About two weeks ago, I was sitting at a stop sign. Admittedly, I’d stopped really close to the lady in front of me, but I wasn’t touching her car. When it was clear, she let off her brake and her car rolled backwards into mine. We pulled off into a parking lot and did a cursory look at the ‘damage.’ Her bumper was scratched, I had a noticable dent, but nothing that I wasn’t able to pop right back out.
Anyway, both of us were in a hurry, so neither of us called the police to report it, we just swapped info and left. I thought nothing of it, as she’d rolled into me and both cars were fine. Today I get home and there’s a message on my machine-- it’s the lady, and she’s gotten an estimate from a body shop (?) for $400 to repair her car. She said she’d call me back on Monday.
Okay, so, wtf? I’m not putting this in General Questions because I really don’t want to solicit legal advice, but has anyone ever dealt with something like this? I know a mechanic who could take care of her scratches for $20. Should I tell her “look, lady, here’s a mechanic who will fix you right up”? Do I really have to do anything since no one called the cops?
On top of all that, I just got a notice that I’m up for jury duty. What a crummy day. :smack:
This looks like a job for…Insurance Guy!
(VA traffic & insurance laws may void some or all of the following)
Roll her estimate up into a tube and tell her to stick it where the sun don’t shine. While you do have an obligation to avoid running into the rear end of other cars, it is her responsibility to prove that you hit her car. You do NOT need to prove that she backed into you–but if she has a manual transmission your story will have a lot more credibility should you decide your front bumper is no longer the way it was before the accident.
This is what we claim people call a “he said, she said” liability decision. Both accounts of the accident are in conflict, and there is not sufficient evidence to support one over the other. For instance, if both bumpers were severely damaged to an extent possible only by an impact of over say, 10 miles/hr, then you could wail away all you wanted about how she rolled back into you but the damge would not support your story.
In unclear situations like this, insurance companies will pay for the damages to their insured cars under COLLISION if the respective policies include that coverage-basically, everyone has to go through their own policy.
If you have auto insurance, direct her to them. They’ll handle it.
Since you admit you’d stopped too close to her, and since you must have been on a hill in order for her to roll back and hit you, it sounds to me like this is your fault. I’d offer her whatever you think is reasonable to fix the damage.
Tell her that she rolled back into you, and that while you’re happy letting the whole thing drop, if she continues to pursue it, you may change your mind, and she will be the one getting stuck with the bill.
My take on it is - when the collision occured, your vehicle was not moving. Her car hit yours. She is responsible for maintaining control of her vehicle at all times. Does not matter how close you were.
I may be totally wrong, but that would be my story to insurance.
What qwest said. Is there a law regarding how close you can be to the vehicle in front when in a traffic queue where you are? I’ve certainly never heard of it in Britain.
Thanks, guys! I’m not too keen on paying her anything, but I’d rather avoid going through a bunch of hoops altogether, if possible. If it came up in court, it’s going to be a he-said-she-said thing, and I don’t know how that would end up. My car’s fine now, and when I last saw hers, her damage was negligible. Inigo, should I call my insurance company first before telling her to take it to them? What will they say about the lack of police report? What if she’s since taken a bat to her bumper? I’ve never really dealt with this before.
Since nobody called a cop and no ticket was written, no fault has been assigned. She needs to take it up with her insurance company and you need to inform yours about what happened. Let them battle it out.
There’s no such thing as stopping “too close” behind someone. If you’re not touching them, then you’re fine.
Morally, she hit you, she should pay, and that’s that. However, based on past experience*, you may not have a leg to stand on, since it’s the front of your car that’s damaged, and the back of hers. It’s just your word against hers. I’d advise you tell the insurance company what happened, then let them handle it. They have lawyers for this sort of thing, and that’s part of what you pay them for.
*Many years ago, I got very badly hit in the side of my car by a speeding driver. I was turning right, and saw him come round a bend about 400 yards from me as I pulled out. Despite being so far away, he was going so fast that he failed to stop, left 100-yard skidmarks, yet slammed into me just behind the driver’s door, lifted my car off its wheels, and bounced me across the road into a ditch. I was uninjured, thankfully. Despite the fact that he hit me, and he was driving like a total asshole, my insurance company ended up paying for his damage, for the reason that I was coming out of a minor road and he was on a major one.
