At Fault Car Insurance Accident – Who Should Pay The Claim?
Reader question:
If I’m changing lanes and somebody in the lane I’m changing to is pulling out of a parallel parking spot, who is the at fault driver if we get into an auto accident?
Jerry
That’s a good question, Jerry.
It all depends on the timing of your little collision ballet, actually. For example, of the other car started pulling out before you started changing lanes, then that would bring one result. But if you started changing lanes before the other car began to pull out, then it would bring another. IT just goes to show how similar situations can be and how different the results are.
From the situation you describe, though, I want to say that it is most likely that the onus of the accident would be on the person who was changing lanes. The reason for this is, to begin with, that any time you collide with someone in a car insurance accident from behind, you are almost always at fault. This even applies when somebody slams on their brakes and then you run into them. The reason for this is that your car insurance company expects you to practice defensive driving techniques, which would have helped you avoid an accident.
It is also probable that if you started to change lanes and the other person started to pull out at the same time, that it would be a case of shared negligence. That way you would be considered responsible for a certain percentage of the other person’s damage, and they for a certain percentage of yours, depending on how much they are considered to be at fault in this car insurance accident. Either way, the person who ended up paying more would be the lane changer.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
No Fault Auto Insurance Quote In NJ – Free New Jersey Auto Insurance Quotes
Reader question:
I live in New Jersey and we have no fault auto insurance laws. What’s the difference between no fault and tort laws?
Hunter
Good question.
No fault laws are designed to lessen the costs upon the insurance companies and to make the whole process easier by putting the onus of the medical expenses for anybody involved in a car accident, no matter who is to blame, on the shoulders of their own car insurance company. This has resulted in a decrease in car insurance prices in most no fault insurance states. However, many experts say that this won’t last for long. No fault insurance is more likely than other types of insurance to foster insurance fraud, and New York is a great example of this.
If you live in a state with no fault insurance, you cannot sue the other party in an accident for damages and pain, or, well, anything else. You can only do that with tort laws. The idea is that the insurance company should cover everything, and that all the lawsuits are expensive and clogging up the court system. Tort laws are also kind of like at fault laws, where the one who caused the accident ends up paying out more of the money, or their insurance company does.
Some states allow you to choose one or the other. You can get no fault, and have cheaper premiums; or you can get tort, have higher premiums but still have the option to sue. Still, in some states there is a middle of the way option that involves being able to sue up to a certain threshold and getting slightly lower premiums. If you are in New Jersey, get an auto free insurance NJ quote to find out which is the best for you.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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