My husband was involved in a car accident. He was in the left turning lane behind another vehicle waiting to turn left. There are two lanes one each and the median. The light turned yellow and there was a car on the far right opposite side, and it stopped. At that point, the car in front of my husband turned left. Just then, on the opposite side a truck that was approaching kept coming and to try to avoid the car that had just turned left, it swerved and ended up hitting my husband. He was past the crosswalk and about to turn left when this truck hit him. It spun my husband's suv left. His airbags depolyed.
The police came and checked everyone. We live in Arizona, my husband has a firearm and let the police know that he had one. By law, my husband has to tell them so they know. As soon as he told them, they never mentioned anything about the car accident. They asked him questions about his gun. They took it away and left. They never asked for my husbands side of the story. They took the other person to the hospital. They checked my husband's vitals and bandaged his arms. Long after when they were towing the vehicles, the police finally came and asked him more questions about his gun. At that point my husband grew upset and asked them why they were questioning about his firearm and not about the car accident. One of the cops said that he was new to the state and didn't know the laws. He gave my husband his firearm, gave him a ticket stating it failed to yield at a left hand turn. The police report says that he was going 5 mph. but he was about to turn when it happened. So he wasn't moving.
The police told him to sign and that he was pleading not guilty. Court is in one month. We have full coverage in the truck, it was a total loss the insurance company says.
My questions are :
By law, should police ask for both sides of story?
What steps to take when appealing in court?
Should we get an attorney?
Was that ticket correct?
How does that affect the insurance claim and liability?

The police report should contain the details of the accident as told by witnesses and participants. So the police are responsible for taking down both sides.

If your husband had not yet turned into the oncoming lane, then I'm not sure how they can cite him for failure to yield. According to your account, the oncoming vehicle swerved into the left hand turn lane to avoid the vehicle turning in front of him. BTW was that drive interviewed?

If you are determined to be even partially at fault, your insurance carrier MAY according to the laws in your state not pay the full claim.

Bottomline is I would get an attorney to represent you both in court on the ticket and with the insurance company.

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Originally Posted by jm1985

My husband was involved in a car accident. He was in the left turning lane behind another vehicle waiting to turn left. There are two lanes one each and the median. The light turned yellow and there was a car onthe far right opposite side, and it stopped. At that point, the car in front of my husband turned left. Just then, on the opposite side a truck that was approaching kept coming and to try to avoid the car that had just turned left, it swerved and ended up hitting my husband. He was past the crosswalk and about to turn left when this truck hit him. It spun my husband's suv left. His airbags depolyed.
The police came and checked everyone. We live in Arizona, my husband has a firearm and let the police know that he had one. By law, my husband has to tell them so they know. As soon as he told them, they never mentioned anything about the car accident. They asked him questions about his gun. They took it away and left. They never asked for my husbands side of the story. They took the other person to the hospital. They checked my husband's vitals and bandaged his arms. Long after when they were towing the vehicles, the police finally came and asked him more questions about his gun. At that point my husband grew upset and asked them why they were questioning about his firearm and not about the car accident. One of the cops said that he was new to the state and didn't know the laws. He gave my husband his firearm, gave him a ticket stating it failed to yield at a left hand turn. the police report says that he was going 5 mph. but he was about to turn when it happened. So he wasn't moving.
The police told him to sign and that he was pleading not guilty. Court is in one month. We have full coverage in the truck, it was a total loss the insurance company says.
My questions are :
By law, should police ask for both sides of story?
What steps to take when appealing in court?
Should we get an attorney?
Was that ticket correct?
How does that affect the insurance claim and liability?

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By law, should police ask for both sides of story?
What steps to take when appealing in court?
Should we get an attorney?
Was that ticket correct?
How does that affect the insurance claim and liability?


I can only speak for my area but I am not aware of any law requiring the Police to obtain both sides of the story; when I look at the Accident Report I am very often aware that it is, in effect, the "statement" of the party NOT taken to the hospital, the only party still at the scene. The Police will also tell you they are there to enforce the law, not to investigate accidents - I see it all the time. I have seen Police Reports with cars listed in the wrong directions, narratives that don't correspond to the accident scene, witnesses who, in fact, showed up AFTER the accident but had an opinion. That's why these things are investigated.

Yes, I would get an Attorney, and, no, your insurance company should be aware that while the Police Report is a good starting tool it is not the end of things. Keep in mind that the Police did not actually witness the accident - they prepared the report based on their knowledge and experience. They are NOT eye witnesses.

When you say the car on the far right stopped are you referring to a car travelling in the same direction as your husband? And then the car in front of your husband turned left? Then as that car turned a truck ran the red (assuming it was red because the car on the far right was stopped) and hit your husband? Do I have it right? Was your husband actually in the intersection or behind the crosswalk? I would have some concern that it would appear that he was also trying to force the light (traffic being stopped) behind the other car turning but did not "own" the intersection - meaning he was not actually IN the intersection. Do you understand what I mean? This certainly would not make him responsible but he could have some liability.

And I have absolutely no idea what the whole gun interest was but I did get stopped crossing into Canada one time, did not have any firearm with me but my permit did get picked up when they routinely ran my name. I got hauled into Canadian Customs and questioned extensively before they let me go. Meanwhile I'm sure terrorists armed to the teeth were smiling as they drove through! (I was pretty annoyed.)