by Guest » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:41 pm
__Background__
my girlfriend was pulling out of a parking lot to a street with "right turn only" stop sign onto a busier 3-lane road in the middle of town. she sees a lady in a hummer stopped a good distance back from the stop line and far to the left side of the lane (it's marked as a 1-lane road)... she is looking down in her passenger seat, as if digging in a purse. it's basically a side view of the hummer with how close the parking lot exit is positioned to the stop sign. my girlfriend exits the lot and pulls up to the stop sign past the hummer and at the far right side of the lane. she's stopped there for only a moment when the hummer hits her driver-side door (taking out the mirror) and continues on through the front fender of her car. in all, about $1000 in damage to the car, and a scratched grill and bumper on the hummer.
police are called. the officer takes a statement from my girlfriend with the other lady right there interjecting, then separates the two of them to take the other lady's statement. the lady in the hummer is also complaining loudly of back pain. in the end, my girlfriend is cited for "unsave movement" (the police report also indicates that her vehicle was stationary at the time of the accident). she met with legal services offered through her university, and they say she has a very good chance at getting the citation overturned when she contests it.
my girlfriend also goes sifting through state law and finds 4 or 5 laws she says the other lady was clearly in violation of in the incident (regarding proper lane position for a right hand turn, mostly).
__Concern__
initially, my girlfriend's insurance company decides to reject the other lady's claim, saying they don't believe my girlfriend was at-fault and deciding to enter into arbitration with the other lady's insurance company. the other lady doesn't like this, and calls my girlfriend directly, leaving a voicemail wanting to discuss how my girlfriend will pay out of pocket for her hummer's scratched grill and bumper. then, she calls the district manager for my girlfriend's insurance company. we don't know what she said to him, but all of a sudden, the district manager decides to re-evaluate the claim and concludes my girlfriend is 75% at fault (and is also apparently entertaining the medical claim for the other lady's back).
my girlfriend spoke with the district manager a bit ago, and is upset because she feels that he is not interested in listening to her, and believes her to be lying about the incident -- he made the point that he didn't believe she could see the other driver looking down in the passenger seat "because her windows are tinted" (despite state limits on how dark side windows can be tinted).
in short, my girlfriend feels like she's being railroaded here, when she was struck in a non-moving vehicle by a driver who didn't look in front of her before stepping on the gas. we don't know what, if any, recourse we have in getting a fair assessment of fault in the accident.
any advice out there?
my girlfriend was pulling out of a parking lot to a street with "right turn only" stop sign onto a busier 3-lane road in the middle of town. she sees a lady in a hummer stopped a good distance back from the stop line and far to the left side of the lane (it's marked as a 1-lane road)... she is looking down in her passenger seat, as if digging in a purse. it's basically a side view of the hummer with how close the parking lot exit is positioned to the stop sign. my girlfriend exits the lot and pulls up to the stop sign past the hummer and at the far right side of the lane. she's stopped there for only a moment when the hummer hits her driver-side door (taking out the mirror) and continues on through the front fender of her car. in all, about $1000 in damage to the car, and a scratched grill and bumper on the hummer.
police are called. the officer takes a statement from my girlfriend with the other lady right there interjecting, then separates the two of them to take the other lady's statement. the lady in the hummer is also complaining loudly of back pain. in the end, my girlfriend is cited for "unsave movement" (the police report also indicates that her vehicle was stationary at the time of the accident). she met with legal services offered through her university, and they say she has a very good chance at getting the citation overturned when she contests it.
my girlfriend also goes sifting through state law and finds 4 or 5 laws she says the other lady was clearly in violation of in the incident (regarding proper lane position for a right hand turn, mostly).
__Concern__
initially, my girlfriend's insurance company decides to reject the other lady's claim, saying they don't believe my girlfriend was at-fault and deciding to enter into arbitration with the other lady's insurance company. the other lady doesn't like this, and calls my girlfriend directly, leaving a voicemail wanting to discuss how my girlfriend will pay out of pocket for her hummer's scratched grill and bumper. then, she calls the district manager for my girlfriend's insurance company. we don't know what she said to him, but all of a sudden, the district manager decides to re-evaluate the claim and concludes my girlfriend is 75% at fault (and is also apparently entertaining the medical claim for the other lady's back).
my girlfriend spoke with the district manager a bit ago, and is upset because she feels that he is not interested in listening to her, and believes her to be lying about the incident -- he made the point that he didn't believe she could see the other driver looking down in the passenger seat "because her windows are tinted" (despite state limits on how dark side windows can be tinted).
in short, my girlfriend feels like she's being railroaded here, when she was struck in a non-moving vehicle by a driver who didn't look in front of her before stepping on the gas. we don't know what, if any, recourse we have in getting a fair assessment of fault in the accident.
any advice out there?
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:19 am Post Subject:
Regardless of how the actual accident happened, it sounds like your insurance company has more information than your girlfriend does. Whatever the other driver disclosed to your girlfriend's insurance company must have made them decide that it would be less costly to pay the claim than it would be to enter arbitration.
Regardless of how many laws the other driver may or may not have broken (including darker window tint, etc.)...if the officer on scene reported that your girlfriend contributed to the wreck...than she is at fault unless proven otherwise. Even if the ticket is contested and thrown out, it doesn't mean that she's been found completely innocent.
I would suggest calling the district manager back after a day or two when tensions may not be running so high, and clearly ask for an explanation. They may have found that the woman is willing to sign a release if certain conditions are met.
Good luck!
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 04:57 am Post Subject:
Regardless of how the actual accident happened, it sounds like your insurance company has more information than your girlfriend does.
I too suspect the same, they might have come across new findings which have caused them to reevaluate their decision. Its not very unusual. I know its hard on you but it happens often. And, Fish, the police report is always an important document in deciding the responsibility of the accident, which went against your girlfriend in this case.
Just go by the way Bantly has suggested. You would also need enough information to defend your case. How about discussing the issue again with the legal adviser of the college?
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 05:21 am Post Subject:
From what I understand of your post, your girlfriend was behind (meaning not directly behind but behind the hummer in the 1 lane as you put it). Your girlfriend didn’t wait until the hummer pulled up to the stop sign as it was stopped and the driver did not appear to be paying attention (moving up to stop sign) and pulled around the hummer to get to the stop sign.
With that statement, your girlfriend is accepting that she decided to pass someone on a one lane “road”/parking lot drive, which she really shouldn’t have done. This would appear to be why the officer issued the citation to her. She should have waited for the hummer to move or give a little toot to push her along.
This type of accident happens all the time, but normally with semis/tractor-trailers. They stop and don’t appear to be paying attention and people pass them. With the size of a hummer (not sure what your girl friend was driving) I suspect the driver could not see your girlfriend over the hood. Any big truck/SUV can have a blind spot at the front passenger’s side. So as far as the driver of the hummer was concerned, no one was or should have been in front of her and proceeded forwards.
As for police reports, I have to disagree with the other poster. A police report is a tool used during investigations. It is not gospel, as it is the officer’s opinion after doing a limited investigation. In a case where there is no other evidence or witnesses it does weigh more on the decision of liability.
As for the change in decision, it seems that someone sat down and looked objectively at the information above and found that your girlfriend should be more liable for the accident…. Just not 100% liable since the hummer should have checked prior to moving forward.
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:04 am Post Subject: insurance
Ok..well.................(just thinking outloud here..),: when police are called to a scene of an accident, how can they even CONSIDER what happened?All they have are the statements of the parties that were involved. Maybe..even witnesses to the accident. And it was stated that the OTHER driver called the 1ST driver's Insurance company...if the Insurance company had MORE information on the case, shouldn't they have let the 1ST driver know what that info was? Just sounds like the Insurance company changed their minds on the word of the OTHER 'party' involved. Did they investigate the OTHER driver's statement to tem,etc?
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 02:29 pm Post Subject:
Hi..
It's true that the police report is based on statements forwarded by both the parties. That's something which could be followed during investigations, but in my eyes it's just an official entry of the mishap. I don't think any of the parties could be 100% at-fault under such circumstances.
ArindamSenIndies
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