Either way,the whole situation must suck for him.
Indeed it does.
The problem was both drivers. I am convinced he was flooring it through the yellow light.
Once I took a second look (as I was pulling out) is when I noticed he was a lot closer than when I first saw him coming (before I pulled out). Instinctively I hit the throttle to put distance between us. Problem was I was mid-turn and the gravel in the intersection combined with the throttle caused my rear to fishtail left as I turned right. At this point it was no big issue as I counter-steered. A millisecond later it was an issue when the rear of the car surprisingly struck the other vehicle as he had moved from the right lane into his left lane. I believe my rear quarter struck his front corner.
Now, as I recall, I lifted off the throttle and the rear of the car was spun around to my right from the initial impact. It was at this point
he hit me in my front left corner. I believe he was still on the throttle as literally drove through my front left corner. If you look at the damage, the car was hit from the side but coming forward - literally disintegrating the left marker lamp and ripping the bumper off from the rear to the front. The bumper support also shows it was hit from a rearward angle. He actually drove straight on and pulled off the side off the road. The second impact spun me around clockwise and when I came to a stop I was sideways in the road. I simply pulled ahead to the left and pulled in behind him on the shoulder of the road.
I am sure he was convinced he could make it through the light and was surprised as I pulled out. He moved to the left lane and was surprised as I spun out. Had he not been flooring it through the intersection, nothing would have become of it. He would've simply said "look at that a-hole" as I fishtailed around the corner.
But, like most accidents, it was a combination of contributing factors. I misjudged his speed when I first saw him and continued to pull out. He was flooring it to get through the light. There was gravel in the intersection. I should not have accelerated as I did mid-turn.