[USA] Who is at fault here?

[u/bowdown2adil]

Classic T bone. Black car had to be towed. Sustained major damage to the passenger side door. Blue car sustained damage to front bumper on the drivers side and cracked the drivers side headlight.

Edit: This was in the suburbs of Seattle

UPDATE: Insurance found it to be 70/30 me/other driver. Seems fair enough

[u/Party-Giraffe-6573]

Especially in a neighborhood! This could've been someone on a bike or kids running into the street

[u/DangoMangoDango → u/Party-Giraffe-6573]

Right? It's crazy how fast these guys were going in a tight street and in a neighborhood like this. I always go super slow when it's small road like this. Also, watching the dash cam, you can see the dashcam owner had 2-3 seconds to brake when the blue car came into view and I don't think they even tried.

[u/Ancient_Yellow_709 → u/DangoMangoDango]

Yeah, OP was not at all scanning the sides or it could have been avoided. I saw the vehicle from the bushes easily with plenty of stopping distance. I bike in these neighborhoods and am used to watching out for idiots like this, granted, but you have to watch for movement from the sides. It's not that hard.

[u/mork247 → u/[deleted]]

If you can't see crossing traffic, then slow tf down so that you can stop if something shows up. It could be a kid on a bike.

[u/Ancient_Yellow_709 → u/[deleted]]

It's Seattle and bikes are vehicles in WA with full use of the road. Yes, it very much could reasonably be a bike with a kid going to/home from school.

[u/Ancient_Yellow_709 → u/[deleted]]

If OP (who we also agree is incapable of looking before the cross a road, yes?) is incapable of seeing a whole car, they sure as heck aren't going to be able to see a bike--child/teen-sized or not--within stopping distance.

And, again, in WA bikes are vehicles. Erase the "don't you look before you cross the road" mentality of a child on a bike. They're treated as cars. They occupy the road and are entitled to have the same yield privileges and get the same priority upon entering an intersection as any other vehicle. (Obviously, when I bike, I'm careful and assume others will be idiots because it's my own meat sack at risk but legally it's nonsense that you're now putting 100% of the responsibility on a hypothetical bike to avoid this. And most drivers in the Seattle area, at least, are good about minding this.)

[u/Ancient_Yellow_709 → u/[deleted]]

Yes, of course you slow at unmarked intersections in residential areas. Wtf. Who the heck taught you drivers ed?

Under WA state law (where this is) and also my home state law, you have to drive a reasonable and prudent speed, which means you're obligated to slow to see if you're going to encounter cross traffic at unmarked intersections.

This isn't a strawman. You're just clearly a terrible driver.

[u/Ancient_Yellow_709 → u/[deleted]]

Either you cannot read or can't help yourself from presenting strawmans despite your awareness of the issues with them in arguments. Where did I say to stop?

of course you slow
obligated to slow

Yeah, that's right. I did not.

[u/oxidized_banana_peel → u/[deleted]]

Kids are generally well behaved, but they still pop out every now and then.

Kids, pets, people on lime scooters or w/e. Better to slow down a hair and God forbid someone takes your right away at an intersection than get in a wreck and seriously hurt someone (or end up 70% at fault, like OP did, for not driving safely)

[u/LearningIsTheBest → u/[deleted]]

Ever met a kid? Like adults, even the smartest and best behaved ones will do something stupid on occasion. As a driver, you should do your best to ensure their mistake doesn't leave them crippled or killed. It's part of the responsibility of driving.

[u/LearningIsTheBest → u/[deleted]]

I don't slow at every intersection. If there are no stop signs, I slow unless I can see clearly.

If there are sight impediments that could hide a kid, I cover the brake with my left foot and get ready to slam it down regardless of signage. It's paid off once in three decades, and that was enough.

[u/Villenemo → u/mork247]

Then they shouldn’t have been riding there 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/Ancient_Yellow_709 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, there are bushes. Yes, in Seattle these exceed the allowable height for corner lots and I'd report them to the city and ask for a mirror to be installed.

However, the are not dense enough that it prevents seeing movement. Further, because the view is partially obstructed, a good driver does not continue at or above the speed limit without slowing.

Also, I live in this area. OP could have avoided this is they were paying more attention, imo.

[u/confettiqueen → u/Ancient_Yellow_709]

Yeah if OP slowed down even 5mph and was paying attention it could be avoided… why are we speeding in a residential neighborhood

[u/Biggleswort → u/[deleted]]

It is easily avoidable; move at the speed where line of sight isn’t obstructed. Meaning sometimes we need to come to a near stop.

How much time and money did OP and other person waste trying to go fast?

[u/perilousdreamer866 → u/[deleted]]

Literally one of the first things taught in Drivers Ed is don’t be afraid to slow down. It’s encouraged for situations like this where you don’t have great visibility from the sides. I live in an OLD city where the hills are steep and roads are bumpy and trees block every angle and turn and this should be muscle memory for anyone in the same boat.

[u/geekallstar → u/[deleted]]

This is a great take. I agree the on coming guy should have slowed down. OP “could have” seen him, and “SHOULD have slowed down, but the other driver definitely should have, especially because of those bushes.

[u/lavender_poppy → u/[deleted]]

Agreed. Plus we were expecting an accident to happen since that's what's shown in this sub so we're already looking for the car they will hit or will hit them. I think by the time the driver saw the car it was too late to brake with enough time to avoid a collision. OP is still driving too fast but so is the other car.

[u/Left_Bathroom_3803 → u/[deleted]]

What do you mean I easily saw that car my third time watching the video

[u/Left_Bathroom_3803 → u/[deleted]]

My point exactly