Someone rear ended us at a stoplight and we ended up with this>>>





There's some damage to the rear left of the vehicle and the gas tank cover is misaligned.

Any estimates? The other driver insisted that we cut her off but we didn't...the police officer didn't take a report because he didn't want to lol...grr. any advice on who is at fault?

 

judging who is at fault is near impossible without a diagram of the incident. Also without viewing the ide of the vehicle it's hard to give a good estimate of the damage. A bumper cover+paint+absorber+exhaust damage= 1g, with speculation of the side I would add about another 1g.

 

we were parked at a stoplight and all of a sudden this girl does that to our car. We changed lanes over into the one we were in but gave her plenty of room to stop. Just a typical rear end//could not stop in time situation. Although she tried to pin it on us by getting her friends as witnesses to say we cut them off.

I would have thought the damage cost is much worse.

 

99.9% or rear end collisions are the fault of the car in back.

I'd be all over the police on this one.

 

That sucks dude...

 

Unless it clearly shows she clipped your rear quarter panel only there's no way she'll be able to win a rear collision.

 

if you get rear-ended, in almost ALL circumstances, the other driver is liable. even if YOU slammed on your breaks (who knows a dog could have ran out in front of the car), every driver has the responisibility of operating with due care and keeping a safe lookout (or however else your states general laws define) and should not slam into the rear of your car.

Why the responding officer didnt take a report is beyond me. without question he should have. Your pics clearly demonstrate a clean impact to the rear of your car, thats evidence enough to show liability. Now, in terms of what the other claimant will say, its obviously up to that persons insurance company to determine if they will accept or deny liability.

1. get a lawyer
2. Not sure when the accident happened, but I would goto the police dept and try filing a report in person (if you are within the certain time frame)
3. make sure no report was generated/ and or the other driver didnt file one in person.... get a copy of it if one was made after the accident
4.If damage is only to the rear of your car, and not on the sides, it clearly is only a rear-end impact....depending on your state, there is the possibility of "comparative negligence"

any other questions, pm be glad to help.

 

Thanks for all your advice...we've reported it to the insurance company and they said they'll take care of us. We told them the officer refused to take a report..so we'll let our insurance companies duke it out. The only damager is what was shown..the other resulting damaging on the side of the bumper was just due to it being pressurized from the back (meaning part of it is sticking out..no actual car-car damage). I wonder how much it'll cost....maybe it's time for a new car? haha.

What the officer actually said was that "since the other car clearly hit you, I don't have to file a report. It's her fault--clear cut. If you were turning or something else or "not parked", i'd file a report...." (something like that)

 

good luck...without a police report, liability is going to be a bitch, each insurance comapny goin at eachother without any evidence (other than ur pictures) & 2 completely different stories. let us know how u make out.

 

Is your tailgate cracked? Might be a good time to get Church's exhaust system. All you have to do is tell the bodyshop and pay the difference between the OEM one and the Aftermarket one.

Even if you did cut her off, it would be difficult to prove unless the other driver had a witness. Looking at the pictures, the other driver hit you "square center."

 

Looks similar to mine here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1881

Total came to over $2k at a body shop...

 

Our accident resulted in more damage to our RDX than yours, but the estimate is around 2500-3000K. Thanks for all your help! we've got a rental now...so now we wait for the insurance companies to duke it out. (their witnesses say we cut them off...we'll see how that holds up when she hit us square center and what difference would it make if we did? she still hit us....(and no we did not cut her off..there was at least a minute in between lane changing...crazy ho))

 

The witness has to be independent; meaning not in their vehicle. Here in Vegas, we are notorious for having idiot drivers. We could be driving 45-50 mph with only 1 space in between the car in front and someone will cut right in between. Now what would happen if the very front car hits it's brakes? Well, the very last car will hit the middle car "square".

Now, the other insurance company will start asking the witness questions as timing, speed, distance, etc...to come up with their decision. It all hinges on what the witness says about the distance and timing between your vehicle and the car that hit you. There still may be "Comparative Negligence" on your part if your state has that law or not. What that means is that you may still be partially liable for your actions.

Before December of 2007, I was happilly driving my GTI and would not have purchased an RDX. Because of some idiot decided not to wait for oncoming traffic (ME), he decided to merge into traffic. I swerved to avoid hitting him and ended up hitting a curb, into a wall, and bounced off a telephone pole. I never hit him. Luckilly he stayed and I had an independent witness. He thought he was not liable since I did not hit him and he told the police that I should have plenty of time to stop for him. That was his perception of time. However, the witness supported my version: he cut right in front of me. His insurance company finally accepted 100% liability for the accident and now they will pay for my totalled GTI and my injuires. See where I am going with this?

 

It would be lucky for you if their witness was in their vehicle and not outside and independent. Oh, you mentioned in the begining, "rear ended us." People inside your vehicle do not count as independent witness either.

And California is a Comparative Negligence state. To complicate matters, your passengers could go after you for their injuries if you are at least 1% at fault (your changing lanes may constitute that 1%). That is called "Joint and Several Liability". If they are your true friends, they will not.

 

So we know the gender of said driver that hit you. For scientific purposes, what was the ethnic background?

 

without a police report, you are going to have comparative negligence, in this accident, and will be exposing yourself to people w/resulting injuries (if any) and anyone else pressing suit.

i know times are tough, $$ wise, but might be a good idea to start considering representation in this incident, unless you arent concerned with a 60/40 or a 40/60 outcome

 

I thank all of you for your responses. However, I'm not very familiar with all this legal jargon--comparative neglience and I'm simply arguing from common sense. I was completely stopped, as the second car with a red light. The caucasian female that suddenly hits me at least 30 seconds to a minute after I came to a complete stop at a rate of 30-40 mph. If she didn't hit me, she'd have hit the other driver in front of me. What more is there to it? (Yes I know there's the witness factor and whatnot...but she totallly was not injured after the accident..especially if she was standing around talking to the officer for a while)...and the only occupants in our car were family members that wouldn't sue each other). I see no reason for my liability in this case. She clearly could not stop in time, but was going so fast that what would an extra RDX length in front of her have done? She would've just hit the car in front of me.

Also, IFF we cut her off, why didn't she honk or flash or highbeams at us?

 

Ok, whose accident is this? Maxima's or AcuraDriver's? I'm a little confused.

 

whoops I thought I got rid of the maxima account...oops. *that's embarrassing* we're the same person..but since we got rid of the maxima i changed my name.

 

the light lasted 30 seconds to 1 minute? if you were stopped for that period of time, before impact, where and how did you "cut" this person off? if thats the case then, it totally changes this incident...but again, without any type of "official" report ie police, this is more or less not provable.

....you need to realize that its your story (to your insurance company) and the other person's story (to their insurance company) and without other such evidence (like a 3rd party witness) these things usually get settled by the ins companies who will agree to disagree, in most cases resulting in fault by the other driver and by you (comparative negligence) and then the case for who is liable is closed.

Just because someone at the scene of the accident does not report injuries doesnt mean they dont have any. regardless of what you may have seen, that person could have went to the er the following day, week. just be careful! from your posted age you are only 18, dont want that insurance rate to skyrocket!!

 

I was in a very similar situation 10 years ago. I got slammed at a stop light (and the five cars in front of me) by a jeep suv. She claimed I cut her off (I didn't). She didn't get a ticket either. The crash showed that she hit me squarely in the rear, so it was her fault regardless.

I hope everyone in the car is allright. Pay attention to any aches and pains you may have or develop. Its been 10 years and I still have back pain if I sit on a bench without a back (think football games) or on a stool for any lenght of time.

Your insurance should take care of determining who is at fault (It should be the other driver). Good luck.

Pat

 

My dad was driving at the time....and we had stopped at the light for at least that duration of time before she hit us...so...ya..we didn't cut her off..w/e...we'll let the insurance companies deal with it.

 

Hey everyone,

So it's been over two years now since this accident occurred. In last April, both sides had gone to arbitration to resolve fault. My insurance could not prove we were at fault, nor could the other side prove they were not at fault. To each his own, it was decided. However, today, we were informed the other party is suing us in small claims court because she didn't have collision coverage on her end...which could be why she was so adamant about trying to point the finger at us from the getgo...because she knew she wouldn't get paid.

Any advice on how to proceed about defending ourselves? We still stand, and our insurance company does as well, that we were not at fault! We were stopped at the stop light after exchanging several words (the light turned red and we stopped) and then BAM! What a fun time this is going to be...

 

Wow, still going on...

You should've gotten the badge # of the cop...

 

We have his name and business card...but he did refuse to provide a report, as I had originally stated so I don't know how the small claims process works..but he won't be asked to show up to court, will he? That would be nice...

 

I really wouldn't worry too much. I assume in the meantime you've been made whole in that your car is repaired to your satisfaction.

That's why you have insurance. They have lawyers who will fight on your behalf, because they don't want to be stuck with the bill. Suing someone in small claims is not a big deal. All it takes is a minor court fee. It's more the aggravation of having to make an appearance.

 

that really sucks my man ... hope you get her fixed up and back on the road...

 

Ya, their lawyers cannot represent us in court because in SCC, we must represent ourselves. Their lawyers have already fought for us in arbitration, which is how both sides decided that neither was at fault.

 

She should just suck it up and pay for her own car to be fixed. I can't believe someone would go to court over what looks like maybe $2000 in damages to each vehicle (assuming from the looks of the OP's). And it even sounds like her fault.

 

That sucks.

 

Maxim.. Dude, I feel for you. That sucks big time!! On the flip coin you mentioned maybe it's time for a new ride? I had a 1994 Acura that I bought new. In summer 2002 it got hit in the rear quarter panel while it was parked. I wasn't in the car. I returned to see the damage with no clue who or how it happened. The damage wasn't even as bad as yours but it was like a sign to me, time for new car!

Best of luck!!

 

Well, oddly enough, the case was decided in arbitration in april 2009. It's now Feburary 2010 and we were notified by our insurance company that she is suing us in small claims...

We have all these things we could say to defend our case, but even in arbitration, the two insurance companies could not prove either party was at fault because of that witness saying we cut someone off. We didn't cut anyone off! That's the problem..but no one believes us!

 

So who is this witness? A passenger in her car? If so, it seems that you have plenty of witnesses as well, riding in your car, who can vouch that you were stopped for 30-60 seconds and clearly did not cut anyone off. He said/she said, which won't get her squat in small claims court (but I'm no lawyer).

Speaking of which, you really need to get one. I understand what you were saying earlier about arguing from common sense, but now that this is going to court you're fighting in the arcane and illogical legal world, not the real one. It sucks that you'll have to pay out of pocket, but a lawyer will know how that game is played and will protect you appropriately.

Just imagine--what if she wins in small claims court? Next thing you know, her "witness" could sue you for tons of medical expenses supposedly tied to the accident. And by that point you'll have been found at fault in a court of law. Not good. Suck it up and nip this thing in the bud.

 

Actually, even though we are the defendant, our insurance company is the one that is sending a representative to accompany us..if they do not decide in our favour, our insurance company will be paying..at least that's what it sounds like.

We also have been told that the witness is third-party..but probably not credible in reality, but arbitration had decided that this witness is sufficient to not be able to pin her or us for fault.

 

That has got to be one crazy non-intelligent driver that hit you. I hope you win!

 

Whoever hit you is at fault. It is their job to STOP!