Quote:
Originally Posted by Snax
To be clear, prima facie evidence often prevails to support the notion that if you rear end somebody, it is your fault, but depending upon the liability law in your state, if you cause an accident and are stupid enough to have multiple people witness obvious intent, you can be held up to 100% responsible for it. Even having malfunctioning brake lights is sufficient evidence to reduce the amount of damages you may be entitled to. In Oregon, that's a standard 20-30% fault when it is just the insurance companies involved.
And more food for thought on this issues is that passengers and acquaintances are generally disregarded as witnesses unless there is a jury trial, so don't count on a friend in the car being able to help your case.
And yes, I was very proud to deny that woman every penny. It could have been much worse. She should have gone to jail for assault with a deadly weapon in my opinion, but the cops didn't bother to ask questions because they shared the same wrong-headed attitude about fault. (They aren't looking out for you at all in such circumstances.)
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So what if a deer ran into the road? Shouldn't one be able to stop in any circumstance whether on purpose or not?
I (technically) tailgate people in heavy traffic (just like everyone else does for efficient flow) and if some lady decides to slam on her brakes and total both our cars, that would be 100% my fault, whether she was being malicious or avoiding a deer, It would be my fault and I would accept that without any problem. One needs to be able to stop safely in ANY circumstance IMO.
Even a Geo Metro should be able to stop when the Ferrari ahead makes a fully locked stop. 3 seconds worth of space is roughly 264 feet at 60mph. Geo Metros 60-0 is 166 feet. I just find it hard to understand how someone could talk their way out of rear ending someone. It is beyond my comprehension.