My car rolled back into a police car at a traffic stop.

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:16 pm Post Subject:

Unfortunately, your question has no easy answer. The fact of the matter is that your insurance premium may go up, and then again it may not. There really is no way to tell how much it will go up. It largely depends on your history with the insurance company (sounds like you've been a great customer) and your relationship with them. For example, if you have multiple product lines with them such as homeowner's, renter's, multiple vehicles, etc...they are going to be less likely to want to lose you as a client.

Did the tickets result in any points on your license? Have you checked into taking a point reduction or a defensive driving class? As long as the insurance company did not have to pay out anything, and if you can clear up your driving record...you shouldn't have to worry about your rate going up!

Keep in mind that if they do raise your premiums, a phone call wouldn't hurt. If you explain that you have been an excellent customer and would hate to go elsewhere (especially if you have other business with them)...you can normally get your way. EVERYTHING is negotiable!

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:55 pm Post Subject:

Do you think you should have been issued 2 citations for what you did? You may want to consider disputing the citations in court.

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:35 pm Post Subject:

The failure to signal is probably why he pulled you over in the first place. Allowing your car to hit the patrol car would be the failure to control.

Your only hope for arguing the failure to control citation would be dependent upon the conditions on scene. Was it muddy? Was it raining? Was it dark? Did he pull up too close to your vehicle? Is your car a manual transmission?

All these things could play a part in an argument you could build against the citation. Failure to signal is no big deal...so get the second one taken care of!

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 04:59 am Post Subject:

I'd agree with the rest of the poster's here, Andy. It's not easy to tell someone how much their rates would go up for traffic violations. Is the renewal date close?

Are you going to file claim with the insurer?

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 02:00 pm Post Subject:

Well Andy, it's remarkable that you had a clean record for all these 20 years.

But, I'm just curious to know about a few things-

Was it a poor visibility? Or was it a mechanical failure?

Would you care to tell me which state you're in?



Steven

Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 02:15 am Post Subject:

How would poor visibility make you roll backwards into a police car? I don't see how that would help...BUT the mechanical failure is an interesting angle that I hadn't even considered. So maybe the transmission slipped into neutral and caused the vehicle to roll backwards.