October 6 was the beginning of what should have been a very simple auto claim. Here's the scenario: driving south on a city street - two lanes each way, no turn lane. At an intersection an appriaching pickup truck turns left in front of you. You strike the rear right wheel of the truck with the front right corner of your car. No airbags deploy, so you aren't going that fast. Both vehicles are drivable, so the drivers exchange information and go on their way without involving the police.
Liability is simple, right? Not to Nationwide. The Texas Drivers Handbook addresses turning left this way "when turning left you must yield the right of way to any vehicles coming straight through from the other direction". Also, the Texas Peace Officer's Accident report lists factor code 37 "failure to yeild ROW - turning left". Nationwide choses to apportion liability at 60% their driver, 40% the other driver, meaning that the other driver eats 40% of the repair cost. Nationwide is trying to nickel and dime me out of what they should pay. This is only 3 weeks old and still ongoing.
In the future, if the other driver is covered by Nationwide and it is clearly the other driver's fault, take the dive, call an ambulance and hire a personal injury attorney.
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