by Guest » Sun Aug 01, 2010 08:34 pm
i was hit one morning going to class leaving my apt complex, the street i was turning into had vehicles lined up on both sides of the road right up to the exit of my complex completely occluding line of sight up the road. i pulled out slowly and had my front end smashed of by another driver...the officer on the scene did not issue me a citation and mentioned the other driver must have been speeding due to the damages to my vehicle...anyways, i recieved a call from the other drivers insurance agency stating that my insurance was not active at the time so i am at fault and liable to pay for her damages while she is not liable to pay mine. is this right and is there anything i can do?
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 01:26 pm Post Subject:
anyways, i recieved a call from the other drivers insurance agency stating that my insurance was not active at the time so i am at fault and liable to pay for her damages while she is not liable to pay mine.
If you're at-fault then you need to pay for her damages. But I don't think your not possessing insurance has anything to do with your being at-fault in this accident. I'd be interested to know who the police report considers to be at-fault and if there were any other witnesses to this accident.
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 08:57 pm Post Subject: at fault
as far as i know, there were no other witnesses and the police officer that questioned me didnt give me a citation he just looked at the area and confirmed from my angle i wouldnt have been able to see any cars coming.
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:28 pm Post Subject:
One reason for having insurance is so they can provide you a defense in an auto accident. That defense might be paying a claim... it might be offering a legal defense. Since you did not have insurance you will need to provide a defense for yourself. Same rules... this might be you paying the claim, this might be you providing yourself a legal defense.
I can tell you from experience that you most likely will be found liable... at least to a great degree. You have the ultimate responsibility to yield when you pulled out. You also can't prove that the other vehicle was speeding. The other person will deny it and the question to you is if you did not see the other vehicle, how do you know it was speeding? Even if the other person was going over the speed limit, would this have changed anything. It does not matter that your view was blocked... this does not relieve your responsibility to make sure that the area is clear. That is, "I could not see if the road was clear, so I just pulled out and hoped for the best" does not fly.
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 06:38 pm Post Subject:
Well you can also make sure that it is not one of those stage managed collisions which are intended to milk innocent people like you and carried out in collaboration with lawyers, doctors and garage owners.
Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 08:22 am Post Subject:
my insurance was not active at the time so i am at fault
This is definitely NOT the criteria by which fault is determined.
I can tell you from experience that you most likely will be found liable.
I have to agree with tcope on this. Not because you may not have had insurance at the moment, but because of something found in most states' Vehicle Codes: failure to yield.
Vehicles that are traveling on a street or highway have an expectation that if they are proceeding lawfully on that street, no one will suddenly appear in their path, jeopardizing their ability to continue traveling.
Even though you could not "see" around the parked vehicles, it is your responsibility as the operator of the motor vehicle to exercise the greatest care when merging into through traffic, yielding the right-of-way as necessary to avoid a collision.
That is known as a "duty to act", and a failure to act is a "tort" if it causes damage to another person or their property, allowing the "injured" party the right to sue in civil court. In the absence of the investigating officer's determination that someone deserved and was issued a traffic citation, it's your word against that of the other party, and the best story wins in court.
Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 08:24 am Post Subject:
Well you can also make sure that it is not one of those stage managed collisions which are intended to milk innocent people like you and carried out in collaboration with lawyers, doctors and garage owners.
The OP's description of the incident is not typical of a "staged collision", which usually involves the "victim" causing a rear-end collision with a car driven by one of the scammers.
Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:58 am Post Subject:
i recieved a call from the other drivers insurance agency stating that my insurance was not active at the time
I understand the 'scariness' of an accident (I think we all do). But,...why DIDN'T you have any kind of Insurance? At least Liability? I've seen families, that were in accidents and the OTHER driver (who was at fault) have no Insurance at all. The (no-fault) couple did sue. But..they have to wait a long time to see the entire amount that was allowed them. Because the OTHER driver said he was "low income", in a court room, he is paying VERY little toward the settlement.Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 07:35 pm Post Subject: accident
"Even though you could not "see" around the parked vehicles, it is your responsibility as the operator of the motor vehicle to exercise the greatest care when merging into through traffic, yielding the right-of-way as necessary to avoid a collision. "
i didnt "merge" into traffic i was still trying to pull forward enough to see around the car to the left of me obstructing my view, thats why the damage is to the very front-most portion of my car. i didnt pull into the lane, i was still trying to assess my surroundings.
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 04:22 am Post Subject: lYjfzYuBivK
Check your insurance ecaorvge. If you have UM or uninsured motorist ecaorvge then that ecaorvge acts like its the lady who hits you insurance and you can make a claim against it for your medical bills and any pain and suffering up to the limit you have. You can also make the claim for your car damages to it. Although I'm wondering if you already had that covered by collision ecaorvge? Also check for medical payments ecaorvge or PIP ecaorvge that should also pay your medical bills up to the limit. If you don't have ecaorvge or don't have UM or medical payment or PIP ecaorvge then you are likely out of luck. However if she is at fault and you have that much in medical bills I would think about taking her small claims court of possibly getting an attorney. Although she may have no money so you may be out of luck on being able to get anything from her directly.
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 04:23 am Post Subject: lYjfzYuBivK
Check your insurance ecaorvge. If you have UM or uninsured motorist ecaorvge then that ecaorvge acts like its the lady who hits you insurance and you can make a claim against it for your medical bills and any pain and suffering up to the limit you have. You can also make the claim for your car damages to it. Although I'm wondering if you already had that covered by collision ecaorvge? Also check for medical payments ecaorvge or PIP ecaorvge that should also pay your medical bills up to the limit. If you don't have ecaorvge or don't have UM or medical payment or PIP ecaorvge then you are likely out of luck. However if she is at fault and you have that much in medical bills I would think about taking her small claims court of possibly getting an attorney. Although she may have no money so you may be out of luck on being able to get anything from her directly.
Add your comment