I’m not sure what the law is in Michigan; luckily in the 10 years I’ve lived here I haven’t been in any sort of accident. But I would absolutely call the police even for a minor one - if they decide not to come out and make a report, there’s still a record.
Long time ago I was rear-ended at a light hard enough to push me into the car ahead of me. The person who rear-ended me left the scene…although there was no significant damage (big dent on my rear bumper, tiny dent on the bumper in front of me), it was a good thing that I called the police who noted witnesses to what happened - otherwise my insurance company might have tried denying my claim without proof that I hadn’t been negligent.
Also to the “not significantly injured” aspect - a friend of mine was rear-ended in May, quite hard. She felt OK right after the accident, but since then has started having severe headaches and neck pain. After getting x-rays and such, it appears she has damage to her upper spine and neck from whiplash, and is still going to physical therapy for it.
So…yeah, I would make contact with law enforcement right away to get as much documented as possible.
Sure. But you have far less evidence. If the cops come on the scene, you can point out that that dent in your car there corresponds to the scratch on his front bumper right there and that he ran that (pointing) red light while pouring a fresh rum and coke for his prostitute in the front seat while she was setting him up with a new line of cocaine.
The next day, week, or month, he can say that he has never seen you. You probably got his plate number following him on the interstate and decided to make up this story.
I’m one of the cynical old bats. I don’t trust anybody. Last accident in the family, Hubster got hit in a parking lot. The other guy jumped out, “Don’t report it! Don’t report it! I’ll make good on it!”
Hubster already had his phone out, dialing 911. Cops wouldn’t do anything, saying it was “private property.” Next call was to our insurance company. He got the guy’s info (despite protests) and let the insurance handle everything.
Mister “I’ll make good on it” had an expired license, didn’t own the vehicle, and the plates on the vehicle belonged to something else. THAT’S why we pay for insurance. We got the truck fixed, had a rental, and while we did shell out our $500 deductible, we received a check later from the insurance company, because they went out for blood.
Insurance companies have ways to get money out of people that you don’t want to know about. The small claims court system is constipated with folks trying to get their money from a population of others who originally promised, “I’ll make good on it.”
~VOW
Yeah? Fuck all of that. Are the local politicians or the motorists behind me going to pay for the damage to my car if moving the vehicles destroys the evidence that shows I wasn’t at fault? No? Then fuck 'em. The car stays as is until the police arrive and note the damage.
Yep the police show up and do a CSI style investigation every time… What evidence are you trying to preserve really? What do you do hold the witnesses hostage by virtue of blocking them in?
In my area if you’ve decided to park your ass in a manner that interferes with traffic they aren’t going to try to figure out what happened. They are going to ticket you and forcefully remove your car. The cruisers have metal rams for pushing vehicles around and from what I’ve seen they aren’t very concerned about further damage to any vehicle blocking the flow of traffic.
As to who’s at fault, everyone in the states required to have insurance, the police will take a report from both parties and file it. They aren’t particularly concerned about fault. They are perfectly willing to file conflicting reports and let the insurance companies figure it out.
As to calling the police for a non-emergency, sure every-time on the non emergency number. If they have a cop available they’ll send them over and you won’t have to stop by the station to file the accident reports.
In our city if you are not blocking trafic they will tell you to just exchange information and you can come down to the police department the next day to fill out a accident report.
When I got rear ended the other driver “left his learner’s permit at home” and the licienced drive “left her purse at the office” And they had no registration and insurance forms. It took me over 5 minutes on the phone to get the cops to show up. they kept answering my requleswt with just exchange information. I finally ask them how can I do that and to every one of their suggestions I told them that did not work.
And if you can move your cars out of traffic do. Get your pictures first then get your cars off the road! The first question of a cop or a CHP officer is “is your car movable?” and if you say yes they will tell you to move it off the street or freeway.
I came upon two drivers in the middle lane exchanging information at a blind spot. I stopped quickly and the guy behind me almost stopped as quick. After seeing that we could drive our cars we pulled onto a side street and exchanged information. got us out of danger of being hit. And if the driver that hit me had been smart he should have gotten the two blocking the street information. He could have collected from them for his damages and the damages he caused me.
I know there will be some that will say that is wrong but if you are blocking trafic and get hit you are liable. I was #6 in a 7 car pile up and the CHP asked me many times if the car that hit me had hit me and that pushed me into the car infront of me, or did I hit the car infront of me then get hit by the car behind me. According to the CHP, insurance, and everyone investigating that was an important question to determine who would pay for all the damages. If I hit the car infront 1st and was hit from behind then I got to pay for the car I hit and the car that hit me. What happened was a sudden stop where all the cars were inches apart and #7 was looking at his radio when he hit me #6 at about 60 MPH.
take pictures and move, I saw the results of a super minor crash where the drivers left their vehicles blocking a major street during rush hour. when the cop arrived and saw both vehicles in running condition and told them in a less than pleasant tone to get the fuck out of the street and onto the median 12 feet away.
To the OP, I suggest that you ALWAYS call the police (on the non-emergency number.) A "minor"accident can lead to major damage, especially in unibody (most modern) cars. Even if you’re at fault, you’re better off with a disinterested third party, the police, investigating, Unless you were doing something stupid or illegal,
a police report is your best bet.
During snomagheddon a couple years ago I was driving about 20mph down a snow narrowed street when BAM! a guy threw open the door of his Mustang and my front bumper clipped it good. I stopped immediately and the guy came out in the fun confrontational stance people get when they are upset.
I ran o the back of my truck, pulled out my TV camera and started rolling on everything, including getting witnesses on tape who saw it happen. By the end the other guy was almost in tears asking me to stop taping.
In the end, since it was is fault, we shook hands and I thought nothing of it. Fast forward a month later and our insurance adjuster calls me and says “he’s suing!”
Thirty minutes later I had my tape up on Youtube on a private setting. The adjuster called back later laughing - “He’s screwed, thanks!”
These days I run a dashcam in my truck because of this crap.
On moving accidents (i.e. on the road) I always call the cops (on the non-emergency number in my town because I have it in my phone book - on the emergency number in other places of the occasion should arise but it did not yet).
This is not only to be on the safe side re insurance/lawsuits but also to make sure I am clear re prosecution for leaving the scene of an accident. Up to now the cops have always come (I always said upfront on the phone that there were no injuries); they are not legally required to always respond so if they decline I’d ask them to be sure to log the call.
The only instances where I did not call the police were when I was clearly solely at fault (backing into another vehicle in a parking area); in that case I just filled in the insurance form with the other driver (not admitting to fault as such, because insurance terms require me not to, just to the facts).
I’m another person who learned the hard lesson that you always, always call the police. Back in college, a guy ran a red light and clipped my car in an intersection. He took responsibility, acknowledging that he was at fault; we exchanged info, and because there were no injuries (and no cell phones back then), we went our own ways.
When I went in later that day to file a police report, I found that the a$$hole had completely switched his story, and reported me as the one who had run the red light! He then put in a claim for my insurance to fix his car! Because it was my word against his, they did. When I tried to put in a claim against his insurance, I found that it wasn’t valid, having expired some time before. :rolleyes:
Now I always call the police. They always come, if you’re insistent enough. In my experience, people are less likely to lie to a cop at the scene of an accident, especially if you can convince a witness to stick around.
At least 150 years ago, my husband was a military recruiter in Wisconsin. It was wintertime, and he was taking a load of prospective enlistees to the MEPS station in Milwaukee. It was snowing, and the freeway was a complete madhouse. Radio stations had already announced that anyone getting into an accident was simply to exchange information and make a report later. Traffic had slowed to a crawl while people were dealing with skidding. One car was completely off the pavement and up an embankment. When the driver tried to re-enter the freeway, he hit my husband’s car.
The drivers got out, exchanged information, and my husband continued on to Milwaukee. He called the Recruiting Command and reported the accident.
Several weeks later, we received an envelope from an insurance company at home, addressed to my husband. Inside was a letter from the other party’s insurance agent, with three estimates, saying, “Since you were at-fault in the accident with my client, please forward these to your insurance company.”
Hubster was on the phone immediately to the insurance agent. “First off, if you were to have any claim at all, I would have nothing to do with it. I was in uniform, in an official government vehicle, on government business. Your dealings would be with Uncle Sam, NOT ME. Secondly, YOUR CLIENT HIT ME. Please don’t contact me again.”
The agent was completely abashed. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I was unaware of all that.”
The name of the game when involved in ANY type of vehicle accident is to CYA. Period.
~VOW
Check your local laws but always err on the side of caution when guessing about damages, etc. You wouldn’t believe how expensive car repairs can get, even when it doesn’t look that bad. I got in a fender-bender that left only a small wheel-well-caused groove on the front of my car… and underneath that, part of the frame (?) was bent enough to rub lightly against the radiator. Fortunately it wasn’t enough to do any damage - especially since I took it in right away to get it looked at, but it cost me a few hundred to just get that bent away from the radiator.
My husband and I were just out of college when we got chewed out by a cop for “leaving the scene of an accident.” I put that in quotes because we weren’t intending to do it! We were stopped at a red light when we heard smashing sounds behind us. My husband had left some space between him and the car in front; he let up on the brake right as the car behind us got pushed into us, then he braked again and we just barely missed tapping the car ahead of us. Stunned, we got out to see that we were the 4th car in a chain-reaction accident that had apparently been caused by driver #1 not slowing down at all and plowing straight into the back of car #2, with cars #2 and 3 being pushed into the next car, in turn. We determined that our car had no appreciable damage, exchanged information (as a witness) with the other drivers, and left. The police were not happy with us for leaving, even though we had no damage and there were tons of witnesses; we found this out when they called us. Oops. My husband gave our report over the phone.
(Side note: Some time later - I don’t recall how long but it seems like it was much longer than it should have taken, maybe a month or two? - we got a very hostile message left on our answering machine from an insurance company about what we did in a car accident. Called up in WTF mode, turns out it was about this accident… and some employee at the insurance company had picked the wrong car as the one that caused the accident. Our car was the same make (not model) as the car that caused it. We got a frantic apology and were promised we wouldn’t be bothered again.)
If there is any chance I might be considered at fault then I would call the police.
When I was 16 I bumped a car. The woman I bumped couldn’t see any damage so she said it was all OK, no problem. We exchanged numbers and went our way. A few days later I was called down to the police station where we met the woman and her husband. The police took me aside and threatened to charge me with hit and run if I ever “left the scene of a crime” again. They were working me pretty hard until my dad stepped in and told them where they could stick their threats. We did end up buying the husband a whole new rear bumper.
Always file an accident report.
A few years ago, my wife was with her son, and tapped the bumper of a parked truck.
the owner filed a claim for personal injury, saying there were four people in the truck.
My insurance company sent a PI out, and the other guy backed down-he had no prof of anything he claimed.
It is thieves like that that drive up insurance rates.