My 16 Year Old Daughter Was in an Accident Tonight

I hope she's all right.

Unless marked otherwise, if you have to cross a lane of oncoming traffic that has a green light, oncoming cars have the right of way.

Both lights green = left turners yield to oncoming traffic / people going straight have the right of way. Sounds like she misjudged the space and drive right in front of someone. Whether she was t-boned, clipped, or hit the other driver, she's at fault if she turned into oncoming traffic.

I hope everyobe is okay?

Also meant to ask.. what time did this accident occur last night? Were there other people in the cae with your daughter? Did they just "tow "the car because it was not able to be driven? This is normal. to get it off of the street.

If they impounded it, they would have had a probable cause.. meaning maybe they thought their was a crime committed, or they will want to investigate the car with a warrant and were not able to do that last night.

Because the other car had the right of way going straight. The person turning can turn on green, but only if no car is coming

This is totally your daughters fault. She should have waited for the other car to drive through, and then, if no one else was coming she could turn.

She made a mistake. It is her first accident, first ticket. As long as she is fine, be glad no one was hurt. This is what insurance is for.

I hope everyone is alright.
When lights are green and the left turn arrow is not on, left turning traffic must yield to oncoming traffic.
Your daughter should have waited till traffic was clear before making her turn.
The cop / accident report is correct.
What's going to happen is your insurance will pay out damages to the other guy and your rates are most likely going to go up.
Your daughter might receive a ticket for improper turning/failure to yield right of way, she'll have points on her license, have to pay a fine and she might have to take a driver improvement course.

If it was a yeild on green it was your daughter's fault. Sorry hun!

A solid green light means that left turn yields. In other words, anyone turning left has to wait until everyone going straight is out of their way. There is not always an arrow for someone turning left.
Hope everyone is OK and there wasn't too much damage to the cars.

I was in a accident making a left turn on a green light, not an arrow. I got a ticket for the accident. Both ways have a green and the person turning has to yeild to oncoming traffic. Your daughter is in the wrong. She should have waited until it was clear.

The person making the turn is always in the wrong, they are always to yeild to traffic.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?name=Betty+Warmack+Library&a...

Okay, I re read and looked on the map and from what I am reading Driver was ON ROBINSON heading northbound. Your daughter was ON BARDIN making a left ON TO ROBINSON southbound. Is this correct? If so, and both lights were green then I still agree that your daughter is at fault for not yeilding to on coming traffic - no matter the direction. Now, if they can proove all lights were green it may be deemed "no fault" and insurance covers their own customers and everyone moves on.

Seriously you can't figure that one out, do you drive? If you drive this is even more scary. Whoever is going straight always! has the right of way! Your daughter failed to yield and is damn lucky she wasn't ticketed for it.

I mean, sorry, but no one should be on the street driving who doesn't know you yield to oncoming traffic!!

So far as the car being impounded are you sure it wasn't just towed somewhere because it was not drivable because of the damage?

Looking at all the answers that know the area I would have to ask did you daughter actually know what was going on? In other words she says the other driver was on the other street. Obviously she wasn't paying close attention or the accident wouldn't have happened so is it possible they were both on the same street?

First of all I am glad she is ok.

Secondly, if she did not yield to oncoming traffic then she was in the wrong.

Why was the car impounded? Due to damage, insurance, inspection, or tag violations?

She is lucky if she did not get a ticket and she is luckier that she and the other driver is ok. I'd lighten up and be thankful my daughter was ok and then, I would enroll her in a defensive driving course to refresh her memory of driving properly.

Your daughter will probably get a ticket for failure to yield. She had a green light NOT an arrow. That means that she can turn when it is safeto do so. Obviously wasn't safe!!!
My husband got his ticket in the mail about 1 month after our accident occured.
L.

If both lights were green and cars were moving both directions then the person turning has to wait. your daughter was in the wrong unless she had a green arrow.

Yes, the car going straight through or turning right always has right of way in this situation. Your daughter was in the wrong, I hope every one is ok. Hopefully she has a chance to take drivers school because she needs to brush up on the road rules!

Anyone injured? Why did they impound her car?

Sounds plausible to me. Your daughter was in the wrong as she was supposed to wait for the other car to go through before she proceeded.

If there was no ticket she is lucky two fold. 1) that she is ok 2) that she does not have to pay for an expensive ticket.

Give your daughter a hug and then go over the rules of the road - together.

T.:

Welcome back!! You've not been around for a while!!!

I'm sorry your daughter was in an accident!! I hope she is okay.

However, she is at fault if I am understanding what you said correctly.

IF she was TURNING and did not have a PROTECTED ARROW/LIGHT and turned in front of on-coming traffic - she is at fault. IF she had a protected green arrow/light and made her turn, the other light would have been red. However, since both lights were said to be green, she didn't time her turn correctly and the on-coming car hit her.

If she was at fault, the police should have issued her a ticket for the turning to oncoming traffic. As to the car being impounded? that would bother me BIG TIME. If she wasn't ticketed and the car was able to be driven, I don't know why they impounded the car.

The oncoming traffic has the right of way.

Your daughter is at fault. If both lights were solid green, she should have yielded then proceeded when the intersection was clear of oncoming traffic. She will receive a simple ticket for failure to yield, but what's worse is that now she as an at-fault accident on her drivers record. It is almost a statistical certainty that a teenage will be in an accident.

Since I am not from your area could you clarify for me?

She was facing the West in the left turn lane and her light was solid green. That means she can make her turn when the traffic coming towards her, from the west are through the light or non existent. We have several lights like this in my town, they are pretty safe.

Of was she doing something else? The car she wrecked with was coming at her from her left? Heading to their north? They can't be right, unless the light is broken. If it is she has a case.

Is this a satellite view of the intersection?

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&psj=1&bav=on.2,...

IF the lights were working correctly the driver of the other car would have had a red light regardless. If they are broken someone needs to fix them so someone else isn't in an accident. Why would they believe others over her? Did the witnesses say she had a red light? I wonder....I think I would make sure to get a copy of the accident report in the next few days. It will have the officers reasons on it. Even if this wasn't her fault your insurance will go up. If it was her fault it will go way up.

She'll have to go to court. Tell her to not say too much, that makes the judges mad, they have heard it all and do not want to sit through another sob story. She will need to have proof the lights are or were broken in case they have been fixed by the time she goes to court. If they are broken they may fix them this weekend then she'll not have any way of proving her innocence. You can call the traffic control office too and ask them to check the lights, even tomorrow. They should be open 24/7.

Oh no! I hope everyone is okay.

It DOES sound like your daughter was in the wrong. Only a green arrow is a "protected turn" that means you have the right of way and oncoming traffic is stopped. Turning left across traffic with a regular green is different.

BOTH lights were green, so traffic does not stop. In the left turn lane, your daughter should have yielded to oncoming traffic. It was her responsibility to wait until there was a break in the flow of traffic so that she could get across. :-/

Two roads that meet perpendicularly at an intersection (which is how this looks on a map) cannot possibly both have green lights at the same time. Does Robinson have a right-turn-only green arrow that the other driver could possibly have mis-read as a regular green? If that's not the case, someone is lying or was mistaken (or there is something wrong with the lights the intersection). If I were you, I would go to the intersection to observe and see for myself.

My guess is that if the other driver is an experience driver with a decent driving record, then it was probably your daughter who ended up making a left turn against the light (maybe she got stuck in the intersection and just had to go for it, maybe she was trying to beat the light turning red) because it's the kind of mistake that's pretty common for a younger driver. If course it could be the case that the other driver ran the light too, but I highly doubt that both lights were green or there would be accidents there all day long.

On the up side, no one was hurt and at the end of the day, that's what matters most.

It doesn't matter who said they had right of way, or if lights were or weren't working. What matters is what the police report and the responding officer who did reconstruction and interviewed witnesses wrote in the report. That is what the judge is going to look at if this goes to court or when insurance adjusters get involved. Hopefully your insurance is up to date and alcohol isn't a factor.

Besides property damage, were there injuries or worse? Were alchohol, drugs, a medical condition, or horseplay with other passengers a factor? That will have bearing as well. All I can say is, depending on how serious this is, you may want to get an attorney. You'll know for sure what's going to happen then.

My ex was in an accident just like this. He was the one making the turn, on a green, and the person going through the light, also on a green, hit him. My ex's van was totaled. No one was hurt. No one was issued a ticket. The cop at the scene said "you've got a big enough problem". In MN we have no-fault auto insurance, so each of the drivers' insurance covered the damage for their cars.

Always, always wait for any oncoming traffic to pass before making your left turn. Pretty basic stuff. You can pull out into the intersection while you're waiting your turn (one car at a time, please), but in any and all cases, your turn comes AFTER ALL ONCOMING traffic has passed and you have a clear and safe opportunity to make your turn.

Hang on a second, I just carefully re-read what you wrote...I don't know your area at all, but from what you're saying, I'm going to assume that Bardin and Robinson intersect each other, right? And your daughter was on BARDIN making a southbound left turn ONTO Robinson and her light was green. And the other driver was heading north ON ROBINSON with a green light. They were NOT on the same street facing each other. So the witnesses are saying at that intersection at that time ALL THE LIGHTS were green? Bardin had a green light AND Robinson had a green light? If that's true, it must have been some sort of computer error or something like that and everyone was lucky only two cars were going through that intersection at that time. Not sure how all lights could be green at an intersection...you should look into this...

I'm glad nobody was seriously injured. Definitely hug your daughter - being in a car accident (whether you're at fault or not) is scary and she could probably use the comfort.

You've gotten enough answers on the green light. I just want to say hug your daughter and thank God that she was not seriously injured or died. There is something to the phrase "will this matter in 5 years" as long as she is fine. HUG, HUG, HUG....it's all material-the car, cost, accident- those things can be replaced. You would never be able to replace her life. HUG HER MORE EACH DAY. Love her and let her know that you love her.

Hug daughter and thank God she isn't hurt. Get the police report and let your insurance handle the rest. The police aren't always right, so make sure your daughter and any witnesses make their report too.

Sorry your going through this, but remember she's probably feeling pretty upset as well.

You'll be in my prayers.

I'm not clear on exactly where your daughter was. If she was traveling south on Robinson and turning left onto Bardin and the other driver was traveling north on Robinson your daughter is at fault because left turn ALWAYS yields to oncoming traffic. If your daughter was traveling west on Bardin, turning left onto Robinson, and the other driver was traveling north on Robinson and both lights were green, then you need to prove that the lights were not functioning properly, because only one set of lights should have been green. How you do that I have no idea. Maybe call the highway department. It will be their job to fix it. I would also recommend getting an attorney. I looked at the satellite images for this intersection and it's a pretty major one. It would be extremely dangerous if those lights are malfunctioning. If the witnesses are mistaken and the lights are working properly, the driver who had the green light would have the right of way. Good luck, and I'm glad your daughter is OK.

without seeing the intersection and all, hard to make a judgement, but thought at any point the person turning left is always at fault if they are yeilding to traffic, a person or whatever.