Mike's story tells it all. The light was green, he saw me, he turned. What else needs to be said. He says he is sure I was going 45-50 mph. Then he should have known that he did not have enough time to make the turn.
There is some confusion as to the speed limit there. The map shows the location of the speed limit signs. The part of Prospect in Hermosa Beach to the north (yellow region) of the accident is a 25 mph limit road. The part of Prospect south of the intersection (green region) is 35 mph limited. The question lies as to what the speed limit is where the accident occurred. From the stop sign to the north, you can see the signal light at the 190th Street intersection. As you head south, you see the intersection, and then the 35mph sign onthe other side of 190th. Once Prospect enters Redondo Beach, the road widens from one southbound lane to two. I always assumed that the speed limit changed to 35 there, since I could see the sign and the road widened. State Farm says that the limit does not change until you pass the sign. If this is true, then between the two signs (the magenta area of the map) is both 25 mph and 35 mph, depending on which direction you are travelling.
Of course, the arbitrary limit sign has nothing to with speeding. The California Basic Speed Law (need to add link here) states that you should not go faster than is reasonable for the conditions. I would challenge anyone to find a Redondo Bech Police officer who would say that 35 mph there is unsafe and a violation of the Basic Speed Law.
If I was 100 feet from him when he started the turn, at 45 mph (66 feet per second), he would have one and a half seconds to complete the turn. At my claimed speed of 30 mph (positively somewhere below 35 mph is all I can say) I would be going 44 feet per second. This leaves all of two and a fraction seconds for his full size pickup to clear the intersection. So, does anyone believe that speed has anything to do with this? Of course it does say the insurance companies. AAA says that my excessive speed is the dominant cause of this accident. State Farm says that I was speeding, and therefore had a small contribution to the cause of this accident.
To be accurate, AAA has not always said that I was the major contributor. Gina, the AAA adjuster said I would be at most 25% liable (see phone log).
More later . . .
This page created by, and the opinions of: bcwaller@gmail.com
