# Got into a fender bender while making deliveries



## Philt (Jun 21, 2016)

Got dinged by a trailer making a right turn after my first stop. Cop says I'm at fault because I was using the parking lane to make a right turn. My dashcam video shows the trailer making the turn on a red light, the intersection was marked no turn on red.

If I claim amazon's insurance it would be useless because of the high deductible and if I'm found at partial fault, plus the possibility of deactivation. If I claim my own insurance my premiums might go up. Should I just suck it up and drive around with a dinged up bumper? What would you guys do?


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## Tippyshot (Aug 3, 2017)

Philt said:


> Got dinged by a trailer making a right turn after my first stop. Cop says I'm at fault because I was using the parking lane to make a right turn. My dashcam video shows the trailer making the turn on a red light, the intersection was marked no turn on red.
> 
> If I claim amazon's insurance it would be useless because of the high deductible and if I'm found at partial fault, plus the possibility of deactivation. If I claim my own insurance my premiums might go up. Should I just suck it up and drive around with a dinged up bumper? What would you guys do?


Since when does the cop pick whos at fault?


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## Philt (Jun 21, 2016)

Tippyshot said:


> Since when does the cop pick whos at fault?


That's what I thought too, brought it up with him and got this reply: "Now you're insulting my intelligence, I'm going to write you a ticket if you keep this up."


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## Flex89 (Jun 12, 2016)

I would call your insurance. Provide the video and pictures of the no right on red sign. Let them fight it out with the other drivers insurance. I think blame would be with the illegal turn on red,.


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## Philt (Jun 21, 2016)

Flex89 said:


> I would call your insurance. Provide the video and pictures of the no right on red sign. Let them fight it out with the other drivers insurance. I think blame would be with the illegal turn on red,.


I'm really tempted to. The cop sided with the other driver almost immediately and pointed out that I wasn't in a lane of travel. What if I decided to park there before he made the turn? What if I was delivering to that house and got out of the car? I would've ended up in the hospital instead of some bumper damage. Yea it was stupid of me to be in the trailer's blind spot but the other driver also didn't check his blind spot and made an illegal turn..


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## nighthawk398 (Jul 21, 2015)

Contact the trucking company tell him that you have a video


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## LauraC (Aug 10, 2017)

Read your insurance policy first unless you have commercial insurance. Most personal insurance exempt you from using your vehicle for delivery services.

I don't know the entire facts of loss of the accident but based on what you've said so far, I'd put you partially at fault or at fault for the accident. From what you're saying, sounds like both of you were attempting an illegal maneuver. Also sounds like the truck was making a wide right turn and you went on the right of him to make a right. Was he signaling and does your dash cam show that. If he was, then the onus is on you to make sure you gave him plenty of space to make that turn. As far as the police, the insurance adjuster ultimately makes the decision but they will use the officer's statement either for or against you.


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## chuck finley (Aug 2, 2017)

Philt said:


> That's what I thought too, brought it up with him and got this reply: "Now you're insulting my intelligence, I'm going to write you a ticket if you keep this up."


Obviously this cop doesn't have intelligence to begin with...


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## Philt (Jun 21, 2016)

LauraC said:


> Read your insurance policy first unless you have commercial insurance. Most personal insurance exempt you from using your vehicle for delivery services.
> 
> I don't know the entire facts of loss of the accident but based on what you've said so far, I'd put you partially at fault or at fault for the accident. From what you're saying, sounds like both of you were attempting an illegal maneuver. Also sounds like the truck was making a wide right turn and you went on the right of him to make a right. Was he signaling and does your dash cam show that. If he was, then the onus is on you to make sure you gave him plenty of space to make that turn. As far as the police, the insurance adjuster ultimately makes the decision but they will use the officer's statement either for or against you.


My insurance doesn't state anything about making deliveries but they allow rideshare.

That's the only thing stopping me from making a claim so far, because I was also doing a illegal maneuver. Even if the insurance places me at 50% fault I would be better off not reporting it.

No, he did not signal, which is why I assumed he wasn't making a right turn.



chuck finley said:


> Obviously this cop doesn't have intelligence to begin with...


Yea and I sure wasn't about to make my day worse than it is.


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## LauraC (Aug 10, 2017)

California personal insurance requires you to be 51 percent or more at fault for the accident. Meaning if you were found 50 percent responsible for the accident, you won't be considered at fault for the accident.

If he did not signal and your dash cam shows that, then I would make a claim against his insurance company. He made an illegal move and did not take proper action to show he was going to make a right turn. The fact that you were also making an illegal move might give his insurance company cause to put some liability on you but they should accept a majority of the fault. If they deny, tell the adjuster you are going to take the trucking company to small claims court. Trucks almost always lose in small claims court and commercial adjusters know this. They will accept majority.

Keep in mind I'm only going off what you said. I use to be a claims adjuster and my fiance is currently a commercial claims adjuster, handles accidents involving big rigs and commercial vehicles.


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## Philt (Jun 21, 2016)

LauraC said:


> California personal insurance requires you to be 51 percent or more at fault for the accident. Meaning if you were found 50 percent responsible for the accident, you won't be considered at fault for the accident.
> 
> If he did not signal and your dash cam shows that, then I would make a claim against his insurance company. He made an illegal move and did not take proper action to show he was going to make a right turn. The fact that you were also making an illegal move might give his insurance company cause to put some liability on you but they should accept a majority of the fault. If they deny, tell the adjuster you are going to take the trucking company to small claims court. Trucks almost always lose in small claims court and commercial adjusters know this. They will accept majority.
> 
> Keep in mind I'm only going off what you said. I use to be a claims adjuster and my fiance is currently a commercial claims adjuster, handles accidents involving big rigs and commercial vehicles.


I try not to base anything off memory because people tend to remember events that are skewed towards their bias. Do you mind looking at the video and see if there is anything I missed?


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## Irishjohn831 (Aug 11, 2017)

That was the most boring grand theft auto clip I have ever seen !!

Just send video to your insurance and let them handle it, cops opinion means nothing, nor should he do anything but take a neutral report. 

Did he cite you for whatever issue he raised, then he should write his report and move on


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## LauraC (Aug 10, 2017)

Edited what I posted. Took a clearer look, video a little grainy so it seemed like there were parking lines. 

Let me show this to my fiance, they're the expert. I'll get back to you.


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## Philt (Jun 21, 2016)

Irishjohn831 said:


> That was the most boring grand theft auto clip I have ever seen !!
> 
> Just send video to your insurance and let them handle it, cops opinion means nothing, nor should he do anything but take a neutral report.
> 
> Did he cite you for whatever issue he raised, then he should write his report and move on


That's all I wanted him to do, take a neutral report. He told me that he has to place someone at fault in the system in order to write the ticket. No, he didn't cite me in the end but if I kept questioning it he was going to.



LauraC said:


> I don't see where you were turning as being a parking lane. Are there white parking line at the location you were? Prior to you reaching the intersection you can clearly see the white parking lines but 20 feet or so before you reach the intersection, I don't see those lines. I would go back and take better pics of that location cause if there aren't any parking lines, then you weren't doing anything wrong.
> 
> Let me show this to my fiance, they're the expert. I'll get back to you.


Actually there wasn't any lines indicating parking lanes on this road, only a sign 50 ft back saying no parking from here to corner. Here's the google maps link to the intersection.

Thank you guys for the advice! This is my first auto incident and it's so much more helpful to have another opinion about how to proceed with this.


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## LauraC (Aug 10, 2017)

Truck is at fault. Turned on no turn sign and didn't signal. Also most states driving code require you to get as close to the curb as possible to make a right turn, which you did, so your maneuver was not illegal.

I would file with his insurance company. If you decide to file with your own, make sure delivery is allowed on your policy or don't mention it at all.

Only thing I would recommend is to go back and take pic of the no turn sign or make sure the adjuster is aware of it. In your video it doesn't come up clearly and is easy to miss.


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## damphoose (Jul 6, 2017)

Leave Amazon out of it. Don't mention you were delivering to your insurance company either. Everything else is in your favor.

Next time drop your horn. Don't be one of those people so afraid to be rude that you get hit.
Sometimes when someone goes to far into the inspection and then they try to back up I hit my horn once they get within 2 feet. I'm not going to assume they see me and can judge the distance. I would have dropped my horn the minute he started turning so he could see I was there and know he did not have enough clearance not to hit me.


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Irishjohn831 said:


> Just send video to your insurance and let them handle it, cops opinion means nothing, nor should he do anything but take a neutral report.
> 
> Did he cite you for whatever issue he raised, then he should write his report and move on


This varies by state.


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## imfatandold (Sep 26, 2017)

poor truck driver only mistake he did was not use his turn signal. if he would have had that on you would have been 100 percent at fault a little common sense on your part and you would have see that the truck driver was trying to do a right hand turn.


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## getawaycar (Jul 10, 2017)

Signalling for a turn is more critical when driving a very large commercial vehicle. Was he drunk or sleeping? Such gross negligence is how people get killed. That truck driver should lose his license. I don't want to be sharing the road with such idiots.


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## damphoose (Jul 6, 2017)

imfatandold said:


> poor truck driver only mistake he did was not use his turn signal. if he would have had that on you would have been 100 percent at fault a little common sense on your part and you would have see that the truck driver was trying to do a right hand turn.


Did you watch the video? That was not the truck drivers only mistake. It was a "No turn on red" intersection. Thats a $125 ticket in most states. He was not supposed to be turning at all.
0.43 you can clearly see the "no turn on red sign"
1:08 you see him turning and the light is still red.


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## imfatandold (Sep 26, 2017)

damphoose said:


> Did you watch the video? That was not the truck drivers only mistake. It was a "No turn on red" intersection. Thats a $125 ticket in most states. He was not supposed to be turning at all.
> 0.43 you can clearly see the "no turn on red sign"
> 1:08 you see him turning and the light is still red.


have you ever driven a rig? do any of you understand that truck gps systems sometimes take you through streets where you are not supposed to be? when you are following the gps and end in a place like this all you can hope for is that people have common sense. a simple honk would have prevented this.


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## KTMRacer (Oct 7, 2017)

Just info: In Califorina when a police officer takes a traffic collision report his standard report form/s require him to list a "primary collision factor."
Meaning which driver was most at fault. Unfortunately insurance companies go by their opinion. I would make an appointment to see the officer's watch commander and show he/she the video.

Some police agencies would not have taken a report on this "property damage only" collision as there is no mandate that they do so. Some officers feel they are doing an insurance companies job on this type of collision


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## damphoose (Jul 6, 2017)

imfatandold said:


> have you ever driven a rig? do any of you understand that truck gps systems sometimes take you through streets where you are not supposed to be? when you are following the gps and end in a place like this all you can hope for is that people have common sense. a simple honk would have prevented this.


What on earth are you talking about? If the GPS takes you to that street you still have to wait for the light to turn green. Are you drunk? Because your answers make no sense. His mistake had nothing to do with the GPS. "No Turn on Red" streets are all the place and trucks drive them everyday with problems. Why? Because they drivers know how to read.
You are supposed to wait for the GREEN LIGHT before you turn. The GPS never says "ignore sign and proceed".


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