Shoofin

For some reason, anytime my brother calls me up and he's half crying, that means he did something wrong to my car.... this is happening all too many times! This time I'm in Chicago in a trade show. It's Friday 5pm. He calls me half crying, I'm thinking "Oh F#ck, he did something to my car"..then he tells me not to scream or yell, and that he took my car to work and when he was backing out of a spot, this guy walking came out of nowhere and he hit him. The guy's elbow hit my rear window and shattered it! How the heck an elbow can do that is beyond me! you can elbow your back window and break your bone before you can break the rear window! Not only that, my Inspire tail light was cracked too...I don't know how based on my brother's story, this guy can do so much damage! How can he hit the window AND taillight??The guy fell to the floor, said he had two back surgeries...my brother asked him if he was ok, if he needs him to drive him somewhere or call an ambulance, the guy said call an ambulance...oh $hit...you know what that means... This happened in NJ, btw..the cop that came to the scene was surprisingly cool with the whole thing and told my brother don't worry, everything's ok.. I don't know if the guy went to the hospital or not, but that's the situation..
I'm pissed off at him because he has his own car, yet he always has to take my car, why? I don't know! to make things worse, he's calling me to ask me to see if I can do something when the incident happened...I'm 2000 miles away and I can do something?? It's 5pm on a friday and I can find somewhere for him to get the window fixed??from Chicago, no less??
I ended up calling Park ave Acura and got them to order the parts ASAP and I'll have to take it in when I get back on tuesday. I told him to take my car home and take his car. He was on his way down to the jersey shore for the weekend(He was in Linden, NJ when this happened) and he said that he doesn't want to go back to brooklyn and come back into NJ again to go to the shore( and my dad doesn't know about this, no-less, and he doesn't want him to know until he gets back sunday night). He ended up driving down with a shattered rear window and tail light, and he plans on driving it while there, too! I told him if he wanted to NOT get pulled over, to not drive my car when he's down at the shore... I didn't call him yet tonight to see if he got there ok, will do that shortly...F#$K F#$K F@#K...WHY MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Ed
P.S. Sorry for the long post..had to vent

92legend

Sorry dude, that sucks. Take the extra key(s) away from him. I don't know how well you trust your brother but it sounds like he is lying to me. A persons elbow cracked the window and the taillight at the same time(not likely) and the cops didn't care at all that he hit a person(don't think so). Just my opinion. Maybe it did happen but sometimes those closest to you may frequently decieve you.

bioyuki

I feel your pain. Thats why I never let anybody drive my car nor do I drive anybody else's car. Too many insurance hassles if something does happen. I guess its worse with family. Tell your brother NOT to drive the car any further. Driving with a broken windsheild and tailight is just asking to get railed by the police. If anything does happen (ie the guy who got hit sues you) just make sure it gets blamed on your brother. This may sound harsh but just reiterate the point that your involvment is limited to the fac that it is your car. Get the car fixed (ask your brother to pay for it) and forget about it.

PS...DON'T LET ANYBODY DRIVE YOUR CAR!!!!

bioyuki

Yeah on further review the story sounds pretty fishy to me. You should sit down with your bro and talk to him 1 on 1...

Shoofin

Well, it's obvious that he's paying for everything..that's out of the question....I called a handful of people before calling Park Ave Acura, but Park ave is ordering the parts, and the rear window is costing $768 plus
$150 to install, and the tail light(for the '02 TL) is $168.. They should be receiving it by tuesday..
Ed

kman156

hate to tell you but it sounds hard to believe? do you know how hard he would have had to hit that guy to crack the windshield and tailight? and if he did, that guy is gonna work you good man. regardless of legit injuries or not! was your brother asked to submit to a breathalizer?, a cool cop with a vehicle/pedestrian collision? and why would you let anyone but yourself rack up your mileage? you've got alot of issues in that post... good luck! hope the guy does'nt sue YOUR insurance company! he'll go after whoever has the best coverage. it's possible you may have some liability?, sorry for the misfortune...kman156

daverman

Shoof, I feel your pain. For your own sake I think you should take your car keys away from your brother.

Your brother must have backed out at an awfully high speed for the pedestrian to do so much damage to the car, and that will not look good on the report (or else he's lying).

My sympathies! Let's hope this matter works out with as little further damage done as possible. And please take your keys back!

Lawaia

Sorry to hear Eddie! That really sucks the big one. At least there ain't no body damage...get the glass and tail replaced then re-evaluate who will be driving your car in the future. Couple of bucks per week to your bro and have him catch the bus!
Good luck on the repairs...

Nate

Ah its not that bad... first reading your post I was thinking your car was totalled or something! It does suck though.

Man... $700+ for the rear window!? Must be that damn antenna. =/

Like everyone else said, if you want your car to be safe, don't let anyone else drive it! But if I remember your parents drive your car also, right? Sucks dude!

One thing, BE CAREFUL WITH THE DAMN CRACKED TAILLIGHT. It WILL leak if it rains and water WILL fill up your trunk, seep under your F**KING rear seats, and soak everything!

Jacobian

Get the case# and order the police report. That's the only way you'll find out what happened.

And for everyone's safety.. take your damn keys away from the guy? If this isn't the first time he's screwed up your car, then he doesn't bare sole responsibility.

That's akin to leaving an alcoholic in the house with keys to the liquor cabinet.. c'mon dude..

But I am sorry for your loss. Like I suggested.. police report... insurance co.. body shop..

BarryH

Body damage is the least of your worries. Here's a guy who at the scene of the accident told your brother he's had two previous back surgeries and requests an ambulance. Your big problem now is liability as am sure you're going to be sued for personal injury. Your brother's insurance is partially liable but as the owner of the car you're liable also. I hope you and your brother have high limits on your liability insurance. If your liability limits are low, and the guy sues for big bucks, I'd recommend you get your own attorney and not depend solely on your insurance company. Your insurance will settle for whatever your liability limit is and then you'll be personally responsible for the rest. I feel sorry for you dude - these things are usually long and drawn out.

thebeginning99

Elbow breaking the window ... and the tail lights .... those tail lights are think kinda hard to crack ...
Damn 700 bucks .... ouch .... sorry man

BLEXV6

Your brothers insurance will not pay as it is the owner of the vehicles auto liability insurance that pays. Since your brother hit a pedestrian, you may as well make a collision claim @ the same time, because by the time your insurer pays out on the bodily injury claim it will make the collision claim payout seem small and it will not increase the premium any futher. This of course depends on your deductable. BTW, unless the injury is serious, I doubt your insurer will spend the entire liability limit. But those bastard lawyers, especially in the USA will bleed you dry.

VICNYC_TL

damm ed i feel for you, are you gonna be able to come out Thurs night

Bitium

Don't feel so bad, mine was worse. I will post later . Just in advance it will stay in the shop for at least 2 weeks.

Stylin Silver Sled

Sorry to hear about your guys losses and casualties. Ed, hope it all works out and it sould be ok since there is no body damage. All your parts can be installed fairly easy and your car will be as good as new.

Now Julio, your car is for lack of a better word...phocked!

i need pictures!

amir was here

sorry to say this, but i dont think damage to your car is gonna be the big problem in this case....

i think its gonna be the pedestrian, and what he plans on doing...

Sorry to hear it man,

Shoofin

Well, As for no body damage, my brother inspected the car and told me the trunk had a dent on it..
Now, this is the scenario. I spoke with him later on last night, so I got a clearer story on what happened.
He was parallel parked, passenger side of the car on the curb. He backed up to get out of the spot. This guy must have been running across the street to avoid the oncoming cars that was coming his way. He was watching the cars coming his way as he was running and didn't see my brother backing up..he ran right into the driver's side of the car. My brother said that all he knows is that he backed up, then whump! and the glass shattered.. He thought someone threw something at the window..when he got ot, he saw this guy on the floor next to the car. Noone, the cop, my brother, me or anyone I told this to can understand how this guy could possibly have done so much damage by running into the car. What would have happened if no one was in the car and the guy hit the car? Who's liable? certainly not me! The cop was cool about it because technically my brother didn't do anything wrong.. it was this guy who illegally J-walked(or ran) across the street to avoid the on-coming cars who hit my car.. It's just that because it's a pedestrian, the blame goes on to my brother.
Speaking to him today, he's telling me that he thinks this guy is trying to make a claim, and he probably had something in his hand that broke the window. He's finally understanding my point of view that it's not that easy to break a window, especially the rear window. He believes he hit the car deliberately and dropped whatever was in his hand immediately after hitting the car and falling to the floor. He said the guy got up on his own, was leaning on my car, then requested an ambulance.. I dunno man..it's all too fishy to me. If anything, My brother has no reason to lie to me..I'm sure he's telling the truth. $hit happens, I understand, but I was only pissed at him because he could have taken his car when he didn't..
Ed
P.S. Sorry for long post again..

SL1200MK4

Oh man, that sucks... Really sorry to hear about that. Don't know what to say to help you feel better but I hope nothing will go wrong with your insurance. At least with my insurance company, if your bro's name is not on the list, then they will take it as your fault.

Well, maybe you can argue that the guy was jaywalking maybe?

I know a guy who got hit my the streetcar in Toronto, got serious injured and the cop actually gave him a ticket for jaywalking. Didn't know that guy that well, or else I would have gave him my lawyer's phone number and acutally have him SUE the streetcar regardless the fact that he was jaywalking...

Good luck to you after all..........

RedLined

To quote friends in college -- Duuuuude, thaaat suuuucks.

Here's my solution. First beat your brother with the arms you rip from his shoulders. Then take the keys away from him. Then beat him again.

Red Hot TL

sorry to hear that man... I never let anyone else drive my car tho... never. I don't really trust them and I don't want to be resposible if they hit someone else or get in a car accident. it's just not right...

Black TL

Ed, I really feel bad for you. You have had some bad luck with your car and you didn't even have anything to do with it. If I was in your shoes, I would have my car blessed sometime in the near future.

Roshan

speed

From everything that transpired, it seems like the pedestrian is trying to pull a fast one. His previous back injuries was probable for the same ****! Your bro was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Hope everything works out!

Acura_Fan

I posted about two months ago when I let a girl drive my car and f***ed up when trying to shift out of SS. I learned my lesson then not to let people drive the car. When people are not familiar with a car, or when they THINK they are familiar with the car, is when things go wrong. Good luck getting it fixed. Take it as a hard lesson learned.

Jacobian

How did she **ck it up trying to shift out of SS ?

Erik

ACTUP

I was a little suspicious when I read your post. We probably all agree it is almost impossible to shatter that back window with an elbow. With all of the scams that go on in NY I'm about 98.5% sure this is an insurance scam. Sh!t like this is why we are going to have the highest insurance rates by the end of the year. Dude hit the back windshield with something to break it and then threw himself on to the car. There is another scam where you get 4 people in a car on the highway and look for someone using their cell phone. Then you get in front of them and put on your brakes, there by causing your car to get rear ended. The passengers in the car sue the driver of there car and driver of the other car. After all of the phony doctors visits the insurance company offers a settlement and everyone splits the money. Unfortunately it's hard to prove things like this because when people get hit 95% of the time they blame the driver. If you ever saw the begining of the movie Pacific Heights maybe you can give this A$$ a little bit of that treament . good luck

Shoofin

Just got back from Chicago... The area's where I circled are the other damage area's besides the window.. The trunk has a 8 inch dent on it, and the tail light was cracked..
Ed

Shoofin

Here's the dent..

VTEC Animal

Dang, that must have been the bionic man that collided with your car!!!!!! That window is gonna be super hard to break, not to mention that he had to do the dent on the hood first, which to me appears to be kind of a skid dent where it was pressure that moved from point a to point b on the top of the trunk, denting it from point a to point b.... That would have use a lot of energy, doubtful there's be any left to break a window.... That's just plain nuts!!!!

MaxxT

Is that your house in the pic? Nice house - Don't feel so bad about the car, it'll be fixed and be LIKE NEW in no time.

liutang

Still looks fishy. I'd take the keys away from your brother and key his car and say that a mail man was running across the street b/c a dog was chasing him and his keychain was flinging around and got close enough to his car to scratch it. Then leave his window open and said the dog jumped up the side and took a piss or something like that.

Oh. BTW, time to update your sig, eh?

---
- JDM Plastic Sun Shield
- Ultra Clear Inspire tails
- Mugen Aero Trunk


Hehe.. Relax dude. It'll all be fixed and none of it should come out of your wallet. I bet Lauren can "soothe your pain".

TL Goddess

As owner of the car, you are held responsible. If the guy sues, it's your insurance that will pay. When I smacked up my car when I was 17, he got sued as titleholder of the car. This is why no one drives my car now.

Shoofin

Yes, but if no one was in my car and this person ran into the side like he did, I'm not liable...
Ed

rickslick

Depending on your state law, if you and your brother are with the same insurance company they may allow his insurance to be primary and your secondary, meaning they will try to get him the most money they can from your brother's policy then if they are too low they will use yours. This may also allow for the surcharge or table rate to be applied on his policy instead of yours, this is the factor they use to increase your premiums after an at fault accident.

TommyBoiSxty9

SHOOFY --- dont let ANYONE drive your car EVER under ANY circumstances. THe one time is always when something happens. That's why I rarely drive other peoples cars unless I have to. NO NO NO -- if he's got a car theres NO, ZIP, ZILCHO, ZERO reason for him to be driving your car. Lock it up, take away the keys he has or has found, and when you go on a long trip---remove some part so it wont start. Or add a kill switch.

daverman

Yeah, I agree. As I always say, "friends don't let friends drive each other's cars"--if you still want to be friends, that is.

8ball

First, let me make my disclaimer: This is not legal advice, just my observations and thoughts for what they're worth.

I agree that if someone just runs into your car you're not liable. Having said that, however, it ultimately will be someone else who decides who is liable for what (e.g., a jury).

From what I've read and seen in this thread (assuming your brother is being straight with you) this smells like an insurance scam. This guy sees your car moving, but slowly enough he can still control the situation, and runs into it. He whacks it hard enough to cause some real damage so as to "legitimize" his injury claim. If this guy sues, his background, medical records, and everything else about him needs to be thoroughly investigated. Most insurance companies are very good at this, especially if it smells bad like this one does.

As for whose insurance will pick up coverage, well that depends. I assume your brother has auto insurance as well. It should provide coverage for him while he's driving a non-owned car (yours). Your insurance, on the other hand, should provide coverage for someone using the car with your permission. Here's the fun part: both policies most likely have an "other insurance" clause, which generally states that if there is other "applicable" insurance, then the policy will (1) not pay; (2) pay only on a secondary basis; or (3) pay on a pro-rata basis.

So, you may run into a situation where both insurers may try to deny coverage, claiming that the other policy must provide primary coverage. This is ultimately not your battle to fight, as long as at least one of them will foot the bill up front (with a "reservation of rights"). The insurance companies can fight it out over who pays what. I'd push for your brother's insurance to take primary coverage responsibilities, but I'd take either one. Because if this reckless pedestrian sues, and he would sue your brother, not you, you will need a lawyer, and the insurance will provide one and pay the legal bills.

Give both insurance companies notice of this incident, and see what they say about coverage. The pedestrian may not sue right away, but may just try to extract a settlement from one or both of the companies. If they won't pay what he wants, then he'll sue. If your brother gets served with suit papers (or you, but I can't imagine on what basis you could be sued), get the papers to the insurance companies IMMEDIATELY.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to try and clear up some of the partly inaccurate info that's been tossed about in this thread. If there's anything more I may be able to give you some insight on, I'd be glad to. Just let me know. I've read many an auto insurance policy cover -to-cover, and I KNOW what they mean. I've had a lot of experience in this area.

Oh, and I'm sorry for you for having this kind of crap happen to you. I hope it all works out.

seadog

Actually, I think you'll be alright. This guy ran into the side of your car. If your brother had backed up into him and hit him with the rear bumper, it would be your fault. As long as he was running (and J walking at that), and hit the side of your car, it should be the pedestrian's fault. Like everyone else, it does smell like an insurance scam. I had a friend who was driving, in similar circumstances, and a bicyclist ran into the side of his car. The bicyclist was seriously f'd up and went to the hospital. It was later determined that the driver was not at fault. All fault was placed on the bicylist because he hit the side of the car.

Guest

I suggest you sue the guy that ran into your car. His home owner's or renter's insurance should cover the cost of repair to your vehicle, if you win it also gives you a big advantage if he tries to sue you for injuries later. You should contact him and tell him that you expect him to pay for your damages, and if he refuses then you can sue him.

Your case is pretty good considering he was already breaking the law. Just don't say that he did it on purpose, because insurance companies don't pay for intentional acts, nor do they pay for things that occur during the commision of a criminal act.

As for the damages to your car, if he was wearing a wrist watch that hit your windshield in just the wrong fashion (hit on the crown or a sharp corner like where the strap attaches, or in some cases the watch lens if it cracked) it is very possible that this would shatter glass without too much force. Something like an elbow or head would need more force, but a sharp and fairly hard object could easily crack it. As for the taillight lens, how he managed to hit that and the window is a little unusual, but like you said, sh!t happens.

Again, the first thing you should do is talk to the guy that ran into your car and tell him you want him to pay for the damages. If nothing else, this gives him a clear message that you aren't going to be a victim of his stupidity.

Good luck.

NighthawkBlack

Saw the car today up close and personal. Tough break! Hope the insurance pays for it and next time hide your keys