re: At fault accident question

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This is why dashcams exist.

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FIFY

I wouldn’t trust a hypothetical individual who might not even get assigned to your accident.

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and you better make sure you truly weren't speeding cause that will be a factor.

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This is, for the most part, false.

For example, Let's suppose you are doing 70 MPH in a 50 and some guy pulls in front of you , and you hit him.

He's at fault, the fact that you were speeding is irrelevant.

Accident investigators use a hierarchy of violations to help determine fault and failure to yield > speeding in terms of cause of an accident. This is why if a drunk is involved in accident they are almost always at fault regardless of other circumstances. Accident investigators automatically assume the impairment played a major role in any accident .

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This is, for the most part, false.

For example, Let's suppose you are doing 70 MPH in a 50 and some guy pulls in front of you , and you hit him

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You're absolutely incorrect, especially in a comparative fault state.

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they consider “time and distance” when determining fault, even for rear end collisions.

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And this is why in the OP's example, the driver who pulled out would be at fault . Unless , of course, the OP was incorrect when he said the other driver pulled out "right in front of him" it's a timing situation. And investigators don't have to just take people's words for it. They can use tire marks and debris trails and other things to determine who pulled out when and where. Modern cars are even more and more often being equipped with software that is able to log things like braking distance and such during an accident and police can access that data.

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Also if you would have swerved and hit something due to that person pulling out then it is also their fault.


don't think that is true at all.
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If they leave them it is a hit and run.



they didn't hit anything.

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Wrong. In 2015 I was leaving work near LSU and took the River Road to avoid the traffic. A dump truck pulled in front of the guy in front of me, off of Brightside and turned left onto the River Road.

Guy in front of me had to slam his breaks to avoid hitting the dump truck, and I had to slam my breaks to avoid hitting both the guy in front of me AND the dump truck (since the guy in front of me swerved also, allowing room for my car to shoot right toward the dump truck).

I ended up swerving as well and tried to thread the needle between the guy in front of me and some road signs. I was doing great until I hit mud on the side of the road. Once I hit that mud, it took me right into four or five road signs. Destroyed the entire right side of my car.

The dump truck kept going.

The two students riding in the truck in front of me stopped and checked on me. I asked if they got the dump truck's license plate number and they said they hadn't but offered to go get it while I waited for the cops. They took off and followed the truck driver, got his plate number, pulled him over and told him he caused an accident.

He of course denied any wrong doing and kept going.

Well while I was waiting for the cops the students returned to give me the plate number and while we were standing there talking, the dump truck driver actually came back, slowed down, rolled his window down, and yelled something at us (couldn't understand what he said) BUT I got a good look at him and what he looked like.

The cops got there, gave him our story of what happened, and he said that if they catch the driver, he will be charged with a hit and run since he caused the accident and kept going.

Next morning, I'm on my way back to work in my rental car on the same stretch of road, thinking how awesome it would be if I saw that dump truck and was able to call the cops and have them catch him.

SURE ENOUGH 2 minutes after that thought crossed my mind, I saw the same dump truck pass me going the opposite direction. I turned around and sped up to see the plate. The plate matched!!!

I called 911 and told them I found the guy and that his plate matched. I followed him until he pulled into his job site and the 911 operator instructed me to pull over at a safe distance away so as to not draw attention to myself but to make sure I would see if he left before the cops got there.

Cops arrive, check him out and then came question me. The cop said the following to me,
"Look, the description of the vehicle and his plate matches the witnesses and your statement from the accident. Are you sure this is him? I explained that I was 100% sure because (now that I could see him face to face) I recognized him from when he turned around, came back to the scene, and yelled something at us. If he hadn't done that then I would've never known what he looked like.

That driver was a jackass. He was arrested on the spot for hit-and-run and I never hit his vehicle.

If you read-ended him but you said he pulled out right in front of you, a smart lawyer would look at how far it is from the driveway he left to the point of impact and hammer that in liability negotiations.

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It's not false. Based on the OP's exact scenario , the other driver pulled right in front him, it wouldn't matter if he was speeding or not. You don't yield the right of way simply by speeding, and the person pulling onto the larger road is absolutely required to make sure he has a clear road to pull onto.

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Comparative fault, a concept you do not understand

Pulling out of private drive, you have right of way.

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, the other driver pulled right in front him, it wouldn't matter if he was speeding or not.

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No it does matter, cause it determines a reasonableness of the driver should be able to not hit the vehicle in front of them.

A driver going 60 in a 35 obviously needs an abundant more distance to slow down than a driver going 35. If a cop sees brake marks from a good distance away and sees their inability to stop the vehicle, they know the driver was speeding and being wreckless.