Quote:
Originally Posted by Gettingoutofdodge
I was going through the gate in Sanibel at the attendant side. I was a car length away and a golf cart crossed in front of me. He did not stop, he hit the gas instead of the break. He failed to merge. He was given a summons.
He was ejected from the cart and taken to the hospital. My car has $8100 worth of front end damage. It’s been a week and I am traumatized over this.
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Fellow Villagers, a car does not automatically have the right of way.
I am getting a dash cam and upping my uninsured driver coverage.
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No one automatically has the right of way.
We seem to think of "having the right of way" when instead we should think of "yielding the right of way." If you have the mindset that you have the right of way you assume others will yield to you to avoid a collision. If instead you have the mindset of yielding the right of way then you watch for others to yield but anticipate that they may not. One way says, "it's my road and I will share it when I choose to but not today." The other says, "I don't want to get into a collision today."
Cars do not automatically "have" the right of way. No one automatically "has" the right of way such that they can just barrel on through regardless of what the other person does. In any situation where two vehicles need to occupy the same space, there are rules about who should yield to the other. The rules indicate which vehicle "should" yield. However, the reality is that rules are often ignored.
NONE OF THE ABOVE IS MEANT TO IMPLY THAT YOU CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT. If you chose to play chicken with the cart, if you decided that you had the right of way and were going to go through regardless of what the cart did, THEN you would have contributed to it. We ALL have the responsibility to avoid accidents, regardless of who supposedly "has the right of way." But, that isn't how you described the incident.
I've seen others recommend dash cams just for cases like this. I'm getting closer to purchasing a set for my vehicles.