law suit need advice

[fordperson]

I had an accident a while ago... basicly what happend on a intersection
me going south and a guy turned right in front of me... there is a question about what was the light at that time. I looked before crossing but the road turns and there were cars etc.... so pretty much im unsure
anyway to the guy comming the oposite way turns right in front of me. The cops get make the report.... they dont give me the paper with the describtion (me noob doesnt know about this) later I find out that the cops put that he had a green arrow where on that intersection there were no turn arrows... so the insurance denies the claim... I get a law suit.... now he was first asking for 50k (he has no insurance,lives in a poor part of the town and didnt have his seatbelts on) now Im kinda worried that in court he might ask for more money(over 100k) which would more then my liability insurance is (100/300/100). Should I be worried? If I would loose the case should I expect to have to pay extra on top of what the insurance pays him?

Tom

[clawhammer]

Get a lawyer.

[fordperson]

I have one but need a second opinion... my lawyer is the one asigned by the insurance company....

[Scanner]

later I find out that the cops put that he had a green arrow where on that intersection there were no turn arrows... so the insurance denies the claim... I get a law suit...

Go take pictures of the intersection and traffic device.

Whats the law suit for??? why so much money???

[fordperson]

I took the pictures already.
guy suffered a broken legs and some other stuff... Im guessing medical bills... now the question is whats the maximum amount of money that the court can award him.... if its over 100k usd then Im f***ed. The worst is I dont really feel like im the one responsible. If the light was green I had the right of way, if it was yellow I had a right to clear the intersection... If it was red then he also ran a red light... (I have witnesses that said he wasnt standing on the light).

Any advice is highly appreciated
Tom

[RandomTask]

I don't understand the exact situation that led up to the crash but this is my opinion.

First- Take pictures and plenty of them showing the scene. Have you gone to court yet for the ticket? If so, were you found guilty? If you haven't gone to court, GET A LAWYER AND FIGHT THE HELL OUT OF IT. Make sure you take pictures of the stop lights and such.

He can go after however much money as he wants but the judge is to decide how much he is actually awarded.

Did you basically cut him off and he hit you from behind? If thats the case, then definitely want to argue. How can you say if you had a red light then he had one? As well as, what does it mean he wasn't standing at the light?

If he sues you for more than your insurance company will cover, the court will basically stick you with payments that come out of your pocket.

If you feel his suit is unjust and you feel that he is at fault, you can always file a countersuit.

All in all, you MUST get a lawyer!

[fordperson]

I have a lawyer from my insurance company. I already went to traffic court for that ticket and the ticket got thrown out.

Now what happend was:

I was driving south on road A he was going norton on A trying to turn left (crossing my lane)
While he was trying to turn my car struck the right front side of his...

He probably spent some time in the hospital (2weeks?) How do you decide what kind of money is he awarded? I mean he can sue me for 1mil $ and ill be stuck with 900...

Now I think im in a pretty good situation
a. if the light was green i had the right to pass
b. if yellow I have a right to clear the intersection
c. if red he must have had red too since he was comming the opposite way.

Tom

[drdisque]

he can't sue for more than his bills and I'm pretty sure his bills aren't 1 mill

its unlikely with the information that you gave, that if it DOES go to trial (which it probably won't) that he won't get more than your coverage limit. Make sure that your attorney has all the information that you have, he can use this in litigation with the plaintiff.

[fordperson]

Thanks for responding, its good to know but what about "pain and suffering", "lost wages"?

Tom

[Igovert500]

Originally Posted by fordperson

Now I think im in a pretty good situation
a. if the light was green i had the right to pass
b. if yellow I have a right to clear the intersection
c. if red he must have had red too since he was comming the opposite way.

Tom

Hey I wish I had more knowledge to help, but I really don't regarding lawsuits, all I can wish you is good luck. However (and I'm sorry if this dampers your mood, but I thought of this, and I figured I'd mention it...

By your words up there, and how I understand the scenario...he could simply say that the light had been yellow and had just turned red and he took his turn to 'clear the intersection' and you ran the red and hit him...

Now you mentioned something about a witness saying he wasn't standing...does that mean the witness will attest that he wasn't waiting in the middle of the intersection? I hope that is a solid witness, because that could be the deciding factor.

Basically, if the witness says that you both came to the intersection at yellow, and that he turned in front of you...then you did have the right of way.

Essentially, all I'm saying is that it doesn't matter what really happened, what matters is what is said and believed in court. The more proof and less 'your word vs. his word' the better for you. So good luck, hope the lawyer is good.

[MagicRat]

I might also suggest to boost your insurance liability coverage.
$100k is not enough.
Around here, the minimum coverage is $1 million. Personally I have $2 million (so go ahead and hit me!!)

[drdisque]

I highly doubt this guy has much in the way of lost wages if he can't afford health insurance

in most states judges don't award money for "pain and suffering" and if they do its only in the case of the defendant causing deliberate harm to the plaintiff.

[Scanner]

As far as I know, the person going straight has the right of way, over the person turning.

[fordperson]

Alright this will make me sleep a little better I have a good lawyer from my insurance company... the other guy has some werid ass lawyer (she even called me didnt introduce herself started asking soem werid questions.. and then she didnt even fill out the papers for the law suit correctly).
Just one more question: I have a right to counter sue him... is that free of charged(court fees?)

[CraigFL]

Get a Lawyer!! Good advice from many others but it still looks like you're not following it. You are mistaken if you think the lawyer from the insurance company is representing YOU or looking out for your interests. He is representing the INSURANCE COMPANY and nobody else. If your interests just happen to coincide with the insurance company, you may be OK but I suspect you may end up unhappy with that. Insurance companies look for a way out of a large settlement based on the risk ascessed by their lawyers. I've seen cases where insurance companies settled for 10s of thousands of dollars even though the defendant was completely innocent-- they just felt it was easier/cheaper to settle now. But.... in the end, you will have to live with that settlement-- now go to another insurance company to get a quote and tell them you had a $20K accident...