I had the stop sign and was facing the person I hit who also had the stop sign. We were at an intersection with 4 lanes. The first two going out and the next two coming in. I looked for oncoming traffic, there was none, so I proceeded through the stop sign. I made it through the first two lanes going out, and the third lane coming in. Once I as 90%% through the fourth lane a car speeding coming in hit the back of my car with her passenger side front end (literally the corner of her car hit me, that s how far through the intersection I was) I was already on the other side of the intersection, so much so that when I was hit my car hit the other vehicle at the other stop sign. The witness said that the car who hit me was speeding and came out of nowhere. My question is if I was hit from the back and 90%% through the intersection, is it still my fault just because I had the stop sign. I did stop at the stop sign, and it was impossible for me to yield to oncoming traffic because there was no one in front of me because I was mostly through the intersection. I didn t even see the car at all until she hit me in the back but obviously she should have slowed down when she saw my car pass the first 3 lanes or at least tried not to hit me. By the way I live in NJ, I don t know if that matters much.
You were not hit from behind. You were hit from the side. The fact that it was the rearmost part of the side of your car is not relevant.
The portion of your car that was hit was still in the intersection.
This is a very simple case. Any accident in that intersection will automatically be the fault of the person with the stop sign. The person on the through street had no legal obligation to yield whatsoever.
If you feel it is impossible to see far enough to cross 4 lanes of traffic without someone coming "out of nowhere" and hitting you before you can clear the intersection, it is your responsibility to find a safer route.
It is his fault because once traffic clears and a driver pulls out from a stop sign the approaching cross traffic is obligated to yield while you make your way through the intersection. It is also your fault though because if you had been watching the cross traffic as you passed through the intersection you would've seen the maniac coming and been able to stay out of his way. Given the size of the intersection there should be a traffic light instead of a stop sign.
If you were hit by a vehicle who was traveling toward your right (passenger side) and they didn't have a stop sign - then you were at fault for not yielding right of way - you didn't give the person in the through lanes enough room to continue unimpeded.
Unfortunately there is no way to know if they were speeding or not without proof like radar or skid marks.
I didn't see any mention of citations and those will be important in the way the insurance companies see it. If you were cited for failure to yield and the other driver was not cited, that pretty much tells the story. Skid marks will also come into play, as well as the extent of the damage (showing the speed at impact).
Just be aware that the stop signs are going to be a big hurdle to overcome.
It is still your fault unless the car literally fell out of an airplane. Cars don't spontaneously appear from nowhere as if they were beamed down from the starship Enterprise. If the car was the street that you were crossing and it is was close enough to be able to get to the interesection, by any means, including speeding, before you finished crossing, then it was a car to which you needed to yield.
Sounds like it's your fault. The other car didn't "come out of nowhere" it was there all along. You and the witness may not have noticed it, but it was there. It did not materialize out of thin air. Having said that, you would be considered at fault for failing to yield.
How could I yield to a car that hit me from behind? I wasn't even in the intersection anymore, in the intersection then yes I should have yield because I would have seen the car, but how could I yield if most of my car was through the intersection? That is where I am confused at.
The old "out of nowhere" insurance claim again. You pulled out in front of a car that had priority. He didn't appear "out of nowhere". You didn't look hard enough.
You followed the law and the person that rear ended you is at fault.
