Girlfriend in a non-serious car accident - advice?

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FusionKnight

Member
Jun 29, 2004
132
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Hey all,

So my girlfriend was involved in a car accident which wasn't her fault.

My girlfriend drives a '98 Toyota Rav4 and the guy who hit her was driving a '96 Yukon. She was driving on the highway from Edmonton to Calgary as it started to snow. Halfway through the drive, the roads became pretty poor. She was driving in the right lane and signals into the left lane a fair distance behind a semi. The semi breaks and my girlfriend also breaks - the guy behind her didn't. He swerves all over the road and hits her rear bumper on the left with the left portion of his front bumper. When my girlfriend looked at the guy's truck, there was no visible damage but her bumper was smashed right in - looks like only body damage but I'm not a mechanic. Just to clarify, she changed lanes and gave the guy plenty of room - he was roughly half a kilometer behind her as she changed lanes.

The speed limit on the highway at that point was 110km/h, and my girlfriend was going roughly 90km/h when she began braking and got hit.

The guy who hit her is now saying that my girlfriend cut him off and that's it's her fault. There were no witnesses, but there was a passenger in the guy's car.

So what's the prognosis? Is my girlfriend going to be blamed for this even though she didn't do anything wrong?

FK
 
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Rastus

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
4,704
3
0
Since he hit her in the rear with the front of his vehicle, he will be found at fault. Anything he says will not be considered.

Even if she 'cut him off' as he says, it's still his responsibility to drive in such a manner as to prevent those types of accidents.
 
B

BlancoNino

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 2005
5,695
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Don't worry, he can lie about what happened. Even if she did "cut him off" it would still be his fault.
 
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FusionKnight

Member
Jun 29, 2004
132
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0
Well that takes a load off my mind. I hope you guys are right and he pays for the damages, especially now that he's lied.

FK
 
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chambersc

Diamond Member
Feb 11, 2005
6,247
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Did you phone the police at all to get a report of the incident? They could be both found to be at fault, here.
 
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everman

Lifer
Nov 5, 2002
11,288
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Just call your insurance company and tell them what happened. He hit her rear bumper, unless he can prove (he can't) that she's at fault he pays. I wouldn't worry about it one bit.
 
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HN

Diamond Member
Jan 19, 2001
8,186
4
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someone's gotta say it:

you weren't there and only getting the side of the story from your girlfriend. i'm not so sure you can be fully confident that the other driver is lying (mentioned in topic summary, implied in body of OP, and mentioned again in a later post).

Not saying who's right or wrong here but you'd have a stronger case seeing both sides.
 
O

oztrailrider

Member
Dec 8, 2005
132
4
81
In most situations as far as insurance companies are concerned, if you hit someone in the back you are deemed to be at fault. I think you should be fine. I work at a panel shop so I have had a fair amount of experience with insurance claims.
 
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FusionKnight

Member
Jun 29, 2004
132
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Originally posted by: HN
someone's gotta say it:

you weren't there and only getting the side of the story from your girlfriend. i'm not so sure you can be fully confident that the other driver is lying (mentioned in topic summary, implied in body of OP, and mentioned again in a later post).

Not saying who's right or wrong here but you'd have a stronger case seeing both sides.
Click to expand...

That's fine - I'm just asking for opinions on what might occur had the situation I outlined happened. If it didn't happen the way she told me, then she and I have bigger issues :)

FK
 
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FusionKnight

Member
Jun 29, 2004
132
0
0
Originally posted by: chambersc
Did you phone the police at all to get a report of the incident? They could be both found to be at fault, here.
Click to expand...

Yup, a police report has been filed. She was all over that. The guy who hit her wasn't so studious and didn't file a police report until days after the accident. When he did finally get around to it, he said that my girlfriend had cut him off, apparently.

FK
 
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Alex

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 1999
6,995
0
0
as a rule of thumb, whoever crashes from behind is responsible...

I've been in a situation where some dumbass just slams the breaks right in front of me because he missed his turn and i hit him from behind because i couldn't stop on such short notice and in the end i was found responsible by the insurance companies.... :|
 
DefDC

DefDC

Golden Member
Aug 28, 2003
1,858
1
81
Yeah, everything that I've heard, if you hit from behind, regardless of the circumstances, you're generally going to be at fault.

Heh, I had something just as annoying happen. I was driving down an interstate, weather was AWFUL, low visibility due to snow, roads were EXTREMELY icy, and the wind was gusting like you wouldn't believe. I was in a Blazer, in 4X4, doing 35mph in a 55, and a semi pulled out in front of me. I was pumping the breaks, but that just shot me off the road into a ditch. Hard. And of course, that was called MY fault. If I had plowed into the truck, it would have been HIS fault... Dammit.
 
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Al Neri

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2002
5,680
1
81
Originally posted by: HN
someone's gotta say it:

you weren't there and only getting the side of the story from your girlfriend. i'm not so sure you can be fully confident that the other driver is lying (mentioned in topic summary, implied in body of OP, and mentioned again in a later post).

Not saying who's right or wrong here but you'd have a stronger case seeing both sides.
Click to expand...

jerkstore called and.... well you know the rest!
 
S

SilthDraeth

Platinum Member
Oct 28, 2003
2,635
0
71
Originally posted by: simms
I've never seen a sign say 110km/h on a highway before...
Click to expand...

Do you drive in Canada?

I never have either, but I have never been to Canada, or along the stretch of highway in question. Seems to me though if it starts to snow, you would want to drop your speed more than 10km/h. But that is besides the point.
 
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Cookie

Golden Member
Jul 3, 2001
1,759
2
81
That'll serve her right for going to Edmonton in the first place. Flames > Oilers.
<--- in Calgary
And also, for the disbelievers.... the entire highway between Calgary and Deadmonton is 110km/hr.
 
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FusionKnight

Member
Jun 29, 2004
132
0
0
Originally posted by: simms
I've never seen a sign say 110km/h on a highway before...
Click to expand...

A large portion of the Transcanada highway is 110km/h, as is the highway my girlfriend was driving on, as is the main highway that passes through Calgary. :p

FK
 
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FusionKnight

Member
Jun 29, 2004
132
0
0
Originally posted by: Cookie
That'll serve her right for going to Edmonton in the first place. Flames > Oilers.
<--- in Calgary
And also, for the disbelievers.... the entire highway between Calgary and Deadmonton is 110km/hr.
Click to expand...

Why do you think I didn't go with her? :D

FK
 
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jmgonzalez

Senior member
Dec 1, 1999
525
0
0
If the snow is coming down and road conditions are getting bad, shouldn't that tell you that you should slow down way below the 110km/h speed limit?
 
ViviTheMage

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
Originally posted by: Rastus
Since he hit her in the rear with the front of his vehicle, he will be found at fault. Anything he says will not be considered.

Even if she 'cut him off' as he says, it's still his responsibility to drive in such a manner as to prevent those types of accidents.
Click to expand...

hell yeah! winner.
 
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