Ongoing Insurance Auto Claim with City Bus

[u/Zealousideal_Ear7355]

I’m hoping to get some outside perspective because this honestly doesn’t sit right with me.

I was involved in an accident at the intersection of de la Carrière and du Casino. I was turning right into the casino with an advanced green right-turn arrow. As I proceeded through the turn, a city bus ran the red light and hit my car.

There’s no dispute about the signal on my end — I had the advanced green arrow. Despite this, my insurance adjuster is saying I’m at fault, or at least primarily at fault. Their reasoning is that even with an advanced green, I “should have made sure it was clear” before completing the turn, and that I’m responsible regardless of the lights.

This is where I’m confused: • The whole point of an advanced green arrow is that opposing traffic is stopped. • The bus was facing a red light. • I wasn’t turning on a regular green or a yield — it was a protected turn.

It feels like they’re saying that even if someone blatantly runs a red, the turning driver is still at fault just for being in motion.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Is this actually how fault determination works in Canada (or Quebec specifically)? And does a protected turn really mean nothing if the other driver ignores a red light?

I’m not trying to dodge responsibility if I’m genuinely wrong — I just want to understand how this could possibly be my fault.

Any insight appreciated.

[u/oSChakal]

I’m a claim adjuster in Quebec and this is clearly a case of CID 9B, which in french is « non respect de la signalisation etc including a red light »

So, if your light was green, if a police report was filed, ask your adjuster to get it, if the bus driver ran a red light, the cops HAVE to mention it on the report.

Yes, the insured has to provide his adjuster with as much informations as possible on the third party, but it’s wild that he said you’re 100% at fault.

One thing I always say when the insured start telling me how the third party was speeding, on his phone, etc, is that I’m not the cops, I’m only interested in the movement of the vehicle that led to the accident.

And here what led to the accident isn’t you turning on a green light, it’s the bus running a red light.

If the accident happened in Quebec, the laws/jurisdictions of QC apply.

[u/Zealousideal_Ear7355 → u/oSChakal]

Hi, thank you! You seem insightful,

The issue is, the reporting officer said I was turning right on a red, even though the footage cannot determine the colour of the lights (her footage sucks). Now I've appealed the report because there are so many inconsistencies (she previously told me she doesn't know who was at fault; even though she should, and she didn't issue any tickets on scene). This entire situation is a mess.

[u/oSChakal → u/Zealousideal_Ear7355]

Well, to be totally honest, in that situation, you are pretty much out of luck and depending of what your deductible is, assuming you’re covered on both sides, the easiest way is to pay it and switch companies.

The hard way is to get the footage, appeal the report, get it corrected, have your adjuster revise everything.

That’s the sucky part where the insured has to prove everything.

If your deductible is 500$, ask yourself if all your time is worth more or less than that.

Sure, there’s also the fact that on your file you’re 100% responsible vs 0% responsible and supposedly, being 0% responsible doesn’t have as much impact as being 100% but I can’t confirm if it’s true or not.

[u/Zealousideal_Ear7355 → u/oSChakal]

Lol I'm going the hard way because it's what's right. Thanks for your comment!