My first car accident

Horus

Basically got rear ended and was my fault I was in forward lane which I thought was a turning lane. Me and the other driver exchange information we needed for the insurance. He seem mellow about it because my car had literally no damage his had scratch on side of his bumper. I did apologize for what happen, and he asked me if I was alright. Anyway what do I do now? Call my insurance the damage is not greater from the exterior than $500, should I email him asking if he can take pictures of the damages because my camera didn't work when i thought it did? or say if hes interested the repairs can be done outside of the insurance so we both wont be screwed over by them?

I just want some feedback, my family doesn't know what to do really. Good thing its the weekend so I can research this, so far the internet has what to do but for severe car accidents.



Positive side me and my brother got into an argument after this when i got home. basically personal issues and we talked about it and he did give me advice and I told him stuff he offended me. Ironic isn't it we never really got along and from this accident we squash or dealt with out issues. Also address my own personal issues.

And me and my friend reconcile after this too, @_@ life is weird, we haven't talked in a month over issues and we where good friends.

Shogun

Did you admit fault? In my state it is basically unwritten law that if you get rear-ended it is the other person's fault for being too close. However if you admitted fault you've already thrown that out the window. How much is your deductible?

Zeon

Its kind of hard to tell from your story, but if it happened the way im imagining it (You stopped dead at an intersection and the guy behind you drove into you) youre definately not at fault. You got rear ended, its not your fault. Dont admit any more guilt. Did you atleast call the cops and file a police report? You should have.

Basically any time you hit anyone from the rear, youre at fault. The (reasonable) thinking is that you should always have enough room, enough time, and be paying enough attention to be able to stop before you hit the guy infront of you, even if he jams on his brakes and stops dead in the middle of the highway.

Unless what youre saying is that you turned into the guys lane and he drove into you, i would say call your insurance company back and explain to them what happened (some guy drove straight into you from behind). Otherwise this guys going to call his company with a bullshit story (He wont be able to tell them he hit you from behind or he will be liable, he knows this, thats why he was so mellow) and youre going to be paying for his damages.

Horus

Its was a mistake on my end where I was driving and I somehow manage to get on the turning lane (which was not), so I was gonna drive straight on a left turn lane. The light was green so I braked ( I think I screeched) and so the guy behind me hit me. I did not say its my fault but said sorry that this happen through a mistake that I thought I was on a turning lane. This street actually is going through construction. I might swing again tomorrow and see why i got confused.

But should I report it to my insurance policy right away? or ask the guy to get some photos of the damage?

Sorry I am still shaken up a bit but just more weirded out through this car accident brought on other things like squashing issues about my brother and friend.

dvsherman

Call your insurance company. That's what you're paying your premiums for. I've never lived in a state that didn't have their laws set up so that the person doing the rear-ending wasn't at fault.

Why? Because even if you made a mistake, the person should have been following at a safe enough distance so as to have enough time to brake without hitting you. Yes, I saw you live in LA. No, that doesn't change it.

Call them.

Shogun

Horus wrote: »

Its was a mistake on my end where I was driving and I somehow manage to get on the turning lane (which was not), so I was gonna drive straight on a left turn lane. The light was green so I braked ( I think I screeched) and so the guy behind me hit me. I did not say its my fault but said sorry that this happen through a mistake that I thought I was on a turning lane. This street actually is going through construction. I might swing again tomorrow and see why i got confused.

But should I report it to my insurance policy right away? or ask the guy to get some photos of the damage?

Sorry I am still shaken up a bit but just more weirded out through this car accident brought on other things like squashing issues about my brother and friend.

See I'm still not sure you were at fault. You may have been mistaken about the lane you were in but he still hit you. Regardless of what color that light was he is responsible for maintaining a safe distance behind you in the event something like this happens. Did you call the police and file a report? Did you get his insurance information or just give him yours?

Horus

we both exchange information but we did not call the police because I never actually heard them coming to minor accidents, basically heard if theres no blood cops wont come.

Thats true, I am just going to call the insurance company and tell them what happen, and see what will happen be my fault or not just want to resolve this issue.

Shogun

Horus wrote: »

we both exchange information but we did not call the police because I never actually heard them coming to minor accidents, basically heard if theres no blood cops wont come.

Thats true, I am just going to call the insurance company and tell them what happen, and see what will happen be my fault or not just want to resolve this issue.

If you call the police they will come whether they want to or not. At the least there will be a report and they will determine who was at fault. Call your insurance company and explain the situation. They will probably ask for the other guy's information and take it from there. I'm fairly certain you were not at fault because he hit you, but now it will be up to the insurance companies.

Horus

Thanks its my first accident as I mention and honestly my clean driving record is tarnished awell, live and learn.

meeker

I will reiterate what others have said. Almost everywhere in the states, if your car is rear-ended, you are not at fault. It doesn't matter if you are stpped in the middle lane of a three-lane hioghway, if your car is hit, they weren't paying close enough attention...

Call your insurance immediately.

Zeon

Horus wrote: »

Thanks its my first accident as I mention and honestly my clean driving record is tarnished awell, live and learn.

No its not.

This accident wasnt your fault. Like i said, you can come to a screeching halt in the middle of the freeway, and if anyone hits you from behind, its their fault.

For all he knows a baby crawled out infront of your car. Shit happens, and if some kid did decide to dart out and you needed to stop, he would have hit you, possibly shunting you into them and causing some real harm.

Call your insurance company. Say someone rear ended you. Confirm theres no damage on your end and the damage to his vehicle was minor. Give them the information he gave you. Dont ever talk to the guy directly again. If he tries to call you, tell him to instead call your insurance company and take it up with them. And then just forget about it. Theres nothing else you personally will have to do, except maybe feild a few phonecalls just to reconfirm your story, and thats only if the other guy wants to make some shit up.

Theres only 2 things hes trying to do here. One is to get you to admit fault so he gets off the hook for causing an accident. The second would be to try to get money out of you to fix the damage to his car caused by the accident, without going through insurance.

Thanatos

You got rear-ended, barring something like pulling out immediately in front of someone without signalling, it's not going to be your fault.

You should call him, first, see if he wants to go through insurance, or just pay you off (whatever it costs to fix the damages to your car). If he wants to go through insurance, just tell your insurance company what happened, keeping in mind that it almost certainly isn't your fault, and they'll take it from there.