Witnessed An Accident Last Evening

[ProfessorGAC]

Had to give a report to the cops, ambulance driver, and left my information for the insurance companies to phone depose me.

I went to the pharmacy yesterday for my wife's scrips. Right at the pharmacy, i'm in the LT lane, with a car in front of me, also waiting to make a left. Nobody in the lane to my right, so traffic is flowing in the far right lane.

Lady in an SUV starts to turn right, but there's a parked car right there, and a car waiting to turn left off the side street, so she has to slow to a crawl to make her right. Car right behind her, hits the brakes and stops about 2 feet from her rear bumper.

With a completely unobstructed view, and me not moving, i simulataneously hear tires screeching and a vehicle in my peripheral vision. Too late! POW, right into the back of the car, which then gets pushed forward into the SUV. Three car accident.

I don't think anybody was hurt badly, but one lady (the SUV driver) was pretty shaken up and said the shoulder harness hurt her left shoulder. The guy in the car (the most innocent of the involved, since he was sitting still when he got hit) said he hit his head on the steering wheel. They took him to the hospital just to be sure. I think he'll be ok, though. He was pretty lucid and had a mark, but no real bruise on his forehead.

Anyway, when the cops get there, i'm the 4th witness they talk to, even though i'm the only one who really saw the whole thing. Some genius firefighter from the town directed two of the three cars off the street and into the YMCA parking lot. So, when the cops got there, they had NO idea what had happened.

The cops told me my version was the 4th one. I told the lady "I don't care what else you've heard. I saw the whole thing from 20 feet away. I didn't hear it happen. I watched it happen." Finally, they said that the order of the cars was in question. I told her "There's no question at all. The blue car is the only one damaged in front and back. It HAD to be in the middle, the SUV has the back end crumpled, and the van has the front end crumpled. There's only one possible order. The one i described." She said "Oh yeah!" Well duh!

Anyway, i'm supposed to get a call from them today in the office and the insurance people already called to set phone appointments for Friday. Life in the big city, huh? (Well not that big! 70,000 or so.)
The Professor

[Richardo]

1. Sounds like a One-Minute Mystery

"There's only ONE way those cars could have been lined up." :D

WTG Detective ProfessorGAC - there's a gold shield in it for you.

Seriously - good citizen points for you. :toast:

[EstimatedProphet]

2. I was involved in a 3 car a few years ago as the lead car

sounds like a similar case.
I was driving down a busy 4 lane suburban street after a rain, when all of the sudden everyone was slamming on their brakes. I hit mine just in time to stop. The woman behind me did too. The guy behind her didn't, and rammed her into me. And the fun part was, the guy who started it all had his license revoked, had no insurance, and was drinking.

[shesemsmom]

3. Sounds to me youve got it right

no question.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Actually I Couldn't Get It Wrong

I didn't have to figure it out or anything. I actually saw the whole thing. I'd have to have had amnesia to screw up the story.

My whole thing about the damage on the three cars was to convince the lady officer that there was only one possible story, no matter what else she heard. That what i SAW was exactly what happened and that the damage could only have occurred the way it did if MY story was the correct one.

But, that was supportive. Geez, i knew what i saw and all! And, i didn't see it from a mile away. I was the width of a traffic lane from the whole thing.

Still, high drama at 6pm!
The Professor

[tjwmason]

5. I saw one on Christmas eve

A motorcyclist went into the back of a car about 6 feet away from me. The driver was pretty shocked but utterly unharmed physically; the cyclist looked bad at first but the paramedics said he would be fine - broken leg at the worst.

It looked pretty bad at first as there was broken glass all over the place; the paramedics called out a helicopter to take him away (mainly as we were right by a playing-field on which it could land).

Fortunately I've had no problems speaking to insurance companies or anything. I gave a statement to the police at the time, and have heard nothing from them since.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. They Told Me . . .

. . .that i needed to be deposed because of the firefighter moving the cars. So, the police couldn't deduce the circumstances from the location of the cars. Since i was the only one who actually saw it in detail, and the cops can't swear to anything, i'm it!

No big deal. I've been an expert witness in court cases before. I know how to be deposed, and this time i'm neither the support or the adversary. Just a witness.
The Professor

[Divernan]

6. Anticipated questions from Insurer?

did the driver of the SUV put on her turn signals? If so, how long did she do this before the accident?
My suggestion (if it would be fair to say so) would be to comment that in this the kind of driving maneuver - the space available, angle of the turn, etc., a SUV has to crawl along, whereas a normal car would have been able to move faster, thereby not forcing the driver behind the SUV to hit the breaks.
I've noticed that a lot of people driving SUVs are very hesitant and tentative in turning or in pulling into parking spots. i consider them actually AFRAID of their own vehicles. This is especially true of these jokers in suburban malls, driving these damn TANKS. If that's a fair interpretation of what you observed, point it out to the insurance guys. It may not make a difference in this accident evaluation, but it 's the kind of information insurance companies can use to further jack up the insurance rates on these oversize vehicles.

I'm glad nobody swerved into your lane and hit you.
ON EDIT: I saw a report a year or so ago that SUVS contribute greatly to traffic congestion, because it takes them longer to
get moving when traffic lights change. This reduces the number of vehicles which can move through an intersection for each cycle of the traffic lights.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Yeah I Know

Thanks. Like i said in a previous post, i've gotten witness training since i've been an expert witness in trials before. The lucky thing for me was that the entire left lane was open, so i was the width of an open lane away from it. But, only about a total of 20 or so feet from the middle car.

If anything, the car parked right around the corner was a hazard to traffic flow. But, it's not a no parking area, so that car owner is completely free and clear. I really don't think the SUV driver did anything wrong. I'm not sure, however, about the brake lights on the middle car. At the same time, there's no doubt in my mind that the van was going faster than she should have and was clearly not paying enough attention. Given the time interval, that person should have had a good 5 seconds to notice the traffic stopping in front of her. If she had been going the right speed and paying attention, no accident. Absolutely no doubt in my mind about that.
The Professor

[XNASA]

9. Were you wearing your trenchcoat at the time?

With that 'stache of yours, the addition of a trenchcoat would make it appear like your testimony was beyond reproach.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Either That Or Too Suspect To Believe

If i'd have been wearing a trenchcoat (and mine's black) they probably would have arrested me as the terrorist who caused the accident.
The Professor

[prolesunited]

12. And a pipe

Don't forget the pipe.

Hope all is well with both of you. :hi:

[tsakshaug]

10. reminds me of a song

The Accident (Things Could Be Worse)
© John Prine



Last night I saw an accident
on the corner of Third and Green
two cars collided and I got excited
just being part of that scene

It was Mrs. Tom Walker and her beautiful daughter
Pamela, was driving the car
they got hit by a man in a light blue sedan
who had obviously been to a bar.


Chorus:
They don't know how lucky they are
they could have run into that tree
got struck by a bolt of lightning
and raped by a minority.


It was a four way dilemma 
we all arrived the same time
I yielded to the man to the right of me 
and he yielded it right back to mine
well, the yield went around and around and around 
till Pamela finally tried
just then the man in the light blue sedan
hit Pamela's passenger side.


Chorus:


Pamela hit her head on the mirror
Mrs. Walker got a bump on the knee
the man hit himself in the face and said
"Why does this happen to me?"
the neighbors came out
and they gathered about
saying "Hey! who hit who anyway?"
and the police arrived at a quarter to five
and pronounced all the victims "Okay".


Chorus: