Got in my first wreck

Damn man, well that sucks. No tickets isn't necessarily bad ( at least in ny anyways ) no assigned fault means it's your word against hers, so make her out to be her fault to your insurance, and it will go to arbitration. You'll both pay out, but it shouldn't raise your rates.

 

How did she possibly miss you? /Habanero jokes

 

Yeah, you've got to watch like a hawk when you're relying on the other party going for the proper lane. This is widely abused.

BTW, you haven't been in "wreck", lol. A wreck is when the car is upside down, doors missing, front (or rear) end seriously out of shape. This is a fender bender, it never gets easier, but it can be fixed, made good. How does that wheel roll, any weird sound or feel? Was the wheel even touched?

 

That definitely sucks. I don't trust the idiots to drive properly around here. I always turn into "my lane" but it is rare for others to. It's like people don't even know that is how you are supposed to drive.

You've got at least $1.5K in damage there. You'll need a new door skin, rear quarter panel (which goes all the way to the front of the car!) and bumper. I wouldn't be surprised if after all said and done it is $2K to $3K and that's if there is no mechanical damage just body panels.

 

That is a bummer.
But it looks purely like cosmetic damage so it should be very possible to make it all right again.

I personally disagree with the police officer. Yes, turning left you should yield to oncoming traffic, but she hit you from behind. I'd say it's at least her responsibility when making a right hand turn into 3 lanes to NOT drift over into the farthest lane and hit someone from behind. If she had hit you from the front, then I'd say you did not allow her to make a turn or did not yield. But since she hit you from the rear, I think the majority of the blame goes on her. She's the one looking out the front of her windshield. Even if you turned too aggressively, how does she NOT see your vehicle and hit you from behind?

My guess is she was busy looking left for someone coming towards her, and wasn't looking at where she was driving. Otherwise you don't hit someone from behind.

But as usual it's mostly comes down to the instantaneous case of two objects trying to occupy the same space at the same time.

It'll be a PIA to deal with. But in the end it all looks very repairable. Good Luck.

PS.
That looks like a wicked intersection. There really should be some lights. I bet a lot of accidents happen at that spot.

 

I got to say she's very hot to make the cop said 50/50.

- She's supposed to make the right turn into lane 3, not lane 1. You did it right while turning left into lane 1 not other lanes.
- Like The Electric Me said she hit you from the rear.

One question: was she taking/texting on the phone so she didn't see you?

 

That totally sucks! I hope you can get through this with minimal inconvenience.

 

I see this all the time in my area. Left turn, while car in opposite direction turns right. Unfortunately, the car turning right has the right of way, and unless marked or indicated, they can turn into any lane. The car turning left should be yielding unless they have a left turn arrow at a light, then the car turning right should yield.

 

Yes basic Driver Ed 101. Left turns must yield to all other cars & allow them to go first.

 

There's some other rule on the books I've heard, something like:

If someone's halfway through a left turn, it's illegal to impeded them in completion of the turn.

 

Well the question is: Did you see her car moving towards you, before you made your left? If "yes" then you needed to brake & wait.

 

Based on his drawing he did make a complete turn into lane 1.

 

Or he turned *in front* of her and caused the accident. (I've been guilty of doing this myself.) We don't know the precise timing, but we do know one of them "failed to yield" when they should have.

 

Oh man. Reminds me of what (damn near) happened to me last week. Pulling out I decided last minute to make a left instead of a right...before I went, I scanned the road in full. No one was moving. As soon as I pulled out, someone on that side also changed his mind at the same time to cut a lane. He braked, beeped, and missed my side door by a foot. I finished the turn thinking.... that I almost....did that to my car...

Driver rush is scary especially when two of them aim for the same space at the same time. Sucks that happened especially on that color

 

There's a paperwork backlog with millions of other accidents. It sounds like the cop did you a disservice..... if you could not see her, how did the cop expect you to avoid getting rear-ended? Sometimes cops can be annoying, even when they aren't beating CA citizens to death.

 

It's up to the insurance companies now.
I don't remember if OK is a no-fault state or not, but you're looking at a probable at-fault claim and now you get to see if your rates go up.

Check your limits and try raising your deductible to $500 or $1,000 to help keep your rates down a little.
If you still owe on the car your bank or credit union might have an upper limit on the deductible that you can carry.

I always advise people in wrecks to seek compensation for diminished value, but this isn't going to work for you, since it's pretty clear that you were the one who was turning left.
Yeah, I know.
I saw the OJ case too, and I know that there is a difference between what legally happens and real life, but the other driver merely has to lie and say that he/she/it was avoiding a pedestrian, a squirrel, or nothing at all.

They call it "right of way" for a reason.

Shake it off, ride clean for 5 years, and you'll have a clean record and if you're smart.......you'll still have the C-type, and it will still be saving you money.
Sullied history and all.

Good Luck!

 

Since the car is driveable nobody is in a hurry. It could be 2 or 3 weeks before an appraiser looks at it before you get it scheduled in the shop.

You can ask your insurance company for body shops on their list. Using those shops will cut out the appraiser as the insurance will go by what the shop says. Check out the recommended shop. Investigate the Toyota dealer's body shop as well. Ask questions. Ask them what they intend to do. Are they going to mask over the tail light or remove it? How much are they going to repaint? If the insurance estimate comes in lower than their shop estimate will they meet the insurance payment? What are the warranties for parts & labor? Lifetime means as long as you own the car. Will they guarantee a paint match? Did the paint guy come out to speak with you? If you don't like how you're treated before they take your money they don't have any incentive to treat you better after they are paid.

The door comes in at least three pieces. Unless there is interior damage they will break the welds and replace just the door skin. From the looks of the damage I am presuming the window & the lock work. Test them.

I chose the Toyota dealer's body shop because I felt most comfortable with them and I scheduled a Prius from the dealer as a rental while I'm in the shop. The car was sitting at the body shop and was as clean as mine when I dropped off my car.

My estimate for a bit of damage to the front door, the rear door & the quarter panel is 10 work days. More of the car is going to be repainted than you may expect and lots of stuff will be Removed & Reinstalled. Any plastic film that needs to be replaced will have to wait 30 days for the paint to cure.

Let the insurance companies arbitrate the fault. You're looking at a few thousand dollars worth of damage--it isn't the end of the world.

Before your policy renews enroll in a driver training course like the one offered by AAA (if you are a member). In NJ it'll give you a discount on some of the coverage and you'll learn something. The discount is good for 3 years so I enroll every 3 years. Every little bit helps.

Every insurance company has their own criteria but since this is your first claim & there isn't any bodily injury you may not see any change in your premiums. In your state I don't know how far back they go but I wouldn't shop for insurance as long as you have to list this incident on your application.

It's unfortunate but sh!t happens and we have to deal with it. When a good shop is done with your car you won't notice the difference.

 

Get yourself a dashcam. It may help if you have a video to prove your case.