Car X and car Y are approaching the same intersection. X is heading east and will arrive at the intersection before car Y, which is heading south. X takes a quick look and blows through the stop sign. Y does the same and hits the side of X’s car.
Are both cars equally at fault for this accident? After all, they both ran stop signs. Then again, car X’s crime didn’t result in an accident. He didn’t hit anyone. If he had come to a complete stop at the sign and Y had been just a few seconds slower, the accident would have happened anyway.
Another accident-related question: if a driver is drunk, but gets in accident that turns out not to be his fault, does he shoulder the entire legal burden of the accident, or does he just receive a DUI charge?
This is based on my knowledge of Texas laws. YMMV.
Scenario 1: In a situation where there is a question of right of way, and both roads are the same size/number of lanes, etc, the vehicle to the right (car X) would have right of way. Thus, the Southbound driver (car Y) would be at fault. If the roads are different size roads, then naturally, the vehicle on the busier/larger road would have right of way. Since both of them ran stop signs, both should be ticketed, though.
Scenario 2: The drunk driver is at fault since he is driving illegally. Had the drunk not been driving, the accident would not have happened, right?
Yeah, it’s the same in Saskatchewan too. If you’re driving drunk, you’re at fault for any accident you get into, whether it was your fault or not.
Well, here’s the Minnesota POV:
(deep breath) In any accident, each individual involved will be assessed a percentage of negligence based on their contribution to the causation of the accident, balanced against their attempts to avoid the accident once it became apparent that an accident was going to occur. (whew)
Used to work for State Farm as a word processor. Anyway.
The insurance companies have 100 percentage points of fault to give out. Unless your car got stampeded by buffalo, swept away in a flood, or struck by lightning, it’s somebody’s fault (well, the fault of somebody they can get money from, anyway…). Both drivers blew through stop signs. They’re both at fault. The guy going east knew that he’d be fine IF the other guy stopped. The guy going south knew that he’d hit the other guy if he DIDN’T stop, so he didn’t do anything to avoid the accident. I’d say this’d be about 60% on the part of the southbound guy, 40% on the part of the eastbound guy. They’re both morons.
Drunk driver. ENNNHHH! Wrong answer. It’s already his fault. We don’t even need to look at the rest of the question. He’s drunk. He’s driving. He’s history. Even if he didn’t CAUSE the accident, his ability to AVOID it was impaired.
It’s been awhile since I did automobile claims in Indiana, so bear with me.
In these types of accidents we look at where the damage is located on both cars. You said that Y hit the center of X’s car. This suggests that Y is more at fault in this particular accident because he didn’t stop in time to avoid the impact.
Basically if we had a front end to front-end collision, the liability would likely be split. As one car moves to the middle to the rear of his damage there is usually less liability on his part.
If both drivers claim they ran stop signs, then the liability might be split among the two parties. Of course their respective insurance companies will likely drop future coverage because they admit to running stop signs.
It is extremely tough proving that a drunk driver is not responsible for the accident. Of course you do have exceptions where the drunk is stopped at a stop sign and he is rear-ended. Yeah, he was drunk, but not at fault. In accidents where the drunk is in a moving vehicle the loss of control is evidence enough that he could have prevented the accident.
The car to the “right” (Car X) has right of way in Mass if they both arrive simultaneously.
X is guilty of running the stop sign, but nothing else. Once X was in the intersection, everything else was Y’s fault. Y didn’t even take the quick look at the intersection that X did. Y is guilty of running the stop sign, not yielding for traffic, not yielding right-of-way, and probably some other stuff. In general, when car Y hits car X in the side as you describe, it’s probably Y’s fault.
IMO, Y is much more guilty than X.