Dj Spiel

Long story short it was my fault. I was going EastBound and the light was red about less than a second from changing to Green and I went ahead and took it.

The car I hit was going southbound.I hit the rear passenger door and took out there tire as well.

My car just needs a new bumper and grille. No mechanical damage. (not that i know of)


Police were right there (but did not see it) It was an accident I feel horrible. In the end we all drove our cars away and no ONE WAS HURT.

So....I have court April 1st 2:30pm. What do I do next? Call my insurance company? My deductible is so damn high that I am gonna pay for damage anyways.

Advice?
-Paul

Current Parts I need.

New Bumper **OEM or go aftermarket?
New Grille **mugen grill?
New Bumper Clips

nj2pa2nc

Call your insurance co before the other driver puts in a claim against you.

psteng19

Wait, so you ran a red light?

And I didn't know the 2004 came in a 5 speed manual.

Dj Spiel

***yah disregard my sig I am barely on here :P Of course it's Six but the those damn number keys are so close to the keyboard.


The Walking Sign Read "0" Which mean light was about to turn green. They took long yellow and I took early green

Itchytoe

Dude, you ran a red light. There is no "long yellow" or "early green" light. There's a red one, a yellow one, and a green one. That's it, only those three.
Judging by the posts, you admited to running a red light and got a ticket for it. Your 100% at fault. You need to call your insurance company and inform them of what happened. Don't make the other guy do it. That might piss him off. Your insurance will cover the damages and deduct your deductable from that payment. Hopefully you're well insured. If the other guy is nice, he won't file a bodily injury claim, but if he's like me, you're going to court again.

Dj Spiel

She can file a injury claim if she wants. I had multiple cops on scene and was chatting with them all.

They all asked her over 6-7 times. Are you hurt, her response..."No"

Report is filled out as NON INJURED. So I'd like to see her try,Carma is a bitch and I apologized and it was a mistake.

PACman

With some motor vehicle accidents, people often don't feel hurt until the next day since the adrenaline is pumping right after the accident.

JimHolloman

So true. Or, they decide the next day that they are injured. Actually, my wife suffered broken bones in a foot and didn't even know it until she discovered that she was not able to walk.

Want to know what insurance claims, for injury, are based upon? THE COST OF MEDICAL CARE -- INCLUDING PHYSICAL THERAPY. And, the claim is inflated by legal fees (what the attorney adds to the bill) and an amount for "pain and suffering" that goes to the victim. The courts will often, or can I say usually, include the cost of physical therapy in arriving at an amount for "pain and suffering". Now, don't get any ideas about how to milk an insurance company.

But, in reply to the question -- notify the insurance company ASAP. In many states, insurance companies have access to accident reports. In some states, the police notify the insurance companies (probably through the internet). Even if you were to offer to pay all damages out of your pocket, the accident would still likely find its way to your insurance record.

Itchytoe

Was the cop that filled out that report a doctor? Did the cop doc give her a full examination? If not, that non injured checkbox is completely irrelevant and holds no weight in court.
Most injuries in fact aren't felt untill the next day, or two days later. Unless there are broken bones involved that are obviously broken, the vast majority of people feel a little sore, but fine after a wreck.

If she sues, your insurance company will settle out of court for 5,000 if she has absolutely no injuries to speak of. That's because it costs them that to prepare for the trial and to walk into the court room and win. My uncle is the district manager for Farm Bureau. I know the insurance world pretty well.

carmagnut

It sounds like from this statement that you would just all of a sudden say that you were hurt and sue the guy trying and get some money out of him for your "pain & suffering." Not cool.

kanonen

Yep exactly. This reminds me of a friend that rear-ended a couple at 25 m/h. It was at a traffic stop and the light went to green. The couple started then decided to stop. It was a light accident, with a little bump/scratch on the bumpers.

2 weeks later they claimed bodily injury and later refused to settle. They wanted 25k. The insurance hired a layer and the couple of hacks lost the case. They didn't even get the 5k settlement. But the thing took half a year of hassle.

But to go back to Dj Speil's case, who knows...how fast were you guys going?

deadlyklappy12887

this situation wouldnt have happened if he would have sit his ass at a RED LIGHT and waited...i think for causing such a mess, he should get his ass handed to him..i know that doesnt make it right but if you are 25 years old i would hope you wouldnt be THAT stupid to do what he did..if you cause me such a headache like this having to deal with the inconvience of going through the post-accident process of dealing with insurance companies, etc etc which could have been completely avoided, i think i deserve some extra $$ cuz "my neck hurts" time is money

deadlyklappy12887

and in response to the post above me, i agree that is shitty if its really minor. but in the OP's case, he T-boned the lady

Dj Spiel

Done-
Claim Closed.

Ordered my parts
Grille aftermarket/badge
Oem Stock Bumper
Splash Shield (Driver Side & Passenger Side)

Total Cost For my Repair: $250 (I am getting bumper painted at my cousins shop) So paint is free and I'll do the labor myself.

My insurance is paying 100% of the damage for the Nissan I hit.

They have informed me both parties have filed "injury claims" and they Might get a lawyer to represent them.

I was told by Agent that I need not worry. "These things happen"
If i get contacted by anyone to notify My agent directly.

If my rates change it won't be until May 22nd 2010

They can "claim all they want" In the end they both walked out totally fine and the younger black guy was "talking to his boys,down the block"

The lady walked out fine. If they are hurt so be it, but you can "CLAIM" to be hurt and ask for free money. I'm more than happy to compensate them for injury's if they are hurt. Until I see/insurance see's some legal documents. Be it from Hospital,Doctor ain't gonna do shit about it.

ANd if they are lying???? I hope they get what's coming to them

So for the record, I was at the Line STOPPED. I saw it was red...i looked to my left and the light for them was yellow. By the time I was in the intersection it was Green.

A.) I was in 1st gear still
B.) I was only about 15 feet into the intersection once i went. So I was going 10-15MPH
C.) The residential ZONE in that area in Chicago,IL are 25MPH she was going at least 40MPH to 50MPH

So you all can think what you want, I have to say though out of all the boards this one is the most hostile. I understand I posted here for advice and it's an open discussion forum.

Do I think I was at fault? Yes
Do I think she was going to fast and trying to catch the green? Yes

In the end No airbags deployed,no glass shattered. She just needs a new door and rim/tire.


You guys can keep giving your input for now the matter is closed for me until April 1st 2010
Thanks to everyone that contributed and helped out

-Dj Spiel/Paul

Mskierki

Wow, thanks for the laugh. I needed it.

smmirza

dang dude. Hope everything works out for you.

mdkxtreme

Yea no need to be hostile guys. The OP admit fault already so no need to repeat it.

Any ways, I hate it when people claim injury just to get free money. My brother got into an accident (not his fault) and his friends told him to claim injury. I told my brother if he claims injury then I would f*ck him up to make it a real injury. It's just messed up as hell making people pay in the thousands for a fake injury.

1Louder

Yes - glad no one was hurt at the time. You beat me to it, but my advice would have been to get insurance involved ASAP. Sure, they can come back and claim injuries - nothing you can do about that. But believe me, because your insurance company is paying, they are your best defense right now. They have all the lawyers and infrastructure to fight off a fraud case. Just sit back and let them go do the job you've paid them to do.

And you know, there were 2-3 times in my life where I was inches away from having a very different life right now because of what I did in a car when I was young. This stuff happens, and the best part is you walked away from it with no real permanent damage - to your car or to your life. Best of luck getting the car fixed!

mickey513

My friend use to handle claims for Farmer Insurance and even in "light" accidents, such as minor rear end cases, you can expect your insurance company to fork out a few grand to the other party for each person. This case is pretty clear cut even though you never mentioned it but you ran a red light and even got ticketed for it. It is in the insurance company and your best interest to settle out of court. As for the damages/repair cost to your car and the other party claiming they were not injured at the time of the accident, doesn't matter. Auto accident injuries usually takes a few days to show up and the insurance companies know that too.

Anyway, as your agent pointed out, things like this happen This is why we buy insurance and amounts sufficent enough to protect against financial disaster.

Daffunda

Isn't it what this country is all about? People suing each other for the smallest things and getting lots of money, and lawyers making lots of money too? Come on man, that's how you get rich!!!

03typeSti

admit nothing and do like howard stern says and act like answer all questions with "i dont understand the question"

deepen03

no offense, but thats a dumb way to get an accident. I'm from New Jersey, and I don't trust any one here. All drivers in NJ are psycho and I care too much for my car to just GO without looking. If my light turns green, I always check traffic first and then go. Green doesn't mean GO. it means watch and then go when safe.

robles325

i'm in the same boat as you my friend, got into an accident and only bumper and grill are messed up.. so since your accident was not recent i would like to know if you got your new bumper and grill and how much was the cost.?