car accident help

by Guest » Wed Oct 22, 2008 01:27 am
Guest

ok so this month my insurance cancelled due to me not being able to afford it and not makin payments, i told them i wouldnt be able to afford it and tha i needed to cancel (they messed up my quote) they told me to try and make it through...

anywho it cancelled on the 4th of this month, well 2 days ago i got into an accident.
i was turning left onto another street at an intersection the light was green and no one was moving because it had just turned green so i started turning with no one else coming from the opposite side
this lady comes out of nowhere, i slow down and freak out and try to turn the wheel and she rams me doing like 50 in a 35

the police didnt tell me anything all they did was ask me questions
the ambulance came and looked at me, told them i didnt need to go to the hospital signed a form
the other lady did say she wanted to go to the hospital

didnt get any of her information, didnt get a ticket, dont know what to do D:

i tryed calling the police station and they said the accident hasnt been filed yet

i really need to find out now if its my fault, since i was turning

Total Comments: 9

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 02:26 am Post Subject:

A few things. Did she get a ticket? Did you give any of your information to the police officer? I know that in some places, the police don't get involved in the exchanging of information. It will be on the police report.

Did the officer ask you to show proof of insurance?

Sometimes it takes as long as two weeks (here is 10 days) before the police report is filed and you can get a copy.

You did not get a ticket. Maybe the other lady got a ticket and she won't do anything.

Lay low. I would not make any calls. Get a copy of the police report when it's ready and see what the deal is. If she got the ticket, it's possible you can file against her insurance to get your car fixed.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 03:21 am Post Subject:

If I understand your post correctly, you were both travelling opposite directions on the same road and you made a left turn in front of the other person under a green light. Is this correct? You mentioned that the other person, "came out of nowhere". I doubt this is entirely correct. I'm guessing you just did not see the other person when making your turn.

If the other person has Collision or Under Insured Motorist Property Damage then they can (and should) file a claim under their own policy. If this happens, the other carrier will then seek recovery from you. Depending on the state, the other party and/or their carrier may also seek recovery for any medical treatment and possible "pain and suffering".

If the officer did not issue you a citation for no proof of insurance then I suspect you presenting proof of insurance that you knew was invalid. When the other person or their carrier finds this out, they _could_ inform the police officer to see if the officer will include a citation for this. It's really up to them (personally, I'd do it... the rest of us don't need you driving without insurance. If you cannot afford it, don't subject the rest of us to your poor decisions to drive without being able to be responsible for your actions).

If the other party does not have coverage to address this situation, they could file suit against you in order to obtain a judgment. If they have insurance, the other carrier could either set you up on a payment plan or turn the debt over to a collection agency who would probably use an attorney to file suit in order to obtain a judgment.

In all, if you were at fault, it's not looking good.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 09:56 am Post Subject:

i really need to find out now if its my fault, since i was turning

Yep I'd say so if that was a solid green and not a solid green ARROW...which I'm sure it wasn't...honey you're fault...hang out and wait the other carrier will be in touch I assure you...you can then set up a payment plan to repay all of this...lot cheaper to have come up with the money for your premium...I'm sure this will cost about five years worth of premium or more.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 04:27 pm Post Subject:

5 years...? Probably with just what is known now. If the other person pursues an injury claim, it could easily add another $20-$30k onto the loss. If this results in a judgement, the OP could have his/her wages garnished for a very long time.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 05:46 pm Post Subject:

5 years...?

well i was talking about the physical damage only and hoping it was a vehicle with cheap parts....and the op can make BIG payments... :wink: probably not....average amount of damage would be around 4k probably at 100 a month that alone is nearly four years with interest...sorry OP this is a tough life lesson for you....what state are you in? we can check and see what your state says the penaltys are for driving without insurance

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 09:16 pm Post Subject:

looks like you should've payed your premiums

most people don't look at the long term implications:

they assume since they are paying too much up front that they are getting ripped off and that they are just paying for something they are required to have instead of paying for something that they need

then when things get tough the first thing that usually goes away is insurance because people just think of it as an expense
this is the worst thing to think it's a neccesity because now instead of paying $200 a month your paying $2000 in damages

Which I'm sure it seems like a no brainer now, but now you have the responsibility to make sure that your friends and family don't think of insurance as "just some sort of expense"

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 06:48 am Post Subject:

i really need to find out now if its my fault, since i was turning



May be depending upon your state law. However, its also important to find out whether or not other driver was at-fault. You haven't mentioned your residential state, the auto accident laws will play an important role in determining the actions that the other driver might be able to take against you.

If you were determined as the party at-fault then the other driver might sue you for recovering the damages. However, at this juncture you might not have any other option but to wait for the policy report. Just don't panic and keep us updated.

~Jeremy

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 09:11 am Post Subject:

May be depending upon your state law.

jeremy in what state do you not have to yeild to on coming traffic when making a left turn?

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:21 am Post Subject:

No matter how this turns out you should have never gambled with not having insurance. You never know what will happen and its such a big risk. What if you would have really injured that other person..how did you expect them to recoup their losses? I agree the premium would have been much cheaper. Whats done is done and a valueable lesson should be learned here. You need insurance just as much as food, shelter and so on.

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