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Fender Bender - What to do?
Tw4win
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Last night I was in a small fender bender in Washington, DC. The accident wasn't my fault. I was sitting in the right hand lane at a stop light, the light was green but I was stuck in traffic. The lane next to me was open and as I was sitting there a woman in a truck got to close to my car as she passed and scraped my driver's side mirror. Physical damage to my car is minimal. The paint has been scraped off of the covering for the mirror and the covering is cracked.
She stopped and we exchanged information. I got all of her vital info (name, address, phone, insurance info) and she got my name and phone number. It was rush hour and neither of us thought it was worthwhile to call the cops. She stated that she would probably be willing to pay out of pocket for the repairs.
A couple more things:
1) She was driving a truck with TN plates in Washington, DC. Her insurance is from TN. She gave me a MD address. She probably just moved to the DC area.
2) Shortly after the accident, after she left and as I was driving away my "Service Engine soon" light comes on. The car is a Nissan Altima (2001) and a quick check of the owner's manual tells me that this means there is an issue with the emissions system. I'm thinking that the fender bender might have caused something to come undone or something might have been on it's way to breaking but this sent it over the edge. Obviously, I'd like for this repair to be included in the accident repairs if it's something that could have been caused by the accident.
Given those facts, should I call her insurance company, my company, or both? I realize that she might want to pay out of pocket and I'm fine with that. However, I'd like someone in some official capacity to handle things for me. Basically, since the accident isn't my fault I don't feel like I should have to do the legwork to find a repair shop, get a quote, track her down for payment, etc... It's my opinion that she (or her insurance) should be doing this for me. Also, if repair is going to take more than a day, I expect a rental car.
Advice, opinions?
She stopped and we exchanged information. I got all of her vital info (name, address, phone, insurance info) and she got my name and phone number. It was rush hour and neither of us thought it was worthwhile to call the cops. She stated that she would probably be willing to pay out of pocket for the repairs.
A couple more things:
1) She was driving a truck with TN plates in Washington, DC. Her insurance is from TN. She gave me a MD address. She probably just moved to the DC area.
2) Shortly after the accident, after she left and as I was driving away my "Service Engine soon" light comes on. The car is a Nissan Altima (2001) and a quick check of the owner's manual tells me that this means there is an issue with the emissions system. I'm thinking that the fender bender might have caused something to come undone or something might have been on it's way to breaking but this sent it over the edge. Obviously, I'd like for this repair to be included in the accident repairs if it's something that could have been caused by the accident.
Given those facts, should I call her insurance company, my company, or both? I realize that she might want to pay out of pocket and I'm fine with that. However, I'd like someone in some official capacity to handle things for me. Basically, since the accident isn't my fault I don't feel like I should have to do the legwork to find a repair shop, get a quote, track her down for payment, etc... It's my opinion that she (or her insurance) should be doing this for me. Also, if repair is going to take more than a day, I expect a rental car.
Advice, opinions?
Tw4win on
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B.net: Kusanku
About the check engine light. They are gonna have to run it through a computer etc etc etc its gonna be a hell of a lot just to check it out. Mine was a misfire in the EGR valve. Crappy thing also is that when you go to do your emissions they won't test your car until you get whatever is causing that light to come on fixed.
Man, I've smacked my mirror of all kinds of things. You just pop it back into place. You don't start dealing with insurance companies, that's for sure.
I called the cell phone number that the woman gave me. It was wrong so I called the number of the insurance agent I copied off of her insurance card. I explained the situation to them and five minutes later the woman's husband calls me. Seems that no one has seen the woman since yesterday. She's new to the DC area (husband has been up here awhile). He told me that he's trying to track her down. Evidently she has seizures which disorient her. So, she either had a seizure last yesterday or she was trying to leave town. Who the hell knows...
I'm evidently the last person to see this woman. Now I wish I would have called the cops. At the very least I would have been able to help the woman out if she needed medical attention or help the dude if she were tying to flee.
She seemed medically fine to me, just upset about the accident. The number she gave me was off by one number so it's possible she was just upset and wrote it down incorrectly.
Her husband will pay for repairs.