Let me begin this by saying that I live in Quebec and we have a no-fault system for accidents as far as the law is concerned.
I was driving to work yesterday morning when at about 7:50 I got hit at a 4-way stop sign intersection. I was coming in one direction and there were two cars coming to my left, both other sides had no one there. The first car coming from my left got to the stop sign with the second car about 20 ft behind him. The first car got to the stop a fraction of a second before me so he went thru first. Because of this I distinctly remember making a full stop. I looked left, the second car was slowing down (I assumed) to make a stop. I looked right to check for pedestrians or anything I may have missed, there was a pedestrian there about 10 feet from the intersection (coming in my direction). As I was turning my head back to the right I entered the intersection as I had the right of way at this point and everything was looking good.
About halfway through the intersection I saw the second car coming towards me and had no time to brake before impact. He hit my cor on the front left fender, from the side. We got out of the intersection and went over to the side. I asked him what happened and why he went right after the other car when I was there he said (and this is a direct quote) "I didn't see you". At this point I was shaken but not hurt and didn't have the presence of mind to ask him to write that down (though he problably wouldn't have done that anyways).
At that point I realized that the pedestrian walking towards the intersection was one of my friends and he likely saw the whole thing. He had to catch a bus and I'm pretty sure he heard most of the talk at the beginning, though I didn't ask him (more on that later). Anyhow, he had to catch a bus so he took off when we started exchanging information. I had to get to work so I got his information and everyone took off.
The damage on his car was very minor as he hit me with his front bumper. A few scratches and his hood was misaligned by half an inch or so (he hit me with the front right side of his bumper). On my car however, the fender had collapsed in, the hood had folded up by about 8" and the radiator had come off the engine. His car was a '99 Chrysker LHS, mine was a '90 Celica GTS so his car was much heavier than mine which partially explains why how he managed to plow through my car. Judging by the impact on my car he had to be going some 30 km/h (19 mph). He couldn't have possibly accelerated completely to that speed in the 10 ft. from the stop sign to where he hit me without gunning the engine (I believe he never made a full stop). Since I worked only a block away, I put the hazard lights on and drive there very slowly.
I call my insurance company and tell them my version of the story (as above); they give me the name of a towing company and a garage they recommend, they come and tow it. They told me that in the situation described I was either 50% at fault or not at fault at all. If I'm found to be 50% at fault, my insurance rates go up a whopping $500/yr for 3 years on top of the already exorbitant $2k/yr that my parents pay for me.
Today I got in touch with the garage and the insurance company. The garage tells me that the insurance company has told them that anything above $4.3K CDN shouldn't be fixed and the car would have to be scrapped. He tells me that since he is having a lot of trouble finding used parts for the car, he thinks it will cost $6K (!) to fix it. Also it seems that the car's structure was damaged meaning that it will likely not be worth repairing. This is a problem because the car was in tremendous shape for it's age. I was in the process of touching up the few small spots of rust that were on the body but all in all it was in excellent condition. Most people were very surprised when I said it was 14 years old, even after the accident co-workers couldn't believe it. I should mention that I am a poor student and I don't think I could get a car in anything near that kind of condition with $4k-$5K (CDN still).
Next, the insurance calls me and tells me they got in touch with him and he tells them a completely different story. He says I didn't stop completely and that I was totally at fault for this. I restrained myself from any impulsive comment like calling him a liar but I was shocked. She told me that the only way to settle this was for each side to be 50% at fault. :|. (by coincidence we have the same insurance company).
I had told the insurance company's representant that I had a witness but I didn't have his number on me and that I would get it for them when I got back home during the first call. She now said that I couldn't use him as a witness since he was biased. I told her that was a load of crap (in more polite terms) and asked her if she was accusing him of lying without him even saying a word. She told me to call her on Monday and give her the witness' phone number so that she could talk to him.
Here is my dilemma, I KNOW I'm not at fault here and if I had a microphone on me (and I will next time) this wouldn't even be debatable. But right now I will be relying on my friend's testimony to confirm my story. I know he was there but I don't know how much he saw and heard. I have intentionally not spoken to him since then so as not to "taint" the witness.
I am going to call him to let him know I gave his name and phone number to the insurance company, but I am unsure as to whether or not I should talk to him. I don't want to put him in a position where he would have to say he saw or heard something he didn't but on the other hand I get majorly screwed if he doesn't have enough information to convince the insurance company that I wasn't at fault.
When I call my friend should I just tell him that the insurance company will talk to him or should I ask him what he saw/heard and give him additional details where needed? As I said earlier I KNOW that I wasn't at fault and that he lied to them when he said I didn't make my stop because he even admitted that he hadn't seen me. This is still an ethical dilemma and I'm unsure what to do.
Also, do you have any advice on what I should or shouldn't do when I call the insurance company on Monday?
the story is long but please read it, I do need advice
I should mention that I am a 20 yr old male, while he is likely in his 40s.
Cliff's Notes for the Lazy
ok, here's a cliff's notes version but you'll have a little trouble understanding how/why I may get screwed.
- I got hit at an intersection with a 4-way stop sign. I had the right of way, he told me "I didn't see you" when I asked him wtf happened.
- My car is totalled but is worth more (in my head anyway) than what the insurance wants to give me for it and I won't be able to get anything near as good for the money they're giving me
- His car has $50 worth of damage on it, at most
- He told the insurance company (we have the same one) that I was at fault, when I know I wasn't. If I'm found 50% at fault, I get screwed because I am a young driver and he isn't.
- A friend saw the accident, I don't know whether or not I should talk to him before I give the insurance company his number
Now that you've read the Cliff's notes read the whole story to understand what's going on
And now the Pics:
crude drawing of the accident
sm_front.jpg
sm_low-front.jpg
sm_side.jpg
sm_rear.jpg
I was driving to work yesterday morning when at about 7:50 I got hit at a 4-way stop sign intersection. I was coming in one direction and there were two cars coming to my left, both other sides had no one there. The first car coming from my left got to the stop sign with the second car about 20 ft behind him. The first car got to the stop a fraction of a second before me so he went thru first. Because of this I distinctly remember making a full stop. I looked left, the second car was slowing down (I assumed) to make a stop. I looked right to check for pedestrians or anything I may have missed, there was a pedestrian there about 10 feet from the intersection (coming in my direction). As I was turning my head back to the right I entered the intersection as I had the right of way at this point and everything was looking good.
About halfway through the intersection I saw the second car coming towards me and had no time to brake before impact. He hit my cor on the front left fender, from the side. We got out of the intersection and went over to the side. I asked him what happened and why he went right after the other car when I was there he said (and this is a direct quote) "I didn't see you". At this point I was shaken but not hurt and didn't have the presence of mind to ask him to write that down (though he problably wouldn't have done that anyways).
At that point I realized that the pedestrian walking towards the intersection was one of my friends and he likely saw the whole thing. He had to catch a bus and I'm pretty sure he heard most of the talk at the beginning, though I didn't ask him (more on that later). Anyhow, he had to catch a bus so he took off when we started exchanging information. I had to get to work so I got his information and everyone took off.
The damage on his car was very minor as he hit me with his front bumper. A few scratches and his hood was misaligned by half an inch or so (he hit me with the front right side of his bumper). On my car however, the fender had collapsed in, the hood had folded up by about 8" and the radiator had come off the engine. His car was a '99 Chrysker LHS, mine was a '90 Celica GTS so his car was much heavier than mine which partially explains why how he managed to plow through my car. Judging by the impact on my car he had to be going some 30 km/h (19 mph). He couldn't have possibly accelerated completely to that speed in the 10 ft. from the stop sign to where he hit me without gunning the engine (I believe he never made a full stop). Since I worked only a block away, I put the hazard lights on and drive there very slowly.
I call my insurance company and tell them my version of the story (as above); they give me the name of a towing company and a garage they recommend, they come and tow it. They told me that in the situation described I was either 50% at fault or not at fault at all. If I'm found to be 50% at fault, my insurance rates go up a whopping $500/yr for 3 years on top of the already exorbitant $2k/yr that my parents pay for me.
Today I got in touch with the garage and the insurance company. The garage tells me that the insurance company has told them that anything above $4.3K CDN shouldn't be fixed and the car would have to be scrapped. He tells me that since he is having a lot of trouble finding used parts for the car, he thinks it will cost $6K (!) to fix it. Also it seems that the car's structure was damaged meaning that it will likely not be worth repairing. This is a problem because the car was in tremendous shape for it's age. I was in the process of touching up the few small spots of rust that were on the body but all in all it was in excellent condition. Most people were very surprised when I said it was 14 years old, even after the accident co-workers couldn't believe it. I should mention that I am a poor student and I don't think I could get a car in anything near that kind of condition with $4k-$5K (CDN still).
Next, the insurance calls me and tells me they got in touch with him and he tells them a completely different story. He says I didn't stop completely and that I was totally at fault for this. I restrained myself from any impulsive comment like calling him a liar but I was shocked. She told me that the only way to settle this was for each side to be 50% at fault. :|. (by coincidence we have the same insurance company).
I had told the insurance company's representant that I had a witness but I didn't have his number on me and that I would get it for them when I got back home during the first call. She now said that I couldn't use him as a witness since he was biased. I told her that was a load of crap (in more polite terms) and asked her if she was accusing him of lying without him even saying a word. She told me to call her on Monday and give her the witness' phone number so that she could talk to him.
Here is my dilemma, I KNOW I'm not at fault here and if I had a microphone on me (and I will next time) this wouldn't even be debatable. But right now I will be relying on my friend's testimony to confirm my story. I know he was there but I don't know how much he saw and heard. I have intentionally not spoken to him since then so as not to "taint" the witness.
I am going to call him to let him know I gave his name and phone number to the insurance company, but I am unsure as to whether or not I should talk to him. I don't want to put him in a position where he would have to say he saw or heard something he didn't but on the other hand I get majorly screwed if he doesn't have enough information to convince the insurance company that I wasn't at fault.
When I call my friend should I just tell him that the insurance company will talk to him or should I ask him what he saw/heard and give him additional details where needed? As I said earlier I KNOW that I wasn't at fault and that he lied to them when he said I didn't make my stop because he even admitted that he hadn't seen me. This is still an ethical dilemma and I'm unsure what to do.
Also, do you have any advice on what I should or shouldn't do when I call the insurance company on Monday?
the story is long but please read it, I do need advice
I should mention that I am a 20 yr old male, while he is likely in his 40s.
Cliff's Notes for the Lazy
ok, here's a cliff's notes version but you'll have a little trouble understanding how/why I may get screwed.
- I got hit at an intersection with a 4-way stop sign. I had the right of way, he told me "I didn't see you" when I asked him wtf happened.
- My car is totalled but is worth more (in my head anyway) than what the insurance wants to give me for it and I won't be able to get anything near as good for the money they're giving me
- His car has $50 worth of damage on it, at most
- He told the insurance company (we have the same one) that I was at fault, when I know I wasn't. If I'm found 50% at fault, I get screwed because I am a young driver and he isn't.
- A friend saw the accident, I don't know whether or not I should talk to him before I give the insurance company his number
Now that you've read the Cliff's notes read the whole story to understand what's going on
And now the Pics:
crude drawing of the accident
sm_front.jpg
sm_low-front.jpg
sm_side.jpg
sm_rear.jpg
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