Who is at fault for car accident in new york city

badcaraccident

New Member
Jurisdiction
New York
I was driving on the Long Island Expressway at a reasonable speed, around the speed limit. A car in front of me seemed to be moving erratically and I thought it might be a drunk driver. I went to the outside lane to pass and avoid being anywhere near this car. As I moved past the car in my lane, the car moved towards me and into my lane and brushed up against me. We stopped at the side of the road after it happened and called the police. I told them that I suspected that the other driver was under the influence of something but I didn't see them perform any type of sobriety test or anything like that. They inspected the cars, heard our statements and I don't know what the report will say. I know that I had hit my brake after the other driver hit me, which was the front left side of their car against my right side doors. No way you can go onto the highway to look for skid marks. I know he was in my passing lane. Is there any law or right of way issue? I wasn't injured but today I'm feeling stiffness in my neck and wonder if it is the result of hitting the brakes. I am worried about this but more about the cost of repairs and also if any tickets will be issued after investigation. I didn't get anything.
 
If you have a legal argument to make, you make it in court.
You can Google "right of way NY" and much will be revealed.
 
If you were in your lane and he turned IN to the side of your car, he will almost certainly be at fault. The only way that you might be at fault (in whole or in part) might be if you were traveling in a lane you should not have been in, or, you were passing at an unlawful and high rate of speed.

Ultimately, notify your insurance company and have them handle the matter.
 
Unless there is clear evidence (based upon collision damage) that it was the other driver's fault then it will be handled as a no fault case. NYPD officers don't do field sobriety tests because they are not trained to do so. The insurance companies will determine fault and the accident report will not contain ANY useful information.

My guess is that the accident will never be deemed anyone's fault. Shame on you for trying to pass the other car - the right thing to do under those circumstances is to slow down and let the other car get away from YOU - you found out the hard way why that is.
 
Question: If NYPD officers do not do SFSTs, if they come across a DUI driver, what do they do?
 
I can understand the original poster's desire to pass the possibly negligent or drunk driver. If the car is going slowly, it may be difficult to hang back and avoid. It's a difficult judgment call made at that time prior to a car accident which is, by definition, an accident. I would be more inclined to agree if the car was speeding, where increasing to a speed that is certainly in excess of the speed limit may place everyone in danger. It is also unnecessary since traveling at a moderately acceptable speed would solve the problem as @Highwayman describes.
 
Question: If NYPD officers do not do SFSTs, if they come across a DUI driver, what do they do?

Arrest based on what are usually poor observations. Par for the course and the assistant district attorneys run with that.

NYS tried to make SFST a mandatory requirement for police Academy training. NYPD lobbied against it and won.

Trying to teach SFST to a recruit class of 1500 wasn't something they wanted to do.
 
There are many exits on the LIE. He could have easily used one to get away from the problem driver.

You are correct, sir.
But, but, but that involves "defensive driving".
Most drivers practice what I term "offensive driving".
From what I read, their acts when caught are truly offensive!
 
Arrest based on what are usually poor observations. Par for the course and the assistant district attorneys run with that.

NYS tried to make SFST a mandatory requirement for police Academy training. NYPD lobbied against it and won.

Trying to teach SFST to a recruit class of 1500 wasn't something they wanted to do.
Wow! I'm surprised that they don't lose DUI case en masse! I have never heard of that! I can understand not being WELL trained in them, or even not being comfortable with them, but not training them at all?! Even the LAPD and LASD academies cover them, and deputies rarely do DUIs unless they work in a contract city! (and most LASD deputies won't see solo road duty for up to 5 years after they have been on the job.)
 
Only recently have some officers in the Highway Patrol received SFST training.

I used to hear regular calls over the radio for someone to respond to the scene of a stop with a PBT. That was relied upon which, of course, is ridiculous.

Arrests were made just based upon observations and since it is common to plea DWI's down to DWAI's the system worked (works).

We rarely see these cases through to court since they rarely go to trial so I can't say what percentage of these cases were "successfully" prosecuted.
 
Wow ... I am stunned. I would think the defense bar would simply choose to fight most every DUI and then eat the investigating officer alive for lack of training and experience. I wonder if other states have this same training issue in any of their major metro areas? Or, with regards to the state troopers/police who one would think SHOULD have that training!
 
The system is so over-stressed that plea bargaining is pushed hard. I would assume that many attorneys would rather take a sure thing rather than take any risk. Or maybe... I don't know. I would think any good defense attorney would do well.

Some years back I had a DWI in the Bronx. Defendant refused the breath test. I had strong observations and notes, including SFST results. The defense put up a fight for a while but eventually took a plea (which included a guilty plea to the DWI - there were other criminal charges involved, but mostly window dressing). Case never went to trial and that was one that I followed since the ADA would call me every few months to get my availability.

NYPD "complaint reports" are pretty much non-reports - some boxes checked off on a work sheet along with a one or two line narrative and it's all input by an administrative aide. I'm guessing that the defense saw my report and was overwhelmed but then again I have no idea for sure - the process did drag on for quite a while.

It's tough to figure out exactly how the criminal justice system "works" in New York City. It's certainly a unique place in many ways.
 
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