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beneficii
Veteran
Veteran

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Joined: 10 May 2005
Age: 42
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21 Feb 2014, 2:56 pm

I'm curious about this hypothetical:

Let's say you're travelling down a road with a 35 mph (60 km/h) speed limit at 100 mph (160 km/h) and a car pulls out in front of you from a side street and you hit that car. Whose fault is it? If it was not possible for the other driver to see you before pulling out, does that factor in? Does the fact that you were recklessly and dangerously speeding matter? Or does only the fact they pulled out in front of you, when you had the right of way, matter?


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Reducto
Tufted Titmouse
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21 Feb 2014, 4:01 pm

The person traveling at nearly 3x the speed limit would be at fault. The person pulling out had a reasonable expectation that anyone on that road would be going near 35MPH. If they either saw no cars approaching or only saw one in the distance they can expect it is safe to enter the roadway.

The only way I can think it would be the other person's fault is if it were proved that they did it on purpose - saw someone approaching way too fast and intentionally pulled in front of them. I remember hearing one case years ago where someone slammed on their brakes to get a tailgater to hit them then later bragged about it to several people. Those people reported this and the person was charged. I don't think that happens very often, though.