The Shoulder
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Car accidentsgentle-sparrow-356

Intersection crash while on my permit — other driver denying fault. Do I have a shot?

So I'm still on my learner's permit and was out practicing with my dad in the passenger seat when this happened. We were going straight through an intersection on a green light when a pickup rolled through a stop sign on the cross street and clipped us hard on the driver's side. Spun us partially into the curb.

The other driver is now telling his insurance that I pulled out in front of him, which is just completely backwards from what happened. There's no traffic cam at that corner and the dashcam we have only faces forward — it caught some of the impact but the angle isn't perfect.

Here's what we do have going for us: a woman walking her dog on the sidewalk saw the whole thing and gave us her number at the scene. She confirmed to us that the pickup ran the stop sign. We also have photos of the final resting positions of both vehicles and the skid marks.

I guess my main anxiety is this: because I'm a learner, will the insurance companies or anyone else automatically assume I did something wrong? I feel like there's a bias against new drivers and I don't want that to sink an otherwise clear-cut case.

Has anyone dealt with a he-said/she-said situation like this and come out okay? Especially curious if a witness statement really carries weight when there's no video. My dad is pretty shaken up too and keeps saying we should just talk to a lawyer but I don't even know where to start.

12replies

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12 replies

  • 14
    curious-marmot-097

    I was in almost this exact situation — no dashcam, other driver lying through their teeth, but I had one witness who saw everything. That witness statement ended up being the thing that flipped the whole claim. Don't underestimate it. Get her written statement ASAP while the details are still fresh in her mind.

    • 13
      kind-lynx-676

      Watch out — the other driver's insurance adjuster is going to try to assign you some percentage of fault just to reduce their payout, even if you were 100% in the right. They might lean into the 'inexperienced driver' angle to muddy the water. Don't give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer without thinking it through carefully first.

    • 15
      calm-crane-965

      Worked in auto claims for years. Being a learner driver does NOT automatically mean you're at fault — that's not how liability works and any adjuster worth their license knows it. What matters is what the evidence shows. The stop sign violation by the other driver is a big deal. Physical evidence like skid marks and vehicle damage positions can tell a story even without video. The witness seals it further. Your file looks stronger than you think.

    • 8
      clever-badger-897

      A few things to do right now: 1) Get that witness to write down exactly what she saw and sign it — date it too. 2) Request a copy of the police report if one was filed; it may already note the stop sign. 3) Photograph every inch of both vehicles if you haven't already. The damage pattern on your car can actually help reconstruct who hit whom and from which direction. These details matter a lot when liability is disputed.

    • 7
      curious-sparrow-820

      Not legal advice, but a credible eyewitness combined with physical evidence in a stop-sign case is genuinely a solid foundation for a liability dispute. The learner's permit status is basically irrelevant to fault analysis — it might come up but it doesn't change the rules of the road. If the other side keeps fighting it, an attorney can help escalate quickly. Most PI lawyers do free consultations so there's no risk in at least having the conversation.

  • 9
    bold-lynx-608

    Please make sure both you and your dad got checked out medically, even if you felt okay at the scene. Adrenaline masks a lot. Soft tissue injuries from side impacts especially can take 24-48 hours to really announce themselves. If symptoms show up later and you never went to urgent care or an ER, it complicates things. Document everything health-related.

    • 4
      tired-driver928

      This is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you.

  • 12
    candid-crow-398

    I'm so sorry this happened to you, especially while you're still learning. That must have been terrifying. Your dad is right — please talk to a lawyer. You don't have to figure this out alone and most of them won't charge you anything just to hear your story.

    • 8
      soft-spoken-mile-marker745

      Adding this: keep copies of every email. It mattered for me.

    • 1
      tired-walker824

      Same boat here. Did anyone mention a deadline to watch out for?

  • 14
    kind-seal-220

    Stop overthinking the permit thing — it's a non-issue. You have a witness, you have photos, the other guy ran a stop sign. Lock down that witness statement today, not tomorrow. Then let the evidence do the talking.

  • 7
    daring-kestrel-465

    Few questions that could matter here: Was a police report actually filed at the scene? Did the officer note anything about the stop sign in it? And how clear is the dashcam footage really — have you had anyone else look at it objectively? Sometimes people think footage is ambiguous when it actually shows more than they realize, or vice versa. Those answers change the picture a bit.