by Jack Lee
There is a story in the ER today about a motorcyclist that was involved with a vehicle making a left turn on Hwy 32 onto Yosemite Dr., in Chico. A portion of Highway 32 was closed for almost five hours for investigation. This is really strange, normally an accident investigation for something like this would involve a few pictures, speed skid measurements, statements and it’s done, an hour at most. If it was a major fatal, the local agency of jurisdiction might call out the Special CHP Accident Investigation Team. But, why was the road closed for 5 hours for a two car injury accident? This is weird.
It was implied that the motorcyclist was speeding and if so, he could be culpable, even though the motorist clearly made a left turn right-of-way violation. This is a good point for discussion.
If the motorcyclist was traveling at twice the posted speed limit, the driver is removed from any liability, did you know that? I think the speed limit in that area is 45 mph, so the bike would have to be traveling at a speed of over 90 mph for the responsibility to shift to the motorcyclist. If he was less than 90 mph then car driver gets the blame for a right of way violation. Of course a contributory factor here would be any excess speed by the motorcycle. This could diminish his insurance settlement by the degree he was speeding, if he was. But, even if the biker was traveling well above the speed limit, that doesn’t relieve the other driver from his responsibility to yield the right of way. The car driver’s left turn right-of-way violation is still the proximate cause.
The article said, “Chico Police Department is still trying to determine who is at fault for the accident, because it will depend on how fast the motorcycle was going.” Like I said, that motorcycle would have to be traveling incredibly fast, twice the posted limit; otherwise this is a slam dunk. So the ER story leaves us to think…maybe he was.
There must be more to this investigation, because it was 5 hours long and is still pending the results.
Calif. Vehicle Code Section 21801. (a) The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left or to complete a U-turn upon a highway, or to turn left into public or private property, or an alley, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching from the opposite direction which are close enough to constitute a hazard at any time during the turning movement, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to the approaching vehicles until the left turn or U-turn can be made with reasonable safety. (The only exception is as noted above, when you can prove the other driver was going twice the speed limit)