Happened to me too...

Forgive my wordiness--I want to include all the detail I can for my own clarity as well as to leave nothing out!

I was in a minor fenderbender late last week, in which I was behind a car (we were both in sedans) who started forward when a light turned green, but then hit their breaks and I bumped them while trying to break myself. The entire thing happened at about 10 mph, and there are no dents on either vehicle. There are a handful of scratchs, and one or two 1/2-1 inch gashes on both bumpers from the corners of our licenses plates.

I had a passenger in my vehicle, as did the other vehicle. After hearing the sound, and being clenched on my breaks, I put the car into park, removed the key from the ignition and opened my door to take a look. Directly behind me in traffic was an off-duty police officer, who was just getting out of his jeep. He took charge of the situation and told me to stay in my car. He spoke with the other driver, who was now out of his vehicle, and leaned in to speak with his passenger--a young woman who was apparently pregnant. They speak for about 2 minutes, when the off-duty officer returns and says they're going to bring an ambulance in since she's in (verbatim) "extreme back pain." She then proceeds to get herself out of the car and walk around with no indication of bodily injury at all. No limping, no bracing herself, no holding her arms on her back or legs or even abdomen. In fact, she looks to be fairly calm, and even started laughing about things with her boyfriend. I call my insurance company; my agent is out "for a while." I give the basics and the woman on the phone tells me to "call back once I have the accident report." I tell her the extent of the damage I see on their vehicle (since I haven't been allowed out, I cannot see my vehicle yet), and that the pregnant woman is walking around. The agent mentions that it's "strange" that I wouldn't be allowed to walk around but the pregnant woman who supposedly has back pain is walking around unassisted without any difficulty.

About 5 minutes later, an ambulance and on-duty police officer arrive, and someone finally asks if my passenger and I are alright, and if we need an ambulance ride. The pregnant woman has declined any medical attention, even stating that she's fine, and has been standing since getting out of the car. The on-duty officer then takes my license and proof of insurance and instructs us to pull out into a pharmacy parking lot and remain in our vehicles.

I pull into a parking space two spots left of the other vehicle, turn off my engine, have my passenger roll down his window, and I ask "How are you guys doing?" to the other party. The driver says "Fine." They continue to talk between them, and my passenger and I repeatedly heard the young woman laughing about something.

The police officer is parked behind us, running paperwork and whatever else for about 20 minutes. He then comes up to their vehicle, talks for a moment, and then comes to my window. Apparently, he just filed the paperwork incorrectly, stating her as the driver, rather than the passenger. Another 10 minutes or so and he returns, and lets them drive off (I never had the chance to photograph their damage with my phone's camera, and couldn't clearly see anything from my driver seat). He comes back to my window and issues me a ticket for "failure to reduce speed to prevent an accident," which he explains is one of their "catch-alls" for minor incidents. The ticket is for $75.00, and offers me three resolutions: (1)Plead "guilty" by paying the $75.00 ticket, (2) Make a court appearance to plead "innocent" and open up a court case, (3) Paying the ticket, and taking a safety course to keep this off my record provided I have no incidents in the next 6 months. He also gives me the accident report and tells me to fill out a report of the accident and mail it within 10 days.

"Any questions?" I then ask him to indulge me as I repeat what he said to make sure I fully understand since I'm a bit shaken up (my first incident of any degree!). He then says he issued this claim as a "Property Damage" rather than "Personal Injury" since no one needed medical attention, or even had any scratches on their person. He also says that the damage on their car seems "almost negligible," and that they are going to go to the hospital just to be safe. I then ask about my license, and he says I can give him a Triple A card in place of my license to use as a "bail card" (not sure I heard that correctly). I take him up on his offer to relinquish my AAA card and to keep my license.

I call my insurance company again, my agent is still absent. The officer leaves, and I collect myself before starting my car and leaving myself.

I eventually (the next day) spoke to another representative at my insurance company, giving her details of the other driver, his phone number, car model, the location, the extent of the damage, and a quick explanation of what happened. I'm told my company will get in contact with the other party, and I will hear back from them afterwards.

I have yet to hear back from my company, or theirs, but just received a phonecall from the young woman's father. He states his name, and then says that his daughter was in the car from the accident. I ask how everyone's doing. He says "everyone seems to be fine." I say "that's good." He asks where my insurance company is and who they are. I answer with the name of my insurance company and offer to look up their phone number for him. I go to their website and give him their general phone number, and their claims phone number. He then says thank you, and we say goodbye.

Now, I know above it says not to speak to any parties involved, but I figured giving nothing more than my insurance company's number and asking how everyone is wasn't a problem (is it??). Then it hit me... why did her FATHER call me? Not either of their insurrance companies.... She's pregnant, so I understand the concern he would have for his daughter, but now I wonder if he works with insurance or as an attorney such that HE would call (unless he figured he'd take things into his own hands if my company has neglected to contact him yet).

What happens now? I wait for more information, I imagine. But I'm unable to focus at work out of nerves and stress that I'm going to get tagged by some extreme lawsuit. I need to seek advice and knowledge so that I'm prepared for what may come! What're the possibilities if there IS a complication in the pregnancy (she was barely showing, so it could be a while until we know)? What can I do to protect myself from them trying to gouge me? I take responsibility for what happened, but I'm not willing to let someone walk all over me if I can fight it.

Thank you,
M. from Illinois