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Car hit me while changing into my side of the right lane, could I be found at fault?
Anonymous2 views3 answers
I was on the rightmost side of the lane passing the line of traffic going straight as I was about to turn right into a parking lot, as is typical and legal on a California city street as we have wide right lanes in lieu of right turn lanes (
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21754.htm
). The other car decided to move over into the right side of the lane and did so when I was still next to him, around the blind spot area, scraping my car. There is damage on the front left side of my car and the middle right side of his, none on the bumpers of either car. I was driving straight ahead down my side of the lane and could not have avoided the accident - I was going minimally faster than the other cars and did not know that he planned to change lanes until he pulled into me.
Eric DobbersteinConstruction / Development LawyerLas Vegas, NV ·
You did not mention if the police were called or issued any citations. But since you did not mention the police I assume they were not called and did not investigate. As such based upon what you have said I would tend to find fault with the other driver since the impact occurred in your lane. It does not matter if you were turning or about to turn out of your lane. The other driver should never have entered your lane until it was safe to do so.
Turn this over to your insurance carrier. It sounds like the other driver made an unsafe lane change. If your insurance company gets reimbursement from his insurance company, they will reimburse your deductible. You could also ask if they will outright waive the deductible as some policies have a "deductible waiver" provision if another party is at fault. It doesn't sound like you were injured but, if you were, retain an attorney.
Contact your insurance carrier to ensure that some level of investigation takes place (as you did not mention law enforcement). By your account, it appears fault rests elsewhere.
