Yay, I got into an accident

[PyRo]

I'm driving down a road, put my left turn signal on and slow down to make the turn. For some reason I decide I'm going to go all the way to the shoulder line. I start to go left, the front of my car is now about 2ft from the line, the back is probably 1ft at most from the shoulder line. Someone pulls up in the right lane of the road I'm turning onto so now I have to go foward a few feet to make my turn I straighten the car out so that I'm going parrellell to the shoulder line about 1ft off it. I never made it straight though, someone on a motorcycle decided to pass me on the right.

Fortunatly he was going slow and the worst injury he got was a bruised knuckle but his bike has about $3,000 in damages and the police put me at 100% fault. Now passing on the right is legal so long as their is enough room to do so in a safe mannor without driving on the part of the road that isn't normally driven on (EG the shoulder). One foot of space was definatly not enough room for him to safely enter. For this reason I don't understand why I was put at fault. Me turning back right was wrong, but so was him unsaftley passing me. My assumption was they were going to split fault between us 50/50.

The cop wasn't the nicest person to deal with either and somehow. I have this feeling, black motorcyclist, black cop, white guy at fault. He was very nice and helpful to the other guy but when I asked him a question he was busy or has to go, when all was said and done he just drove off as I was trying to speak to him. My biggest complaint though, he claims I admitted fault which I never did.

[InfinatyBPS]

Sounds like it sux, bet it makes you hate black people don't it? Damn racist.

[Steelrat]

Hope you took photos. Contest the ticket in court, it can't get any worse then you being 100% at fault.

[PyRo]

Sounds like it sux, bet it makes you hate black people don't it? Damn racist.

Yup. When did I say I was racist? I just can't help but notice the black cop was extreemly nice and helpful the the other black guy and rude to me. Then not only did he take the other guys side of the story but completly ignored that the other guy addmiteed passing through a small space through which he legally should not have went through. Then he went and wrote down somthing I never said on the report to pin fault on me.

Hope you took photos. Contest the ticket in court, it can't get any worse then you being 100% at fault.

Unfortunatly no I didn't, normally I have my camera in my car, I took it out for something earlier today. That could definatly be bad for me now nothing can stop him from claiming he had much more space than he did and that I went over further than I did. Still it's my word against his, why does his have so much more weight?

Contesting this is one of the reasons I'm so not happy with the cop, he told the other guy how to go about getting the accident report that they filled out, putting a claim in to my insurance, etc. Yet he couldn't be bothered speaking to me. The report they gave me (like all tickets and police reports) has no information, not even the department that issued the report. I guess they do it to avoid a million phone calls but I don't know who else to speak to and didn't get any i nformation at the time of the inncodent so I get to call the PD today trying to figure out who to talk to.
Does anyone have any idea if I even can go to court to challenge the police account just to challenge it. Or would I end up waiting and going to represent my insurance company with one of their lawyers?

[Steelrat]

Yup. When did I say I was racist? I just can't help but notice the black cop was extreemly nice and helpful the the other black guy and rude to me. Then not only did he take the other guys side of the story but completly ignored that the other guy addmiteed passing through a small space through which he legally should not have went through. Then he went and wrote down somthing I never said on the report to pin fault on me.



Unfortunatly no I didn't, normally I have my camera in my car, I took it out for something earlier today. That could definatly be bad for me now nothing can stop him from claiming he had much more space than he did and that I went over further than I did. Still it's my word against his, why does his have so much more weight?

Contesting this is one of the reasons I'm so not happy with the cop, he told the other guy how to go about getting the accident report that they filled out, putting a claim in to my insurance, etc. Yet he couldn't be bothered speaking to me. The report they gave me (like all tickets and police reports) has no information, not even the department that issued the report. I guess they do it to avoid a million phone calls but I don't know who else to speak to and didn't get any i nformation at the time of the inncodent so I get to call the PD today trying to figure out who to talk to.
Does anyone have any idea if I even can go to court to challenge the police account just to challenge it. Or would I end up waiting and going to represent my insurance company with one of their lawyers?

See if your city has an ombudsman or someone like that to talk to about problems like this. You can even talk to the chief about it. Were there any other witnesses to the incident?

[billybob_81067]

Unfortunatly no I didn't, normally I have my camera in my car, I took it out for something earlier today. That could definatly be bad for me now nothing can stop him from claiming he had much more space than he did and that I went over further than I did. Still it's my word against his, why does his have so much more weight?

This is why I keep a disposable camera in my glove box... dunno if its any good still due to the heat inside the cab during the summer, but hey it would at least make the other guy think you have pics.

[Lohman446]

Wait a minute. He tried to pass you on the right IN THE LANE YOU OCCUPIED? Thats legal in New York? Passing on the right is commonplace around here, but technically illegal, I would look into that, I obviously do nto know your state laws but I think you will find thats simply not true.

[Stix]

IIRC, you can pass on the shoulder if the guy in front of you is stopped to make a left, and there's only one lane in a given direction. The other situations where I'm aware you can drive on the shoulder is to prepare for a right turn and of course to dodge an obstacle. Well, that's what the guy in driver's ed a long time ago told me. That said, I don't know if the rules for bikes are any different.

Yes, I live in NY.

[SCpoloRicker]

Sounds like it sux, bet it makes you hate black people don't it? Damn racist.

3.5 out of 10 for a fairly subpar troll.

[BobTheCow]

Pyro, cars hate you. Come on. Isn't that common AO knowledge by now?

[Will Wood]

you can pass on the right legally in some places?
Illegal as hell here, and for some reason I can't think of IMO very stupid.

[Lohman446]

you can pass on the right legally in some places?
Illegal as hell here, and for some reason I can't think of IMO very stupid.

Thats kind of my thoughts, about it being legal. It is a very common practice here and I do it myself, not a big deal. That being said, should you be involved in an accident you have violated the law and are at fault. Not all officers know the law, I would definetly check into it in your state - here there must be a lane and dotted lines in order to go to the right and legally pass. I had a friend who had a judge explain it to him after a cop ticketed him for passing on the right, even though, as I said, everyone does it.

[Jaan]

Who ever told you being fair and the law and all that jazz had anything to do with how things work in the real world? Seriously, it doesn't. If the guy on the motorcycle and the cop were friends or relatives then you're going to have to fight an uphill battle. I got hit by a drunk driver once who was also a local firefighter. His insurance paid for my car, but when I brought up the subject of the fact he was falling down drunk to the police who showed up, it was pretty obvious nothing was going to be done about it.

It's disturbing that the officer lied about what you said, but not unexpected. There are a good portion who are corrupted and lie as a matter of course. You've been watching too many episodes of Leave it to Beaver, cops aren't like that in the real world. There are a few really great guys here and there, but unfortunately you've met one of the many bad ones. At least you're learning a good life lesson, "it's not what you know, it's who you ... "

Make sure you communicate with your insurance company ... at least they got a lot of money they don't want to loose and have the right connections (money can do that). Cover your butt too, 10 ways till Sunday. Write everything down that you remember, and include drawings. It wouldn't surprise me if the guy on the motorcycle now claims to have has lifelong knee injuries.

Sorry man, it sucks but that's life.

[VC8228]

Hey, just wondering, did you signal that you were turning right. Makes me glad for no-fault in Michigan.

[PyRo]

See if your city has an ombudsman or someone like that to talk to about problems like this. You can even talk to the chief about it. Were there any other witnesses to the incident?

I plan on calling the police department and hopefully can get pointed in the right direction.
As for witnesses two drunk guys say they saw the accident meaning they looked over when they heard the crash so anything from then is fairly useless.
I did submit a writted statement at the time of the accident but stupidly I didn't give very many details and it won't do me much good. I did go home and write down exactly what happend in great detail and sketch what happend however. I'm going to ask if I can ammend my statement to include this information , even if they don't let me it would be good to have it court since it was information written on the night of the accident and not recalled from memory weeks or months later.

Wait a minute. He tried to pass you on the right IN THE LANE YOU OCCUPIED? Thats legal in New York? Passing on the right is commonplace around here, but technically illegal, I would look into that, I obviously do nto know your state laws but I think you will find thats simply not true.

Passing on the right is 100% legal, I looked up the laws on it last night, I'll post the actual text here.

Pyro, cars hate you. Come on. Isn't that common AO knowledge by now?

Yes they do, thank god I wasn't in my jeep or he would have been under the car and in much worse shape than he is in.

Hey, just wondering, did you signal that you were turning right. Makes me glad for no-fault in Michigan.

I was making a left turn, so no I didn't have my right signal on.

IIRC, you can pass on the shoulder if the guy in front of you is stopped to make a left, and there's only one lane in a given direction. The other situations where I'm aware you can drive on the shoulder is to prepare for a right turn and of course to dodge an obstacle. Well, that's what the guy in driver's ed a long time ago told me. That said, I don't know if the rules for bikes are any different.

Yes, I live in NY.