Who would be at fault?

37chief · Jun 12, 2013

My old 54 chevy flat bed has after market turn signals. The one on the right fender can't be seen from the cab. I am driving along I see this guy on his cell phone, waiting to turn. He pulls out in front of me. After we say a few things to each other, neither can understand, I realize I forgot to turn off my right turn signal from the last turn. So If I had hit this guy who would be at fault? Stan

Brian Dan · Jun 12, 2013

In my opinion the other guy would be at fault.
The only thing that he could be assure of from your truck was that your turn signal light worked.
He or she should have waited to see if you did turn.
Brian

504-1 · Jun 12, 2013

His fault.

sd pete · Jun 12, 2013

The other car has to wait for traffic to clear. So his fault till a lawyer gets a hold of it.

Dean · Jun 12, 2013

It's a negligence issue and it will depend upon the law of negligence in your state.

Dean

da.bees · Jun 12, 2013

........Bush........

M-MAN · Jun 12, 2013

It is the center of the vehicle that is hit that determines fault here. If you hit him in front it"s his fault. Anywhere on the back half is your"s. Some troopers will factor in other conditions but it"s not the normal.

Royse · Jun 12, 2013

The driver on the phone, unless the other driver had been drinking.
If you've been drinking, it doesn't matter if you were rear ended, it's your fault.
Seriously though, in most cases he can't rely on a turn signal.
He must wait for traffic to clear, so it would seem to be his fault.
Opinion only, don't put any legal weight on it!

Edit: At least we have a good idea of who's vehicle would survive!

State of Jefferson · Jun 13, 2013

Now THAT'S funny!!!!! >;-)~

Ben

KIP in MX · Jun 13, 2013

To me, if you forget to turn off your turn signals you are at fault. Doesn't matter if the other guy is on the phone. If he saw your turn signal on, he had to assume you were turning. You were in the wrong.

BUTCH IN NY · Jun 13, 2013

I am not 100% sure but isn"t there available
aftermarket turn signals that cancel after your
turn is made. I thought I saw them at one time
mounted right on the steering column on the
left side below the steering wheel.

Phil Scarborough · Jun 13, 2013

Don't you have an indicator light on the dash panel that flashes in sequence with the light on the fender?

MarkB_MI · Jun 13, 2013

Turn signal or not, you still had the right of way. Unless there were no other right hand turns close by, how could he be sure you would turn before you passed in front of him? Of course if there was an accident, you can be sure he would have let the cop know you had your signal on, and probably both of you would have received tickets.

I've found it dangerous to make assumptions about a driver's intentions, based only on their turn signal. If In doubt, I usually wait until they slow down or start to make their turn before I pull out.

Bret4207 · Jun 13, 2013

Well. having spent 20 plus years as a Trooper and having investigated thousands of car accidents, I'll give you my take. IF everyone 'fessed up to what actually happened and you stated your signal was on and he stated he was on the phone, then he'd be at fault for the phone and failing to yield right of way and you'd be at fault for indicating your intention to turn when you weren't turning. I forget the way it's worded in the V+T law, but just as there is a law about indicating your intent to turn by having your signal on at least 100 feet from the turn, there's also one for having the signal on when you aren't turning in that direction. At least in my state there is. It would end up in local court and the ADA would offer both a plea bargain, which I wouldn't advise taking, and it would go from there. What the insurance companies would do I don't know.

Now, chances are that in real life he'd say you had your signal on and you'd say you didn't and he wouldn't go for the phone either. Then it would be based on the evidence at the scene and any witness statements. The chance is he'd be more likely to get the ticket for failure to yield right of way.

Dick2 · Jun 13, 2013

When the law went into effect to have turn signals on trucks, we installed the aftermarket kits on our trucks. They were NOT self-cancelling as they just clamped to the steering column - the driver had to move the lever to center to turn off the turn signal.

However, the ones that we had did have a red indicator light on the switch lever box to indicate that a light was flashing - but it didn't tell you which side was flashing. As I recall, if that red indicator light did not flash when you worked the lever, that was an indication that there was a bulb out somewhere or a loose/broken wire to one of the lights.

John T · Jun 13, 2013

No one here has the authority to rule, if its litigated the Court will hear sworn testimony, look at all the evidence, act as the fact finder and then apply the law (of that state) to the facts as determined. Things such as Negligence,,,,,,Comparative Fault,,,,,,,Contributory Negligence,,,,,,,,Applicable Statutes "could" come into play depending on the law of your state.

The Plaintiff has the burden of proving his case by a "preponderance of the evidence"

John T Country Lawyer

Pitch · Jun 13, 2013

He would still be at fault in court. A lawsuit who knows how fault would be divided by lawyers.
You are an idiot if you pull out n front of someone solely on the basis of a signal flashing. Until I see the other car actually starting his maneuver I have zero faith in any signal.
I am about 80% deaf and sometime don't hear the clicking and am sometimes guilty of the "eventual left".

Billy Shafer · Jun 13, 2013

I think it would depend on the laws in your state.

farmerjohn · Jun 13, 2013

It's always the other guy's fault-I'm a victim. Isn't that the American way???

GeneMO · Jun 13, 2013

Know what a signal light means to me? It means a little light is flashing.

I never trust signal lights. All they do is put me on alert that something might happen.

I have seen people with left signal light on, turn right.

Gene

James Williams · Jun 13, 2013

Cheif,I also have a after market switch on my 49 chevy pu,It does not blink on the inside to warn me.I was told you can remove a peice of cardboard on the inside of the switch where you can see the switch blinking

jimmy

JRSutton · Jun 13, 2013

God only knows what your court system would say -
but I'd guess your insurance companies would find it 70% his fault, 30% yours - or some such split.

His stop sign requires him to stop and proceed with caution - your turn signal doesn't absolve him of that responsibility.

Just like I couldn't fly up behind you on the highway, see that you were signaling to change lanes, and proceed to rear-end you, faulting you for never getting out of the way.

However you certainly weren't doing him a favor by leaving the directional on - so you'd be partially to blame.

Drivers have to observe the true action in front of them, not make assumptions of implied intent. That's why I'd say it's more his fault.

Your turn signal could have been on for another turn beyond where he was.

RBnSC · Jun 13, 2013

Around here no matter the circumstances the truck is always at fault. Don't get Me started.
Ron

37chief · Jun 13, 2013

no indicator light. The truck did not come out with turn indicator lights in 1954. Stan

CH(upstate,NY) · Jun 13, 2013

Bout 30 years ago I was heading down my road in my Jeep CJ7. Went to turn left into my driveway when a dump truck decided to pass me. Hit me right in my drivers door and drove me into one of my trees. Couple weeks later his insurance company calls me and said they didn't feel that they should pay because their client couldn't see my turn signal. I asked them if he also told them there's a solid double line running down the road.

They paid.

1206SWMO · Jun 13, 2013

His fault....I rarely pull out in front of people that have their right turn signal on as I have seen too many of them continue straight ahead...You have to let traffic clear..

pete 23 · Jun 13, 2013

Reminds me of the time I pulled in front of a guy who was up the road a ways, slow traffic in town, his left turn signal on. Anyway, I get out in front of him and he gets right on my bumper. I knew I wrong as he did not turn, so I stopped and apologized for pulling in front of him, said, your left signal is still on. He never said a word and we drove off.

johndeere720diesel · Jun 13, 2013

Well here in Il at least it'd be his fault. My grandma turned in front of someone with their turn signal on and was right in the rear quarter panel and it was her fault

Hal/ Eastern WA · Jun 13, 2013

They used to be available. I had an aftermarket turn signal switch on my 48 Plymouth that had a wheel that rubbed on the back of the steering wheel, which caused it to self cancel. When I installed it on the steering column, I had to do some adjusting to get it in just the right amount of contact with the steering wheel, but after that, it worked just fine. But that was more than 40 years ago, and I would guess that the market for such a device is not nearly as good as it was back in the 50"s and 60"s. My guess is that today finding a turn signal switch like the one I had would most likely be found on e-Bay, or maybe some antique auto supply place.

It sure wouldn"t be that hard to rig a signal light on the dash that would flash every time the flasher unit was in operation. It wouldn"t tell what direction turn signal was on, just that one or the other was flashing. That is what I would do.

At one time, I read that extra loud flasher units were available, but I don"t know if they still are. That would be really easy, just replacing the flasher. Or a buzzer could be wired into the system so it sounded off whenever the turn signals were on. It might be annoying, but I bet it would be effective.

To the question of who would be at fault, in my State, I would guess that most of the blame would be placed with the guy at the stop sign on the cell phone, but I bet most courts would say that signalling and not turning was also contributory and maybe as much as 25% of the cause of the accident. Just my opinion, and I am not a lawyer!

Tim in OR · Jun 13, 2013

anymore it seems that if there is an accident and a trucker stops to render assistance, He just got all the blame.
Tim in OR

Who would be at fault?

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