View Full Version : Crappy Day
So here’s my crappy day.
I’m waiting at the lights to make my left. Get the green and the traffic clears so I make my left at which point the car on my right makes an illegal left and cuts me off and forces me to slow down - WTF. So now an oncoming car hits me because I was forced to slow right down. The kid in the oncoming car is okay but goes to the ER to get his arm checked.
The best bit is the driver of the ‘illegal left turn’ waits for the cop and changes her story and says she was in front of me at the lights and I drove around her.
Great my car is fubar and I get a ticket for not yielding and she gets to drive away free. Apparently the cop was going to get her complete story later. I’m not convinced.
The good news is my 8 yr old is ok as he was buckled into the back seat and the front took the hit.
I despise liars, even more so as the cop seemed to believe her even though her version of the event doesn’t make sense.
Get a lawyer and jam the bill right up her lying ass.
argonstrom
11-16-2010, 20:03
That sucks, man. I'm glad you & the munchkin are okay.
did you get her info?
did you get the cop's info?
fight fight fight that ticket.
and sue the fucking shit out of her.
I got a ticket once because my car stalled and a "retired person" hit me. cop wrote me a ticket for failing to yield because I had a stop sign.
never mind the fact that from the time mister furley rounded the bend and came into view he had his torso turned 45 degrees to the right to converse with the wife and drove 50 yards without looking at the road before hitting me.
my horn was broken and I was screaming my head off, but he didn't hear me.
he was very nice to me after the wreck, because he knew it was his fault.
(though he still allowed the cop to write me a ticket)
2ndChildhood
11-16-2010, 20:20
The whole deal sucks - sorry to hear it.
I am sorry to hear this. I cannot believe that you got the ticket. I would get lawyer and fight it.
I don't understand why you were hit by a car if you were turning? I would have thrown a fucking fit on scene if she pulled that shit. Why was she hanging around if she wasn't in the wrong?
Anyway, if you have any of her information (you should, if not, call the officer directly and demand it), and you can tell your insurance claims adjuster what happened. They may or may not bring her into the claim, since she didn't actually have contact with anyone. However, she DID directly enter your space and you had to take evasive actions in order to avoid an accident. I don't think you are 100% not at fault, but I could see how all 3 drivers in the accident could share in the liability here.
I'm very glad you, and especially your kid are okay.
EDIT: Never mind about my first question, I worked it out. However, that does make you any where from partially - 100% at fault. At this point, it really is going to rely on how good of claims adjuster you get. Fortunately for you, it doesn't matter a bit what the cop said or who he wrote the ticket to. Since you and the lady have different stories, your insurance company should defer to defending you, unless your story is full of holes and obviously a lie or something.
I have no idea why she hung around both her and her car were fine?
The cop told me her story was different but I didn't want to get into a “that's BS and totally impossible argument”.
As for the ticket I have to wait 14 days to see what the fine will be? Do I just suck it up and pay it or go to court?
I’m screwed on the left turn, then screwed again because of her incompetency. I have no idea what the kid said who hit me. Apart from a sore arm he appeared ok which is good.
The important thing is my son is ok!
If you haven't contacted your insurance company yet, you need to. If you don't have the lady's info, tell your claims adjuster that you need help getting it. If your claims adjuster says that the other lady is a phantom vehicle and is irrelevant because you failed to make sure the intersection was clear/failed to maintain control of your vehicle, remind him/her that the other driver (lady who cut you off), physically entered your lane when she made an illegal left turn from a non-turn lane and forced you to take evasive maneuvers to avoid hitting her. She breached many duties in this instance, AND it caused an accident as a direct result of her actions.
Insurance company tomorrow but they're aware of it. Probably 100ft from their office when it happened! At least I only have a $200 dedutable although I'm not sure what the ticket will cost:(
I do need to get her details though as I was more concerned about my son as he was pretty upset. Although if she claims a different story where do I stand?
It's just your story vs. her story. Usually, your insurance company will stand behind you in cases where both stories are possible/likely, but there are no hard facts to dispute either one.
Only if your story sounds really fishy, will they not fully support you. In my ex-professional opinion, your story doesn't sound hokey, but be prepared to have your company tell you that you failed to make sure the intersection was clear before you proceeded to turn. They'll probably tell you that if you were cutting it so close that just slowing down got you into an accident, that you shouldn't have been turning.
Also, I think that the company that I worked for trained us pretty well as far as being ethical, but not all adjusters are claimed that way. Some companies train their adjusters to ALWAYS find a way to put some sort of comparative negligence on the other driver. I've heard stories of adjusters assigning people 5% fault in an accident where they were stopped at a red light and rear-ended; giving the reason that if you weren't stopped there, no body could have hit you. It's total bullshit, but is a reality. Fortunately, I never came across any cases first hand where that happened, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
OneGuy67
11-17-2010, 00:02
Ed, request a copy of the accident report from the police department. The back side of it will have the officers understanding of the events that occured either in writing or in writing and a diagram. See if the girl is listed on the report, either as a witness or as an involved party.
I'm guessing you were written a citation for failing to yield turning left. Not sure based upon what you've posted that will minimize you from that. I would be interested to know what she told the officer what her involvement was in the events, if any.
Glad you and your son are okay.
Yup failing to yield making a left = citation. No way out of that one even if it was caused by another driver:(
As for the car:
Frank Azar.
You're joking right? That man is a crook.
rockhound
11-17-2010, 17:17
YOU ARE SCREWED
She was obviously cuter than you.
don't ever let someone leave the scene of an accident without getting their info and writing down their plate number.
theGinsue
11-19-2010, 00:12
don't ever let someone leave the scene of an accident without getting their info and writing down their plate number.
Better yet not only get that info, but..... when you replace your batteries in your smoker detectors everytime we have a Daylight Savings Time adjustment (you DO do that, don't you?), swap out a new disposable camera in your glove box and get pics of all cars and drivers/passengers involved - including the damage to all vehicles), and anything else in the vicinity that might be relevant.
Better yet not only get that info, but..... when you replace your batteries in your smoker detectors everytime we have a Daylight Savings Time adjustment (you DO do that, don't you?), swap out a new disposable camera in your glove box and get pics of all cars and drivers/passengers involved - including the damage to all vehicles), and anything else in the vicinity that might be relevant.
excellent notion, sir.
Byte Stryke
11-19-2010, 08:06
Better yet not only get that info, but..... when you replace your batteries in your smoker detectors everytime we have a Daylight Savings Time adjustment (you DO do that, don't you?), swap out a new disposable camera in your glove box and get pics of all cars and drivers/passengers involved - including the damage to all vehicles), and anything else in the vicinity that might be relevant.
Cell phones have pretty much killed this need
I've had situations where the police would show up, wrongly say things like "You've got no recourse against this person," and block all attempts to get personal information.
OneGuy67
11-19-2010, 14:19
Stuart, you seem to have a lot of interactions with the police (as observed from your various postings on this forum) for someone your age. Holy cow, dude!
Cell phones have pretty much killed this need
in the field we always use backups.
two is one, and one is none.
I've had situations where the police would show up, wrongly say things like "You've got no recourse against this person," and block all attempts to get personal information.
that's why you get their plate number.
Stuart, you seem to have a lot of interactions with the police (as observed from your various postings on this forum) for someone your age. Holy cow, dude!
I did personal lines auto claims. So many of the thousands of claims I handled had involvement with the police. One of my favorite parts of that job was reading the police reports.
that's why you get their plate number.
You can't get the plate number of a person walking down the street. Especially when there is a cop standing there telling you to leave and you'd probably be arrested for approaching them.
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