auto/tractor accident on interstate

My daughter was driving normal speed on interstate when car in front switched lanes and she spotted a tractor mower in front on her and she slammed on her brakes and tried to switch lanes but couldn't because of a car in the right lane so she hit the tractor in the right rear. Minor damage to tractor, but her car was totaled. Accident report says tractor failed to yeild to traffic since he had no business on the interstate in moving traffic, however now we are getting a letter that he has hired a lawyer. We have turned it over to our insurance and they have paid us for our car but do we have anything to worry about from this other driver. It was a hired tractor that mows the interstates and our insurance company is in contact with the insurance company for the tractor, but this lawyer is hired by driver of tractor. Is this normal. In our eyes, his negligence was the cause of the accident and the accident report seems to confirm that. Need to know if we should worry or should we just let the insurance company handle it all.Thank you

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Just make sure you keep up to date with all and any news your attorney receives. You have a right to this, so don't feel like you would be annoying him or anything.

You shouldn't worry. The driver of the car hired a lawyer because he probably thinks his insurance company would not cover him or your insurance company would seek compensation from him. See, if he was not supposed to be driving on the interstate, perhaps his insurance would not be valid. I.e. valid only on dirt roads, away from highway.

You said YOUR insurance company paid for your car. So you see, this driver has a lot to be worried about in the way of medical bills and pain and suffering possibly in the form of a lawsuit by you.

Chill out and relax!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face=" Arial, Verdana, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lawrat:
I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Just make sure you keep up to date with all and any news your attorney receives. You have a right to this, so don't feel like you would be annoying him or anything.

You shouldn't worry. The driver of the car hired a lawyer because he probably thinks his insurance company would not cover him or your insurance company would seek compensation from him. See, if he was not supposed to be driving on the interstate, perhaps his insurance would not be valid. I.e. valid only on dirt roads, away from highway.

You said YOUR insurance company paid for your car. So you see, this driver has a lot to be worried about in the way of medical bills and pain and suffering possibly in the form of a lawsuit by you.

Chill out and relax! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank your for your response. Since I left my post here, we have talked with the lawyer hired by the guy driving the tractor and she told us (with a laugh, I might add) that we will probably not be hearing from them again since they have just received the accident report. It clearly states their client is at fault and he also has no license or registration. She said he is claiming the standard (her words) neck and back pain. We think he lost his job and is no longer covered by the employers insurance and so decided he should hire a lawyer. So you are probably correct. We have also received letters from the tractor company's insurance and they as much as admitted that they will owe for the damages so our insurance is working to recoup their cost from them. We had no plans to sue the driver since no one had serious injuries and we were paid by our insurance for the car, so it is sad that he felt he had to hire an attorney to sue us. Try to be nice, it bites you I guess. Oh well, anyway, we don't expect to have any more trouble now that everyone who is involved is aware of the accident report and his negligence. thank you for your help.

Just remember ONE thing MOM**************.

HE was at fault... And what they offer you on the car is the book value, that doesnt mean you can buy a car like that for that price...

You must NOT lose any money from this.....that is your right, but if you want to be nice it will bite you in the .....

Do not settle for less, then every last dime it costs you.....

I appreciate the help, now this brings up more questions. Let me give you some facts of the accident and maybe someone can give me an idea of where we go from here. Daughter was driving on interstate, tractor pulled out onto road to cross bridge so he could cut the grass on the other side of the river. He had to get onto the highway but legally he should have waited till it was clear and also should have placed warning barriers to alert traffic. He did none of the safety procedures and therefore, my daughter (21), in spite of swerving and almost hitting a car in the right lane, and slamming on her brakes , she still ended up hitting the tractor on the right rear corner which threw her car into a spin that sent her into the concrete abuttment on the opposite side of the interstate, twice, totaling her car. Minor damage to the tractor, driver showed no sign of injuries and the accident report indicates this. It also states he failed to yeild to traffic and that my daughter had no contributing actions to the accident. Our insurance did pay the book value for the car but after a month of no car for her, we had to breakdown and purchase another since she is away at college and had to have transportation. This cost us an extra $5000 or more and the totaled car was only a 1999 model. We purchased the same car but a 2000 model. She had minor scrapes from the seatbelt shoulder strap and airbag, and large bruises on her wrist and leg and her knee and wrist were sore for a few months. She never saw a doctor at the time because she didn't think she was hurt bad enough and it never occured to us at the time to force her to go. I regret that now that the driver is trying to sue us for his non-existent injuries and she actually still complains with aches and pains now. She has photos of her bruises, etc.. and we have photos of the car. Now after all this, my question, does it sound like we would at least be able to recoup our loss for the purchase of the new car (just what the insurance didn't cover) and is she entitled to pain and suffering even though we incurred no medical bills at the time? Also if we did sue, do we do it on her behalf or in our names since the car was registered to us and we incurred the loss. She is 21, but fulltime student and still considered a dependent. Our insurance company has given us the go ahead to go after anything not covered by our policy as long as we make sure it doesn't interfere with their trying to recoup their loss. Should we wait till they are settled. We are in Tennessee and we have 3 years to deal with this and the accident was just May 30, any ideas and opinions will be welcomed. Thank you.

[This message has been edited by Dustymom (edited October 01, 2000).]