FlamingChicken
New member
Hi all, this is my first post, unfortunately not motorcycle related, however, it’s insurance related thus ended up here. I know that people here are very knowledgeable as I have took the advise here on finding insurance and choosing my first bike, I sincerely thank you all for taking the time to read through my post and perhaps provide some advise on my situation.
My girlfriend was involved in an accident with a tour bus a couple weeks ago. She and a couple of her friends that are in the car were not hurt, but the estimated damage to her car is at least $7500. She only have liability on her policy and looking for advise on what to do now. This is how the accident happened in chronological order to the best of my ability: The tour bus was sitting in the left turn lane in a parking lot (I’m not sure if there is such thing as left turn n right turn lane on exits of a parking lot as there is no line marked on the ground and wide enough to park two vehicles side by side) waiting to go on Markham Rd. Seeing that the bus is very far from the right side curb and can not recall seeing the right turn signal of the bus she proceed to the right turn lane waiting for the bus to proceed so she can see the traffic. I would like to stress that the bus leave a very wide space between the right curb and the bus itself, my girlfriend did not squeeze into that space by any means, in fact it’s so wide that when the bus turned right into her there’s space for my girlfriend to move right a little to try to avoid the accident. My girlfriend was fully stopped for a second or two already before the bus started to move. So yea, the bus made a right turn into the front fender, mirror, front door (which all needs to be replaced) of her car and pushes it into the right curb resulting damage to the right front wheel and marks of impact on left rear door and rear quarter panel as well. When my girlfriend know the intention of the bus is to make a right turn, she sounded her horn and moved right little trying to avoid the impact, the bus did not stop after hitting the car, but proceed to turn right and continued down the road for a good 100 meter as if the bus did not hit anything. Eventually the bus stopped as probably the passenger notified the driver that he has hit something during the turn.
The tour bus was from Quebec and with the help of a translator/tour guide from the bus they exchanged information (as my girlfriend don’t speak French nor the driver of the bus speak English). They called the police and after 4 hrs. of waiting they arrived and recorded the accident. The police determined my girlfriend was at fault because she did not pay attention to the bus’ turn signal and the bus need a lot more space to complete the right turn because its very long, and from interviews with the passengers of the bus that my girlfriend came out not nowhere, (but since the passenger of the bus wasn’t the one driving and paying attention of the surrounding, I'm not sure how much their statement will worth), thus she shouldn’t be on the right lane in the first place. The police officer didn’t issue a ticket to my girlfriend as the accident happened in a private property. We did not argue with the police, as I know that how the police officers and insurance companies determine fault is different and there was no ticket issued. Our argument is that the bus is sitting very far to the left leaving very sufficient space to the right for a car that is not squeezed in by any means, and that given the bus driver know its vehicle’s size, when making a turn the driver should be more cautious and check the mirror to see if there is any object in the way (my girlfriend was told by the tour guide that the bus driver didn’t check the mirror, however I don’t know how the tour guide know or if it will play any significance). Please note that I’m not trying to demonize the bus driver to make us for valid by any means, but what if it wasn’t my girlfriend’s car but a bicycle or motorcycle, even with her car’s loud horn the driver still didn’t realized there’s a car there, a cyclist or rider may have a harder time alerting the bus driver. This is simply a hypothetical situation and the cyclist or rider might have being able to steer away due to its smaller size, but what if they weren’t able to for any reason. I know that large vehicles require more space to complete a turn but large semi don’t use a different lane to make a right turn, they simply drive straight for a little more so the rear wheels will clear the curb and make a tight turn to get back to correct lane. Given the estimate damage to my girlfriend’s car is substantial, and we are not sure how the insurance company is going to determine fault in this case, we are not sure what to do now. Should we try to claim it with the insurance company hoping they will determine the bus driver was at fault or just suck it up and pay for the repair out of our own pocket? Friends and family aren’t familiar with situations like these so I’m hoping fellow rider and those with knowledge on such subject can provide me with some advise. I again, would like to sincerely thank you all for reading such long post as I try to provide more detail of the accident, it meant a lot to me for you all to take the time to read through all this. Thanks again.
My girlfriend was involved in an accident with a tour bus a couple weeks ago. She and a couple of her friends that are in the car were not hurt, but the estimated damage to her car is at least $7500. She only have liability on her policy and looking for advise on what to do now. This is how the accident happened in chronological order to the best of my ability: The tour bus was sitting in the left turn lane in a parking lot (I’m not sure if there is such thing as left turn n right turn lane on exits of a parking lot as there is no line marked on the ground and wide enough to park two vehicles side by side) waiting to go on Markham Rd. Seeing that the bus is very far from the right side curb and can not recall seeing the right turn signal of the bus she proceed to the right turn lane waiting for the bus to proceed so she can see the traffic. I would like to stress that the bus leave a very wide space between the right curb and the bus itself, my girlfriend did not squeeze into that space by any means, in fact it’s so wide that when the bus turned right into her there’s space for my girlfriend to move right a little to try to avoid the accident. My girlfriend was fully stopped for a second or two already before the bus started to move. So yea, the bus made a right turn into the front fender, mirror, front door (which all needs to be replaced) of her car and pushes it into the right curb resulting damage to the right front wheel and marks of impact on left rear door and rear quarter panel as well. When my girlfriend know the intention of the bus is to make a right turn, she sounded her horn and moved right little trying to avoid the impact, the bus did not stop after hitting the car, but proceed to turn right and continued down the road for a good 100 meter as if the bus did not hit anything. Eventually the bus stopped as probably the passenger notified the driver that he has hit something during the turn.
The tour bus was from Quebec and with the help of a translator/tour guide from the bus they exchanged information (as my girlfriend don’t speak French nor the driver of the bus speak English). They called the police and after 4 hrs. of waiting they arrived and recorded the accident. The police determined my girlfriend was at fault because she did not pay attention to the bus’ turn signal and the bus need a lot more space to complete the right turn because its very long, and from interviews with the passengers of the bus that my girlfriend came out not nowhere, (but since the passenger of the bus wasn’t the one driving and paying attention of the surrounding, I'm not sure how much their statement will worth), thus she shouldn’t be on the right lane in the first place. The police officer didn’t issue a ticket to my girlfriend as the accident happened in a private property. We did not argue with the police, as I know that how the police officers and insurance companies determine fault is different and there was no ticket issued. Our argument is that the bus is sitting very far to the left leaving very sufficient space to the right for a car that is not squeezed in by any means, and that given the bus driver know its vehicle’s size, when making a turn the driver should be more cautious and check the mirror to see if there is any object in the way (my girlfriend was told by the tour guide that the bus driver didn’t check the mirror, however I don’t know how the tour guide know or if it will play any significance). Please note that I’m not trying to demonize the bus driver to make us for valid by any means, but what if it wasn’t my girlfriend’s car but a bicycle or motorcycle, even with her car’s loud horn the driver still didn’t realized there’s a car there, a cyclist or rider may have a harder time alerting the bus driver. This is simply a hypothetical situation and the cyclist or rider might have being able to steer away due to its smaller size, but what if they weren’t able to for any reason. I know that large vehicles require more space to complete a turn but large semi don’t use a different lane to make a right turn, they simply drive straight for a little more so the rear wheels will clear the curb and make a tight turn to get back to correct lane. Given the estimate damage to my girlfriend’s car is substantial, and we are not sure how the insurance company is going to determine fault in this case, we are not sure what to do now. Should we try to claim it with the insurance company hoping they will determine the bus driver was at fault or just suck it up and pay for the repair out of our own pocket? Friends and family aren’t familiar with situations like these so I’m hoping fellow rider and those with knowledge on such subject can provide me with some advise. I again, would like to sincerely thank you all for reading such long post as I try to provide more detail of the accident, it meant a lot to me for you all to take the time to read through all this. Thanks again.
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