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While I was on AP, a reckless driver Hit and Ran me.

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R

Ricky

Member
Feb 8, 2016
32
11
United States
#1
Hi, I have been a Tesla driver for sometime now, have owned 2 model S's (Miss Awesome 85 and Miss Hallelujah P85D).

I am reaching out to the community, partly to inform and partly for advice.

Facts:


This is the link to my dash cam footage that I posted.

The guy that was driving the truck has Allstate and they refusing except responsibility.

The cops have seen the video and there is a pending criminal case against the driver of the truck.

$2900. in damages.

Question:

Anyone know a lawyer that can provide assistance?

Thank you.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: morbidz
#4
luckyj said:
My advice is to be careful. Even though the guy broke the law and acted like a dumbass, you could clearly see him coming over and had plenty of time to react and avoid that accident, but you didn't. But sorry that happened, and don't know any lawyers to recommend.
Click to expand...
I agree that he should have let the guy come into the lane, however legally he has no obligation to give the guy room. It is the other driver's responsibility to make sure the lane is clear to make a lane change. Maybe where OP is that is not how it works, I want to know why the other guys insurance refused responsibility.
Also OP take down this post until everything is settled.
 
  • Like
Reactions: croman and MIT_S60
#6
luckyj said:
My advice is to be careful. Even though the guy broke the law and acted like a dumbass, you could clearly see him coming over and had plenty of time to react and avoid that accident, but you didn't. But sorry that happened, and don't know any lawyers to recommend.
Click to expand...

While he was coming into your lane your AP was also still moving the car forward. If you were not running AP this would have been avoided.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Petrocelli
#7
luckyj said:
My advice is to be careful. Even though the guy broke the law and acted like a dumbass, you could clearly see him coming over and had plenty of time to react and avoid that accident, but you didn't. But sorry that happened, and don't know any lawyers to recommend.
Click to expand...
AP saw him too, it was attempting to avoid the object but it did not anticipate his movement.
 
#8
The truck driver also crossed TWO solid white lines which is an illegal lane change:

Double white lines are two solid white lines that indicate a lane barrier between a regular use and a preferential use lane, such as a carpool/HOV. Never change lanes while in these lanes; wait until a single broken white line appears. You may also see these parallel lines in or near freeway on and off ramps. California Driver Handbook - Traffic Lanes
​
The only thing is his defense is these long bed double cab lifted trucks are HEAVY and literally "ride like trucks"... leaving the possibility the that maybe driver didn't really feel the collision especially since they were focused on changing lanes. MAYBE.

Sadly California Highway Patrol policy no longer responds to OR writes tickets for non-injury accidents even though traffic laws are broken. When I called 911 after being rear ended in L.A. while still on an offramp of the 5 freeway last December they asked "Is anybody injured?" and when I responded "NO" they said "exchange insurance information with the other driver... CHP doesn't respond to minor accidents".

However the fact that the driver of the truck violated traffic law should make it a "slam dunk" at fault accident.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PhilDavid and APotatoGod
#9
Nogasmn said:
I agree that he should have let the guy come into the lane, however legally he has no obligation to give the guy room. It is the other driver's responsibility to make sure the lane is clear to make a lane change. Maybe where OP is that is not how it works, I want to know why the other guys insurance refused responsibility.
Also OP take down this post until everything is settled.
Click to expand...

His insurance said that they are standing by there insureds statement.
 
#11
He cut across a double white line, it's true, but you basically ran into his rear end, auto pilot or not. This will be thrown out quickly and I wouldn't invest a great deal in lawyers because you may get stuck with a bill much higher than anything you get from a lengthy court battle. I've seen far more cut & dry cases end up being lost so what you have here is not a guarantee. Far from. I know you want to blame the big bad truck driver for singling you out in your EV but the reality is you could have and should have stopped in place where you were. Accelerating into him is akin to intentionally hitting someone, regardless of if they're fully in the lane or not.
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
Reactions: DanCar and morbidz
#17
The problem is that AP leaves too much of a gap, maybe the truck driver thought that you were leaving that gap for them to get into, and misjudged the space. You gotta keep that gap tight in traffic like that, by using the accelerator to move up abit. Don't even let them think they can cut in front of you like that. Blowing the horn helps too. You did blow the horn, right? You made a mistake by leaving the gap, but the truck driver is fully at fault, and should be given a ticket for crossing the solid white lines.
Just report it to your insurance company, and they will sue all state to recover the money. Doing it any other way is likely going to take alot more time and resources from you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Knightowl, croman and PhilDavid
#18
isracing said:
Agreed with most everybody else, it's your fault for not paying attention. Your job as a driver is to make sure you are aware of all things come towards you regardless of who broke the law by driving over solid lines. Pay more attention next time and chalk it up as an expensive lesson.
Click to expand...
I agree that he could possibly have avoided the accident if he had disengaged autopilot, but that doesn't make it his "fault".
I don't think it would be unreasonable to state that you were not expecting another drive to cross solid white lines into your lane and cut you off.
I'm not sure how these situations are supposed to work if the two insurance companies can't agree on fault. Is there some established procedure in these cases?
 
  • Like
Reactions: croman and PhilDavid
#19
Ricky said:
Hi, I have been a Tesla driver for sometime now, have owned 2 model S's (Miss Awesome 85 and Miss Hallelujah P85D).

I am reaching out to the community, partly to inform and partly for advice.

Facts:


This is the link to my dash cam footage that I posted.

The guy that was driving the truck has Allstate and they refusing except responsibility.

The cops have seen the video and there is a pending criminal case against the driver of the truck.

$2900. in damages.

Question:

Anyone know a lawyer that can provide assistance?

Thank you.
Click to expand...
shoulda let him merge...
 
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