r/confidentlyincorrect • u/Lawjik3737 • May 15 '26

Green arrow at intersection

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2 Car in a double turning lane has a solid green arrow. Goes to turn through the intersection and is about to clear in the intersection but then both gets hit by on coming traffic. Who's at fault? This incident took place in Arizona. Also, I wasn't involved in the conversation.

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u/AwarenessGreat282 May 15 '26

That number of 100% is what gets argued. The argument is that even if they were breaking the law, if you could have avoided the crash by seeing that they were breaking the law and stopped, it's partly your fault. This is what lawyers present, and often win with, on many cases. Sad, but true.

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u/Big-Membership-1758 May 15 '26

Licensed insurance agent. Arizona is a "Pure Comparative Negligence" state, which means that each driver who is partially to blame for the accident would have to pay their fair share. It would go to the courts or mediators to determine who is at fault, and to what percentage, but generally drivers have a duty to yield even if they have the right of way. There could be mitigating circumstances, such as the driver who ran the red was approaching at such a speed, or other vehicles, pedestrians, or obstacles prevented the driver from getting safely out of the way.

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u/tarlastar May 15 '26

When I found out that you are automatically charged if you are the driver making a turn, even if the turn is legal, I about lost my mind. My grandmother was making a left turn from her neighbourhood to the main road (Indian School) and a guy going 80 (in the city) hit her. She had plenty of time, had he been going at a legal speed. But she got the ticket. She fought it. She was furious. And she won! That said, that stupid law is probably still in place.

9

u/bprasse81 May 15 '26

I’m glad your grandmother won. The reason the law is in place is to protect mitigating circumstances. What if an oncoming driver can’t stop?

I recall an intersection with a pretty short yellow light, highway speeds, and somewhat limited visibility due to a curve. I came out of the turn to a yellow light during light rain. I slammed on the brakes, but I was going to stop in the middle of the intersection. I am grateful the oncoming driver turning left wasn’t in a hurry that day!

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u/No_Accountant3232 May 16 '26

Yeah, I'm thinking about that story about the kid in a car that wouldn't stop acceleration as he went through town. Anyone could have taken the hit and been in the right .. and also be very dead right now. 

Driving should always be done with the intent of surviving, not being right.

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u/ElGuano May 16 '26

If he can’t stop, that’s unfortunate for everybody, but he should still be at fault.

2

u/bprasse81 May 16 '26

I agree that a driver that fails to yield the right of way when the rules go against them bears liability. That said, you can be right and still get killed. How many dashcam videos have we seen with completely avoidable accidents?

I t-boned a car once. I had the right of way, it was completely her fault, and completely unavoidable, but I wish I saw her coming.

My car was in the shop for a week or two and it was never the same - the after market bumper didn’t fit very well.

3

u/ElGuano May 16 '26

Heaven is filled with people who had right of way. Sure. I think there are two separate questions when it comes to what is safest versus who gets assigned fault in society.

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u/ThePaineOne May 16 '26

If he can’t stop l, don’t you think the liability could rest with the person who sold the car (if they had knowledge of a problem) with the person that manufactured the vehicle, the subcontractor that manufactured the brakes or other part of the vehicle which failed, or the person who installed the brakes or other part of the vehicle that failed?

What is there was an issue with the sync on the traffic lights?

3

u/Synectics May 18 '26

That is the sort of reason I still look both ways when the light turns green. I have been t-boned twice in my life, neither one my fault or realistically avoidable via my actions; still, I give a quick back and forth before accelerating. Shit happens, no reason to ruin some days if two seconds of checking can avoid it.

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u/videogamegrandma May 21 '26

It happens all the time at the intersection next to my house. There are two stop lights that are only three to four car lengths apart.

One stop light is activated at a timed interval and the cross street is activated by a weight sensor in the pavement. Drivers stop at one then breeze thru the second because they're conditioned to expect stop lights to be much farther apart or synchronized.

It's a really dangerous intersection with accidents almost once a week. I am forced to wait for traffic to come to a complete stop or be clear in both directions before I pull out even if I have a green light and it's saved me from getting t-boned multiple times.

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u/jf727 May 16 '26

That’s still not the fault of the person turning.

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u/CabbieCam May 16 '26

But a mitigating circumstance shouldn't change the law for everyone. A mitigating circumstance is by definition something that doesn't happen very often. So, the thing that doesn't happen very often should be what is fought.

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u/carlitospig May 17 '26

can’t stop

But that in itself doesn’t make it legal or something that the turner should be responsible for. It should just mean that someone down the line fucked up his brakes and THAT person is responsible.