My question involves a traffic accident in the State of: California
I was on my motorcycle traveling down a 2-lane highway and a car traveling in the opposite direction turned left in front of me. I'm not sure if the entrance to the parking lot that the other driver was turning into constitutes the crossing as a intersection or not, but there were no stop signs or traffic signals. There was only a left turn lane available to opposing traffic. I clearly had the right of way and I was in plain sight to the other driver. There were no vehicles in front of me or the other driver to limit visibility of one another. He either didn't see me being a minor and a novice driver, or misjudged my distance, and turned in front of me approx. 20 ft away. I was traveling at 30 to 35 mph in a 35 zone and progressing into a 40mph zone. The only exception to this was the 25mph sign "when children are present", but the only child present was the operator of the opposing vehicle that turned in front of me.
Had I not been paying attention, I would have t-boned the vehicle that was completely in my path. There was another driver waiting to turn behind the car in my path, so my options were limited: swerve left and head-on with the car outside of my lane, swerve right and get struck by the turning vehicle on the left side of my motorcycle with the front of his vehicle. I chose to aim for the pocket at the rear of the turning vehicle and struck it at the rear passenger quarter-panel, ricocheting off the vehicle and into a dirt patch nearby and just past the vehicle.
My right-leg suffered major swelling and bruising, a large gash from my knee to shin (8in x 1/2in) and limited mobility. Thankfully no broken bones and healing nicely. My motorcycle suffered bent forks and frame damage and the other party's insurance has deemed it totaled. Prior to inspection, the kid and his father left me a voicemail asking to settle outside of insurance, but I did not return their phone call. I advised him after the exchange of information that we both need to file a claim with our insurance and allow them to perform the investigation.
I've agreed to accept the valuation on my motorcycle and a small sum for my injury/inconvenience, however, the claim has been held up as the kid's father is requesting the that the driver of the vehicle waiting to turn behind his son provide a witness statement. I've been informed that there is a bit of phone tag going on with the witness, and I believe they are faculty member. I'm under the presumption that the other party believes that this witness statement will achieve a favorable result in regards to liability. Should I be concerned? If the witness claims I was speeding, their visibility of oncoming traffic was limited beyond the vehicle in front of them up until the other party's vehicle had entered my path, at which point I had already begun braking.
Not quite sure where the situation stands..
I was on my motorcycle traveling down a 2-lane highway and a car traveling in the opposite direction turned left in front of me. I'm not sure if the entrance to the parking lot that the other driver was turning into constitutes the crossing as a intersection or not, but there were no stop signs or traffic signals. There was only a left turn lane available to opposing traffic. I clearly had the right of way and I was in plain sight to the other driver. There were no vehicles in front of me or the other driver to limit visibility of one another. He either didn't see me being a minor and a novice driver, or misjudged my distance, and turned in front of me approx. 20 ft away. I was traveling at 30 to 35 mph in a 35 zone and progressing into a 40mph zone. The only exception to this was the 25mph sign "when children are present", but the only child present was the operator of the opposing vehicle that turned in front of me.
Had I not been paying attention, I would have t-boned the vehicle that was completely in my path. There was another driver waiting to turn behind the car in my path, so my options were limited: swerve left and head-on with the car outside of my lane, swerve right and get struck by the turning vehicle on the left side of my motorcycle with the front of his vehicle. I chose to aim for the pocket at the rear of the turning vehicle and struck it at the rear passenger quarter-panel, ricocheting off the vehicle and into a dirt patch nearby and just past the vehicle.
My right-leg suffered major swelling and bruising, a large gash from my knee to shin (8in x 1/2in) and limited mobility. Thankfully no broken bones and healing nicely. My motorcycle suffered bent forks and frame damage and the other party's insurance has deemed it totaled. Prior to inspection, the kid and his father left me a voicemail asking to settle outside of insurance, but I did not return their phone call. I advised him after the exchange of information that we both need to file a claim with our insurance and allow them to perform the investigation.
I've agreed to accept the valuation on my motorcycle and a small sum for my injury/inconvenience, however, the claim has been held up as the kid's father is requesting the that the driver of the vehicle waiting to turn behind his son provide a witness statement. I've been informed that there is a bit of phone tag going on with the witness, and I believe they are faculty member. I'm under the presumption that the other party believes that this witness statement will achieve a favorable result in regards to liability. Should I be concerned? If the witness claims I was speeding, their visibility of oncoming traffic was limited beyond the vehicle in front of them up until the other party's vehicle had entered my path, at which point I had already begun braking.
Not quite sure where the situation stands..
Determination of Fault: Left Turn Accident, on 2 Lane Highway
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