usedto
05-21-2011, 10:03 AM
Here's something that ALMOST happened to me, and I'm curious how an LEO would handle it.
I had finished filming my son's HS football game on a Friday night, and headed home. I came to an intersection in preparation to make a right hand turn. The light was red, so I stopped. It is legal at this intersection to turn right on red. The speed limit for the street I was turning on to is 35mph. I looked to my left, and saw various headlights approaching (2 lanes each direction with center turn lane), the nearest vehicles at least half a block (long block - 1/4 mile or so) away - more than enough time to safely make the turn. I proceeded.
What I didn't know was the two cars approaching were a couple of punks in rice rockets racing - doing between 80-100MPH on a BUSY street. I was accelerating pretty quickly, but when I looked in my mirror, the headlights were approaching very fast. I almost don't think the driver was watching, because he didn't appear to lift. All of a sudden, he spotted me and swerved. He crossed both lanes, the center divide, and into one of the oncoming before he got control of his vehicle and pulled it back. After that, he and his buddy turned at the next intersection and continued to race.
My question is: Had he hit me in the rear, who would be at fault?
I've already had one opinion, but I'd like to hear other perspectives.
FYI - I doubt the front of his POS car would have survived the pintle hook/ball receiver trailer hitch on my '97 Chevy 4WD pickup. My neck might not have fared too well, though.
I had finished filming my son's HS football game on a Friday night, and headed home. I came to an intersection in preparation to make a right hand turn. The light was red, so I stopped. It is legal at this intersection to turn right on red. The speed limit for the street I was turning on to is 35mph. I looked to my left, and saw various headlights approaching (2 lanes each direction with center turn lane), the nearest vehicles at least half a block (long block - 1/4 mile or so) away - more than enough time to safely make the turn. I proceeded.
What I didn't know was the two cars approaching were a couple of punks in rice rockets racing - doing between 80-100MPH on a BUSY street. I was accelerating pretty quickly, but when I looked in my mirror, the headlights were approaching very fast. I almost don't think the driver was watching, because he didn't appear to lift. All of a sudden, he spotted me and swerved. He crossed both lanes, the center divide, and into one of the oncoming before he got control of his vehicle and pulled it back. After that, he and his buddy turned at the next intersection and continued to race.
My question is: Had he hit me in the rear, who would be at fault?
I've already had one opinion, but I'd like to hear other perspectives.
FYI - I doubt the front of his POS car would have survived the pintle hook/ball receiver trailer hitch on my '97 Chevy 4WD pickup. My neck might not have fared too well, though.