Liability in the event of a collision: What to do?

Questioner

A few weeks ago I was hit at an intersection. I was waiting for a traffic light, pre-sorted into the left lane to turn. When the traffic light turned green and the traffic started moving, I also pulled out to turn left. At the moment I turned left, however, a police car with siren and flashing lights drove up from the opposite direction. The cars in front of me stopped for the police car and made room for the police to pass. I also had to stop and came to a standstill in the first opposite lane. In this way I kept space free to let the urgently arriving police car in the second opposite lane go first. At the moment the police car passed, I drove on to clear the intersection as quickly as possible. At that moment I could only move forward to clear the intersection because there were cars behind me. The truck next to me in the right lane, also turning left, also pulled out to clear the intersection. However, when I pull away, a car comes from the right behind the truck that has not seen me and drives into my driver's side. The insurance company of the other party has now indicated that they want to hold me liable for the damage because I should have first given the driver coming from the right free passage. I think this is unfair because I was forced to come to a standstill at the intersection and could not go anywhere else. In addition, the other party could see that the intersection was obstructed by several cars and still chose to drive onto the intersection. My own insurance company is of the opinion that we are both to blame for the collision and is trying to settle the damage on the basis of shared fault. However, they say that it is questionable whether that will succeed. Am I liable in this case or is the other party?

Lawyer

First of all, I hope you were not injured. Based on your story, you acted out of necessity to give way to traffic in the opposite lane. Without knowing all the circumstances, the car coming from the right should have exercised caution in such a situation and I am of the opinion that you are not entirely liable for the collision anyway. You must give way to all oncoming traffic without endangering yourself, but the question is whether the other party is included in that. If you wish, you can contact me directly and free of charge to discuss the liability issue further.