When I was driving a car made a U-turn in front of me. I honestly did not expect a person to make a U-turn on the street so we ended up colliding. Do I have to report this to my insurance? I feel like the person making the U-turn was completely in the wrong making a U-turn on a city street. What should I do?
You need to report the accident to your insurance company. Failure to report an accident to your car insurance company can result in the insurance company disclaiming your coverage. If your insurance company disclaims, that means you might need to go into your own pocket to pay for any damages to the other car or injuries to the driver of the other car.
Vehicle and Traffic Law
The Vehicle and Traffic Law does not outlaw U-turns on city streets. If you are in a bad place for a U-turn like a curve in the road or the top of a hill, you cannot make a U-turn. “No motor vehicle shall make a U turn upon any curve, or upon the approach to, or near the crest of a grade, where such motor vehicle cannot be seen by the driver of any other motor vehicle approaching from either direction within five hundred feet.” Vehicle and Traffic Law section 1161(a).
The driver making the U-turn ahead of you still had a duty to lookout for oncoming traffic as well as cars coming from your direction. However, you also had a duty to avoid the accident if you had sufficient time to act. Pena v Santana, 5 AD3d 649, 774 NYS2d 744 (2d Dept 2004); see Miles v Walsh, 195 AD3d 924, 146 NYS3d 501 (2d Dept 2021). So it is not “open season” because the other car made a U-turn. Your speed, following distance and action after you saw the U-turn will also be a part of the case. Therefore, you should notify your own insurance carrier because you might be charged as being partially at fault for the accident.
By James Santner, Esq.
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