Expert: Bennie719 - 12/17/2007

Question
I was sitting in the parking lot wanting to make a left turn across three lanes. The lane directly in front of me (traffic direction was heading to my right), the center turning lane, and the far lane (traffic direction was heading to my left). I looked to my right and saw 2 cars approaching and decided I would pull behind them. Then I looked to my left and saw a stop light about 100 yrds down and no cars coming and decided to pull out. I was in the lane directly in front of me nearest to the curb and within seconds of pulling behind the two cars in the far lane. We were suddenly hit and spun a full 90 degrees, now parallel with the car that hit us (coming from our left). He said he saw us sitting there and tried to use the center turning lane to pass us (not for avoiding a collision). Who is at fault here? I did not dart out from the parking lot. He saw me in the road and did not wait a few seconds for me to merge with traffic.

Answer
Hi Kyle,
From your description of the accident, it sounds like the person coming from your left had the right-of-way.
However, that did not give him the right to pull into the center turn lane and hit you.
If you have a police report and/or a independent witness
(someone who was not an occupant of any car involved in the accident) there is a strong possibility that he can be found at fault.  Otherwise, the best you can hope for is
50/50, you for failure to yield and him for passing in the center turn lane.
Good Luck,
Bennie
12-17-07 1:02 PM PST