I got in a car accident today and I need some advice on how I should approach the situation. To begin, I am on my way to school at UH when I exit 288 Northbound at Yellowstone/Old Spanish Trail. As I approach the light, I have a green light so I continue going northbound. When I get to the intersection, a red SUV runs the red light going eastbound and without time to stop, I end up hitting his rear passenger side with my front hood passenger corner, causing him to flip over. I turn my head to see the other car and notice the westbound light is still red so I know I had the green light. I park my car after clearing the intersection and get out. I get out of my car and approach the other driver, asking if he's okay. There are witnesses at the Mobil gas station on this southeast corner. Witness A tells me she saw the accident and said he had the green light. However, I feel she is lying because she is coming from the gas station and the eastbound light is obviously facing west. Witness B tells me he was in his car at the gas station when he heard the accident, looked up to see the damage and saw that my northbound light had just turned yellow. He tells me I had the green light and to not worry, he will give a statement to back me up. The cop comes and after giving our statements, the cop decides I am at fault. I write in my statement that I feel Witness A did not see the eastbound light was green. The cop shows me her statement and she said she was heading eastbound and her light was green which is a lie. The cop asked me where I was headed and I tell him I was headed to class at noon. The accident occurred at 11:30 am, and he insists I was running late giving me a motive to run a red light. Anyone who knows the area knows it is a 10 minute drive from 288 to UH. The cop decides to disregard Witness B's statement because he wrote he reacted to the accident and did not witness it directly, whereas Witness A claims she did. So I'm stuck with the fault for this accident I didn't cause. I swear I had a green light. I check the traffic cameras and the closest one is the freeway light at 288 and Holly Hall, which is one street away and too far to see the accident clearly. What can I do to contest this accident?
I'll be contesting this for sure. Witness B said he will testify in court for me. I just want to know if I have a leg to stand on since it is a he-said she-said situation. Is there any type of forensic evidence of the collision that could corroborate my claim to the right of way? Any other type of objective evidence that I am not thinking of to show I am in the right?
you're at a disadvantage because you hit him on the side...had he hit you on your side, or corner to corner, then it would help you a ton, but not in this case...the evidence would indicate he further into the intersection than you, usually means he had the green light. I couldnt quite picture where the witness were at...but maybe drawing out where everyone was and figuring out the sequence of the lights you can find an inconsistency in their statements.
No he's not. Not at all. POI in this case has very little relevance, as either driver running their light could have had the same POI. McDonuts, You need to contact your carrier (and the other driver's) and let them handle. That is their job. While an accident report carries weight, it's not the deciding factor. You do need to consider that while Witness A did not have the vantage point to see the eastbound light (facing west), they probably could see the westbound light (facing east), and given the intersection, if one is green, so is the other. Witness A's statement is going to carry more weight than Witness B since they observed the traffic light during the collision, while B only witnessed it after. When you talk to the adjuster for your carrier, let them know your concerns about Witness A's statement. From my experience here, I think you have little chance of getting the other carrier to cover your damage, but you have a decent chance at getting your own carrier to deny the other party's damage, depending on how "seasoned" your adjuster is. Hope that helps.
If the other guy is claiming he had the green light, headed into the instersection and as he crossed it the poster ran the light and hit him, then the POI reinforces his statement. Alone the POI may not mean much, just speculation on either side, but if the one credible witness sides with the other guy, the POI helps him prove his case significantly.
Again, POI here means almost zilch. Trust me. If the OP was just entering into the intersection after getting a green and the other driver ran a red light, it is absolutely possible, if not probable, that the POI would be the same, especially if the other driver was running through the light at speed. POI does not establish who had the green light here; the witnesses/drivers do and that will be the key.
I already said it doesnt make his case or prove anything alone. Which means I'm not saying it establishes who had the green...it's the witness who's establishing that, and this helps their story....so it's not irrelevant if it corraborates their statements.
Seems to me POI only indicates who entered the intersection first, and doesn't say a thing about what color either light was at the time. Here's a question for the OP: was this a one-lane road? If not, were there any other cars waiting in the other lanes? That could be indicative of the color of the light.
They might not lie, per se. But eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. Check out this interesting article on that very issue: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20010516.html
It does not help either statement here as the POI is completely ambiguous. It can corroborate either statement, therefore is almost completely irrelevant.
we're in the same situation right now. but my advantage is that i was the first one to call the police and their insurance which could make a good reason that I was really the victim here ( and this is true). we didn't have any witness so i think that's my up side there.
I left that part out because I wanted objective statements, but I feel there is a bias in the witnesses. The other driver was black as well as Witness A and the cop. It was a two-lane road going 3 ways (north, east, west) since it was on one side of the highway. We were both in our right lanes for our respective directions. At the time, the intersection was not busy. The other northbound cars were already past the light and there were no other cars heading eastbound. It was me and him, and he beat me to the intersection. As I mentioned before, I feel the cop was prejudiced against me either due to being a student or race. The accident occurred at approximately 11:32 am. In the traffic violation he gave me, he listed it at 11:55 am, which I believe he's trying to paint me as a student driving fast because I'm late to class. I called my parents at 11:37 am and other witnesses called at the time of the accident so 911 call records will support my time frame. My mom said she overheard the other driver and his father (who also arrived after the accident) talking, and the father was questioning why his son ran the red light. Again, more he-said she-said (as my mom could also trying to be hearing what she wants to hear) that was not on the record. After I had exited my vehicle and walked to the side, Witness A said she saw his light was green. Obviously, she can't because she's on the other side. The officer showed me her statement and she changed it to she was driving westbound and her light was green. Don't know why she's lying, and I don't want to point at racial bias, but I'm not going to ignore the possibility.
So Witness A's statement on the report stated the other driver was westbound, when in actuality, they were eastbound?
