Car accident recommendations

[peter12]

If you have insurance and pictures, he's effed. File a claim right now and forward those pictures to your insurance company.

[I_am_Beast]

Had the same thing done to me, but the lady took off.

She clipped my front bumper, spun me around ( was winter ) i hit the concrete divider, cause alot of damage.

She took off up the off ramp and away, while other cars were coming at me, as now i'm facing the wrong direction. I went straight to the police station and the cop said bull.

Needless to say i was screwed over. Cops really don't give a .

the stories i could tell you.....but thats another thread

[peter12]

Originally Posted by I_am_Beast

Had the same thing done to me, but the lady took off.

She clipped my front bumper, spun me around ( was winter ) i hit the concrete divider, cause alot of damage.

She took off up the off ramp and away, while other cars were coming at me, as now i'm facing the wrong direction. I went straight to the police station and the cop said bull.

Needless to say i was screwed over. Cops really don't give a .

the stories i could tell you.....but thats another thread

I've had good experiences actually from cops. I had an accident about 9 months ago where the guy hit me and then refused to give me his insurance information, but I managed to swipe a business card from him. I went to the cops and they phoned the guy up and got everything down from him. This ended up helping me in my insurance settlement as the other guy hadn't gone to the cops at all and was obviously hoping that I would forget about it or something.

It always helps to file a police report.

[jayswin]

The best thing you can do in a sitaution like this, is ask to meet with an officer who is driving the traffic reconstruction truck. I had an eerily similar accident a few years ago.

I had a guy in a work van back into me, while i was trying to come out of a driveway of a business. He crunched the back of my car pretty good. The only thing was, the guy had materials hanging out the back of his van (aluminum poles, wood etc), and it was the materials that nailed my car.

So anyways, it was a hit and run, so I went to the district 6 cop station to report it as such. A cop (a douchbag) came out and looked at my car, gave me a weird look, then said judging by the damage he thought that I had in fact hit someone, and that he wanted to take pictures, and all my info and wait to see if a claim comes in that matches my car in a hit and run.

I just looked at him and said "why the hell would I come to a freakin police station, if I had just hit someone", and he just shrugged his shoulders and went on with his business.

Anyways, long story short, I was furious over this, so I ended up getting in touch with some trafic cops, and they set me up with a meeting with a guy. He told me to meet him at the base of c.o.p. ski hill, and mentioned a very out of the way service road. At this point I started getting weary, ie why does a cop want to meet so far out of public view. Anyways, I then saw the traffic reconstruction vehicle roll up the hidden road, and that's when I knew why he chose that location. He just wanted ample room to park and do his thing.

So he got out, looked at my car, looked at my report of the accident, looked at the original cops' little write up. Then he just said "man, I didn't need the re-construction truck for this, that cop is an absolute idiot", then he gave me the sticker you need when there is over $1000 worth of damage, and was able to get my car fixed.

Moral of the story? Don't trust someone just because they have a badge and uniform. They're mostly great, honest people, but that doesn't mean they all are.

[Myth]

You could always take out ads in the paper, online or where ever else you can think of asking for anyone that might have seen the accident to conact you. I've seen these types of ads before, don't know if they work or not, but you never know unless you ask

[Titan]

1. File an insurance report
2. Have your friend write out a detailed statement. A witness is a witness and a judge will assess their credibility when it comes to that but they are still a witness to the event.
3. You should also write out a detailed statment about everything you can remember, the accident, its location, the weather, the other vehicle, everything.
4. The cop can investigate if he feels someone is making a fraudulent claim. His job is to assesss if laws are broken. However, he is not an accident reconstruction expert or he would not be riding the desk taking accident reports. Also, he is not a witness to the accident so his testimony is virtually useless unless he has information about you that would go to your credibility ie you were drunk when you reported the accident.
5. Let your insurance handle it. They will have you get quotes on your vehicle and if they feel the damage is excessive may challenge you but they have to prove it was pre-existing on a balance of probabilities basis.
6. Don't hire a lawyer unless you insurance co. starts to fata you around or you feel you are hurt. Sore neck, upper back, shoulders etc.
7. If you are hurt, get to a doctor or chiropractor immediately to document it. These type of injuries to get worse with time.

good luck

[DuffMan]

I had a bad experience with a guy backing into me, saying he would pay for it and then changing his mind. He was driving a courtesy van taking people to the airport from one of the NE Hotels. He backed into me at the Tim Hortons. I was nice and let him take the people to the airport, and just took his info. When he heard it would cost about $1000, he changed his tune and said I drove into him. Insurance co. said it was a 50/50 since it was his word against mine, with no witnesses. Pissed me off, and if something similar ever happens again, I'm not moving until the police show up and do a report.
Also, if I ever see an accident now, I will offer to act as a witness.

[Flashpoint]

Call your insurance company. Situations like this are why you pay a monthly premium.

[bluejays]

I got into my first accident today. 9 years and this idiot turns while I'm going the full 60kph. Civic totalled I'm pretty sure. Totally the other drivers fault as I had the right of way, but somehow when we get out of our cars, some career b!tch comes out of her car as a witness and gives her business card to the lady I hit saying she witnessed it and would be willing to stand as a witness if need be. No card for me though. WTF, I hate this idiots. And then the lady who got in the accident mysteriously claims that she does not remember a thing where she was going and what happened, but in the collision reporting centre she remembers everything. Just frustrated now. WTF!

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by NinePack

It sounds like from the police officer that he belives that i was hit from behind. Was just a "tap". So he is saying that i better come forward and tell him that the damage was done from another incident. If it was a scuff i wouldn't care but my trunk is all pushed in. My cd player came out of my dash.

They think i am filing a false damage report to cover previous damages. Somehow the vehicle that hit me doesnt match the damage done. Now i have to prove otherwise. Sorry if i am having trouble explaining it fully.

The same officer looked at both vehicles.

Perhaps you should enquire as to whether or not the officer did testing of the van height when involved in a panic stop. The height of the front bumper can be quite different when comparing it from standstill to the "dive" experienced in a panic stop. Perhaps the officer also did a thorough mechanical inspection of the suspension of the van.

While the officer probably didn't do either of these things they could serve as good points of information.

If you have any pictures of the van's tires from the accident it could be helpful. If his tires were low and they were brought up to pressure before the police report was filed it could certainly increase the bumper height. What could also be contributory would be whether or not the van was carrying a load in the back at the time of measurement.

[ken0042]

If the guy in the van was slamming on the brakes, wouldn't his van have hit you doing a "nose dive?"

I agree, call your insurance company- and ask to speak to somebody in the traffic division of the police department.

[onetwo_threefour]

As a lawyer who used to do personal injury (until the soft cap got passed in 2004) I would agree with the consensus here that the cop's conduct is questionable, are you sure it was really a cop and not someone pretending to be one? I can't see the police laying charges for filing a false report unless there is clear and unambiguous evidence. It's a difficult charge to prove.

As far as the witnesses go, someone in your car is not necessarily a bad witness, especially since they can speak to both the circumstances of the accident (including your driving) as well as the pre-existing condition of the vehicle. If a judge feels that the person is believable in Court then there is no reason that there testimony wouldn't carry significant weight.

Finally, yes do report to your insurer and let them run with the damage claim. You migh also consider tracking down any independent persons who have recently had an opportunity to look at the back end of your car, such as a gas station attendant you see all the time, your neighbour across the street who sees your car everyday, the guy in your carpool, or whatever, and ask them if they would be willing to write a brief statement saying that they did not see any pre-existing damage despite seeing your car on a regular basis.

Realistically, you shouldn't need a lawyer, but if your insurer starts considering apportioning liability you may want to get a legal opinion. Ultimately, your insurance company has a pretty broad power to determine liability without your say so, but you can challenge sucha decision via the insurer's internal appeals process, through the insurance ombudsman, or, if all else fails through Court on an argument that your insurer has breached its duty to defend you.

Good luck....

[NinePack]

Thanks a lot guys, Ive notified my insurance company they are gonna investigate. Someone is coming to meet me tomorrow. Like it was said, i am paying them for a reason.

ill let ya know what happens, just be time i guess.

i appreciate all the info