Hi All,
I was involved in an accident last night. Here is how it happened. I was doing around 40 in a 45mph zone in the middle lane, heading south. The car adjacent to me in the left lane signalled and turned into the left turn lane i.e. was no longer in the left lane. Seeing this, I signalled to turn left, looked over my shoulder and had just started moving into the left lane when I saw another car speeding in from behind (already in the left lane). I took evasive action, cancelled my lane change and moved back to the middle lane. Note that we were still a long way from a traffic intersection - around a third of a mile. All these actions on my part were not knee-jerk.. they were smooth and controlled. However, the car that was speeding in assumed I was completing the lane change and the driver slammed on her brakes, her car skidded, she lost control and slammed into a light pole on the greenbelt (road island) head on. After I was already back in the middle lane, I heard her car screech and then crash into the pole - my car was not touched. I pulled over to the right and saw the lady rush over to my car (long story short, she was in shock and sort of hysterical - completely understandable).
I called 911 and a couple of cops showed up. I did not see or talk to the lady after the cops came. One of the cops asked me to pull into a strip mall while the other one attended her car. After around an hour, when her car had been towed and she had left, the other cop came to where we were in the strip mall. He told me she had a witness that I cut her off and he gave me a citation for a unsafe lane change (civil traffic violation). I tried to reason with him telling him that I didn't even complete the turn and was back in my lane when I saw her speeding in. She was well above the speed limit and therefore could not control her car. The cop told me she was given a citation also since she did not have any insurance. Anyway, he said if I attended defensive driving school I would not have to come to court and points would not be put on my record. I called up my insurance (Geico) and told them the incident - they are in the process of investigating (the case is with the 'adjustor'?).
What I wanted to ask was should I contest this ticket or should I just attend the class and get it over with. I do not have any idea how that lady might proceed? I have a low liability coverage (not state minimum but still low). Will attending the class indicate that I'm 'guilty' and can she use that to build a case against me? Or should I fight this ticket out to ensure that she has less of a claim?
Thanks for bearing with the details and thanks in advance for your useful comments.
Best,
--AAA
I was involved in an accident last night. Here is how it happened. I was doing around 40 in a 45mph zone in the middle lane, heading south. The car adjacent to me in the left lane signalled and turned into the left turn lane i.e. was no longer in the left lane. Seeing this, I signalled to turn left, looked over my shoulder and had just started moving into the left lane when I saw another car speeding in from behind (already in the left lane). I took evasive action, cancelled my lane change and moved back to the middle lane. Note that we were still a long way from a traffic intersection - around a third of a mile. All these actions on my part were not knee-jerk.. they were smooth and controlled. However, the car that was speeding in assumed I was completing the lane change and the driver slammed on her brakes, her car skidded, she lost control and slammed into a light pole on the greenbelt (road island) head on. After I was already back in the middle lane, I heard her car screech and then crash into the pole - my car was not touched. I pulled over to the right and saw the lady rush over to my car (long story short, she was in shock and sort of hysterical - completely understandable).
I called 911 and a couple of cops showed up. I did not see or talk to the lady after the cops came. One of the cops asked me to pull into a strip mall while the other one attended her car. After around an hour, when her car had been towed and she had left, the other cop came to where we were in the strip mall. He told me she had a witness that I cut her off and he gave me a citation for a unsafe lane change (civil traffic violation). I tried to reason with him telling him that I didn't even complete the turn and was back in my lane when I saw her speeding in. She was well above the speed limit and therefore could not control her car. The cop told me she was given a citation also since she did not have any insurance. Anyway, he said if I attended defensive driving school I would not have to come to court and points would not be put on my record. I called up my insurance (Geico) and told them the incident - they are in the process of investigating (the case is with the 'adjustor'?).
What I wanted to ask was should I contest this ticket or should I just attend the class and get it over with. I do not have any idea how that lady might proceed? I have a low liability coverage (not state minimum but still low). Will attending the class indicate that I'm 'guilty' and can she use that to build a case against me? Or should I fight this ticket out to ensure that she has less of a claim?
Thanks for bearing with the details and thanks in advance for your useful comments.
Best,
--AAA
