Avoiding Motorized Wheelchair and Hit By Car Failing to Stop at a Side Road

I was traveling at a safe speed down a residential road. There were double lines, but there was a motorized wheelchair in the middle of the right hand lane (the one I was in) even though a sidewalk was available. I did cross the double lines to move past the wheelchair, but it was at a slow speed.

Meanwhile, a vehicle was approaching a stop sign at a side road to the left of me. I had almost passed the side road (as I avoided the wheelchair) when the car on the side road proceeded past the stop sign and hit the back door and wheel on my car.

The police on the scene said I was at fault because I crossed the double lines. I am willing to have the ticket and pay the fine for that. However, I am being asked to pay for the damage to the car that hit me. I did not hit the car coming from the side road, otherwise it would have been a frontal impact.

When I expressed that the car had failed to stop, I was told that my crossing the double lines "trumped" the failure to stop and the accident was my fault. Also, I was going slowly past the wheelchair, whereas the impact of the other car tore quite a bit of her bumper off and also punctured my rear wheel - this makes me wonder about speed.

Help?

Answer to Avoiding Motorized Wheelchair and Hit By Car Failing to Stop at a Side Road
:

Clearly you have a dispute. We are not aware that “crossing double lines trumps stop signs.” That is not how usually work. You do have a big breach, crossing a double line is evidence of negligence.

However, not stopping at a stop sign is also negligence. There maybe negligence, or a percentage of negligence on both vehicles. Talk to your own insurance company and ask for an investigation. You may be correct about their negligence.

Good Luck
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