A frustrated young driver has lost $900 out of pocket after an insurance company deemed her “at fault” for a collision with an unlicensed driver who allegedly ran a red light.
Izzy Singh, 27, was driving to the pub with her friend on October 13 last year when a car plowed into her on Belgrave-Hallam Road in Melbourne’s east.
She had turned right onto the Princes Highway and was following the cars in front of her after the arrow light turned green, when the car struck her at high speed.
“And now AAMI is saying it’s my fault for not giving in?” Mrs Singh told Yahoo News.
Izzy Singh, 27, was driving to the local pub with her friend on October 13 when a car plowed into her on Belgrave-Hallam Road in Melbourne’s east.
After checking on her friend and the other driver, Ms Singh said she found her phone in the wreckage and called police.
When they came to look at the statements of both drivers, they subsequently discovered that the other driver also claimed to have had the green light.
“It was definitely a red light for them, there was no other car coming from her side… and two cars had gone before me and turned right because it was a green arrow,” Ms Singh said.
After months of “back and forth” with AAMI and police to get her insurance claim approved — and the $900 deductible paid on her written-off car — investigators said they couldn’t determine who was at fault without further evidence .
Five months later, AAMI emailed Ms Singh to inform her that she was believed to be at fault for the accident due to a lack of CCTV.
They also pointed to Australian Road Rule number 62, which is ‘Give priority when turning at an intersection with traffic lights’.
According to part one of the rule, “a driver turning at an intersection with traffic lights must yield the right of way.”
Ms Singh had followed the cars in front of her after the arrow light turned green and was turning right onto the Princes Highway when the car hit her ‘at such a high speed’ (crash scene pictured)
However, part two states that ‘a driver turning at an intersection marked with a green traffic arrow is not required to yield to an oncoming vehicle if the driver is turning in the direction indicated by the green traffic arrow’.
AAMI reportedly confirmed its position, telling Yahoo that “there were conflicting statements from both parties in the police report and that there was a lack of valid evidence to hold anyone fully liable.”
A spokesperson further explained that a motorist turning at an intersection with traffic lights must give way in this circumstance.
Despite this, Ms Singh believes that the traffic rule referred to by AAMI is not relevant to her case.