bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Actually, I think you are totally absolved of blame, then. I don't know exactly how the laws are written in TN, but in CA, the other driver would be at fault. If you have the right of way, you have it, the fact that you swerved to avoid a hazard in the road isn't a factor. He has to yield to you, and shouldn't have been so close that you could hit. Usually, there are no lanes in an intersection, so you can't really use that...you often hear that you can't change lanes in an intersection...it's not because it's illegal, it's because there aren't any lanes. Since left turns are lowest on the right-of-way list, they are almost always at fault.
The reason your insurance can't get ahold of him is because without his statement, they can't determine fault. He has one of those crappy insurance companies that won't tell him to cooperate, since they know if he does, they will have to pay the claim. The game is, they claim they can't get a statement from him, so they can't determine what happened. Funny how if they wanted to get the policy paid, they sure could get ahold of him, but for a statement, they call a couple of times and give up....Often times, if you had full coverage, your insurance company will end up repairing your car and then having to sue him in order to get a statement....and for this kind of damage, it's just not cost effective to do that, so they end up eating it, which is why rates are so high.
Your adjuster has dealt with this before, hopefully the two adjusters can agree on fault based on what the circumstances are and the damage to the vehicles says. I take it there were no witnesses who may have stopped? Possibly video from a gas station or business on the side of the road? Cell phone pics of the skid marks if there were any? Photos of the vehicles prior to them being moved out of the roadway? It's a loophole that should be closed.
the other driver happened to be driving a company car (Enterprise rental agency) and he provided a “proof of self insurance” document photo he said his boss sent him. I’m hoping they can track it down through that document. I felt kinda bad for the guy, an older gentleman who didn’t seem to know how to use his smart phone to text me the document, but if this is how they want to have it go down, I’m starting to feel not as nice about it.