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Got in a little car accident last night.. What should I do?

S

Salvador

Diamond Member
Got in a little accident last night and I'm pissed! I was waiting to turn right on a red light. The lady in front of me was waiting as well. I watched her start to pull out and then I focused my attention to the oncoming traffic to wait for a clearing so I could turn. Well... It was clear, so I started to accellerate and to my shock, the lady was still sitting there in front of me. I ended up bumping her 2001 VW Jetta at about 5 mph. I didn't do anything to my car, but I put a couple of scuffs in her back bumper and she seems to think that the right rear where the bumper meets the fender is a little askew. It's hard to tell because it's off so little and can even be a poor fit and finish.

We ended up calling the cops and he wrote up an accident report for insurance purposes. BTW.. I didn't get ticketed. I suspect that she'll be filing with her insurance to get my insurance to cover the repairs.

Now.. Here's my question.. I had a friend have his bumper hit on a '97 Prelude and it cost about $400 to get a new bumper cover and have it painted. Would you think I should get the insurance involved or try and pay for it out of pocket? This is my first accident ever and I have no idea what my insurance company (State Farm) is going to do. Will my rates go up? Will they drop me for something as minor as this even if I have a flawless driving record (no tickets even)?

What sucks is that I think it's partially her fault and I think she knew it. After I hit her, I told her that I thought that she had already gone and she said, "I know". It is technically my fault though because I'm the one that hit her.

What should I do? Right now she has my info on the report and I have her info. She's probably going to contact her insurance company shortly and get an estimate. Is it too late once she calls her insurance company or can I decide to pay myself after she gets the estimate from her insurance company?

Thanks so much. Any advice would be most appreciated!

Sal
 
well first off you shoulda been paying attention. i dont wanna sound like an ass but how can u not see a car in front of you? thats where you should be looking before you move and stuff. so it's probably mostly your fault, but she kinda screwed herself by admitting some of the fault (when she said 'i know' or wutever)
 
Its your fault for not paying attention. Its a common accident though.

EDIT: Her saying "I know" in that situation does not show that she takes any blame.
 
Yeah, the case isn't gonna look good for you. She could be the biggest idiot driver in the world, but you did hit her. Sorry dude.
 
Yeah, it doesn't matter what she said. If you hit her from the back and she didn't have her car in reverse I think they will pin it on you.....Sorry to hear about your accident....
 


<< Its your fault for not paying attention. Its a common accident though.

EDIT: Her saying "I know" in that situation does not show that she takes any blame. >>



i just remember something from my insurance guys going "dont admit any fault in the accident cuz it might screw you over" (not exactly in those words but to that effect anyway 😛)

or maybe i just dreamt it up
 
Your obligation is to have her car repaired, so you can choose to pay out of your own pocket or turn it in to your insurance, and it doesn't matter if she calls her insurance company. Tell her to contact you once she gets the estimate and then you can decide what to do. When thinking about how to handle the payment, consider your deductible plus the possible increase in your rates versus paying out of your own pocket.

Look at your own policy to see if you are obligated to report any accidents to them within a certain amount of time. You may have to report it to them just in case you decide to let them handle the claim, but hopefully you aren't required to do it right away.

And, in no way was it her fault, not even partially.
 
I've actually done that. I learned a valuable lesson: until the car in front of you is gone, you shouldn't be worrying about anything else. It's not "partially her fault" at all. She might have been stupid for stopping short or whatever she did, but that does not make her responsible for what the cars behind her do. You rear end somebody, it's your fault, period (barring someone cutting in front of you and then slamming on their brakes, which she didn't do).

As for whether or not to pay out of pocket, it depends on how much it's going to cost (obviously). You can wait until she gets an estimate, but if you do wind up going through your insurance, I don't know if they'll appreciate being kept in the dark for an extra couple of days. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to report accidents to them kind of quickly.
 
Just to let you know, I'm a very good driver and I'm not a teenager either. I've been driving for some years and never had an accident and I've only had a couple of speeding tickets that didn't go on my record because I went to court for supervision. This is with cars and motorcycles btw. I just wanted to state my case about about my driving record.

Now.. I know that I should've looked before accellerating. I guess I was too wrapped up in trying to get out in front of a group of traffic on that right turn on red.

Anyway.. The accident is history and I'm at fault and I know it.

What do I do about the insurance? Someone said that since there was a police report filed, that my insurance company will find out anyway even if there isn't a claim on my policy for the accident.

What I'm trying to do is avoid higher insurance rates here and need advice on how I should handle this.

Thanks again,

Sal
 
I have State Farm....part of your agreement states that ALL accidents MUST be reported!

If you have not had other problems it should not effect your policy much...but be aware, they will be watching you. Tickets or further accidents might increase your premimum or could lead to cancellation.

Ask yourself if you are prepared to pay all that person's hospital bills out of your own pocket? If she finally went to get medical attention, sometimes many weeks after the date of the accident and you did not follow your policy, they have grounds to cancel you without paying.

How's that sound?
 
The biggest question about whether you should pay through insurance or not is your age... If you've had an accident before you're 25 than your insurance rates will skyrocket if you make it to 25 w/ a clean driving record than you receive a generous drop in your insurance rates....
If you're under 25 I'd definately pay it myself...or dispose of her body ;P
 
It's your fault because you rear ended her. How on earth did you think it was clear when she was still there??? I can't see how you think it's partly her fault. If I were you, I would give her a call and see what she's saying. You have no control here, and could be putting yourself at risk by not contacting your insurance company.
 
I would have suggested you pay out of pocket, but there is a police report involved. Some insurance companies regularly look these over, and some states (Ohio) require you to fill out a report (though many people do not). This will give the Insurance company a weapon against you if you do not report this incident. I would pay out of pocket and hope for the best. Right on red is optional, you do not have to do it. If you rear ended someone in the manner you described, sorry, you are at fault. Whatever you do, do the right thing and make sure she is made whole.🙂
 
Tough call since you didn't get the ticket. I think I would have been trying to pay for this myself too, without my insurance company ever hearing about it. Sound like it's too late for that, so you might as well just let it ride now.

BTW, I know exactly how this happens. Anyone who can't understand is likely to have the same thing happen to them. You'll be looking over your left shoulder to see if it's safe to merge and... BAM! Same thing can happen on the entrance ramp to a freeway, so beware of that! You'll be moving a LOT faster that five miles per hour then.
 
If it is under $500 I would pay for it out of pocket because you will easily pay more than that in increased premiums over the next three years.
 
I think this guy know its his fault so duh... geez... anyways... this sorta crap happens a lot... ive had this happen to me twice... but i stopped just in time once... but not for the other time. Some insurance companies only cover repairs over $500... i hit a 2000 Honda Accord and well it cost me $520... which is BS. I dont think you could cover this up anyway since there was an accident report already. Too late. Sorry man.
 


<< It's your fault because you rear ended her. How on earth did you think it was clear when she was still there??? I can't see how you think it's partly her fault. If I were you, I would give her a call and see what she's saying. You have no control here, and could be putting yourself at risk by not contacting your insurance company. >>


Haven't you ever had someone take off and then stop immediately? My neighbor had this happen on his motorcycle and he was the one that got rear ended. He was at a light and started accellerating because he thought that the light was green and it was only a green arrow. The car behind him accellerated also, but since he stopped quickly, he got rear ended and totalled the bike.

Or.. Two cars are approaching an intersection and the light turns yellow. The car in front makes an attempt to beat the light and then decides to change their mind at the last minute and slam on their brakes in front of you.

Or.. You are in stop and go traffic and the car if front of you takes off, you look away for a second and the car makes a sudden stop. This very accident happened to my dad. Fortunately, nothing happened to either car and they just let it go.

Just to let you know.. I am over 25 and have had a squeaky clean driving record. The last ticket I got was going to Milwaukee to pick someone up at the airport. I was running a little behind, so I pushed it a little. To my surprise, they had a airplane circling around and a speed trap set up. They were pulling cars over left and right because nobody goes the speed limit. I went to court, got supervison and that was that.

Now.. I am admitting blame even though I wished this woman would've committed to what she was doing. Whenever I have to stop quick, I always check my rear view mirror and I've even swerved off into the median at times to avoid being rear ended.

Since I can do nothing about what had happened, I'll have to deal with it. I shoud've offered to buff the scrape out of the bumper. I've been able to remove much worse from the garage door hitting my bumper before. The problem is the side of the bumper where the rubber bumper meets the rear quarter. It is off, but it's so hard to tell if it's not just a fit and finish defect or if it actually happened in the accident. It's hard to tell. I asked her about it and she said that it wasn't like that, so I'll have to take her word for it.

As far as insurance goes.. I think I will let my insurance company know about it, but what if I pay for it myself? If I end up paying for it, but my insurance company knows about it anyway, will it affect my record the same way? If so, I don't see why I should bother paying for it then.

I hate insurance companies. They never want to pay crap, but they love to stick it to you with the premiums. I've had my car broken into before and they never want to pay for OEM glass and they always try and fob me off on some company that is in bed with State Farm, which happens to do shoddy work. If you want it done right by someone that you trust, you always have to pay out of pocket for it.

Well.. I'm done bitching about it. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens. I will tell my insurance company about it. I will try and pay for it myself as well if it's not that much money. If State Farm f*cks me with higher premiums if I pay to fix her car out of pocket, I'll be plenty PO!

Thanks for your suggestions.

Sal
 


<< Or,,, >>



In every instance it would be the fault of the driver that hit the other in the rear. No exceptions!
 


<< In every instance it would be the fault of the driver that hit the other in the rear. No exceptions! >>


Right.. I realize that. This is why I'm accepting blame. I realize that if you run into someone, you're to blame. What sucks is that I have Aholes slamming on their brakes in front of me all the time or turning right in front of me. You hit them, it's your fault.

I really have to be extra careful on the motorcycle because if someone turns in front of you and you hit them, you're screwed. I can't tell you how many friends crash and get hurt because someone t bones them. This is by far the most common type of accident between car and motorcycle. Someone isn't paying attention and turns right in front of them. You almost have to make eye contact with the driver looking to make a left turn in front of you to make sure that someone's home.

Anyway.. What is done is done. I just have to live with it.

Sal
 
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