Got into an accident, 50/50 or 100% at fault?
 

I got into an accident a couple weeks ago. I was making a lane change and hit another car. Prior to making the lane changed I shoulder checked and didn't see another car so I made the lane change. After looking at my dash cam footage I am pretty certain that the car I hit was also making a lane change into the same lane.

I showed the video the ICBC and they say the footage and screen shot I provided to them is still not enough to confirm the third party vehicle had made a lane change so I am 100% at fault for the accident.

I've shown the video to a bunch of objective people and they all agree that the video shows that the other car was coming from another lane. What do you guys think?


http://i63.tinypic.com/ek143o.jpg

Looks pretty obvious to me that it's 50/50 and that you both turned into each other at the same time. I'm no expert but just looking at where the damage is + video evidence, you can easily see he turned into it as well

I'm with ICBC can't really tell if they are changing lanes, or if they swerved to avoid you and didn't manage it enough.

Either way sounds like ICBC has made up their minds, your only choice now is if you decide to lawyer up and fight it. I strongly advise against potentially wasting money fighting something like this, I doubt you will come out in better shape than you are in now, and you will cause yourself so much stress and headache dealing with it.

Accidents happen, it's why we all carry insurance. Let the insurance take care of it, and you can more or less move on.

Looks like 50/50.

agreed

Hmm 3 other replies with a definitely opposite answer. Maybe you have a better case than I thought. Starting to think it might be worth it to lawyer up. Ultimately up to you, best of luck.

looks like u were half way in when the collision happened so its possible that both of u 2 merged at the same time unless he swerved by reflex.

50/50 or 100/0 makes no difference to you, your rates will go up. If you know for sure the other car changed lanes into you and won't admit it, i'd fight for 50/50 so both of you are punished. If the other car didn't lane change or you're not sure, chalk this up to an expensive mistake.

Inconclusive - the other MAY have been coming from the other lane but there's not enough evidence to say that it DEFINITELY was coming from the other lane.

I'm leaning more towards 50/50 than he was trying to swerve. If he swerved he wouldn't have looked like he would commit so much to going into that same lane IMO.

it looks to be a 50/50...

But since your dashcam is actually pretty high def, would it be too much if you ask the adjuster/estimator to call all the other drivers on scene?

I mean just by your short clip, ICBC should be able to find the driver for
Grey BMW X5
Orange Honda Element
Black BMW 3er sedan
Black Acura MDX

At this point, I think a 3rd party witness will be your best bet

The gunmetal Acura SUV rolling down their window and looking over likely saw the accident, if you can get their plate from the footage I'd try to see if they can be contacted as a witness somehow.

I can't stand it these days when witnesses see an accident and just fucking drive away like it's absolutely none of their business. What is it with people and not wanting to help these days? Really pisses me off. Especially in Richmond.

/rant

Good luck with the case OP

I think if you take the option of paying everything upfront the rates don't go up. I've had that option before where if I paid 100% upfront it would be like 600 dollars, but if i use insurance it would be like 1k over 3 years. Now having said that, looks like there's a lot of $$$ damage so it won't be worth it in the end.

Yup. For minor fender benders where the only damage is paint scuff or something, it's worth paying out the damage to prevent taking a rate hit. However, most accidents involving new(er) cars will likely exceed the increased rate, making it not worthwhile to buy it out.

My single at-fault accident a few years back ended up amounting to around $5k in damages (90% of that was on my car), whereas my insurance hike was going to be about $900 after everything. Decided to bite the bullet and take the rate increase instead.

Tough call based on the video, best of luck OP.

I could see it both ways personally.

ya but thats usually not an option since 99% of people claim injury no matter how minor the accident. you cant pay out if theres an injury claim in my experience.

from ICBC perspective OP is claiming they were both merging into same lane. other driver saying OP merged into his lane. ICBC knows that OP was merging, video proves OP was merging and nothing else. So from ICBC perspective OP was admittedly merging, but theres no proof other party is lying so not enough evidence to make it 50-50.

only way it would have been 50-50 is if each party claimed the other was merging into their lane. in this case the video did not help OP case one bit, if anything it strengthened the other parties'

I'm pretty sure that from the video, the other car was changing lanes as well. However, because there is no way to prove 100% that he was changing lanes and not just trying to avoid you, ICBC cannot put the other driver at fault. Im assuming the other driver probably told ICBC that you changed lanes into him, hence the 100/0 fault split.

Time to invest in a rear cam maybe?

it's hard to prove that the rav4 changed lanes. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong here...

- it's always the person turning left (for sure in an intersection) that the person is at fault, unless proven.

in this case, if my above statement is correct, the blue rav4 driver could be at fault if he/she admits they changed lane.

Its either you lose or both parties lose. Either way icbc wins.

From your video. Guy was ahead of you so technically he has the right of way (got that from initial d)

The wording is that you are only to turn left WHEN SAFE TO DO SO, same goes for changing lanes... it doesn't matter if the other person is breaking the law (running a red light while you have the green) and hits you... you are still at fault.

My GF is an adjuster, it's incredible how much a kangaroo court system it can be that determines who is at fault, the driver statements are very very important. If they can't determine who is at fault by the statements they will usually call the involved in for an interview and have them draw out the accident as they claim it happened. They will then decide if there is sufficient "evidence" to determine fault.. if at this point they can't determine fault they may go 50/50 or attempt to locate camera footage from businesses etc for more info.

thats good insight.

i'd like to know the outcome since i pass this road after work regularly. main st added more chaos during the holiday season. it felt like i was in china for a sec

Maybe its just me, but it sounded like McLovin from Super Bad saying "oh shit".

get icbc to contact the grey mdx if you can get his plate

good luck

your case has prompted me to start looking for a 2-channel dash cam again.

^ same here...I just took my other car's camcorder and mount it on my SLK's rear window. Going to order a pair of cheap one for the back.

ICBC should lower the premium of whoever has a car cam.