Bad: Fender Bender Worse: With a Pregnant Lady

DVG

So on the way to work this morning, I was involved in a minor fender bender. Essentially I was at a Yielding Right Turn (I guess that's what it's called) checked the left to make sure no one was coming, started forward and "whoops" the car in front of me hadn't gone after all. I was going from a stopped position to bumping into them a few feet away, and I had started to depress the brake before I struck them. It barely registered as a hit from my perspective (like, if you've ever bumped into one of those concrete things while parking, this hit was less severe than that).

There wasn't so much as a dent in either car, perhaps some scratched paint. But on the whole the automobiles couldn't have suffered more than $50 damage total.

The real problem? There was a pregnant woman in the back seat, which spurred the guy into a pretty good fury by virtue of being there. I don't know how far along she was.

There was a cop who just happened to be there, who facilitated the information exchange, but didn't see fit to cite me for it.

So, at this point, is there anything I should be doing, or should I just wait and see if I get a call about it?

Monolithic_Dome

Did you take a picture of the other car?

I'd call them later/tomorrow after they have a chance to cool off and offer to work something out. Just try to keep it off insurance and try to avoid replacing a bumper. If they decide to take you for a new bumper you're out $500 at least. But if it's only a scratch in the paint I doubt that would be the case.

Improvolone

You're lucky you didn't get a ticket, I had something similar happen to me and got a ticket for following too closely.

Deathwing

Did the cop actually fill out a report? Do you have a copy (and if so, does it say anything about damages)?

As Monolithic_Dome mentioned somewhat, you really need to have either photos or some sort of official evidence if you're going to compensate them for anything without your insurance company being involved.

Monolithic_Dome

Oh, and if they do decide that they want you to pay to get something fixed, see if you can work out a way to pay the mechanic and get a receipt.

Ardor

You should probably report this to your insurance company. If they do it first, it holds more water coming from them. However, if the officer was there to assess and write up the damage and such, it should help keep both parties honest.

If you have contact information for the folks you hit, try contacting them first to see if you could either work something out or if they are even giong to report it.

I've been involved in a fender bender before where both me and the guy I hit decided it's not worth reporting since there was very minimal damages.

MayGodHaveMercy

Going around your insurance company can be risky business. I would recommend you report the claim, and let your insurance co handle it. People will claim injuries in any accident. Your insurance company will photograph the cars, and if it's as minor as you say it was, they will laugh when she makes an injury claim. Worst case scenario, your insurance co pays to fix the car, and pays the lady/man $200 to shut the fuck up. Happens all the time. People want easy money.