Bank lot accident

New Jersey,

My wife pulled out from a bank drive through, went about 40' , when a person in a no parking zone , threw open her door and made contact in the middle of my minivan out of any line of vision.
The officer told them that they would be better off settling the the problem ourselves instead of paying $800 a year more for insurance because this could be both drivers fault. The other driver was o.k. with, making it seem like it was her fault. Called her the next day and she tells me she doesn't want to work anything out, she said take it out through insurance, which she refused to give me any information on.
Basicallly the officer was trying to save the time for writing a full report and got names, location, license #'s, and time of day, leaving out any details and now isn't required to add anything.
The only thing I may have going for me is there is probaby video of the whole incident from more than one angle.
It's $1000 to $1500 of damage, do I have anything ? and would surveilance help me and how could I go about getting access to it.
What can I do now ?

Thank you

[JETX]

Originally Posted by csk

My wife pulled out from a bank drive through, went about 40' , when a person in a no parking zone , threw open her door and made contact in the middle of my minivan out of any line of vision.

If the other driver opened her door after she passed (and INTO the side of the door), she would be at fault for not checking before opening her door into a vehicle path.

Basicallly the officer was trying to save the time for writing a full report and got names, location, license #'s, and time of day, leaving out any details and now isn't required to add anything.

Actually you're lucky he did that much as the incident was on private property.

What can I do now ?

You're only real option as I see it is to turn this in on your uninsured motorist coverage, pay the deductible and let the insurance company pursue the other driver.

[You Are Guilty]

You could also get a few estimates and sue in small claims if you want to avoid dealing with insurance.

The fact that their door hit your car in the middle (to me) is clear proof they failed to use reasonable precautions when opening their door, which they are required to do. Even had your wife hit their open door head on, unless they were to claim the door was open for more than a few seconds (i.e. noticable to your wife), the other party would still be liable. That it hit the minivan in the middle suggests the minivan was already next to it when they opened it, which is a clear violation of their duty to not open a door if there is someone else in the way. Even if I open my car door and some jackass going 50mph over the speed limit hits it, it's still my fault.

Either way, you're entitled to the money to fix the damages.