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Car accident 1 year ago - being sued..help!

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JohnM

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? I live in New York

Well, heres my story:

In the early spring of last year, I was driving down a 2 lane 50 MPH road in New Jersey. It was not raining or icy. The car in front of me apparently missed an exit, and slammed full force on his breaks. We were both travelling around 40 MPH in the left lane on this 2 lane road. I struck the vehicle in the back left side. Since I was breaking when the cars hit, My hood and front lights got damaged - and my air bags did not deploy. (since the bumper was untouched).

I had a bang to the head and was taken to the hospital along with the driver of the other vehicle. She claimed she had back pain. The woman was admitted before me, and was released within the hour. She walked out on her own accord. I got 12 stitches on the top of my head.

I got a letter from her laywer a month later stating that I am being "sued" and to forward a copy of the letter to my Insurance company other horrible things will happen. I complied.

After speaking repeatedly to All-State (my car insurance company as well as the other driver) they told me that the hospital gave her a completely clean bill of health and that she was ok. They also told me that I should expect to be "sued" a year from now, since All State was offering her absolutely nothing other than the repair on her cars and the minor medical bills.

Sure enough, a year later, I get served with tons of paperwork. Pretty much, this womans suit claims that I was "Driving recklessly", that I was "speeding", that I was not braking properly, that my car is "not up to code", that Im not fit to be driving a car. She is sueing because (you guessed it) she now has "mental and emotional" problems. Her back will permanently injured, and she has not returned to work since the accident.

I have full coverage on the car, it was a new Nissan Altima. The police report shows nothing about recklessless, just that I struck her in the back. I have a $400,000 policy max for this type of thing.

I will be calling my insurance compnay tomorrow obviously, and passing along all the information to them. How much trouble can I possibly be in? I have a stellar driving record - been driving for 17 years..and have had a clean record for the last 7 years (before that I have only had 2 speeding tickets in my lifetime).

Is my house, my possessions, my life in jeopardy? Is it possible the Judge can feel that the $400,000 that All state would have to pay is too little and that my house would be the rest of the payment? Im panicing here....
 


racer72

Senior Member
Turn everything over to your insurance company. They will provide legal counsel and will pay any judgments up to your policy limits.
 

JohnM

Junior Member
I guess my question becomes, if this lady manages to trick or convince the jury (if it comes to that) that I owe her $1M.....and my insurance cap is $400,000.....I guess my life as I know it ends?

Sad that a minor car accident can lead to me living on the street?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Ya pretty much. The thing is your ins. co will try to settle this without a trial first.

Although there is no way to guarantee any outcome, over $400k with the injuries claimed seems awful steep.
 

Happy Trails

Senior Member
JohnM said:
I guess my question becomes, if this lady manages to trick or convince the jury (if it comes to that) that I owe her $1M.....and my insurance cap is $400,000.....I guess my life as I know it ends?

Sad that a minor car accident can lead to me living on the street?
JohnM, you can worry about this until it is resolved or you can take a deep breath and let the insurance comany do their job.

I hope it goes well, please post back with updates.
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
JohnM said:
I guess my question becomes, if this lady manages to trick or convince the jury (if it comes to that) that I owe her $1M.....and my insurance cap is $400,000.....I guess my life as I know it ends?

Sad that a minor car accident can lead to me living on the street?
Just because she may ask for $1M in the complaint does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that is anywhere close what she is "entitled" to or what she may recover from a lawsuit. If she has no objective physical injuries, your $400k policy will likely be more than enough to cover any jury award. Even if she never works again because of her "mental" problems, that does not automatically mean you are responsible for supporting her for the rest of your life.

On the other hand, if you own significant assets, $400k is a decent, but not great, coverage amount. You might want to consider upping it, either on the main policy, or via umbrella coverage. Speak to your agent, either option is relatively cheap.
 

DGO1223

Member
JMHO, but she would have to have some concrete evidence of some serious mental impairment, with testimony by an expert witness, ie therapist, physciatrist, to show this. I don't think that will happen.

Her back injury, if she has one, will have to be documented by medical records.

This accident was so minor, I think a jury, if it came to that, which I doubt, would find this so frivilous, they they would not award her much, if anything.

Most injured parties who are seriously injured would have to fight to get an award that big.

I would not loose a seconds sleep over something as ridiculous as this claim.

Right now, the best move is to get more info from your insurance, and see what they say, and take it from there.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Oh, and if you think otherwise, the accident (as you describe it) was your fault. You failed to provide sufficient space between the vehicles for you to stop safely. It makes no difference WHY she slammed on her brakes.
 

JohnM

Junior Member
JETX said:
Oh, and if you think otherwise, the accident (as you describe it) was your fault. You failed to provide sufficient space between the vehicles for you to stop safely. It makes no difference WHY she slammed on her brakes.
Yea, Im not debating that it was "my" fault whatsoever. Accidents DO happen even to the best of us. Is it *illegal* to not provide sufficent space between the vehicles for me to stop safely? Is it *reckless*? I have a perfect driving record, so I have no history of things of this nature happening in the past. Maybe it truly was, *an accident*.

I was not driving recklessly, speeding, smoking pot, in a high speed race with a friend, drinking beer, or anything like that. I was driving 35 MPH in a 50 MPH highway. If I was doing something illegal or immoral - I could see that this woman would think that she can get $90000 Million from me....but there was nothing out of the ordinary in this car accident.

Yes, it was "my" fault. I have a very respectable $400.0 cap on personal injury. I find it amazing that after a minor fenderbender I can now possibly loose my house, my assets, my life - due to a woman who feels she can "beat the system".
 
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JETX

Senior Member
JohnM said:
I find it amazing that after a minor fenderbender I can now possibly loose my house, my assets, my life - due to a woman who feels she can "beat the system".
I suggest you calm down and take a breath. Based SOLELY on the information in your post, I really don't see where you have much to worry about. If the damage is as you describe, I see no way that she could support a claim sufficient to exceed your policy limit.
Don't get too upset over what is likely a small issue. Let your insurance company handle this. They have FAR more experience at it than you do.
 

JohnM

Junior Member
The information I described is as accurate as I have been lead to believe. I know the woman walked out of her immediately after the accident, asked me if I was ok, called the police, and got back in her car. I know the woman walked, on her own power out of the hospital after being tested. I had $2200 damage to my car (which was MUCH worse than her car - so her car damage was *probably* $1200 or less).

If she THEN developed issues, I would have no knowledge of them. The police report simply showed me hitting her in the back - estimated speed was maked at 35 MPH in a 50. I was not ticketed or fined for anything. The code the cops use for the accident (after looking it up on the internet) was "driver inattention" which sucks, but not reckless driving or anything like that.

I guess Im just concerned that since All State is playing hard ball with this lady, and offering her nothing - that she is now adamant to get as much as she can.....its just very scary b/c the suit is directed to ME not All State.
 

JETX

Senior Member
JohnM said:
the suit is directed to ME not All State.
As it should be... after all, Allstate didn't have the accident with her.
The way this works is..... they name YOU (the liable party) in their suit. You have insurance, so as part of your insurance coverage, your insurance provides you with competent legal counsel to defend against the lawsuit. After all, if you lose, Allstate will have to pay the judgment.
It is VERY common for personal injury attorrneys (her attorney) to inflate (puff) their claims in the hope that they will scare you to try to settle. Trust me, Allstate has LOTS of experience with this... and has a whole bank of attorneys on retainer, just waiting to step in and start to whittle at their case. Based solely on your post, I would be very surprised if this one doesn't settle for far, FAR less than the $400k policy limit..... and possibly less than $10k.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Of course the suit is directed at you and not at All State. All State didn't do anything wrong, you did. If you will look into just about any state's drivers manual it will state you need to follow at a distance that allows you enough time to avoud an incedent in fromt of you. If you fail to do this, you are at fault.

Is it *illegal* to not provide sufficent space between the vehicles for me to stop safely?
yes


is it *reckless*?
can be

The officers "code", simply put, is the nicest way of putting "you screwed up"
 

JohnM

Junior Member
justalayman said:
Of course the suit is directed at you and not at All State. All State didn't do anything wrong, you did. If you will look into just about any state's drivers manual it will state you need to follow at a distance that allows you enough time to avoud an incedent in fromt of you. If you fail to do this, you are at fault.



yes




can be

The officers "code", simply put, is the nicest way of putting "you screwed up"

Hehe, yea I guess this can go on and on. I mean if a bumblebee were to fly into my car as I was driving, and I lost focus on the road a tried to swat him away and I hit the car in front of me - is that "illegal"? If a pebble kicked up into my car, hit me in the eye and I lost focus on the road for a moment is it "illegal"? If I had a sneezing fit and lost focus on the road, is it illegal?

Eh, Ive already passed the information along - so lets see what happens. Interestingly, we BOTH have All State. When I talk to All State on the phone, they seem to consider me their "friend" and the other woman "the enemy".
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
JohnM said:
Hehe, yea I guess this can go on and on. I mean if a bumblebee were to fly into my car as I was driving, and I lost focus on the road a tried to swat him away and I hit the car in front of me - is that "illegal"? If a pebble kicked up into my car, hit me in the eye and I lost focus on the road for a moment is it "illegal"? If I had a sneezing fit and lost focus on the road, is it illegal?
Doesn't really matter, since you're not claiming this happened.

(From dictionary.com)
reck·less
adj.

1.
a. Heedless or careless.
b. Headstrong; rash.

2. Indifferent to or disregardful of consequences: a reckless driver.

"Reckless" doesn't necessarily mean wild and crazy.
You were careless by following too close and indifferent or disregardful of the consequences of driving too close. You were driving recklessly.
It doesn't mean you're a bad person, it just provides a definition.
 

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