Changing Lane Accident, Advice needed

[AdviceNeeded]

I was driving along Bukit Timah road on the early morning. It is three lane road and I was driving on the second road and intend to change lane to the first lane. After checking carefully, there was no car on my right. I was almost finishing the changing, and a car hit on the rear right (including side) portion of my car. No injury in the accident.

The opposite side asked me to be 100% responsible for the accident. but I still think that the other side should be responsible for the accident, at least partially. Can anyone give me advice? Your suggestion would be appreciated greatly.

[Beeroclock]

it's rare to have 100% responsibility. especially if he hit you from behind, he needs to take at least partial, if not majority responsibility. Did you indicate ? What was your reason for changing lanes ?

[x9200]

I was driving along Bukit Timah road on the early morning. It is three lane road and I was driving on the second road and intend to change lane to the first lane. After checking carefully, there was no car on my right. I was almost finishing the changing, and a car hit on the rear right (including side) portion of my car. No injury in the accident.

The opposite side asked me to be 100% responsible for the accident. but I still think that the other side should be responsible for the accident, at least partially. Can anyone give me advice? Your suggestion would be appreciated greatly.

If you almost finished the change when it happened how the other car could hit any part of your right side? Not seeing the actual damage it's hard to tell but if this is side-back damage it looks like you were at fault.

[AdviceNeeded]

If you almost finished the change when it happened how the other car could hit any part of your right side? Not seeing the actual damage it's hard to tell but if this is side-back damage it looks like you were at fault.

I gave enough signal, and the damage was a scratch from the rear wheel to the rear corner. Is this my 100% fault? Thanks a lot.

[taxico]

not much you can do as your description of the accident is sketchy. a car can't materialize out of no where into your blind spot.

just report it and hope for the best - ie, the other driver was driving recklessly, or the usual "almost no fault if your butt got hit in singapore" scenario, or... that other car has no dash cam!

[AdviceNeeded]

it's rare to have 100% responsibility. especially if he hit you from behind, he needs to take at least partial, if not majority responsibility. Did you indicate ? What was your reason for changing lanes ?

I gave enough signal. I intended to change to the first lane as the second lane was congested then.

[AdviceNeeded]

not much you can do as your description of the accident is sketchy. a car can't materialize out of no where into your blind spot.

just report it and hope for the best - ie, the other driver was driving recklessly, or the usual "almost no fault if your butt got hit in singapore" scenario, or... that other car has no dash cam!

Thank you. The other side claimed that I was changing lane, and he was driving in his own lane, then it was totally my fault.

[x9200]

If you almost finished the change when it happened how the other car could hit any part of your right side? Not seeing the actual damage it's hard to tell but if this is side-back damage it looks like you were at fault.

I gave enough signal, and the damage was a scratch from the rear wheel to the rear corner. Is this my 100% fault? Thanks a lot.

3 lane street, you are in the middle lane turning to the right (to the most right lane). There is no space further to the right as this is only a 3 lane street. If you were hit also from the right side it means the other car was not at your rare but to your right already some time before you finished. It had to fit the space between your car and the curb, so unlikely it was at the time you were about to finish the maneuver. it is not a classical back-hit incident.

I don't know whether you were 100% at fault but IMHO you could be for a significant part of it.

[Beeroclock]

I don't know whether you were 100% at fault but IMHO you could be for a significant part of it.

I tend to agree, other driver has right of way in his own lane. If you finish changing lanes and he hits you from behind then that's different. But if you are in process of changing lanes and collide on the side (even if rear/side) then it sounds "primarily" your fault.

[AdviceNeeded]

3 lane street, you are in the middle lane turning to the right (to the most right lane). There is no space further to the right as this is only a 3 lane street. If you were hit also from the right side it means the other car was not at your rare but to your right already some time before you finished. It had to fit the space between your car and the curb, so unlikely it was at the time you were about to finish the maneuver. it is not a classical back-hit incident.

I don't know whether you were 100% at fault but IMHO you could be for a significant part of it.

Thank you so much.

[AdviceNeeded]

I tend to agree, other driver has right of way in his own lane. If you finish changing lanes and he hits you from behind then that's different. But if you are in process of changing lanes and collide on the side (even if rear/side) then it sounds "primarily" your fault.

Thank you for your comments.

[taxico]

...the damage was a scratch from the rear wheel to the rear corner. Is this my 100% fault? Thanks a lot.

it sounds like a very minor accident. why not contact him to settle it privately after filing your accident report?

it might be less than what your deductible is, or may be less than your future loss of NCDs.

i once crumpled a vios' rear bumper (the right most area) and possibly a bit of the body when i pulled from the right lane into the middle lane without properly checking (outside hwa chong institution).

as it was during school release rush hour, traffic was quite bad. i gave him my number (only my number) and took down only his number and told him i'll call him later that day and we both left the scene very quickly. it was totally my fault thinking i had the correct traction and speed i wanted on a wet afternoon.

i called him, met him at a mall car park that late afternoon and told him to bring his car the next day to a body shop i'm familiar with and i'll have the whole thing sorted out for him. if he needed anything other work done, just let the body shop know. (the key is making sure the work commences and hopefully completes within 24 hours)

he agreed and i gave him the details of the shop after making sure i could book his car first thing the next day. he collected his car by 3 or 4pm and called me to thank me as the shop did a wonderful job.

i don't know what he did but i had to pay a bill for $5-600 just for his car (it's an accurate bill as it's a body shop i'm very familiar with) but it was worth my NCD savings (50% of almost 9.5k a year).

i internet ordered a new bumber and lights unit and sorted it after the parts arrived from europe. the shop worked out the dink in the front quarter panel without requiring a respray.

[x9200]

Very good advice. Avoid the legal/insurance battle as much as you can. Takes years and generates a lot of unnecessary costs.

My wife damaged once a side mirror of another car while in the traffic jam and she managed to settle the whole thing on the spot. The other driver just called his mechanic, asked how much it would cost, my wife accepted, some money changed the owner, a receipt with proper phrasing was signed, and that was the end of the story.

Contrary to this when my motorbike was hit by a car, the guy did not act proactively so I passed the whole case to a company specializing in solving this kind of problems and the whole thing costed out the other party / his insurer around 7k instead of probably 1k.

[maneo]

If you almost finished the change when it happened how the other car could hit any part of your right side? Not seeing the actual damage it's hard to tell but if this is side-back damage it looks like you were at fault.

I gave enough signal, and the damage was a scratch from the rear wheel to the rear corner. Is this my 100% fault? Thanks a lot.

"Gave enough signal"???
When you signal a lane change the normal reflex action for other drivers is to speed up to prevent you from getting in front of them.