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I live about a block away from the elementary school so buses usually go around my block. I stop completely at the sign and the bus there takes a sharp right turn and clips my car. i was a good distance away from the line, but she still hits me. my car is pretty dented on teh front, while teh bus is untouched basically. now i tell her she turned to sharp but apparently she said i tried to run the sign. cop, neighbors, school district, everyone come to see the accident. i now missed my class, and feels liek the whole school is trying to bury me. However there were witnesses who were on my side (who got out of their car/house and spoke to me). the cops come and say that its a 50/50 accident, however i have a feeling it'll change to being 100% on me even thou it wasnt my fault.
but i feel since im a young driver (18) and because its a school bus they will get away and ill be liable.
so basically i just want to know 1. how much does insurance raise (my parent are still paying for mine and this is my first accident/ticket/moving violation/etc.) 2.is there anything specific that adds on since i hit a school bus?
thank you for any replies
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Is there anyone who can confirm for you that you were definetly not ignoring the sign? If there is, I would never accept them putting the blame on you and making you pay for the damage.
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hmm if you have some neutral witnesses and they dont, it should be gg no re, right? or you think people can get that biased just because it's a school bus which carries the future of the nation...
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Complete bs, don't let them pin it on you. Good luck. (Sorry I don't know about American insurance/tickets etc.)
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1. how much does insurance raise (my parent are still paying for mine and this is my first accident/ticket/moving violation/etc.) 2.is there anything specific that adds on since i hit a school bus?
1. Depends how much it was before. It will go up slightly (5-6% maybe) if they determinte it wasn't your fault, and probably higher - up to 10% if they determine it was 50/50.
2. There shouldn't be, considering school buses are built like fucking tanks and there's no real damage to it.
Either way dude, I hope you resolve this, since you seem to be a good driver and the woman driver is trying to pin this on you.
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hope this turns out all right, hopefully they school doesn't dick you out.
edit, where in relation to your car and the bus, how did this happen? sharp right turn?
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Why is guilt still in question?
woman driver
Case closed.
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I am just thinking through the situation you described and I don't quite understand the bus drivers argument. You say you were stopped completely at a stop sign, the bus driver says you tried to go through it. Now my question is, even if you were going through the sign, how would this have caused the bus to strike your car?
If you were going straight, her argument is irrelevant, for regardless if your car was moving or not, she would have still hit it. The same applies for if you were turning right. The only scenario I see her argument making sense is if you went to go through the stop sign taking a left, and also took the corner sharply yourself, more or less moving slightly into the opposing lane.
Either way, assuming you are telling the truth, you have my sympathy, sounds like a bullshit situation.
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On October 08 2009 01:37 StorrZerg wrote: hope this turns out all right, hopefully they school doesn't dick you out.
edit, where in relation to your car and the bus, how did this happen? sharp right turn?
i wish i could draw out a picture but here goes. im clearly behind the stop sign and can see all of teh sign (as opposed to u stop before the sign but u are too far ahead and cant see it). she turns right when i stop (lets say im on the bottom of the + and shes on the right). she takes a sharp turn left(her left) and it scraps my front left side.
hope that doesnt sound too much of a clusterfuck
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On October 08 2009 02:18 Salv wrote: I am just thinking through the situation you described and I don't quite understand the bus drivers argument. You say you were stopped completely at a stop sign, the bus driver says you tried to go through it. Now my question is, even if you were going through the sign, how would this have caused the bus to strike your car?
If you were going straight, her argument is irrelevant, for regardless if your car was moving or not, she would have still hit it. The same applies for if you were turning right. The only scenario I see her argument making sense is if you went to go through the stop sign taking a left, and also took the corner sharply yourself, more or less moving slightly into the opposing lane.
Either way, assuming you are telling the truth, you have my sympathy, sounds like a bullshit situation.
the way i see it is she thought i was moving forward when she was turning, or if she thought i didnt stop when she was turning (which is idiotic and no one would ever do/take the risk of doing). i stopped right when she started to turn. i dont think it mattered really if i was going straight or a right turn since i stopped.
only thing on my part that could of avoided this was maybe drive closer to teh sidewalk. thats the only part where i could possibly be at fault over.
its not the fact that my car is damaged its more of the fact that 1. my insurance is going up no matter wht. if im found totally at fault or completely innocent, my insurance is still going up just because i was a part of it (and/or being a young driver). mind you i dont pay for my own insurance, so i rely on parents to pay for, which makes me feel extremely guilty. 2. the disappointment in my dad. ive always wanted to make my father proud, or that he was right in trusting me. it took a lot for my dad to allow me to freely drive around and such, i felt proud my father had confidence in me to be free. after my class the drive home and the greeting at the door from my dad basically said it all.
anyway i pick up the claim tomorrow and figure out wht happens next.
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Don't let them pin shit on you if you honestly didn't do anything. If you have witnesses, take it to court, get a lawyer, and fuck them in the ass. You say you might be seen as a bad person if you hit a school bus, but isn't it more terrible if the driver of a bus of children is careless and hits stopped cars?
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On October 08 2009 03:24 sung_moon wrote:Show nested quote +On October 08 2009 01:37 StorrZerg wrote: hope this turns out all right, hopefully they school doesn't dick you out.
edit, where in relation to your car and the bus, how did this happen? sharp right turn? i wish i could draw out a picture but here goes. im clearly behind the stop sign and can see all of teh sign (as opposed to u stop before the sign but u are too far ahead and cant see it). she turns right when i stop (lets say im on the bottom of the + and shes on the right). she takes a sharp turn left(her left) and it scraps my front left side. hope that doesnt sound too much of a clusterfuck
So she was actually turning left. If she was going right, she would have been too far away to hit you. It makes a lot more sense now.
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United States24483 Posts
I was in a somewhat similar situation as a young driver near a school. Let me clarify some things before I offer you advice:
1) Was your car moving AT ALL when you were hit? If so, explain exactly what your motion was. 2) Were you over the double yellow line (too far left?) How sure are you? 3) What were you planning on doing after the stop sign? Go straight, left or right?
In a few hours I will check back for your answers and tell you exactly what you should do.
edit: What insurance do you have? What state do you live in?
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On October 08 2009 04:29 micronesia wrote: I was in a somewhat similar situation as a young driver near a school. Let me clarify some things before I offer you advice:
1) Was your car moving AT ALL when you were hit? If so, explain exactly what your motion was. 2) Were you over the double yellow line (too far left?) How sure are you? 3) What were you planning on doing after the stop sign? Go straight, left or right?
In a few hours I will check back for your answers and tell you exactly what you should do.
edit: What insurance do you have? What state do you live in? Just wanted to add on the fact that if you were moving even slightly, you are at fault. If not, then she is at fault (unless like micronesia inferred, you were too far left).
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Bullshit. Don't them have you take the blame. Fight the assholes if your sure you weren't at fault. Fight damnit!
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On October 08 2009 04:29 micronesia wrote: I was in a somewhat similar situation as a young driver near a school. Let me clarify some things before I offer you advice:
1) Was your car moving AT ALL when you were hit? If so, explain exactly what your motion was. 2) Were you over the double yellow line (too far left?) How sure are you? 3) What were you planning on doing after the stop sign? Go straight, left or right?
In a few hours I will check back for your answers and tell you exactly what you should do.
edit: What insurance do you have? What state do you live in?
1) no i was not 2) no there was no yellow line, HOWEVER if there was one i wouldn't be over it. HOWEVER i was very close to the edge and pretty far away from the sidewalk. this is the one thing i mentioned where i could be at fault over. 3) i was planning on going straight after the bus completely turned.
edit: btw my insurance is Allstate provided by my parents (if that matters). and i live in Pennsylvania.
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United States24483 Posts
On October 08 2009 05:41 sung_moon wrote:Show nested quote +On October 08 2009 04:29 micronesia wrote: I was in a somewhat similar situation as a young driver near a school. Let me clarify some things before I offer you advice:
1) Was your car moving AT ALL when you were hit? If so, explain exactly what your motion was. 2) Were you over the double yellow line (too far left?) How sure are you? 3) What were you planning on doing after the stop sign? Go straight, left or right?
In a few hours I will check back for your answers and tell you exactly what you should do.
edit: What insurance do you have? What state do you live in? 1) no i was not 2) no there was no yellow line, HOWEVER if there was one i wouldn't be over it. HOWEVER i was very close to the edge and pretty far away from the sidewalk. this is the one thing i mentioned where i could be at fault over. 3) i was planning on going straight after the bus completely turned. I'm not sure how it works, but did you exchange insurance info with the bus?
Tell your own insurance company that you WERE NOT MOVING AT ALL and that you WERE NOT OVER THE LINE (which is true, even if you were close to it) and then you can get 0% liability which will not affect your insurance. If the busdriver and her advocates try to disrupt this, then make sure your insurance company knows of the witnesses who can attest to the fact that you were not moving when you were hit. You cannot be held liable for something like that if you weren't moving and were not where you weren't supposed to be.
Keep in mind the busdriver will probably not be employed if she gets into an accident with a bus so she has every motivation to lie through her teeth to avoid any blame.
edit: if the cop believed you that you weren't moving and still said it's a 50/50 situation then he's full of crap.
edit 2: Your dad should not be mad at you if he believes you that your car wasn't moving.
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On October 08 2009 05:41 sung_moon wrote:Show nested quote +On October 08 2009 04:29 micronesia wrote: I was in a somewhat similar situation as a young driver near a school. Let me clarify some things before I offer you advice:
1) Was your car moving AT ALL when you were hit? If so, explain exactly what your motion was. 2) Were you over the double yellow line (too far left?) How sure are you? 3) What were you planning on doing after the stop sign? Go straight, left or right?
In a few hours I will check back for your answers and tell you exactly what you should do.
edit: What insurance do you have? What state do you live in? 1) no i was not 2) no there was no yellow line, HOWEVER if there was one i wouldn't be over it. HOWEVER i was very close to the edge and pretty far away from the sidewalk. this is the one thing i mentioned where i could be at fault over. 3) i was planning on going straight after the bus completely turned. edit: btw my insurance is Allstate provided by my parents (if that matters). and i live in Pennsylvania.
Answer 3 could actually help you a lot along with the witnesses. If you can prove where you were going and print out a map of the route you take then you obviously couldn't have been turning.
PS- ANOTHER CAR ACCIDENT THREAD!
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On October 08 2009 05:45 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On October 08 2009 05:41 sung_moon wrote:On October 08 2009 04:29 micronesia wrote: I was in a somewhat similar situation as a young driver near a school. Let me clarify some things before I offer you advice:
1) Was your car moving AT ALL when you were hit? If so, explain exactly what your motion was. 2) Were you over the double yellow line (too far left?) How sure are you? 3) What were you planning on doing after the stop sign? Go straight, left or right?
In a few hours I will check back for your answers and tell you exactly what you should do.
edit: What insurance do you have? What state do you live in? 1) no i was not 2) no there was no yellow line, HOWEVER if there was one i wouldn't be over it. HOWEVER i was very close to the edge and pretty far away from the sidewalk. this is the one thing i mentioned where i could be at fault over. 3) i was planning on going straight after the bus completely turned. I'm not sure how it works, but did you exchange insurance info with the bus? Tell your own insurance company that you WERE NOT MOVING AT ALL and that you WERE NOT OVER THE LINE (which is true, even if you were close to it) and then you can get 0% liability which will not affect your insurance. If the busdriver and her advocates try to disrupt this, then make sure your insurance company knows of the witnesses who can attest to the fact that you were not moving when you were hit. You cannot be held liable for something like that if you weren't moving and were not where you weren't supposed to be. Keep in mind the busdriver will probably not be employed if she gets into an accident with a bus so she has every motivation to lie through her teeth to avoid any blame. edit: if the cop believed you that you weren't moving and still said it's a 50/50 situation then he's full of crap.
i did not exchange information (i should have), however i asked and know that she in employed by the elementary school one block away form my house and the specific bus she drives. i understand that the busdriver is at fault and will lie to save her ass, but im worried that when there, people will take the word of an older more experienced driver over a 18 year old college kid who's had his license for just over a year. my father doesnt mind about the increase of insurance as he says if im right, it wont be much.
as far as the witness situation, i told the cop about the local who witnessed it while walking her child to school. however, im not extremely sure if the cop directly went to her, even thou i asked twice about it.
btw thanks all for replies. feel more comfortable when i get different inputs
edit: my dad is more disappointed than mad. he probably thinks i could of avoided it. my dad's been pretty strict, and i never want to get my dad mad/disappointed/wrong about me ever.
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