Incomplete/false info from car accident?

[EliteRetard]

I was recently involved in an auto accident. Very first time for me, and I didn't know exactly what to do. I knew we needed some information, so I got their name, the name of their insurance, address, and phone number.

I gave them the same info. They were "in a hurry" but my vehicle was disabled and my cellphone was not working for me so they let me use theirs to call a tow. The whole time they were insisting me to hurry up before the police got there and after I was done with the call they left the scene.

I need to mention that in this case I collided with the rear of their vehicle.

Apparently I should have collected a policy number, the year make/model of the vehicle, plate numbers etc. A bunch of stuff I didn't know about, I've never heard about, or been told to do in an accident. I certainly wont forget now.

Problem is when I tried the number I got a Spanish speaking male, not an american female. That seemed strange, but I thought maybe I got the number wrong.

I tried looking up the other information, and I got some really strange results.

The number has an AREA CODE for City A, the address given is also City A.
Problem is the name, address, and phone number don't seem to match up.

Even weirder, the only information I can find for the name and address seem to suggest it's a vice president for a police athletic league. WTF.

The phone number however seems to belong to a retirement/investment business which is nowhere near City A. In fact the given address for the business with that number is about 174 miles apart from the name/address I was given.

Shouldn't a police officer or somebody affiliated with a police group know what to do in an accident? And why so worried about the police? They made it sound like I should be the one worried about the police because I would get a ticket (which I did not as far as I know) but why was that even a thought/concern? I certainly wasn't thinking about it and didn't care about getting a ticket even after they said so (least of my concern for sure).

They have my actual name address and phone number though.

Of course almost everybody is gonna say it's not their fault, and I'm going to say there were certainly a lot of circumstances that led up to this accident and I don't feel it was my fault. I know the laws, I'm always a cautious defensive driver, and this being my first brand new car (2 months old ~900 miles on it at time of accident) I was being exceedingly careful with it.

I don't know if I should/need to post all the details here, but the gist of it is I was forced the opposite way (north instead of south) onto an unfamiliar stretch of highway and a mile or two after merging on came over a rise to vehicles stopped on the highway.

I'm still gathering all the details myself and trying to figure it all out.
Part of the issue was incorrect/early construction on the highway.
I actually had 3 different police cars stop and talk to me before I was towed out but as far as I know there were no reports filed, no tickets given, etc.
They were busy trying to fix the mess. It was one of them that told me the construction people screwed up. It was planned for later and there were police scheduled to be there then to help with traffic. In this case they were early didn't properly warn drivers and had no police there.

So after reading all this whats the question? I don't know what I should/need to do.

So far all I have done is report the accident to my insurance and let them know it was a "rear end" accident (no details yet). My car hasn't even made it to a shop yet (in holding until Monday).

I guess on Monday I need to call my insurance and have them talk me through stuff...but I still feel like I could use other advice. My insurance has been good to me so far, and I have family that uses them with good experiences...but I'm wondering if I should let them take my car to a random shop or tell them to go somewhere I want. If it's in their network though they'll warranty the work for life.

I probably would have been fine figuring this all out myself if I hadn't gotten weird ass info from the other driver. That's what's worrying me. Can they just pop out of nowhere and sue me for crazy damages/injuries since they have my info?

 

[deadlyapp]

You're basically screwed. You have the improper information from them so you will never be able to make a claim.

In addition, in a rear end collision, the person who collided is almost 100% of the time at fault, all your conjecture about traffic, not knowing the area, etc is useless.

If you've already reported it to your insurance there's not much you can do. Pay your deductible, get your car fixed, and hope your insurance doesn't go up too much your next go around.

Also - as you noted, you need to be careful about them coming after you. They have your information and could absolutely make a claim against you and there's not much that can be done here as it will end up being hearsay. Just make sure you make a reasonable statement to your insurance agency saying that they said they were not injured and left on their own. You really should have gotten a police report but they usually won't come unless there is an actual injury.

 

[DCal430]

You're basically screwed. You have the improper information from them so you will never be able to make a claim.

In addition, in a rear end collision, the person who collided is almost 100% of the time at fault, all your conjecture about traffic, not knowing the area, etc is useless.

If you've already reported it to your insurance there's not much you can do. Pay your deductible, get your car fixed, and hope your insurance doesn't go up too much your next go around.

Also - as you noted, you need to be careful about them coming after you. They have your information and could absolutely make a claim against you and there's not much that can be done here as it will end up being hearsay. Just make sure you make a reasonable statement to your insurance agency saying that they said they were not injured and left on their own. You really should have gotten a police report but they usually won't come unless there is an actual injury.

This is incorrect, I personally know of multiple cases were the person who was rear ended at fault. If you had changed lanes right before being rear ended you are almost certainly going to be found at fault instead, as it would be considered an unsafe lane change. At east this is true in California.

 

[drebo]

Any time you get in an accident and you know it's your fault (you rear ended them) you absolutely must take pictures on your own.

I know someone who bumped a parked car and when the insurance claim came in, they said they had to total the car...air bags were deployed, etc, and were trying to get her insurance for the whole amount. She had pictures ready of the damage to both cars and the other guy was arrested for insurance fraud.

So, yeah, you need a lot more information than you got even though you were clearly at fault.

They may come back at you with medical shit, whiplash, etc, but if you could prove that the damage to their car was minor (with pictures) you could potentially prove that their injury claims are bullshit.

 

[Anonemous]

If you rear end someone you are always at fault if you don't have witnesses/dash cam. Had someone back into me at a complete stop and called the cops who told me that it would be my fault since I had no proof of them backing into me except hearsay. That's why I installed a dashcam.

 

[deadlyapp]

This is incorrect, I personally know of multiple cases were the person who was rear ended at fault. If you had changed lanes right before being rear ended you are almost certainly going to be found at fault instead, as it would be considered an unsafe lane change. At east this is true in California.

Yes, I agree, but the burden of proof is on the person who rear-ended. It is very difficult to prove this without witnesses or dash cam proof as the previous two posters mentioned.

By any means, the OPs description of the events is not going to absolve him of fault.

 

[DCal430]

Yes, I agree, but the burden of proof is on the person who rear-ended. It is very difficult to prove this without witnesses or dash cam proof as the previous two posters mentioned.

By any means, the OPs description of the events is not going to absolve him of fault.

True, both cases I know personally an eye witness stopped and told what happen.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Sounds like you hit an illegal alien, or someone who should not have been on the road. We are required by law to carry proof of insurance, and a drivers license. These 2 items are what you want to see, even if lapsed, or expired.
I doubt this person is going to come after you for any kind of claim.
Live and learn kid, for next time they could hit you, and just spout out names, and numbers that lead nowhere.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Sounds like you hit an illegal alien, or someone who should not have been on the road. We are required by law to carry proof of insurance, and a drivers license. These 2 items are what you want to see, even if lapsed, or expired.
I doubt this person is going to come after you for any kind of claim.
Live and learn kid, for next time they could hit you, and just spout out names, and numbers that lead nowhere.

that was my guess as well, since they wanted to GTFO before the popo arrived.

 

[purbeast0]

that sucks OP. i got into my first accident last winter and it was a woman who was on her fucking phone rear ending me at a red light. she was being very shady and wouldn't let me write down her information, she insisted on writing it down. so i called the police. she got a little impatient and was like 'im only waiting a little longer for them to come i can't wait all night' which i replied to 'look if it wasn't for you hitting me we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.' it took me a lot to keep my cool. she even tried to say someone rear ended her into me, but her bumper had NO marks on it, and my bumper was cracked to where you could see the frame.

so i just called the cops. everything she had given me was valid information though, but the cops verified that she was telling the truth. it definitely made me feel better. my mom has been screwed in an accident similar to you so i was making sure i wouldn't get screwed.

 

[purbeast0]

dp

 

[EliteRetard]

Yes, I agree, but the burden of proof is on the person who rear-ended. It is very difficult to prove this without witnesses or dash cam proof as the previous two posters mentioned.

By any means, the OPs description of the events is not going to absolve him of fault.

By the definition of the law yes, this would be my fault. The problem is by law everyone is required to drastically slow around corners and over hills (so you can safely stop just in case there is an obstacle). It's a self defeating law because you then become a larger traffic hazard. How many people on an open highway drop to 30 when they can't see far ahead? I certainly don't want to get hit by somebody who didn't slow.

I honestly don't know what/how I could have done any different. If there was something better I could have done I'd like to know, I want to learn from this.

I had a large enough gap ahead that I couldn't see the vehicles over the rise until I got there and then yes my reactions probably were not as fast/good as somebody who has had accident experience. And yes there was probably half a second there I didn't even realize the car ahead had just come to a screeching halt. But I was aware of what was beside me and behind me and I felt I had nowhere to go.

I dunno, I had my dad go take pictures and I'm hoping to use those and google maps to analyze everything. I was obeying the speed limit and the safety rules I was taught...I've never had a "close call" or even so much as a speeding ticket. This time everything I knew was not enough. And I don't yet know exactly what, if anything, I did wrong.

At this point I'm saying I was not entirely at fault because I don't feel I made any obvious mistakes. I wasn't speeding or following to close and I was paying attention to my surroundings. If I can find something that says otherwise I will absolutely admit it and change the way I drive.

 

[EliteRetard]

My biggest problem is the weird info I got and I don't really know what to do/say to my insurance and how to deal with all this. At fault or not is not really the issue here. I just hate the attitude I get from people who don't even know what happened. If you have all the details then go ahead and think what you want, but I know the old adage is rear end and it's always 100% you're fault no matter the situation/circumstances and/or facts.

 

[justoh]

In addition, in a rear end collision, the person who collided is almost 100% of the time at fault, all your conjecture about traffic, not knowing the area, etc is useless.

This is incorrect, I personally know of multiple cases were the person who was rear ended at fault. If you had changed lanes right before being rear ended you are almost certainly going to be found at fault instead, as it would be considered an unsafe lane change. At east this is true in California.

Note the "almost" qualifier. Or don't. Up to you.

 

[FleshLight]

Seems like you dodged a bullet there.

 

[1sikbITCH]

I was recently involved in an auto accident. Very first time for me, and I didn't know exactly what to do. I knew we needed some information, so I got their name, the name of their insurance, address, and phone number.

I gave them the same info. They were "in a hurry" but my vehicle was disabled and my cellphone was not working for me so they let me use theirs to call a tow. The whole time they were insisting me to hurry up before the police got there and after I was done with the call they left the scene.

I need to mention that in this case I collided with the rear of their vehicle.

Apparently I should have collected a policy number, the year make/model of the vehicle, plate numbers etc. A bunch of stuff I didn't know about, I've never heard about, or been told to do in an accident. I certainly wont forget now.

Problem is when I tried the number I got a Spanish speaking male, not an american female. That seemed strange, but I thought maybe I got the number wrong.

I tried looking up the other information, and I got some really strange results.

The number has an AREA CODE for City A, the address given is also City A.
Problem is the name, address, and phone number don't seem to match up.

Even weirder, the only information I can find for the name and address seem to suggest it's a vice president for a police athletic league. WTF.

The phone number however seems to belong to a retirement/investment business which is nowhere near City A. In fact the given address for the business with that number is about 174 miles apart from the name/address I was given.

Shouldn't a police officer or somebody affiliated with a police group know what to do in an accident? And why so worried about the police? They made it sound like I should be the one worried about the police because I would get a ticket (which I did not as far as I know) but why was that even a thought/concern? I certainly wasn't thinking about it and didn't care about getting a ticket even after they said so (least of my concern for sure).

They have my actual name address and phone number though.

Of course almost everybody is gonna say it's not their fault, and I'm going to say there were certainly a lot of circumstances that led up to this accident and I don't feel it was my fault. I know the laws, I'm always a cautious defensive driver, and this being my first brand new car (2 months old ~900 miles on it at time of accident) I was being exceedingly careful with it.

I don't know if I should/need to post all the details here, but the gist of it is I was forced the opposite way (north instead of south) onto an unfamiliar stretch of highway and a mile or two after merging on came over a rise to vehicles stopped on the highway.

I'm still gathering all the details myself and trying to figure it all out.
Part of the issue was incorrect/early construction on the highway.
I actually had 3 different police cars stop and talk to me before I was towed out but as far as I know there were no reports filed, no tickets given, etc.
They were busy trying to fix the mess. It was one of them that told me the construction people screwed up. It was planned for later and there were police scheduled to be there then to help with traffic. In this case they were early didn't properly warn drivers and had no police there.

So after reading all this whats the question? I don't know what I should/need to do.

So far all I have done is report the accident to my insurance and let them know it was a "rear end" accident (no details yet). My car hasn't even made it to a shop yet (in holding until Monday).

I guess on Monday I need to call my insurance and have them talk me through stuff...but I still feel like I could use other advice. My insurance has been good to me so far, and I have family that uses them with good experiences...but I'm wondering if I should let them take my car to a random shop or tell them to go somewhere I want. If it's in their network though they'll warranty the work for life.

I probably would have been fine figuring this all out myself if I hadn't gotten weird ass info from the other driver. That's what's worrying me. Can they just pop out of nowhere and sue me for crazy damages/injuries since they have my info?

You seem incredibly naive. Obviously the victims of your negligence felt they could not afford to interact with law enforcement. First guess was their vehicle was stolen. Maybe they had a child locked in the trunk (which you killed). Did you notice blood dripping from their rear end? You insisted for some dumb reason so they were forced to give you BS info. Be glad they didn't just drop you and get back in the car.

Btw good luck with proving that you are not at fault for this accident because "the construction started early and the road was unfamiliar". LOL no personal responsibility here of course not. It was the road's fault!:biggrin:

 

[EliteRetard]

Well I've finished looking through photos and doing some math.

My car new should have stopped in about 150ft at 60MPH.
The distance I had to stop from the visibility point was just over 500ft.
At 88ft/s I had about 6 seconds to react and stop.
I must have been massively high or something.
I cant believe it took me that long to react, but there's no way I should have hit them from what I can see here. I was thinking maybe it was the lag in my reaction time...but this is no 1 second gap. Don't know what to say...and I don't know what to do about it either. I don't know how to un-forget 6 seconds. I'm seriously punching myself right now...what the F*** was I doing? My memory does not line up with reality. But there's no way my eyes were of the road for 6 seconds. I don't have anything in my car to play with or look at.

I remember seeing the car go over the hill, checking my mirrors (there was an SUV behind me and cars in the other lane doing 65-70MPH), getting to the top of the hill and seeing the sign and slowing down, then slamming on my brakes and crashing. I know that SUV had managed to take off into the dirt and ended up next to me. He was tailgating because I was driving "slow".

WTF WTF WTF. I feel like I was very aware of everything going on...I can recall all the details...but it doesn't add up. I have to be wrong.

 

[Rakehellion]

It seems like common sense to get the plate numbers and wait for the cops to show up.

 

[Markbnj]

It seems like common sense to get the plate numbers and wait for the cops to show up.

I'll say. In NJ you have to wait at the scene if the damage is over a certain amount (I think $2k) or there are injuries. Just about any love tap these days is worth $2k.

 

[PottedMeat]

I'll say. In NJ you have to wait at the scene if the damage is over a certain amount (I think $2k) or there are injuries. Just about any love tap these days is worth $2k.

it's that damn gigantic painted bumper cover

 

[EliteRetard]

It seems like common sense to get the plate numbers and wait for the cops to show up.

Well I waited for the cops...but I didn't get the plate number.
I never would have thought anybody would want to skip out on an accident though. The thought never crossed my mind.

She came out asked if I was O.K. and did a quick look. Pulled a pen/paper out of her purse and asked me if I had anything to write on. I had my own pen/paper and she gave me a name, number, and address and said she had insurance with company X. I said my name and such and said I have company Y.

I didn't know what else to ask for/about...and she went and took a picture of her car and mine with her phone. Then asked if I would be O.K. if she left. My car was leaking coolant so I said I would need a tow but my phone was dead. She told me I could use hers real fast but she was in a hurry. She also mentioned something about the cops then. I made a call to insurance for towing and was put on hold at one point and said I was sorry about the wait and she mentioned being in a hurry and the cops again. As soon as I handed her phone back she got in her vehicle and left.

At the time nothing seemed entirely abnormal. Until I tried calling the number she gave me.

 

[Mermaidman]

Always get the VIN (vehicle identification number). Insurance companies don't go by license plates. I almost learned this the hard way.

 

[JEDI]

If you rear end someone you are always at fault if you don't have witnesses/dash cam. Had someone back into me at a complete stop and called the cops who told me that it would be my fault since I had no proof of them backing into me except hearsay. That's why I installed a dashcam.

and what happened? you had to pay?

Seems like you dodged a bullet there.

yup.. sounds like the OP hit them, but they didn't want to deal w/5-0.

you should have just called your insurance and say someone hit your car while parked. not your fault, no insurance increase because it's covered under comprehensive instead of collision.

now you've just admitted to the insurance company that you hit them. to repair your car, it'll be a collision claim. but since it doesn't involve the other vehicle, it'll cost the insurance company less $ because their just repair your car, and not 2 cars.
thus your insurance wont go up as much.

oh yeah.. and the pain and suffering lawsuits you avoided

 

[JEDI]

Always get the VIN (vehicle identification number). Insurance companies don't go by license plates. I almost learned this the hard way.

huh? they cant trace the license plate? don't understand...

 

[Mermaidman]

huh? they cant trace the license plate? don't understand...

Look at the insurance policy paperwork - There are no license plate numbers.

Guy who hit me gave me his license#, phone #, insurance info, and I took down the plate number. I called his insurance company and they said they can't do anything without the VIN. The guy who hit me never returned my calls for the VIN.

Luckily, I remembered that he was wearing a uniform for Bass Pro shops, so I went to their parking lot and found his truck! :sneaky: Wrote down the VIN and successfully filed claim.

My two lessons: (1) VIN, and (2) file police report.