Originally Posted by ivysun99
I don't think you can prove she was speeding. I think your stopping time calculation is incorrect. Here is what is accepted in my area (and what I use) - at 25 mph she's traveling almost 40 feet per second (39.9, to be exact). At 25 mph her REACTION time is 20-25 seconds; the STOPPING/BRAKING time (on a dry road) is 65 seconds (approximately). That takes the other vehicle approximately (given the low side) 85 seconds to see, react and stop. At 39.9 feet per second that's slightly over 1.75 minutes, not the one second you calculated. And you think she was going faster than that which would have given her less time.
You state (and you are correct) that you “have the responsibility to determine whether it is safe to turn.” You make a full stop and determine it is safe to do so BASED ON THE 25 MPH. But that isn't what you are required to do - you are required to determine whether it is safe to turn based on conditions - and if the condition was that she was speeding, then you are still liable and you turned when it was unsafe. In the Winter, in the snow, you don't make a left-hand turn based on the color of the traffic signal; you base your decision to turn on all of the conditions - such as, will that car be able to stop in time?
You also can't look both ways and decide it's safe it there is another intersection involved to your left or right and another car comes out of that intersection and toward you. And that happens and I hear, “It was safe. There was no traffic.” Well, it wasn't safe and you didn't see what could happen. When you drive you always have to be looking far, far ahead.
I hear this all the time - “It wasn't my fault; I looked; it was safe for me to turn.” If it had been safe for the turn, then the accident wouldn't have occurred.
On first reading and without research the Dennis/Teri case is different from yours - there is clear cut evidence that speed was a factor. I don't see that in your case. In fact, if your figures concerning stopping distance are to be believed, you turned out in front of her and she had one second to stop - 36.9 feet. She didn't have a chance to avoid you.
I'd be grateful nobody was hurt and there was no more damage and let the whole matter rest.
I don't think you can prove her speed was a factor.
(I believe the other driver's insurance will argue that she DID see you and DID try to avoid you and that's why your car wasn't totaled. She didn't simply drive into the side of you.)
