? for CHP members

[Kestryll]

Last week my Wife an I were involved in a traffic collision.

We were driving Eastbound on the 101 in the #4 lane and I lane changed in to the #3 lane. Prior to the collision I checked the lane, checked the mirrors and the Subaru's warning systems all said we were good to go.

Midway in to the lane we were struck on the driver's side.
I moved quickly back in to the #4 lane and the other vehicle shot past us and ended up ahead of us in the #4 lane as well.

We pulled off the freeway and while we took pictures she sat in her car crying.
She called CHP and of course promptly said 'you hit me', I gave the Officer the details I remembered at the time and then left when we were told we could go.

Today we got the CHP report and it is not even remotely related to what actually happened.
There is no mention of her speeding past us, no mention of her ending up in our lane ahead of us, no mention of the damage to our car showing a clear increasing impact as she came in to us and broke away and the Officer determined that despite the fact that the Subaru will not allow you to lane change in to another vehicle I was at fault.
it's a Subaru, if you try to lane change in to another vehicle it literally steers you back in to your original lane.

So I would like to ask how do I contest this report and have all the missing data included in it because frankly this is bullcrap.

[lexo98]

I was backing out of a parking stall on private property. The lane was one way with arrows clearly marking the direction. As I backed up a car entered the parking lot hauling *** going the wrong direction and we hit. CHP came and told me I had nothing to worry about. Gave me a copy of a basic report. A couple of weeks later I got the full report where he said it was my negligence.

[Samuelx]

Sorry, not CHP - glad you and the Mrs are ok and it wasn't worse!

[DolphinFan]

[blackberg]

had the same thing happen to a friend with Camarillo PD. The report has him at fault when the evidence is clear he wasn't, and the report doesn't match what happened. Officer's response was I'm sorry I can't change it anymore. His son is LEO somewhere and has been reaching out to Camarillo to see if they can do anything.

[Bigdawg90]

I get your frustration and hopefully this doesn’t come across as rude, but in this instance from your own words you would be at fault. Just because the car has technology, that doesn’t relieve you of responsibility to make a safe lane change. i know that’s not what you may have meant but that’s probably how it was perceived. At the end of the day, the report is not the be all end all. It’s not an investigative T/C so the CHP Officer doesn’t have to include separate summaries from each party or any of the additional information that you want in the report.

The report is just a statement of what the officer believes to be the cause of the collision. I don’t know of any specific way to “contest” the report unless there are factual inaccuracies not just omissions. The fact is you merged into a lane where there was another car. That’s supported by your statement regardless of lane change technology. That would be the primary collision factor. The only helpful thing you can do is to ask for an associated collision factor of unsafe speed be attributed to her.

As a helpful aside because, traffic collision reporting requirements are frequently misunderstood, I recommend everyone look up the collision investigation manual. Not to read in its entirety but to be aware of what officers actually report during a basic non-injury collision. It’s bare bones and should not be expected to truly summarize or capture the incident. There’s no evidence collection, unless they changed policy CHP doesn’t even take pictures, and there’s no actual recording of statements.

I’m sorry it happened to you but at least you and your wife are safe.

[Escalado]

Let's start with a couple things. 1st of all your Subaru will let you change lanes even if it believes a car's there. Saying that it won't is just factually incorrect. It promps you with a light, audible warning and a slight direction correction but to say it prohibits you from changing lanes is false. It would be insane for a vehicle manufacturer to stop you from changing lanes if an emergency occurred. Teslas drive themselves and you can overide the self drive with a steering input and have a collision. Your statement would.basically be saying the Subarus are incapable of unsafe lane changes...which is false.

What the Subaru wont do is alert you if you make a lane change as a vehicle is "approaching" your rear from lets say 1 or 2 carlengths back (20ft). It will alert of the vehicle is "at" your rear. If this occured you would be at fault and your Subaru "never alerted you".

Secondly REGARDLESS of what you think you saw, felt, heard what your Subaru told you etc etc. If that other driver said they were travelling in the #3 prior to your lane change from the #4 then you are at fault...period. The only thing that could save you was if you could prove they were travelling at a speed so great that they forfeited their "right of way" due to their excessive speed. If they are claiming they were established in that lane prior to your movement then it is your repsonsibility make the lane change safely. Could they accomplish this by outright lieing?? Yes.

Read the report im sure she is listed as "P-2" i would bet 1 billion dollars she stated she was travelling in the #3 prior to your movement....

Thirdly the lane they ended up in following the collision has little to do with what occured. When your travelling at 110ft/per second cars do weird things. If i was in the #3 and you lane changed me i could easily collide with you and end up in any lane depending on my actions "after" the collision.

Lastly "side swipe" damage provides little info on who was doing what prior to a collision. Im going to guess her damage starts on the passenger side front till about 3/4 down the vehicle and yours starts drivers side rear going 3/4 towards the front. Again if she stated she was in the lane the entire time this can be indicative of your vehicle travelling into her lane as she proceeded forward. It can also be that she moved from the #2 to #3 as you moved from the #4 to #3 (my guess).

They way fault gets determined is by asking what movement prior to the collison had the greatest impact on the collision occuring? If she stated she was going straight then your lane change would be that movement. I would also bet the "PCF" on the report is 22658vc ( unsafe lane change)

You have to be careful when you give statements. If i took a report and someone was stating to me that their vehicle prohibits them from making unsafe lane changes i would immediately scrutinize their statement being that they are already providing inaccurate information....

[shojivic]

It's all about having that dash cam setup settle the debate.. Maybe not everytime, but more often than not.

[Californio]

Have you considered that P2 was in the #2 lane and that you both changed lanes into the #3 Lane at the same time?

[boattail]

Your insurance will find who is at fault independently from the CHP. While not a CHP handle my wife was in a parking lot traveling through a intersection when a vehicle traveling from her right came through the same intersection. He hit her. She gave a statement to the police that she was traveling through the intersection and then going to park on the left. He said he was going through the intersection. The police put my wife at fault because she was making a turning maneuver. She had to get through the intersection before any turning could happen so we contested the report. The Sgt was less than helpful and did not want to hear what my wife had to say. Myself being in law enforcement pressed the issue until he said he would reopen the file and check it. We left his office at 10:30 am....the report showed up two days later time stamped 10:32 am the same day.

Our insurance reviewed the case and determined the other driver at fault and we did not have to pay for any damages. More than likely your insurance will go 50/50 on fault. Don't sweat it. The officer at my wife's wreak made up her mind who was at fault before she did any leg work. That is most likely what happened in your case from statements made at the time...whether truthful or not by either party.

[Spanky8601]

Last week my Wife an I were involved in a traffic collision.

We were driving Eastbound on the 101 in the #4 lane and I lane changed in to the #3 lane. Prior to the collision I checked the lane, checked the mirrors and the Subaru's warning systems all said we were good to go.

Midway in to the lane we were struck on the driver's side.
I moved quickly back in to the #4 lane and the other vehicle shot past us and ended up ahead of us in the #4 lane as well.

We pulled off the freeway and while we took pictures she sat in her car crying.
She called CHP and of course promptly said 'you hit me', I gave the Officer the details I remembered at the time and then left when we were told we could go.

Today we got the CHP report and it is not even remotely related to what actually happened.
There is no mention of her speeding past us, no mention of her ending up in our lane ahead of us, no mention of the damage to our car showing a clear increasing impact as she came in to us and broke away and the Officer determined that despite the fact that the Subaru will not allow you to lane change in to another vehicle I was at fault.
it's a Subaru, if you try to lane change in to another vehicle it literally steers you back in to your original lane.

[B]So I would like to ask how do I contest this report and have all the missing data included in it because frankly this is bullcrap.

You will need to contact the CHP office listed on the information card you were provided at the accident scene. Ask to speak with the AI review officer, who signed off on the collision. (Initials will be on the bottom of the report) Then when you receive no satisfaction ask to speak with the Special Duty Sergeant. Ask him the procedure for filing a "Supplemental" statement of facts which you are requesting to have attached to the investigation.

After all of this the insurance company will make their own determination as to fault and make appropriate monetary compensation.

[xcop]

chaning lanes

Not CHP but was traffic cop for years. You need to rotate your head and look at your blind spots. Your mirrors will not show you if someone is in a lane next to in the area of your rear wheels.........both sides. Another thing based on my observation is many drivers let up on the gas as they begin to change lanes so they slow down slightly and the car in the blind spot gains on them. Find your blind spots.

[Devilock04]

[BigStiCK]

You will need to contact the CHP office listed on the information card you were provided at the accident scene. Ask to speak with the AI review officer, who signed off on the collision. (Initials will be on the bottom of the report) Then when you receive no satisfaction ask to speak with the Special Duty Sergeant. Ask him the procedure for filing a "Supplemental" statement of facts which you are requesting to have attached to the investigation.

After all of this the insurance company will make their own determination as to fault and make appropriate monetary compensation.

^^^^THIS^^^^

This gentleman knows what he's talking about.

[asphaltcowboychip]

You will need to contact the CHP office listed on the information card you were provided at the accident scene. Ask to speak with the AI review officer, who signed off on the collision. (Initials will be on the bottom of the report) Then when you receive no satisfaction ask to speak with the Special Duty Sergeant. Ask him the procedure for filing a "Supplemental" statement of facts which you are requesting to have attached to the investigation.

After all of this the insurance company will make their own determination as to fault and make appropriate monetary compensation.

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