My brother was hit by a car...

[Fangs]

My brother was hit by a car while he was on his motorcycle (a little Honda Rebel 250cc). Fortunately he was only doing 30mph and wearing all of his protective gear. He walked away with some bruises but that's about it, not bad for having ended up trapped underneath the lady's suburban sandwiched with his bike.

His bike is totaled though.

What's really bothering me is that the officer who responded told him it was his fault, and it looks like his insurance is pegging it on him too. This is where all you older and wiser guys come in.

I made a picture to help explain the situation, and no one is denying that this is how it happened (My brother, the lady who hit him, and a witness all have the same story). He was told it's his fault because "she couldn't see him".

...and I may very well be wrong, but it just doesn't seem like it to me. Anyway, here's the narrative followed by the pic:

My brother was on a main road following behind another car. The car slowed and turned left, and as my brother continued on his way a lady turned to her left from the oncoming lane and squished him under her suburban. See below, the dotted lines show intended paths:



Am I the only one who thinks she's at fault? Since when is, "I didn't see him there" a valid excuse? Since when does turning in front of someone make it their fault? If I am wrong, can someone at least explain why?

I don't get upset often, but this has me pretty ... and no, I don't care that she was on probation for a DWI and is only allowed to drive to work and the grocery store and back.

[MoJo]

Thank the Lord your brother is OK it could have been so much worse. From your drawing and description the woman who hit your brother should have gotten the ticket. Fight the ticket he may need an attorney.

[shortysboy09]

If the, " I never saw the motorcycle " excuse was valid to make the accident not the cars fault then 100 % of all motorcycle wrecks would be the bikes fault. That excuse will never hold up and I doubt any insurance company would use that as a reasoning to dismiss liability if they were smart. If taken to arbitration and that excuse was used, the insurance company wouldn't have any chance of getting away with that. Get a copy of the police report and see who it claims is at fault. Your brother had right of way, did he say if the lady was distracted by something like a cell phone? If so, The records can be pulled showing that she was talking on the phone. I have been shafted by an insurance company and a lying driver and it's not fun. Don't let them get away with it!

Just curious, Where did the impact occur? Like, did she hit the side of his bike, did he hit the front corner of her car or the side of her car?

[C-dub]

That is very similar to the accident where my wife and I were hit by a 16y girl. There was a car next to turning into a parking lot and we were continuing straight. She turned in front of us and claimed she never saw us. She was at fault for violating my right of way and her insurance paid for everything.

Your brother had the right of way and she failed to yield. I can't see how she is not at fault. IMHO, he should fight it! If he doesn't it will be on his record, insurance will be more expensive, and he or his own insurance will have to for his bike and her suburban.

[Oldgringo]

The exact same thing happened to me in Nashville in May of 1963 except that I was driving my beloved Austin Healey 3000 when an old woman turned her '56 Chevy left in front of me. Of course, my Healey was totaled and her Chevy had a dent in its side about the size of my hardhat.

Long story short: my insurance did what it was supposed to do and even defended me 3 years later when she sued for $$$. BTW, the jury awarded her $3,000 of 1966 money for some reason?

Why can I remember these things and can't remember what I had for, or even if I had, lunch yesterday?

Glad your brother's okay. I won't bore y'all with my escape from death and dismemberment on a motorcycle when a school bus pulled out in front of me in 1956 or when my BIL was killed on his bike in 1973.

[dicion]

That is very similar to the accident where my wife and I were hit by a 16y girl. There was a car next to turning into a parking lot and we were continuing straight. She turned in front of us and claimed she never saw us. She was at fault for violating my right of way and her insurance paid for everything.

Your brother had the right of way and she failed to yield. I can't see how she is not at fault. IMHO, he should fight it! If he doesn't it will be on his record, insurance will be more expensive, and he or his own insurance will have to for his bike and her suburban.

As someone heavily involved in Traffic, having to know pretty much all laws and rules specifically regarding intersections, I agree. Your brother had the right of way.

Get a lawyer.

Technically, Both the lady and the guy in front of your brother executed the turn incorrectly as well. Unless the intersection is striped differently (striping always overrules convention), you are supposed to PASS the other driver, then turn left. Diagram forthcoming.

EDIT: Alright, This is how the turn SHOULD have been executed. I removed your brother from the diagram for clarity.
If they HAD executed the turn like this, properly, the lady may have seen your brother, and not turned. This is one of the reasons you are supposed to turn like this.
It gives the turning driver a better view of what is forthcoming since other turning cars are not passing in front of them, but rather, behind them.



Lots of people execute it like your original diagram because, in large cities, intersections are very wide, have multiple turning lanes and are striped to do it like that. However, with the lack of striping stating otherwise, you are always supposed to turn PAST vehicles turning the other direction, not in front of.

[grumble]

The only way I can see fault falling on your brother is that if he was not truly "following" the car turning left (green path), but had grown impatient and decided to pass the car on the right while it was waiting/making the left turn. If that is the case, the lady who hit him may have been focused on the car turning left in front of her, and assumed that the path was clear. I ride a bike, and have caught myself many times wanting to pass on the right to get by a car that is turning - problem is that you are practically invisible to oncoming traffic if you do so.

Sorry about his injuries - and hope all works out well.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the Motorcycle Safety Foundations rider courses are not just your friend, they WILL save your life. I have made it a habit to take the ERC (experience rider course) at a MINIMUM of every two years - and most times I take it at one year intervals. It gives you a chance to hone your awareness skills AND PRACTICE OVER AND OVER your evasive skills.

[BobCat]

I'm glad your brother is ok.

This is a classic "left turner" right-of-way violation that happens to motorcyclists regularly. If your brother was going straight, he had the right of way; she was turning and did not.

"Didn't see him" is no excuse - presumably he had his headlight on - as others have said more eloquently than I.

Hang in there and follow up in court. Presuming your drawing and explanation is correct, which I do not doubt, your brother was/is not at fault. The person who turned left in front of him is at fault.

Oh - and +1 for grumble - the MSF course is great.

Regards,
Andrew

[ELB]

Given the story presented, I don't see how your brother did not have the right of way, therefore fault = hers.

Glad he is not hurt worse, he is very lucky in that regard. Wearing all his protective gear no doubt bought him some of that luck.

[The Annoyed Man]

During the 5-6 years I worked in an ER, the most common type of bike vs car accident victim we saw was a bike rider who had the right of way getting hit by a car turning left in front of him. The car driver always claimed he/she "did not see him." This included guys wearing brightly colored racing leathers on bright red motorcycles with headlight devices that pulse back and forth between high and low beam.

It is absolutely true that the car driver does not "see" the bike rider, but that is irrelevant to whether or not they are at fault. "Did not see" the other vehicle is not a defense to prosecution if you hit that other vehicle.

Tell your brother to lawyer up and bring it on. Finding an attorney to take this one on should be pretty easy because the evidence is so overwhelmingly in his favor. Among the tasks at hand is to sue his insurance company on a bad faith complaint. If your brother, the other driver, and the officer on scene all agree that she turned left in front of your brother with the excuse that she did not see him, it will be a no-brainer to find the other driver culpable of having caused the accident, and the insurance company guilty of bad faith. He will likely win. He may also be dropped by his insurance company, but he can get another, and the company needs to pay for bad faith, or they will do it to others.

I have no problem paying insurance companies for coverage that I, hopefully, will never need; and I have no problem with a company operating at a profit. But my relationship with my insurance company is a TWO-way street, not one. And after paying out thousands of dollars every year between vehicle and homeowners insurance to the same company without ever filing any kind of claim in most years, they darn well better pay out and make all things right when it comes turn to file a claim. If they don't, then a good lawyer should be able to take them downtown. One thing I learned in the years I worked for a publisher of law journals is that juries do not like insurance companies that refuse to step up and meet their side of the business relationship they have with their clients, and those same juries are apt to be very generous to the plaintiff.

Tell your bother to get a lawyer. If he's telling the truth, this will be a piece of cake.

[gemini]

Oh - and +1 for grumble - the MSF course is great......... make it +2 for grumble.
MSF course is great fun besides helping to improve your skills. (very small insurance discout too).

People have a tendency to look twice at oncoming cars....they look "through" motorcyles.
You must ride like you're invisible to the caged driver. How close was your brother following
the car in front of him? Although that's not an excuse for the driver hitting him, it might have
prevented her from seeing him if she cut immediately behind/in front of the other car turning left.
Hope your brother is OK. Safety gear is worth every penny. Buy it, wear it, always.

[Keith B]

I worked several automobile vs. motorcycle accidents as a LEO. This was back in the day before the headlight came on automatically. That helped, but people just don't watch for bikers of any type.

I remember working one accident where an elderly gentleman had pulled out in front of the biker. As the EMT's were loading the rider on the stretcher I was interviewing the man. I asked him "Didn't you see something coming down the highway toward you?" and he responded "All I saw was a motorcycle."

[RPB]

25 years at a personal injury firm ...
I"ve heard ...

"I didn't see him there" because ...
I dropped my cigarrette on the floormat
I was picking up my coke off the floor that I dropped
My kid in the back seat distracted me
Sun was in my eyes and my sunglasses aren't polorized
Temporary night vision loss after lighting a cigarrette
talking on my cell phone
dialing my cell phone
trying to find the mascara in my purse
looking for my Janis Joplin CD
a mosquito was on my leg
and once or twice .... "because I was asleep" (DWA, driving while asleep????)
etc etc etc
See my next post in this same thread ...
(EDITED to delete Stop Sign language)

[Fangs]

My brother has the biggest phobia of following too close to another car, knowing him he was a good 3 car lengths behind the car in front of him at least. I might go grab a picture of the intersection later today, but it's a relatively narrow road. I don't think he'd try squeezing past a car, but I also don't think he'd have had enough room if he wanted to.

The wreck happened at 9pm, so it was dark. His headlight comes on automatically when the key turns in the ignition.

The lady hit him on the front left with the front center of her car, squishing him underneath her suburban. He had to have her back up so that he could get out.

It really helps to hear that I'm not not crazy for thinking that this isn't right. Looks like we're going to take the lawyer road.

Oh, and it's not that his insurance won't pay out. He has full coverage and they are more than willing to pay. For some reason (maybe because it's only a $3,000 bike? Idk) they aren't willing to contest him being blamed for it.

I agree with the MSF Course, and I took it at the recommendation of a friend, and my brother took it at my recommendation. His class was less than a year ago, since then he's put over 20,000 miles on his little bike with no problems until now.

Oh, the lady didn't have a stop sign RPB, she was in the oncoming traffic lane of the main road. Sorry if I didn't make this clear. The stop signs in the picture are for the side street that the other car and the lady was turning onto.