At-fault driver is straight up lying to insurance after blowing a red — what do I do?

Ugh, this is almost exactly what happened to me two years ago. Other driver got a citation and still disputed everything with their insurance. What saved me was traffic camera footage from a business on the corner — I had to actually go in person and ask the manager to pull it before they overwrote it. Check every business, bank, or traffic light camera near that intersection ASAP. That footage disappears faster than you'd think.

Their insurance company's job is to pay out as little as possible, full stop. Even with a police report in your favor, don't be surprised if they come back with some split-liability nonsense like "we're assigning 20% fault to you" just to knock down what they owe. It's a tactic. Don't accept any offer or recorded statement without understanding exactly what you're agreeing to.

I used to work claims for a large carrier and I'll tell you — a citation in the police report is significant, but adjusters are trained to look for any reason to share liability. The fake witness thing is actually more common than people realize; sometimes it's a passenger in the at-fault vehicle who wasn't even looking.

Document everything right now: your urgent care visit, every symptom, every day you miss work. Pain that starts the day after is super normal with soft tissue injuries, but you want a paper trail showing you sought treatment promptly. Gaps in medical care get used against you.

A few practical things that matter here: First, send a written request (email is fine, keep records) to both insurance companies asking them to preserve all evidence — recorded statements, photos, everything. Second, if there's any chance of traffic signal camera footage, those systems are often on short overwrite cycles, sometimes as little as 30 days. Your city or county traffic department controls those; a lawyer can subpoena them but you can also try requesting directly. Third, don't give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance without really thinking it through — you're not obligated to in most states.

Not legal advice, but: a police citation isn't a court conviction and insurance companies technically make their own liability determinations. That said, it carries real weight and most adjusters won't completely ignore it. The "witness" claim is worth pushing back on — ask them specifically for that witness's contact information in writing. If they can't produce one, that matters. Given that you have ongoing injuries and a total loss, a free consult with a PI attorney sooner rather than later is probably worth your time. Most work on contingency so cost shouldn't be a barrier.

Please don't downplay your neck and shoulder symptoms or skip follow-up appointments. Soft tissue injuries from side-impact crashes are sneaky — sometimes what feels like mild soreness in week one turns into a real problem by week three or four. If urgent care just gave you a referral and some ibuprofen, push for imaging if the pain isn't improving. And keep a simple daily log of how you're feeling — even just a few sentences in your phone's notes app. That kind of record is genuinely useful later.

Was there actually zero traffic at the intersection or is that just how it felt in the moment? I ask because adrenaline does weird things to memory right after a crash. I'm not saying you're wrong — the citation is a big deal — but the more clearly you can reconstruct the scene (other cars, time of day, visibility, how long you were actually stopped), the stronger your position when you're describing events to anyone official.

I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but you're actually in a pretty solid position compared to a lot of people who post here. You have a citation on the police report, you sought medical treatment quickly, and you're asking questions early. A lot of people wait too long and make things much harder for themselves. You're ahead of the curve — just keep building that paper trail.