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[Automotive/Legal] I Was In A "Fender Bender" Collission.
Evander
Disappointed FatherRegistered User regular
Disappointed FatherRegistered User regular
How should I go about handling this?
First, the details.
I was making a left turn into a parking spot between two SUVs. The front right end of my car collided with the area around the rear left wheel of the SUV to my right. This resulted in a noise loud enough to draw people from inside the nearby store to come outside and see what happened. I am not aware whether or not the car to my right had been in motion at the time, but its last passenger had just gotten in a couple of minutes before hand.
Initially I assumed that I was at fault, because I knew for a fact that I had been in motion at the time of the collision. I gave the owner of the other car (although, not the individual who had been in the driver's seat) my name address and telephone number, and told him that if he contacted me later I could give him my insurance information. I did not admit to fault, but I did say, while examining the damage to his car, that I am a person who accepts responsibility for their actions, which I guess could be taken either way.
The damage to the SUV raised a few questions for me as to who was actually at fault here. First of all, the SUV seemed to have collided with the same corner of my car in two close, but seperate, locations. The firstwas what looked like a single impact to the rear of the wheel, on a piece of plastic designed to protect the wheel. The second was a scrape against part of the wheel (the front third, or so) and against part of the car directly in front of the wheel. This scrape was extremely superficial; the type of scrape that needs no more than a bit of touch-up paint. There was absolutely no bendin denting or gouging that occured. My car, on the other hand, suffered a large crack in the plastic right at the corner that collided with the SUV, as well as some slight scraping to the rear of the crack. The crack was caused by pressure being exerted on the car, coming from a spot closer to the front than the side, judging by the way in which it cracked and the way in which the plastic bended behind the crack. This crack, incidentally, is likely what made all of the noise.
What makes me question who was at fault here is two-fold. Firstly, the disparity in ammount of damage done to each car doesn't seem to make sense to me. If I had been the only one in motion, I would expect there to be far more damage to the SUV than there was. In order for this to have occured, the SUV must be incredibly sturdy, and my car (which was an 06 Acura) would have to be very flimsy. I am not saying it is impossible, but it does seem like a bit of a discrepancy.
The other thing making me question it is the fact that my car apparently collided in two seperate locations, without coming in contact with the area in between. I can tell, from the scraping on the SUV, that my front end was already broken at that point, so I do believe that the car came in contact with that rear piece of plastic, but it seems strange to me that my car did not scrape against the plastic, only touched it, and then skipped the rear of the wheel before scraping against the front section of it, and scratching the small plastic lip in front of the wheel, and the painted metal area in front of it. I have been unable to work out a way that this could have occured without the other car possible moving backwards or forwards in the space between the time of impact and the time of scraping.
The only witness there had come outside after hearing the noise, and was unable to confirm whether or not the SUV had been on at the time.
My question, to you all, is what my best course of action is here. I'm not looking to get out of anything if I am responsible for it, but I also do not want to risk losing my insurance and paying for massive repairs to my car if I am not actually the one at fault. I have the name, address, and insurance information of the man who I assume is the owner of the car (but, again, not the individual who was sitting in the driver's seat.)
My father wants to contact our insurance, and claim that the other guys was solely at fault. If he WAS backing out while I was pulling in, then yes, he is, since I had right of way, but I don't know how I feel about claiming that without being sure of it. Of course, if he contacts my insurance before I speak to them, then it makes it that much more difficult to question whether or not he was at fault.
Also, while we were looking at the damage to his car, he started saying about needing to leave his car in the shop, and get a rental car, etc. Now, the damage to his car was soley a few scrapes. The scratched to the painted area did not go to the metal, and the scrathes to the small plastic lip where extremely minor, involving absolutely no gouging, and would be perfectly fixed by a little bit of sanding/polishing. This is because, I assume, the scratches were causing by the broken plastic on my car, rather than metal or something else hard. He mentioned replacing these pieces, though, despite the fact that they are so easily repairable. If somehow fault is determined to be mine, then I don't believe I should have to pay for extremely unnessecary things like replacement of almost entirely undamaged parts, and rental cars. If this does occur, how do I stop him from trying to take advantage of the situation, and of me?
Thanks for any advice. As I said before, I am willing to accept responsibility for anything that I am actually responsible for, and I am not trying to get out of anything through immoral or illegal actions, but I also want to be proactive about making sure that I am not held accountable for the actions of others, or taken advantage of through unethical treatment by others.
First, the details.
I was making a left turn into a parking spot between two SUVs. The front right end of my car collided with the area around the rear left wheel of the SUV to my right. This resulted in a noise loud enough to draw people from inside the nearby store to come outside and see what happened. I am not aware whether or not the car to my right had been in motion at the time, but its last passenger had just gotten in a couple of minutes before hand.
Initially I assumed that I was at fault, because I knew for a fact that I had been in motion at the time of the collision. I gave the owner of the other car (although, not the individual who had been in the driver's seat) my name address and telephone number, and told him that if he contacted me later I could give him my insurance information. I did not admit to fault, but I did say, while examining the damage to his car, that I am a person who accepts responsibility for their actions, which I guess could be taken either way.
The damage to the SUV raised a few questions for me as to who was actually at fault here. First of all, the SUV seemed to have collided with the same corner of my car in two close, but seperate, locations. The firstwas what looked like a single impact to the rear of the wheel, on a piece of plastic designed to protect the wheel. The second was a scrape against part of the wheel (the front third, or so) and against part of the car directly in front of the wheel. This scrape was extremely superficial; the type of scrape that needs no more than a bit of touch-up paint. There was absolutely no bendin denting or gouging that occured. My car, on the other hand, suffered a large crack in the plastic right at the corner that collided with the SUV, as well as some slight scraping to the rear of the crack. The crack was caused by pressure being exerted on the car, coming from a spot closer to the front than the side, judging by the way in which it cracked and the way in which the plastic bended behind the crack. This crack, incidentally, is likely what made all of the noise.
What makes me question who was at fault here is two-fold. Firstly, the disparity in ammount of damage done to each car doesn't seem to make sense to me. If I had been the only one in motion, I would expect there to be far more damage to the SUV than there was. In order for this to have occured, the SUV must be incredibly sturdy, and my car (which was an 06 Acura) would have to be very flimsy. I am not saying it is impossible, but it does seem like a bit of a discrepancy.
The other thing making me question it is the fact that my car apparently collided in two seperate locations, without coming in contact with the area in between. I can tell, from the scraping on the SUV, that my front end was already broken at that point, so I do believe that the car came in contact with that rear piece of plastic, but it seems strange to me that my car did not scrape against the plastic, only touched it, and then skipped the rear of the wheel before scraping against the front section of it, and scratching the small plastic lip in front of the wheel, and the painted metal area in front of it. I have been unable to work out a way that this could have occured without the other car possible moving backwards or forwards in the space between the time of impact and the time of scraping.
The only witness there had come outside after hearing the noise, and was unable to confirm whether or not the SUV had been on at the time.
My question, to you all, is what my best course of action is here. I'm not looking to get out of anything if I am responsible for it, but I also do not want to risk losing my insurance and paying for massive repairs to my car if I am not actually the one at fault. I have the name, address, and insurance information of the man who I assume is the owner of the car (but, again, not the individual who was sitting in the driver's seat.)
My father wants to contact our insurance, and claim that the other guys was solely at fault. If he WAS backing out while I was pulling in, then yes, he is, since I had right of way, but I don't know how I feel about claiming that without being sure of it. Of course, if he contacts my insurance before I speak to them, then it makes it that much more difficult to question whether or not he was at fault.
Also, while we were looking at the damage to his car, he started saying about needing to leave his car in the shop, and get a rental car, etc. Now, the damage to his car was soley a few scrapes. The scratched to the painted area did not go to the metal, and the scrathes to the small plastic lip where extremely minor, involving absolutely no gouging, and would be perfectly fixed by a little bit of sanding/polishing. This is because, I assume, the scratches were causing by the broken plastic on my car, rather than metal or something else hard. He mentioned replacing these pieces, though, despite the fact that they are so easily repairable. If somehow fault is determined to be mine, then I don't believe I should have to pay for extremely unnessecary things like replacement of almost entirely undamaged parts, and rental cars. If this does occur, how do I stop him from trying to take advantage of the situation, and of me?
Thanks for any advice. As I said before, I am willing to accept responsibility for anything that I am actually responsible for, and I am not trying to get out of anything through immoral or illegal actions, but I also want to be proactive about making sure that I am not held accountable for the actions of others, or taken advantage of through unethical treatment by others.
Evander on
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I had a similar situation actually, where I was partially at fault for a rear-end collision but it turned out that the guy was actually provoking the situation intentionally.
I was going to make a right hand turn on one of those lanes that you only have to yield. There was plenty of time for the car ahead of me to go forward, and he was proceeding at normal speed so I thought he was. When I turned my head to see if it was clear for me, I hit him: he had slammed on his brakes so I would hit the back of his car.
I didn't realize this at first, and apologized profusely. He started talking about how he needed to have his whole rear end replaced etc... though there was only a dent on the bumper. I freaked out, but gave him my info.
Anyways, he never collected a dime from my insurance company. They examined the situation, and figured out what he was trying to do given the evidence at hand.
So don't worry: if part of this wasn't your fault, it's in your insurance company's best interest to find out. And they have ways of finding out.
Even if it was entirely your fault, you won't have to lose your insurance. They may increase your rate, but unless it was a severe accident, it won't be by much. If you totalled his car, you'd be looking at a significant increase. But if this is your first infraction and as minor as it sounds, even if he has to replace his whole bumper that's only $1k at most. That won't result in a significant increase: hell, most people's deductables are 500 dollars.
So don't worry. And if it does look like they're going to jack up your price, switch companies when it's all resolved. The insurance industry is a very competitive industry, and they only get greedy when they know you won't go to a competitor. Hold no allegiance to them.
Well I mean, if the driver was in the vehicle it makes his party almost for sure at fault as well.
I couldnt tell you which way it'll go, but because it's not VERY clear that its a one-sided thing, the insurance dudes just like to make it both parties' fault.
You didn't mention how old you are. If you're a young driver, I think the best way to go is to avoid having anything added to your insurance records. I'd talk to him nicely and see if you can agree on a reasonable amount for the repair, perhaps $150 - 200 for the body shop. Maybe even offer to go with him to a neutral garage for an estimate. No you may not be completely at fault in the situation, but even being partially at fault may raise your premium. Once it goes up, it may take a while for it to be reduced and it may end up costing you more than a few hundred bucks.
If you do it this way, make sure he signs a waiver that releases you from all further liabilities so he doesn't screw you over later.
When I was in claims, parking lot accidents were not unusual. The damage on the cars will tell the story, and if you have a good rep who gives a shit, it will be a fair decision. Just be sure to keep a consistent story and do NOT listen to your dad and insist that anyone is at fault. Playing the blame game won't get you anywhere.
Your insurance company won't dump you because you were in an accident. These things happen, that's why they're called "accidents".
sidenote: No repair costs less than $400 nowadays. Body shops are GREAT at inflating estimates.
Last October (15 months ago) I fell asleep at the wheel while driving on a highway in the middle of the night. I didn't hit anyone, but I managed to sideswipe a guardrail, and make a pretty nice dent in the side of my mother's van. Because of the repairs costs we had to use our insurance, and I was told at that point that if I had to use the insurance again in the next five years they were going to drop me.
Honestly, it sounds like you're at least mostly at fault here. I hate to say that, but unless his car was more than half way out of the parking space (that's not a law or anything, but common sense) I don't think you can say he was backing up. (if i'm just way off base there feel free to correct me). I doubt your're going to loose your insurance, and your out of pocket costs are going to be a lot cheaper with insurance ($500 deductible vs $total damage costs).
If they drop you, let them drop you, go with progressive or allstate or something. You can still get coverage.
And I am the one who didn't want to involve insurance, since, like I said, the damage to his car could litterally be taken careoff with a bottle of touch-up paint. He started talking about replacement of scratched parts, and the cost of a rental car for the time that his car was in the shop, and such, so I gave in and decided to go with insurance, which is probably the best idea, judging from how suspicious it is all looking.
Ohh, I'm sorry then, I misunderstood you.. ::cough::walloftext::cough::
If he was being that much of a dick and naming off shit that needed to be fixed right there you should have gotten a police report, just so everything could have been recorded. (statements taken and witnesses identified)
It's going to go one of two ways there. If it's decided that it's your fault, then he can take his car to the most expensive shop in town, make them pay for whatever he wants, and you've still got your deductible, but probably lost your insurance. If it's a 50-50, your insurance and his will each cover your respective cars, he will be a little cheaper with the fix, or he won't use insurance, and you'll do the same, and maybe keep yours.
I hope everything goes well man
Also, I doubt an insurance claims person would see the tiny scratches on his car, and authorize all kind of deluxe services.
I did get a couple of quick phone pictures of thedamage to his car, though, and the one witness is actually a coworker of mine, so he is not hard to get in touch with if I need him. As I said in my wall of text, he didn't come outside until after it had all happened, but he did thinkit was possible that the other car had backed in to me.
What really strikes me as odd is that, at the low speed I was going, I would have felt some kind of resistance before my car just broke, no? It is a rather large crack, and all. I didn't feel any resistance until AFTER the noise, though, which leads me to believe further that the initial impact was him hitting me.
what do you drive? did he hit fiberglass or urathane? because one will just simply crack, and one will flex and dent.
I
And I was driving my father's car at the time, which is a 2006 Acura RL. I'm not sure what the material was, but it was the area just below the headlight/above the bumper.
Edit: When I asked on the phone who had been driving at the time, the guy told me that they had been "parking", but yes, his wife was in the driver's seat. It might have just been an odd word choice because he is a non-native english speaker, or he might be trying to change up his story, dunno. Regarldess, as I was approaching, they were all getting into the car ( noticed this afew minutes earlier, while waiting for the guy in front of meto park) and after we finished talking they drove off, so they clearly were on their way out at the time, not just arriving and parking.
Speaking from unfortunate personal experience, no, you wouldn't. Lots of newer lightweight vehicles tend to just fall apart if you put any pressure on the body in the wrong way.
IMO the best thing to do here is call your insurance company, tell them your side of the story, and tell them that you think the other driver may have started backing up. If the other car was in motion, especially if the guy was on the gas, it will change the angle of the body and they will be able to determine this from the point of impact.
It's not the end of the world, though I am very curious about why your insurance would drop you.
My worry now is that this will turn into a big fight, since the guy had already stated to me that he thought it was entirely my fault.
I guess this is the gods of irony trying to get me back for my attempts to reduce drama in my life.
Overall, I think I feel bad for the other guy. If he had cooperated when I first said I didn't want to get insurance involved, I probably would have continued thinking it was my fault, and he would have ended up getting some small ammount out of it. By trying to get more, he gave me time to look over the situation, and now he'll end up dealing with all of this.
I mean, I guess he's getting what he deserves, but it's still by my own hand, and I feel bad, which I guess means that the sense of compassion my family instilled in me growing up is working.
don't get too cocky... it could go the other way....
Insurance is there TO BE paid out when needed. An insurance company that would threaten to drop a person on their first accident sounds like a fraudulent company to me. The insurance business is built around (or rather, it's supposed to be) paying for people's accidents because they pay the insurance company. If said company is dropping people (or threatening to) on the first accident, they're not actually an insurance company. They're a company hoping people will pay them on a monthly basis to do nothing.
The positive (though admittedly dastardly) is that they'll probably fight hard to make sure this other guy isn't compensated because they're miserly pricks.
The negative is that they're going to be pricks to you, and may indeed drop you.
If they do, screw 'em. Even if they don't, screw 'em. Do some searches on the 'net. You'll be surprised how many car insurance companies are out there. Companies that'll probably give you a better price, and treat you in the way that an actual insurance company is supposed to treat their customers.
And indeed, remember that it is no longer your issue. That guy can't (and shouldn't) communicate with you ever again for any reason. If he thinks you're entirely at fault, he needs to fight your insurance company now and not you. You should have no involvement with it whatsoever. So don't worry about potential drama. I don't even think it's legal for him to harass you about the situation now that it's brought to the insurance company... though I'm not positive about that. But I know that usually once the insurance companies are contacted, that's the END of conversation between the two people that had the accident. Don't worry.
I don't mean to be cocky, I just hate doing things that have a potential to hurt some one else, even if it is deserved.
Don't worry... either way, you won't be hurting him. You did the right thing by going to the insurance. Your insurance company and his will hash it out, and figure out what happened to the best that someone can. In many ways, it's better that you leave it to the professionals.