Got In An Accident! Am I At Fault?

[Booster-Shot]

Ugh! Im so frusterated right now. Let me start from the beginning.

Im driving in the left lane of the highway at around 8:10pm (very dark outside). So ahead there is a stop sign that lets people onto the highway. Its not really an on-ramp, and theres no merging involved. Well Im driving past that when a Mazda MX3 with no lights on at all shoots from the stop sign and makes a diagonal past the right lane and comes into my lane right in front of me. Of course I tried to stop but there was just no way.

I hit her and we pulled into a neighborhood road nearby. We get out and it turns out that she only has her provisional license. Not only that by she has 2 passengers with her as well, both around 17. We go to exchange our crap and she doesnt have her insurance on her. She calls her parents and gets the number from them. A cop driving by stops and writes a police report of the account and lets us off on our way.

Two days later, my mom files a claim with our insurance and then goes to call the girls company and file a claim as well. They refused to accept her claim (even though they are legally obligated to do so) and they said that their client wont file a claim until the police report comes out (when you need to do it in the first 48 hours of the accident) Not only that but they are saying that Im responsible for the accident.

Now I know that in most cases the person doing the rear ending is almost always at fault, but there was no way I could have avoided this accident. Like I said, she had no lights on whatsoever in the pitch black night, and just cut right in front of me from a stop sign. Now, I have to wait for the police report to come out, and I told him everything, but now Im scared that Im going to be put at fault. If thats the case, is there anyway that I can dispute the case? Because Im not going to be blamed for this, and no matter what, that 16 year old girl is going to pay for the damage done to my car. What do you guys think? [/rant]

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[turbo2g111]

I feel for you man. I suppose that this all hinges on what the cop says. When you were talking to him after he stopped, what did the girl tell him? Does the cop believe your story? Also, are there skid marks on the scene that she her flying around the corner and you braking to try and miss her? Insurance can sometimes use that. I think, though, that your story is more credible in the eyes of the poilce, seeing as she was already breaking the law by having two passengers with her (if she hadn't had her license for a year yet and they were obviously under 25, I know that provisional crap pretty well now having just gone through it). Did the cop seem more sympathetic to you or the girl?

 

[Defiant]

Where the hell was this? They've changed too much since I left, none of the 2-lanes I can think of have an intersection like that. Was it on 29, 12, or Silverado Trail?
Anyway, it sounds like she did a number of things wrong (no headlights in the dark, passengers on a provisional license, pulling from a stop into your lane, failure to yield, and a few more things), although it also sounds like you may get drilled for having rear-ended her (depending on whether the cop is a dick). However, none of this should be your concern. You should only have to turn it over to the insurance company, and they should start earning their damned money. They shouldn't have to make any more contact from you than to take a deposition, probably by phone. Focus on what happened, don't try to embellish nor alter the facts to make your position seem stronger, and just tell the one true story.
I hope your car's not bad -total-loss price is getting awfully low for 1Gs- and that no one's hurt much.

 

[GVR4592]

In every state I've ever lived in it's simple. If a car pulls out in front of your car, and you have to apply your brakes, that is negligent driving on their part. I've seen people get arrested for it. It doesn't matter if you rear end them or not, it's their fault. Don't even bother trying to dispute it on your own, insurance companies will kick your ass, get a lawyer.

 

[turbo2g111]

But, this is California, so all laws are weird here. I hope your car is alright, too. Is it just bumper damage or frame stuff, as well? My 96 GST was totalled by being on the recieving end of a Jeep, but we were both moving with only about a 15mph difference. Best of luck to you.

 

[Booster-Shot]

The accident happened on 29 going towards yountville, the stop sign is on sierra right before the intersection at trancas.

The chicks car was torn up. The bumper was all contorted on the drivers side(since she was a little more than halfway in my lane when I hit her) and her brake lights popped out of the housing. I was proud of how well the Talon held up for being in a 50mph crash.

My cars not too bad for what happened. My headlight housing and cover on the passenger side is useless. Other than that just a bunch of scratches on my hood, bumper, and fender.

But there is something wrong with my steering. It feels like theres a lump stuck on my passenger wheel, it bumps slightly at every rotation of the wheel. Also, when I am turning it feels like my passenger side wheel doesnt move as much as it should, causing the car to feel like its drifting to the outside of the turn. I have not even looked at all of that stuff yet.

Even though the damage seems minimal, I can almost say for sure that the car is totalled.

 

[cs82685]

I would say it's most likely going to be her fault, but if it happened too far away from the stop sign they might put it on you. I had almost the reverse happen to me.

I was pulling onto a road after sunset, pretty dark all the cars had their lights on, busy area so I was watching cars go by for a couple minutes, finally a break I pull out and some damn woman with no lights was coming right at me.

She broke the law, causing me to not see her, and therefore pull out when it wasn't clear. Somehow the lights became completely meaningless in the situation and it was just my fault for pulling out. That bi*** costed my $3000 b/c she couldn't figure out how to turn on her lights.

 

[Talon_Tsi]

What do 16 year old girls have against DSM's anyway? A 16 year old girl ran a stop sign and totaled my 90 Tsi AWD. Then she lied to the cops and said was at fault saying that I did something I didn't. Hopfully it will work out for you. I ended up with a check from her insurance company and a 93 TSi AWD 1 week later.

 

[Booster-Shot]

I would say it's most likely going to be her fault, but if it happened too far away from the stop sign they might put it on you. I had almost the reverse happen to me.

I was pulling onto a road after sunset, pretty dark all the cars had their lights on, busy area so I was watching cars go by for a couple minutes, finally a break I pull out and some damn woman with no lights was coming right at me.

She broke the law, causing me to not see her, and therefore pull out when it wasn't clear. Somehow the lights became completely meaningless in the situation and it was just my fault for pulling out. That bi*** costed my $3000 b/c she couldn't figure out how to turn on her lights.

Thats exactly what Im afraid is going to happen. But at the same time, I dont know how anyone could say Im at fault with all those things going against her. I just need to cross my fingers, and if they say Im at fault, Im going to fight it.

 

[ImportWarrior]

you had the right of way. she was at the stop sign.

she failed to yeild the right of way to you. you were going straight.

what more is there to this.

she was wrong.

get an attorney ASAP. they always have good advice.

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

Subscribe....Interested to see what comes of the situation.

Ps Im in a number of law classes.....fronting the money for an accident reconstructionist for court will almost 100% gaurentee your victory, and will sure as hell give more credibility than the testimony of a 16 year old girl and 2 17 year old kids.

That is if you go to court. Goodluck.

 

[92awddsm]

Was she ticketed for failure to yeid? If not, the officer felt it was a no fault accident and you are responsible for your car.

As for the insurance company, there is no need to contact her company. Yours will investigate and take care of your damages(full coverage I hope) and then sue her insurance if they feel that she was at fault. And next time, report your claim in the first 24hrs. Several states require that you file a claim in 24 hrs so most insurance companies changed their policy to the same time frame.

 

[turbo2g111]

In California, he has 24 hours to notify CHP or police if someone is injured or killed (I don't think either of those happened, but the police report was made within a few hours I assume). He then has 10 days to notify the DMV with an accident report form if the damage is over $750 (I'm going to guess that it was). You report it using this form http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/sr/sr1.pdf Unfortunately, I think that this accident is going to go on your record, because DMV will do that for both cars, regardless of fault, if the damage is over $750.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl16.htm

 

[Defiant]

The accident happened on 29 going towards yountville, the stop sign is on sierra right before the intersection at trancas.

Oh, okay. That creek just north of Trower has about fifty pounds of BBs I'd shot around there, back when you could go out and do that sort of thing. God, she had to have been stupid to pull out like that. It's not a place you could sneak up on her.

Even though the damage seems minimal, I can almost say for sure that the car is totalled.

Yeah, it takes too little.

I'm with everyone else who says to call a lawyer. If nothing else, you can get a consultation for just a few bucks. See if Terry Davis is still around there (she'll know someone good), or call the Bar Association and tell them you need a referral for a traffic collision consultation. It'll be less than fifty bucks.

 

[Booster-Shot]

UPDATE:


Im not sure if anyone cares but Im just kinda pissed so I will write it anyways. Alright, so I filed my claim with my insurance company as well as the girls. Both representatives said I was 100 percent fault free. The police report came back and said the same thing. So, an adjuster came and quoted me 1200 for the damage which is cool because it didnt total my car.

However, the chicks mom disputed the claim and sent another guy to look over the case again. He pretty much asked her for her side of the story and concluded that I was to blame. He didnt talk to me and he said the police report contained no evidence since the officer didnt see the accident. So, now the whole case is dropped and I dont get anything.

So, my parents are taking hers to court and I have to tesitfy and all that jazz. I just want this whole thing to be over!

 

[Thomas91169]

yeah but thats ####ing bullshit. Take it to court, it doesnt matter if the cop saw it happen or not, if he looks at the damage and scenario and comes up with the conclusion its 100% her fault, than thats what the judge will go by. He will take into account your story, hers, the cops conclusion, and his own experience and put it all together. Id try to make sure the officer will be there as well, he should get summoned automatically but id try to call him up and explain the situation, hell ###### get pissed off too for her trying to get away with shit like that.

 

[Crazy E]

alright, i work as a claims adjustor for one of the top three insurance companies in the US (not going to say which one...)

when i get a rear end hit, i initially always place 100 percent liability on the party that did the rearending. usually, they are at fault. in a case such as yours, comparative negligence applies (at least in NY, not sure about CA) where you can only recover damages from the other driver insurance based on how much you were not at fault. ex: you were 20% at fault means they pay you 80%of the damages to your car.

if you have collision on your own policy (not lilkely with a 1g) you can claim the full amount of damages against your own insurance, less your deductible. then, your insurance company will subrogate against hers (and attempt to recover your deductible for you)

if you dont have collision, you must make the claim through her insurance. if its one drivers word against another, i rely on the police report. Although the officer did not see it, they are trained to read accidents.

if I were assigned your claim, i would rely heavily on the p/r (police report). most likely, i would assign you some degree of negligence, but not majority. but, i may be biased as I love dsms, .


tell your company that this is bullshit, they should stick up for you. to make a liability decison, an adjustor must look at an accidnet as a non-biased 3rd party.

getting a lawyer may help, but it usually doesnt scare anyone. Anytime any claimant tells me they have a lawyer, i know theyre full of ****

 

[gsxtreme1987]

Ok.. Regardless if you hit or from the back or not..
She didnt have her lights on like you said, So she should be ticketed for that and should also be held responible for the damages..

I'd get a lawyer man!

Don't let that bi*** off that easy.

 

[Booster-Shot]

The funny thing is that she changed her story from the one in he police report. In her updated story she:

Had her lights on
Was in the slow lane for a good amount of time
Signaled and looked over to her shoulder
Merged into the fast lane and noticed at that time that I was at least 10 car lengths away from her.

Of course this is all bs, but Im hoping to use it against her. I still cant believe its happening at all. I just dont want to get screwed over this whole mess.

I have to start making a little presentation for court with all the stuff against her, it wont be hard.

 

[Defiant]

Well, you have this thread as a contemporary, supposedly unaltered record of what had happened at the time.

 

[Booster-Shot]

Yeah, Im going to have to be as prepared as possible. I think since the girl is under 18 she isnt allowed to testify? I dont know if thats true, but if it is then I pretty much have to go head to head with her mom. Did I mention shes in charge of the school activities at the high school I graduated at last year? Shes a pretty one-sided person, who will fight tooth and nail just to get her way. -_-;

 

[slipstream808]

Bury these bitches. 6 feet under. Stuff like this pisses me off BAD. The fact alone that she changed the statement would speak volumes to me if I were the judge.

 

[cumpersgsx]

i didnt know this kind of stuff happens to other people. I thought it was only me that ever gets screwed...sorry about your luck

 

[4BangR-x]

Yeah, Im going to have to be as prepared as possible. I think since the girl is under 18 she isnt allowed to testify? I dont know if thats true, but if it is then I pretty much have to go head to head with her mom. Did I mention shes in charge of the school activities at the high school I graduated at last year? Shes a pretty one-sided person, who will fight tooth and nail just to get her way. -_-;

I hope you were a good kid in school . Good luck.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

Drop everything you're doing and call a lawyer. That's it. Then sit back and wait as your lawyer has papers served to her and the two kids. If they get the 3 kids seperate, each one will tell a different story with a little pressure applied and the lawyer should make a huge deal about how she changed her story after she understood the ramifications of what she had done. One of them will get antsy and forget the details of the synchronized story the 3 made up on the ride home and then you'll have your win. Afterwards, you feel a little neck pain, call up an ambulance chaser and get that bi***'s college fund.