Expert: Mark C. Robins - 3/14/2006

Question
Recently I was in a minor car accident while waiting in an intersection to turn left.  I saw that the light turned yellow so I check the on coming traffic to notice the cars were slowing down and coming to a stop.  The driver of the vehicle in the closest lane made the decision to try to make the light while the other cars stopped.  Assuming all cars would stop I started moving into the turn only to go a couple feet before that still on coming car hit me.  I was stopped at the time since I could see by that point that the driver had no intension of stopping.  The point is the light turned red as the driver's car colided with mine.  That make me believe the driver would have been in the middle of the intersection when the light turned red regardless of whether I was there or not.  The impact was minimal to my car as it only put a few scraps in my front bumper but the other driver's car was dented in on the front bumper/fender.

The driver, understandably, assumes it is entirely my fault for not waiting but when the insurance documents are filed will there be a chance that the blame will not be entirely mine and that the cost will be shared to, at least, some extent since he could have (as the other stopped cars showed) stopped in time?

I live in Alberta and I'm not sure at what point it becomes the fault of the person entering the intersection when an accident occurs.

Answer
Is Alberta a "No Fault" Province?
If yes then the answer is simple, if not given the information provided I would suggest that there is only fault with one driver not giving the right of way.
I would caution you to seek legal counsel if the insurance company wants to interview you.
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