H0nda1

Hi All,

A friend of mine was involved in an accident recently with a commercial truck pulling a trailer. Here is the scenario:

Picture an intersection with street A going north-south and street B going east-west.

Truck was trying to back into the construction site in the southeast corner of the intersection. Because it was towing a trailer, it had to go all the way to the on-coming traffic lane (southbound lane on street A) so it would get enough room to back in.

My friend was traveling east on street B wanting to turn onto street A. At the time, the light on street B was GREEN so they had the right-of-way to turn right, which they did. But right after they turned, the truck was backing up and the trucks left front tire hit their car.

The construction company had no one blocking traffic on street B to prevent people from turning onto street A (I think they should be obligated to do this...)

The police was called, but for some unfortunate reason, they listened to the truck driver, who claimed that my friends tried to pass him as he was reversing. As a result, the police report claims that they violated California Vehicle Code 21755 (Unsafe passing on the right).

My question is: how can they argue against this? Does anyone have similar experience or know the vehicle codes well?

I've tried to help by looking for some codes governing backing-up of vehicles but I couldn't find any. Please help.

I really don't think my friends are at fault. They are very conservative drivers.

Thank you for your time. Any help is greatly appreciated!

streetglower

iTrader: (13)

Well according to what you just described, the truck driver is not at fault. Even if the light was green and your friend could have turned, he should have seen the truck backing into the construction lot and waited before he turned. They dont have to have people standing there telling people to wait to turn, it should be something that the driver should do anyway if someone is backing in somewhere. You wait untill they are done. They arent obligated to do it unless their is a situation where without a person standing there, traffic would be hectic. And a flagger would make the situation easier on drivers.

There really is no way to argue against this. He did unsafely pass a vehicle and the result was the truck hit the car. You can say that he is a good driver, but he took the risk to pass while the truck was backing in.

Basically if a truck is backing in and a car comes, the car should wait to pass the truck. And knowledgeable driver should know that. Unless there is ample space to pass, but like I said, your friend took the risk and ended up gettig hit.

H0nda1

Thanks for a reply. I was hoping there's some vehicle code that requires a commercial vehicle to post flaggers. I thought that if you are backing a vehicle and you hit someone it's your fault since you should've made sure the way is clear before reversing.

The problem in this situation is that the driver is in experienced (only has permit) and they were practicing driving. What if while my friends turned the car, the truck was fully stopped? So the sequence of events would be:

(1) See truck stop at the wrong side of the road
(2) Many cars turn right so they follow
(3) Right after they turn, the truck started to reverse
(4) They stop immediately (ok, bad move but the truck should have seen them)
(5) Truck hits their car.

I see your point in that IF the truck was in motion and reversing into the construction area, they shouldn't have tried to pass. But what if the truck was fully stopped?

Also, are there no vehicle codes that require proper signalling of intention on a commercial vehicle's part since they're so big?

Thanks. Once again, any help is greatly appreciated.

streetglower

iTrader: (13)

Well all he can really do is complain about it in court if he wants. But like I said, he is at fault because the truck was already in the position to be backing up and your friend was making the decision to pass or what not. And he got hit while doing so. Your friend should have been yeilding to the truck and waited untill the truck backed into the construction site. It doesnt matter if your light was green, before your friend got there, the truck was probably already backing in. Just tell him to call the local DPS and ask them about the issue of them having flaggers.

H0nda1

What is "DPS"?

streetglower

iTrader: (13)

Department of public safety. Same thing. You have dps officers. Call there office and ask them.

H0nda1

I haven't had a chance to call any public safety offices. But suppose you are required to have a flagger present, my friends still have another problem: the police report claims that the construction company had 2 flaggers present (my friends said only one was there)...

So I think it comes down to: has anyone argued against a police report in small claims court and won?

streetglower

iTrader: (13)

Now my question is, what kind of damage was done to the car?