What are acceptable ways to not breach your duty to try to avoid an accident?
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What are acceptable ways to not breach your duty to try to avoid an accident?
I was in a car accident in which a truck pulling a trailer turned left in front of me when I had the right of way. I hit the breaks as soon as I saw the truck/trailer start to turn, however I was so close to the intersection, there was not enough time for my car to stop. I did not swerve to the left to avoid the trailer as I would have collided with the median in the road or driven into oncoming traffic. I did not swerve to the right as I would have hit the front part of the trailer or the truck. Is breaking considered a resonable way to aviod the addicent? What else could I have done?
Asked on May 15, 2009 under Accident Law, Colorado
Answers:
L.M., Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
You didn't mention anything in your description about the speed at which you were traveling and what the speed limit was. I wonder if you may have been traveling too fast to effectively avoid the accident by applying your brakes. Was this a controlled intersection? It is often difficult to determine fault with accidents that occur in uncontrolled intersections. You indicate that you had the right of way, but who entered the intersection first? You may not have been able to do anything other than what you did to avoid this accident. Without having all the facts, I can only venture to say that there is a decent chance that you will have to bear some portion of the liability if the truck entered the intersection before you and you were exceeding the speed limit.
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