John
2004-04-30 03:39:56 UTC
I had an accident yesterday. I was not at fault. Police was called,
I will be getting a police report in 3 days from Monday. I have a
few questions thought, do I need to report the accident to my
insurance company?
To fix the damage it will be around $150. I will have a written
estimate, and a reciept of the fix job. I want to do it at a shop
where I got my car painted before. Should I contact other person's
insurance for that, other person herself, or should I just go
straight to court with this? Person has PIP, I do too. She has
croppy Toyota, I don't.
Brief description of accident: person at fault was traveling east on
a major 4 lane street. Red light turned for her, she decided to turn
south onto another major 4 lane street, and then make a quick 180 in
order to skip the light. She hit me when she was turning on this
other major 4 lane street, she went from lane 1 to lane 4 suddenly,
I'd say in 10 feet. Person at fault said to police that she was
driving to work, via the street she turned onto. That however, is
not true. After the cop let us go she made a turn on the street she
was going on before turn (and accident) and continued on her way. I
can verify where she works.
Description of damage: On her car, left side mirror was taken out.
On my car, there is a big damage on rear right passenger door, the
door handle took off her mirror, damage continues 1 inch onto rear
quarter panel, where paint is chipped. THERE IS NO DAMAGE ON THE
FRONT DOOR, FRONT QUARTER PANEL, or anywhere else.
If you'd look at the damage, you probably would conclude that I hit
her mirror. However, that is impossible?, because there is no damage
on my front quarter panel or front door, just the rear door. I
honestly did not see her, and when I did it was too late, she was
looking straight ahead, no turn signal (wouldn't matter if it was on
anyway), and she cut across all four lanes. Speed limit on that
street is 45, I would say I was exiting at 40 mph. Other cars were a
little bit behind me, green arrow must have been on for some time
before the hit.
Based on the above, who's at fault? What will the judge think? If
judge assumes that I went ahead with the turn despite that she was
there, does that matter? What is the best approach to tell this case
in my favor?
AL
I'm assuming you do not live in a no-fault state. In this case, I would fileI will be getting a police report in 3 days from Monday. I have a
few questions thought, do I need to report the accident to my
insurance company?
To fix the damage it will be around $150. I will have a written
estimate, and a reciept of the fix job. I want to do it at a shop
where I got my car painted before. Should I contact other person's
insurance for that, other person herself, or should I just go
straight to court with this? Person has PIP, I do too. She has
croppy Toyota, I don't.
Brief description of accident: person at fault was traveling east on
a major 4 lane street. Red light turned for her, she decided to turn
south onto another major 4 lane street, and then make a quick 180 in
order to skip the light. She hit me when she was turning on this
other major 4 lane street, she went from lane 1 to lane 4 suddenly,
I'd say in 10 feet. Person at fault said to police that she was
driving to work, via the street she turned onto. That however, is
not true. After the cop let us go she made a turn on the street she
was going on before turn (and accident) and continued on her way. I
can verify where she works.
Description of damage: On her car, left side mirror was taken out.
On my car, there is a big damage on rear right passenger door, the
door handle took off her mirror, damage continues 1 inch onto rear
quarter panel, where paint is chipped. THERE IS NO DAMAGE ON THE
FRONT DOOR, FRONT QUARTER PANEL, or anywhere else.
If you'd look at the damage, you probably would conclude that I hit
her mirror. However, that is impossible?, because there is no damage
on my front quarter panel or front door, just the rear door. I
honestly did not see her, and when I did it was too late, she was
looking straight ahead, no turn signal (wouldn't matter if it was on
anyway), and she cut across all four lanes. Speed limit on that
street is 45, I would say I was exiting at 40 mph. Other cars were a
little bit behind me, green arrow must have been on for some time
before the hit.
Based on the above, who's at fault? What will the judge think? If
judge assumes that I went ahead with the turn despite that she was
there, does that matter? What is the best approach to tell this case
in my favor?
AL
a claim with the other person's insurance company and see what happens. Be
sure to give exact details of what happened and a police report number for
them to reference.