Do I have to brake for someone coming into my lane?

[THE BIG SITT]

Driving this morning when a lady thought she needed over, so instead of waiting till their was room, she just put her blinkers on and came on over. Had I not slown down she would have hit me pretty squarely. Today, like most days, I wasn't in the mood to see what would happen if I maintained my speed. If I would have been feeling froggy and let her hit me, who would have been "at fault"?

EDIT: Or, what would happen in the same circumstance except instead of me letting her hit me, I didn't notice her coming over until she hit me (we can say I was checking my mirrors or something)?

 

[Cameramonkey]

My gut says if she is changing lanes and you are where you need to be at the speed you need to be, its on her for failing to see you. IANAL or cop, so tagging for interest.

 

[gregkl]

Could be difficult to prove who was at fault. We do have a responsibility to drive defensively and do what we can to be safe and avoid accidents. There may not be a specific code for this type of action but lawyers can always play the negligence card with most any "accident."

It's just like merging onto the expressway. If I am on the expressway, I do not have to move over into the left lane. Technically the person merging should be adjusting their speed to either get in front of me or drop in behind. But most people have forgotten or never learned that, so I move over. Which creates another whole set of situations that I won't get into now.

You did the right thing by avoiding an accident. No matter whose fault it is, they are no fun for anyone.

 

[1911ly]

I'd rather brake and get out of the way of an idiot then make a point and get in a crash. Common sense rules.

 

[long coat]

She is the one changing lanes, so it's on her.
But I had someone come into my lane in Fishers and the LEO put down on the report that I was the one that caused it. I email the Fishers police to see what needed to be done to fix the report and the LEO called me, he told me he has to check with his boss about fixing it, he was nowt worried about it being wrong. I don't know if it ever got fixed.

 

[Bonkers4Bacon]

Depends on how long she was in your lane before you hit her. If she changed lanes and the impact happened within 5 seconds or so, she'd likely be at fault. If you had a reasonable time to safely slow down and still hit her, thats on you.

 

[Thegeek]

Hell, I had a guy pass me on the shoulder of 465, cut into my lane (far right) too early and took my front bumper cover off...... his story was that I merged into his lane and clipped his rear.

I ended up being at fault. Yeah, like I wanted to mess up my nice new car by trying to PIT this guys POS Dodge Dakota.....

Thinking about investing in front and rear dashcams.....

 

[THE BIG SITT]

I don't question whether or not I should have hit the brakes, as that is obvious. I question what would happen if I decided to be a dick and let her hit me. Or, what would happen in the same circumstance except instead of me letting her hit me, I didn't notice her coming over until she hit me (we can say I was checking my mirrors or something)?

 

[Thegeek]

It should be on her.... regardless if you noticed or not. It's their responsibility to change lanes safely. Unfortunately, that's not how it all plays out unless a cop is there to witness it. They'll just assume you were being a dick and sped up to not let them merge.

Probably what pisses me off most about driving. There are rules to the road. The person breaking the rules should always be at fault, but rarely are.....

 

[HoughMade]

Who is at fault? Whoever the jury says is 3 or 4 years from now.

 

[Crbn79]

Who is at fault? Whoever the jury says is 3 or 4 years from now.

And you will both pay for it. Don't believe me, get hit and watch your premiums mysteriously raise 6 months later.

 

[1911ly]

I would think (wonder?) you could be held partly responsible if you admitted you could have avoided the accident. I wouldn't even ponder the though of holding my ground in that situation. So I have nothing more to add.

 

[patience0830]

Who is at fault? Whoever the jury says is 3 or 4 years from now.

Or whatever the insurance companies agree to, pretrial.

 

[HoughMade]

I would think (wonder?) you could be held partly responsible if you admitted you could have avoided the accident...

Bingo

In a lawsuit over car accidents, fault from 0 to 100% can be assigned among anyone who contributed to cause an accident. If the person who sues is more than 50% at fault, they make no recovery. Up to 50%, a plaintiff can recovery, but reduced by the portion they are at fault.

 

[jkaetz]

Driving this morning when a lady thought she needed over, so instead of waiting till their was room, she just put her blinkers on and came on over. Had I not slown down she would have hit me pretty squarely. Today, like most days, I wasn't in the mood to see what would happen if I maintained my speed. If I would have been feeling froggy and let her hit me, who would have been "at fault"?

You confused the matter with the above statement.

EDIT: Or, what would happen in the same circumstance except instead of me letting her hit me, I didn't notice her coming over until she hit me (we can say I was checking my mirrors or something)?

This is the only statement that should be considered. You shouldn't dare say anything happened other than "Person B merged into me." They will likely say exactly the same thing if they think they can get away with it and then it will be up to the responding officer and insurance companies.

 

[KittySlayer]

You've got a horn, an accelerator and a finger... use them.

I had to upgrade the horn on my car because it was nearly useless.

Sometimes it makes more sense to accelerate away from a problem rather than braking.

In heavy traffic sometimes you almost have to tailgate to keep some moron from trying to fill a space they don't belong in.

In the situation you described braking sounds like the right thing to do even though it is annoying.

As Dega said in Papillon, "Blame is for God and small children," your mission is to not get in a accident irrespective of what a dumb..s driver the other person is.

 

[eldirector]

On more than one occasion, I have "braced for impact". Even had my side mirror folded in once by another truck. Luckily, never felt an impact, and we all went on our merry way (me cursing like a drunken sailor).

From my experience with collisions, the person following the rules/law is always at fault. The one that yells and screams the most, maybe even cries, and especially outright lies is NOT. I actually had someone jump a curb and hit me while I was at a stoplight (they were going WAY too fast and slide through the intersection). The responding LEO tried to put down "no fault", and the other person's insurance tried to put ME at fault. Sigh.....

 

[Gluemanz28]

I say who ever has the biggest vehicle wins. If BigTanker is coming over to my lane after the three blinker rule with a load of fuel or methanol Ima let him. Jus sayin

 

[Gluemanz28]

Or whatever the insurance companies agree to, pretrial.

Safe Auto will get you just about enough to buy a cup of coffee.

 

[Tripp11]

In heavy traffic sometimes you almost have to tailgate to keep some moron from trying to fill a space they don't belong in.

This quote reminded me of this story a few years back about State Troopers trying to combat tailgaters.

Technology helps troopers track tailgaters - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

My wife is not originally from Indiana, but she said this state is filled with drivers who feel it imperative to sit on the bumper of the car directly in front of them to prevent anyone else from merging or entering that lane.

Me, I just lay off, relax, and enjoy the ride home listening to some sweet tunes.