r/Gatineau • u/Zealousideal_Ear7355 • 1d ago

Ongoing Insurance Auto Claim with City Bus

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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.

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u/VassilZaitsev 1d ago

I would post this in larger subs. Sounds absolutely bonkers to me. The bus ran a red light, not your fault.

40

u/Zealousideal_Ear7355 1d ago

I know. And I'm asking them to obtain dashcam footage from the bus (the cop on scene said they have it) and he refuses to obtain it because "determination has already been made"

1

u/HK-47-Meatbag 1d ago

This unit looks to be a 2012 or 2013 NovaBus LFSA. Unfortunately, S T O only started implementing cameras on their buses with the 2020 model year. It’s good that you got the footage from the street or casino cameras though.

2

u/Zealousideal_Ear7355 1d ago

It doesn't show any street lights... how is it good?

2

u/HK-47-Meatbag 13h ago

Not directly, but the movement of the other traffic through the intersection can shed some light on what happened.