Auto collision against a left-turning car?

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I was driving straight through an intersection, and I don’t know how I missed this, but a car turned left in front of me. I had to slam the brakes, but I did not clear the car and I hit it’s back wheel. I just want some assurance that despite whatever circumstance the other person tries to pull, I can come out in the right because she made a left turn with no green arrow when it was not safe. How much does the fact that the other driver made an unsafe left matter if this becomes a bigger thing?

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  • first cars do not need to wait for green arrow when making a left turn
    [unless theres a sign say left turn on green arrow only
    they must make sure there is no oncoming traffic before turning left
    so it could be possible the car turning left is a fault- not you

  • not your fault, you were traveling straight, other driver took unsafe turn. nothing to worry about.

  • I’m not going to imply that you broke any law. This is just what I think will happen.

    Here’s the problem that the insurance companies will key on, so be prepared. You hit the other car in the right rear. The time it takes for that car to make a turn (legal or not) would have given you time to see and avoid. It takes a few seconds to make a left turn from a dead stop, less from a rolling stop. But speed and the posted speed limit will also be a factor. If you are traveling at 35 mph, you are covering 52 feet per second. If it takes 5 seconds to make the left turn, you have enough time to slow down to avoid contact (don’t have to stop to avoid the collision) otherwise you would have hit the other driver in the front portion of their car. You have that much time to determine that the other driver is making a turn in front of you and react to it.

    So, the other driver’s insurance company will try their best to lay some of the blame on you, but I don’t see how they can put 1% on you. They will take into consideration the speeds involved, distances traveled, number of lanes the turning vehicle had to cross vs which lane you were in, and many other factors. Weather conditions – maybe you should not have been traveling at the posted speed limit. It would have been more in your favor if you hit the car in the right front portion of the body.

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