Arbitration ruled against me even with dashcam proof — what now?
I genuinely don't know where to go from here and I'm so frustrated I can't sleep.
A few months back I was backing out of my driveway onto a quiet side street. I checked both ways — nothing. I was already about halfway out when some guy came flying around the bend at the end of the block and clipped the rear quarter of my car. My vehicle actually has a collision-avoidance system that kicked in and brought me to a complete stop several seconds before impact. You can see it clear as day on my dashcam.
I also had a neighbor two houses down who had a security camera facing the street — so we're talking two separate video angles showing exactly what happened. The other driver had zero footage and no witnesses.
My insurance initially told me I looked good and not to stress. So I didn't. Then arbitration came back and basically said: you were the one exiting a driveway, so you had to yield, full stop. Deductible denied. Case closed.
Here's what kills me — I was stopped. My car stopped itself. I wasn't "backing into" anyone. He came around a corner fast enough that even my car's sensors freaked out. How is a driver supposed to yield to a vehicle that doesn't exist yet when you start pulling out?
My insurance is shrugging and saying arbitration decisions are final on their end. Is that actually true? Are my options completely gone here? Has anyone successfully pushed back after arbitration went the wrong way? I feel like the footage should have mattered way more than it apparently did.