My Car Accident, Friday Dec 22nd, 5:35pm Part 1 -The Intersection

Hi friends! Ok, I have a lot of recapping to do of the past two months. I figured I'd start with covering the car accident I had on Friday, Dec. 22nd, 5:35pm. I am sharing this with you, my friends, as I have with so much else of my life, but as well as this is the only way I can figure out to get the digital pictures I have of the intersection and accident to Geico, my insurance company. Apparently, they have a small size limit on the emails they accept and I have been unable to get them to my Claim Agent. I figure she can just come here and do a right click download of each picture. (That said, I have been a Geico customer since I have started driving and their service has always been excellent. And their response to this accident continues to show that.) So if this reads like a deposition, I apologize. Again, I am writing this with the intent that Geico can just print this out as my statement.

Anyway, the accident occured at approxiamately 5:35pm on Friday, December 22nd, 2006 at the interestion of South Wing Viaduct and Paterson Pland Rd in Union City, NJ. (Link here to Google Maps.) It was dark, and while it had rained earlier, it was just misty out. Not quite a drizzle, but not a dry night either. This didn't present a factor in the accident as the roads were not slick. I just mention it to present the facts of the evening. I was making the right turn from South Wing Viaduct on to Paterson Plank Rd. You will see from Google Maps that the intersection forms the letter "T". If you select either the Satellite or Hybrid View, you will see that this "T" intersection is right in front of my girlfriend's apartment building. This fact is a silver lining as I immediately called her to come down with her digital camera.

My car was located at the front of the line of cars in the right lane of South Wing Viaduct. Located very much in the same place as the car in this photo. (Click photo to enlarge, then right click and "Save as" to save photo.)














As well as this photo, which gives similar indication to the line of traffic behind me.















The big difference between these photos and that night, besides the obvious lack of sunlight, was that there were no cars, coming from the opposite direction, in the intersection. The left turn signal was not working that day, something my girlfriend noted when she when drove through intersection shortly before my accident. Both sides had their respective lights turn green at the same time. Also, note in these pictures that the intersection has a "No Turn On Red" sign. Now three cars before made the turn on red. I did not. As a resident of New York City since 2002, we are not allowed to make right turns on red on ANY interestion. So this has now become habit; much to the annoyance of others when I visit Long Island.

I initiated my right turn when the light turned green. My car was the FIRST to enter the intersection. This is important to note. (More details later.) When I entered the intersection, NO cars from the opposite direction had even moved forward. My 2000 Chevy Metro has a Gross Vehicular Weight (GVW) of 1,896lbs. When you add in my 175lbs, that brings us to a total of 2071lbs. This is significant as the car that hit me, a Nissan Pathfinder, has a GVW of 4,612lbs. With driver and passenger, with an average weight of 140 each, that brings its total weight to 4,892lbs. The basic physics of acceleration state that even if we both hit our gas pedals at the same time, my lighter car would enter the intersection first. However, this isn't even an issue according to New Jersey State Traffic Law. From Title 39:4-90 of New Jersey Traffic Law

39:4-90. Right of way at intersections

The driver of a vehicle approaching an intersection shall yield the right of way to a vehicle which has entered the intersection. When 2 vehicles enter an intersection at the same time the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right of way to the driver of the vehicle on the right.

The driver of a vehicle within an intersection intending to turn to the left shall yield to a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction which is within the intersection or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard, but the driver having so yielded, and having given a signal when and as required by law, may make the left turn; and other vehicles approaching the intersection from the opposite direction shall yield to the driver making the left turn

(emphasis added here is mine)



Further more, the driver of the Pathfinder has a New Jersey License and this fact is something he would had to have known when taking the knowledge portion of his road test. Here is a link to the New Jersey State Department of Motor Vehicle's Driver's Manual. The information regarding yielding to oncoming traffic when making a left turn is in Chapter 4, pages 31, 36-37.

"Always stop at a multi-way stop or stop intersection. Always yield
to the driver on the right if arriving simultaneously at a controlled
intersection with regulatory signs, such as a four-way stop. Always
yield to any driver already at or in an intersection."


The driver of the Pathfinder was first in line in the left turn lane of Paterson Plank Rd, northbound, seeking to make a left onto Paterson Plank Rd, westbound. Here is a picture of where he would have been located.














(Click on Image to Enlarge, Right Click, then "Save As" to download.)

It is important to note two things here. One, he has the greater distance to travel. And two, as shown by the next two photos, he would have seen me enter the intersection first, AND had me in his field of vision for the much the entire turn until he tried to pass me (and beat me to the turn and lane ahead). Then I would have been in his blind spot.















(Click on images to enlarge, Right Click, then "Save as" to download.)















Here is a photo of the merge to westbound. Again, I point out that I was already in the crosswalk when hit by the Pathfinder, just a little bit ahead of the SUV pictured here.
















Here are photos of the merge from the opposite direction. (That apartment building in the background is where my girlfriend lives.)
















(click on images to enlarge, right click, then "save as" to download.")
















The Pathfinder was much in the same position as this van. However, since there were cars in the opposite lanes, he was a number of feet over towards the left (driver's right) of where the van appears in this photo. And unlike this photo, there wasn't empty space there. My Metro was there. For the driver to get his Pathfinder to that location, after entering the intersection after me AND having his vehicle weigh 2.5 times more than mine, he really must have been speeding. It is only at just prior to the point of impact, and during the impact that he would have lost sight of me in his blind spot. For the majority of the turn, I would have been in his field of vision . He assumed, as he told me, from prior times going through this intersection that I would have yielded to him. However, this is in direct contradiction to NJ Traffic Law, as shown above, MUCH LESS THE TRAFFIC LAW OF ANY STATE IN THE U.S.A. Also, I would not have seen him at that point, because he was in my blind spot. I had finished the turn and I was no longer looking to my left, I was looking straight ahead.

Here is another photo of the merge where a vehicle is at the same spot as the above van. It will probably enter the lane of the oncoming traffic. However, what is supposed to happen, BY LAW is that the driver of that car is supposed to yield to the driver of that pickup truck.














The next post (Part 2) shows the damage to the vehicles from the night of the accident. These further illustrate the fact that the Pathfinder hit my Metro and not the other way around.