Whose fault was this auto accident?

Question

It is a four way stop. The north bound lane has a blinking red light, the south bound lane has a blinking yellow light. There is a driver in the south bound lane with his left turn signal on, and he has stopped at the light but turned slightly into the road, having begun his left turn. Behind him is a truck with no signal on. There is also a driver in the north bound lane with her left turn signal on who has stopped as well.

The south bound driver, seeing that the north bound driver was there before him waves her on; she waves back and begins to make her turn. At this time, the driver behind the south bound driver decides to peel around the turning driver and go straight, just as the north bound driver is making her left turn. An accident results, with the south bound truck striking the north bound vehicle on the passenger side, smashing the headlight and bumper.

Whose fault was this accident?

Some Clarification:

1. Each of the lanes in the four way intersection was a single lane.

Normally, this intersection is not a four way stop. However, apparently due to the inclement weather (it was rainign after a storm), the lights were not functioning properly.

If the flashing light system were set up to take over due to a malfuntion with the normal lights, they should have all been flashing red in each direction, which would have made it a four way stop - a much safer backup system, but as I said, the north bound lights were flashing red, and the south bound lights were flashing yellow, making it an unsafe intersection to begin with, particularly since there were no turning lanes.

The problem is that there is no way the north bound driver with the flashing red light could have known that the south bound drivers had a flashing yellow. You can't see what color the lights are from the opposite side. The driver who waved her on gave extra weight to the idea that this was indeed a four way stop, first of all by stopping, and secondly by waving her on. She was after all, as I mentioned, there first. If the lights had been functioning safely, she would not have thought it was a four way stop. Had it been a four way stop, the north bound driver would completely have had the right of way.

No citations were given.

Answer 1

The fault is surely partially the municipality that set up such a HAZARDOUS pattern of amber and red signals at same 4 way intersection.

Answer 2

First, how can this be a four-way stop when there is a flashing yellow light involved?

Second, why would the northbound lane have a flashing red light while the southbound lane has a flashing yellow light?

Third, I don't understand why one of the left-turning drivers waved the other left-turning driver through; they should both be able to turn left at the same time*.

Because the southbound driver has a flashing yellow light (and the northbound driver does not, which doesn't make sense), he has no business stopping and waving anybody through. It is this kind of "courtesy" that is the bane of traffice engineers and police. Follow the traffic control signals and signs. Do not break the rules just to be nice. Because, in the end, it turns out not to be a nice act to begin with.

What we have here is:

(1) An incomplete description of the intersection (you say it's a four-way stop, but your description contradicts that)

(2) A motorist who has improperly begun his turn without finishing it; you don't begin to turn until you are going to finish the turn

(3) A motorist who has unwisely decided to be courteous to another driver, creating a dangerous situation

(4) Another motorist who accepted the courtesy without following the rules of the road and then failed to notice the third motorist

(5) Another motorist who wasn't paying attention to what was going on and decided to pass and go through the intersection

No traffic citations would probably be given in this scenario (again, based on the incomplete and contradictory description). But in the end, it's the fault of the driver who waved the second driver through and of the second driver who decided to take advantage of the courtesy. If these two drivers had followed the lights, none of this would have happened.

But again, your description of the intersection doesn't make any sense.

Answer 3

The southbound driver who went around the other southbound driver. While it is a common practice to pass a left turning vehicle on the right it is still illegal. I have heard attorneys argue that the turning vehicle is suppossed to ensure that the lane is clear before they turn into it however that is not so much the case when you start involving vehicles that are behind the initial vehicle. The other side of this would be if the second southbound vehicle had already passed the first vehicle whether illegal or not prior to the northbound vehicle making the left turn. It is best to leave it to the police officer to investigate and decide as they have investigated many accidents and there may be different variables involved.

Answer 4

The southbound truck driver with the yellow light had right-a -way. In many states the person "directing" traffic (in this case the 1st southbound driver) can be held responsible since they "directed" the person to turn when in fact it was not safe to do so.

The turning northbound driver failed to yield, they are responsible.

By the way, if it is a four way stop, ALL blinking lights would be RED. This is apparently not a four way stop but a four way intersection.
The YELLOW light takes lead over the RED must stop light!

Answer 5

If the southbound lanes have a flashing yellow and the northbound lanes have a flashing red, it is not a four-way stop. The northbound vehicle is required to stop and proceed only when it is safe, and the intersection is clear. The southbound vehicles do not have to stop or yield. They have the right-of-way. A flashing yellow does not mean yield, it means caution. The northbound car was at fault for entering the intersection before it was safe, although a contributing factor was the southbound driver who waved her on. The southbound car never should have stopped, but continued on making the left turn.

Answer 6

Driver A is at fault. Even though they had blocked vision, Driver B had the right of way and driver A has a duty to insure that the area is clear before moving forward. Plenty of time to stop is a very subjective measure, and even if driver B did have a lot of time and admits that he could have swerved but didn't, or didn't avoid the accident when he knew he could have then there would be a slim amount of liability placed on Driver B...maybe 5%, but even then that would be a big maybe. Sorry if you are driver A

Answer 7

A blinking red light means "stop". You have to actually stop and wait until the intersection clears.
A blinking yellow light means "yield". In this case, the southbound driver should have stopped only to let the eastbound and westbound traffic clear the intersection.
If the southbound lane was a two-lane road, the truck driver had the right to change lanes, although he acted careless. In some countries it's against the law to pass in the intersection and you're required to reduce speed.
My answer is:
- the nortbound driver is at fault for disobeying the blinking red light and can be charged with failure to stop and failure to yield. She should have stopped and wait until the intersection was clear. Although the southbound driver was courteous and waived her on, he was not a traffic cop
- the truck driver is also at fault and can be charged with improper passing, especially if it was a one lane road (that means he had to pass by driving onto the shoulder).
Both drivers may be charged with careless driving.

Answer 8

you say its a 4 way stop but you also say its a flashing yellow which would indicate its not
if thats the case then the person turning left always has to yeild to the vehicle going straight
if the vehicle used the shoulder to go around the other turning car then it could be classed as both their faults
talk to the investigating officer

Answer 9

The fault lies with the southbound driver who went around the other southbound driver. It is a illegal to pass a left turning vehicle on the right.

Answer 10

The vehicle that attempted to overtake at the intersection -- the south-bound truck.