Made a legal left turn, other driver was drunk and flying — insurance says it's MY fault??

Get a personal injury attorney today, not tomorrow. Most take accident cases on contingency so there's no upfront cost. Bring the police report, any camera footage you can get your hands on, your medical bills, your pay stubs showing lost wages — everything. Insurance companies respond differently when there's an attorney CC'd on correspondence. This is not a situation to try to handle on your own.

I just want to say — I'm really sorry this is happening to you. You were hurt, you're dealing with recovery AND financial stress AND now this? It's a lot. Please lean on people around you and don't try to fight this alone. You deserve support.

I'm not doubting you but just to understand better — was the light still green when you started your turn, or had it been green for a while and you were waiting for a gap? And did your own insurance company assign the fault, or was it the other driver's carrier? That distinction matters for how you fight it.

I used to work in claims and I'll be straight with you: adjusters are often trained to default to left-turn fault because it's a quick, defensible decision that closes files fast. It does NOT mean that's the legally correct outcome. When you have evidence of extreme speed and DUI, that changes the comparative fault picture significantly. The 'playbook' your adjuster mentioned is an internal guideline, not a court ruling. That finding is absolutely contestable.

Also — stop talking to your adjuster without representation. Every conversation is documented and can be used to support their position.

Not legal advice, but what you're describing — an intoxicated driver traveling at an extreme, unforeseeable speed — goes directly to the concept of comparative or contributory negligence. In many states, even if a left turn carries some default presumption of fault, that presumption can be rebutted when the other driver's conduct was so far outside normal expectations that a reasonable person couldn't have anticipated it. The evidence you have (traffic camera, DUI arrest, police report) is exactly what an attorney would want to work with. Consult one before this goes any further.

Oh my gosh, this is almost exactly what happened to my cousin last year. Other driver ran a red light at high speed and somehow the insurance company initially tried to say she 'could have waited longer.' It took getting an attorney involved before they finally changed their tune. Don't let them bully you into accepting that decision — seriously, get a lawyer on the phone before you say another word to your adjuster.

A few practical things worth doing right now if you haven't already: (1) Request the full claims file from your insurer in writing — you're entitled to it. (2) Get a certified copy of the police report. (3) Contact the city or county transportation department about preserving that traffic camera footage — those recordings often get overwritten on a rolling cycle. Evidence preservation is everything early on.