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How do I fight being found "at fault" in an auto accident in Michigan?
Anonymous3 views4 answers
I was making a left hand turn on Woodward and was t-boned and I was found at fault. I came to a stop before making my turn, proceeded, and then the woman came from the middle turn lane getting back into oncoming traffic lanes, where she hit me.
It should also be noted that the accident report is severely screwed up. It says that SHE was making the left hand turn, and that I was backing up....
You have a right to ask the Police Dept. to file an Amended Accident Report (they may or may not do this) and/or have them file an Addendum with your side of the story (which they should take without a problem).
You need to have pictures of the damage to both vehicles, in case this gets to the point of having to hire an accident reconstruction expert (although such an expert is costly and not really necessary unless there are issues of serious injury).
You may appear @ traffic court on any citation/ticket and testify as to the true facts and you may be represented by an attorney if you so desire (although you will have to pay the attorney). You can appeal any adverse ruling, but again, there will be a cost involved in hiring counsel to do so.
If you are sued by the other person, you turn the papers over to your insurance company and they will hire a lawyer to respond and defend the case. One defense would be that the crash was not your fault (but it is best to have eyewitnesses and/or physical evidence to support your version). Physical evidence could consist of the vehicles in their damaged state, photos of the vehicles/scene/debris or the "black boxes" from the vehicles.
Although, unless there is serious personal injury to someone, I'm not sure that you really want to incur the expense of contesting the matter? What is the point of doing so is something you should ask yourself. Good luck.
In addition to the prior answers, you should contact your insurance company. See if they can investigate and find witnesses, and take statements. Hopefully you can find others to corroborate your version of the accident.
