So I got rear-ended this morning.

Factual Questions
1

So I was driving home this morning, and I came to an intersection where the light was flashing red, for reasons unknown. (I drive this particular street all the time, and have never seen it flashing, even at 4 in the morning.)

Being the obedient driver I am, I come to a complete stop, and then sit and wait for the old woman in the crosswalk across the intersection to get out of the way. As I’m sitting there, I hear the “screech! screech!” of brakes and look up just in time to see a Mercedes swerving around me…almost.

Yep - I got rear-ended. The woman driving the Mercedes behaved true to the stereotypes - spent ten minutes on the cell phone yakking to the cops, her husband, and her agent BEFORE getting out to see if I was okay.

Long story short, eventually the cops AND her insurance agent arrive. (groan…) The agent, without identifying himself, asks me to tap my brakes, and I foolishly agree.

“Are you aware your brake lights aren’t working?” he asks me. Which later turns out to be total B.S. because I forgot that you have to have the key in the ignition for my brake light to work (and of course, they do).

He tries a few more squirrelly things to see if can shift blame somehow on to me, which was ridiculous, not only because it was blatantly her fault, but I also have a witness that supports my side and the card of a city engineer who’s willing to verify the light was flashing red at the time. It failed, at least with the cop, because she was (rightfully) cited.

But, to make this a GQ and not just an MPSIMS, here’s my question: What should I do now?

I deeply resent the over-litigation in today’s society, but I’m thinking about retaining a lawyer, because:

  1. Her insurance agent seems more than a bit shifty, to say the least, whereas mine (at least this morning) seems more or less indiffernt.

  2. I drive a very nicely fixed up 1973 Dodge, and I was rear-ended in it once before, and ended up basically getting screwed for repairs. The other guy’s insurance agent just flipped through the blue-book and decided that they were only going to give me $200 for repairs since that’s all my car was “worth”, and anything more and they were going to total it. Even with the body shop calling on my behalf to tell them how crazy they were, I still ended up shelling out $$$ of my own to get it fixed. Now, this is a car with new paint and interior, a very recently rebuilt engine, and more newly replaced parts than you can shake a stick at. I’ll be damned if it’s only worth 200 bucks.

  3. I generally laugh at the bogus claims of whiplash people try to pass off, but damned if my neck and shoulders don’t feel kind of sore right now.

I’m not out to [Lionel Hutz voice] ching ching cash in! on this tragedy [/Lionel Hutz voice], but I don’t want to get screwed over for something that’s not my fault either…

2

Get a lawyer today. It has nothing to do with faking injuries or overlitgious society. Some moron rear-ended you and dealing with the insurance companies by yourself is a pain in the neck! ::snort::

Also, whiplash is no joke- go TODAY and get yourself x-rayed and checked. Yes, lots of people cry “whiplash” and are fine, but a lot of people also sustain neck injuries from being rear-ended. If you wait too long (like after today) you may have some hassle getting the visit paid for or any follow up care. Your neck probably didn’t hurt when the accident happened because your adrenalin was pumping.

The people that society frowns upon as far as vehicle lawsuits are those that get “bumped”, then cry injury and sue. It’s not people like you who get ass ended and hurt. Go see a doctor and call a lawyer to deal with the insurance and such.

Oh- be sure to tell the people at the ER/doctors office that it was an auto accident. Don’t let them bill your health insurance. It’s frequently a pain in the ass to straighten that out.

Your milage may vary- this is based on personal experience.

Zette

3

[slight hijack]
This might be a good place to remind everyone to check your headrests in your car, if they’re adjustable, and make sure that when you lean your head back, the upper part of the back of your head (not your neck) touches the middle of the headrest. More often than not I see cars where the headrests are left all the way down, almost ensuring a whiplash injury in a rear-end collision.
[/hijack]

4

Good advice. However, I don’t know if the x-rays will be particularly useful. Most likely you did not crack a vertebra and soft tissue injuries won’t show up on x-rays. People don’t feel the pain right away usually, but the pain develops later due to torn or stretched ligaments or tendons causing an inflammatory response, which irritates the nerves, and which does not occur immediately. More sophisticated studies may show soft tissue injuries, but not an x-ray.

You have a good claim against her insurance company, and a lawyer who does that type of work knows how to maximize your benefits. If her insurance company balks, you’d need a lawyer to sue them or threaten to sue them.

5

I’ll second the recommendation to get your neck checked out, just to be sure, esp if it is feeling a little achy now. I had a whiplash injury many years ago. It didn’t start to hurt until the next day. Three days later I was in severe pain and couldn’t turn my head. I wore a neck brace for several weeks, and the injury left a weak spot that reappeared off and on for the next 5 years. So go get it checked out, okay?

Good point, *frogstein. Also, check any children you have in booster seats. Some cars don’t have head “rests” in the back seat and putting your child in a booster to bring them up to the appropriate level for the shoulder belt can bring their heads up past the back of the seat. (The best remedy in this case is to use a booster seat with a back, such as the Century Braverra-sp?.)

6

Having worked in Insurance Claims for three years, it seems rather unusual for the agent to show up at the scene of the accident. Not that it is impossible, just damn unusual.

Rear end accidents are relatively easy to judge. The person who did the rear-ending (in this case the Mercedes) is responsible.

I also handled more than my share of Total Loses, and basically any car in driveable condition is worth at least $700-$1000. Insurance companies often low-ball on their estimations of what a vehicle is worth. The company I worked for was notorious for exceptionally low vehicle values. Still many people take what the companies offer.

When it comes to your injury and property damage, it might be easier to go through your own insurance company. Chances are they can pay you a better value for your car. Of course if you have no collision insurance (to repair your own vehicle), you might want to see attorney.

The only problem with an attorney is they take a good chunk out of any settlement. Some are willing to negotiate your property damage for free, and only take their fees out of the injury settlement. Try to get this deal.

From my experience, attorneys do NOT help out a great deal getting you more money for your property. They do however, an excellent job at getting money for injuries.

By all means, if you feel pain in your neck or back: get it checked out ASAP. A doctor can verify that the injury is or is not serious, and might be able to help you with the pain.

7

Of course you should get your neck checked out, but an x-ray probably won’t show anything. A doctor, however, may suggest more sophisticated studies.

Most lawyers charge a contigency fee of approx. 1/3. They don’t get anything if you don’t. In fact, they proably all these PI lawyers work that way. Naturally, they aren’t going to maximize your property damage, which is a liquidated amount, or almost so, but personal injury damages is another matter.

8

Oh. I thought this was going to be a question for Esprix…

Sorry.

9

It’s worth getting in touch with her insurance company’s claims department and seeing what they have to say before you get a lawyer. I’ve had experience with far more insurance companies than I’d like to have had, and they’ve ranged from very good (State Farm) to downright awful (if anyone with Allstate ever hits me again, I’m calling my lawyer first). It all has to do with the people in their regional claims department.

If I were you, I’d go to the doctor or urgent care (an E.R. is for emergency medicine) and get my neck looked at. Get copies of the doctor’s conclusions and any prescriptions he/she writes. I also like to get a police report, just for my own records, but those usually take five days or so to be filed. If your car isn’t driveable, her insurance company will have to pay for a rental, so don’t be shy about telling them you need one. Call the claims department of the other person’s insurance company and find out where you can take your car to get an estimate. If their estimate comes in low, present them with the evidence that your particular 1973 Dodge is not some old beater destined for the junkyard, see if they’ll revise it, and if they won’t, THEN consider calling a lawyer.

And you might take some ibuprofen. It’s not unreasonable to take four in these circumstances. Good luck, and rest up for the battle ahead.

10

Shief2:

It’s a bit late now, but there should be an option available to insure your car for “declared value”, which allows for classic, restored or customized iron such as yours. I insured by this method some years back when I owned a '54 Buick, which was in near-showroom condition but was nearly worthless by Blue Book reckoning.

Obviously, you would have to pay a higher premium (just as you would if you were driving a newer car with a higher blue book value), but you’d be less likely to get screwed over.

11

I would imagine that the light was flashing red because the signal wasn’t working, so the police turned it into a four-way stop.

As I learned from my only accident so far, the best thing to do in any situation like this is not to say anything beyond asking how the other person is (to see if they need emergency treatment), and exchanging insurance information.

Anything else leads you on a trip to hell.

12

Thanks all for some excellent advice. I took a trip over to the urgent care clinic and got checked out…it doesn’t seem to be too serious, but the physician warned me I’m in for a few days of some pretty good pain :frowning: and gave me a few prescriptions.

I informally talked to a few lawyers over the phone, but I’m still on the fence about getting one. I’m just still leery as all hell about the fact that her insurance agent showed up on the scene (which RainbowDragon confirmed is as unusual as I thought) and looked for ways to put blame on me in what seems like an open-and-shut case. It’s nothing personal, I know, but when someone driving a $40,000 luxury car is scrambling to avoid responsibility for a maybe a couple thousand bucks in damage to a college student’s car, that kind of puts me on my guard about the whole situation in general.

Rocket88: I asked my agent if there was something like that a few months ago, and they said the only thing that really applied was “historic vehicle” coverage. But I couldn’t get that unless I drove it less than 1500 miles/year, which I don’t, so no dice. [This was State Farm, btw]

13

[li]Price a car in similar condition to yours through vintage auto classified ads.[/li]
[li]Locate all receipts that indicate any improvements to your car.[/li]
[li]Take photos of your car to show what excellent shape the interior and remaining exterior are in.[/li]
[li]Begin theraputic treatment at a chiropracter. Massage and heat treatments will help you to recover.[/li]
[li]If your car is not operable, rent one from a pool recommended by the other person’s insurer.[/li]
[li]Whenever you are struck in your car and the accident is not your fault, always go to a hospital and get examined.[/li]
Do your homework, insurance companies will not look out for your interests. Not even your own insurer will.