Other Driver is a Lying, Cheating Dog

[maria1h]

I was unfortunately involved in an accident right before Christmas. I was traveling on a 3-lane street. I was on the left lane which has to merge because the street becomes a 2 lane street. With plenty of time to do this, I checked my rearview mirror and side mirror to see if I had enough room (I have an SUV), I then activated my right turn blinker and moved to the center lane. Approximately, three seconds later, the "other driver" who was the entire time in the right lane (I saw him, and the 3 people in my car (one of them my boss!) all saw him in this lane) proceeded to side-swipe me. There was alot of traffic and there was little I could do. His car broke my front headlight and smashed part of the side of my front bumper, the front passenger door wouldn't open either. Because he was slightly in front of me, the damage to his car when he hit me includes his side-view mirror, damage to his driver door. Immediately after the accident, I remember that my vehicle completely remained in the middle lane and he was in the right lane.

We moved over to a side street and equipped with my 3 witnesses (including one of the "spiciest" bosses you ever want to work for) I had no doubt I would be collecting his insurance and other information. Much to my dismay, this inexperienced driver (he's 18 or something) blamed it on me! I called the COPS! Bunch of help that was. We waited 1.5 hours only to find out that HPD does not fill out accident reports for minor traffic accidents and the "woman" babysat us while we exchanged information. I did get a "lovely" blue form splattered with coffee (I'm not making this stuff up, wish I could) called a "DRIVER'S ACCIDENT REPORT". What is this coffee-splattered form gonna do for me now?

Needless to say, I was ready to ring not only the kid's neck, but also the woman cop.

His insurance company has denied my claim and "junior" has filed a claim with mine which I have been told will be denied. HE IS AT FAULT and HE KNOWS IT!

Where is the justice?

 

[gawm]

Wow! Getting into an accident sucks. Getting into an accident right before Christmas...that really sucks! I can tell you where the justice is however, it's in a place called small claims court. Or you can file a claim with your insurance and let them worry about it.

 

[Betty]

I would file a claim with your ins. co. as suggested by gawm & let them go from there. If you don't want to do that, then small claims court it would be. What is the name of your state? (You forgot to give this info.)

 

[ecmst12]

You can only file the claim with your insurance company if you have collision coverage. On what grounds is the other insurance company denying your claim? And what state did the accident occur in?

 

[maria1h]

I'm from Texas

The accident occurred in Houston, Texas. I immediately filed a claim with his insurance company, but Farmer's Insurance moves slower than snails and I didn't want to wait to get my SUV fixed and knowing that I have to report it to my insurance company, I filed a claim with mine. My insurance is currently taking care of the repairs.

What I have been told thus far is that it's the little runts word against mine as no witnesses stopped (despite the fact that the street was "flooded" with cars). His insurance company will not even speak to my witnesses traveling in my car at the time of the accident (one as I mentioned ---MY BOSS --who was ripping the kid a new one when he had the audacity to stand there and accuse me of running into him because he claims he was in the middle lane. How? He's lucky, because if I knew then what I know now, my latin blood would have had the best of me and I would have wrapped him around a pole like one of those red-Christmas ribbons.

My insurance company will try to fight it, but seriously, are they going to spend time and money or are they just gonna say it's both our faults and make me pay the deductible?

And like I said before HPD (Houston Police Department) were completely useless. I told the woman officer that showed up (who only watched us exchange information) why she was even there. Why is she there? Her presence is not needed if she is not going to do a darn thing for me. I don't need people patronizing me the way she did. She could not even cite the law or new rule that released HPD officer's from filing police reports nor could she give me a time frame when this became effective. Personally, I think people need to be made aware of this because without "proper" witnesses, the one less at fault or with no fault at all in a car accident (and if you are involved in one with a snake behind the wheel) the person getting bent over is you! It does not matter if you have the Pope in your car, he's not a proper witness because he is BIASED. Three other engineers were in my car, not that this has any bearing in my case.

I do have this coffee splattered form and have 10 days to file it. It is filled out when no police report is available (HPD woman refused to generate one that day). So if the other driver fills one out blaming me and I fill one out blaming him and we submit it to ACCIDENT RECORDS BUREAU, TXDPS**************then what? Is some genius in Austin going to figure out whose fault it is based on the information on the coffee-splattered blue form or will tickets be issued, does this become public record? I called TXDPS, but they have been on vacation to answer these very interesting questions.

 

[ecmst12]

Your insurance company WILL advocate for you because they don't want to pay for your repairs any more then you do, if the accident was not your fault. Did you take pictures at the scene showing your car firmly in the middle lane and his in the right? The damage itself may offer evidence as to who was at fault. If he was in the middle lane the whole time, wouldn't one of you have hit the other from the back? Your adjuster will be able to tell you more.

A witness in your car is not an independant witness. Any more then a witness in HIS car.

In many states, police officers are not permitted to assign fault or issue citations in an accident that they themselves did not witness. Texas may be one of those states. If the officer hasn't had special training in accident forensics, he/she is not capable of determining fault or even whether one party is telling the truth about the accident. They leave it up to the insurance companies to determine who was at fault.

 

[moburkes]

You can only file the claim with your insurance company if you have collision coverage. On what grounds is the other insurance company denying your claim? And what state did the accident occur in?

She would also file, because, based on the denail from the other insurance company, she may need her liability portion of her insurance policy.

 

[maria1h]

We had to move our cars off the busy street (we could have been hurt). There was really no time to take pictures right at the scene where the accident occurred (until we pulled over to the side street).

When the impact occurred, he hit my car trying to move into the middle lane (I'm guessing in the time it took me to move to the middle lane from the left and the time he decided to move into the middle lane, I was already in his blind spot). But I was clearly in the middle lane when he hit me. The cars never stopped (as it was minor and my first instinct was to get off the main road). I saw his car move back as far right as he could (back in his right lane because he never made it to the middle lane after striking me) and slow down allowing me to move to the right lane (in front of him) so that we could pull over to the side street.

The other driver claims he was already in the middle lane and that I hit him when I tried to get into the middle lane. No way, no how. If that was the case, 1. shouldn't he have remained in the middle after the accident lane since the impact was minor (i.e., not enough to move his car out of the middle lane 2. my first instinct should have been to move back to the left lane (the 3rd lane had not yet ended), but I couldn't because there were cars to my left and my right.

I'm making my replies long, but I'm still fuming. You should have seen me the day of the accident though.

 

[ecmst12]

Well, it doesn't help that there are no pictures at the scene and the cars did not stop until they had pulled off. BUT, if he was slightly in front when the cars collided (as the damage shows), it does not make ANY sense that you would have hit him, since he was in front of you and you would have been able to SEE him clearly! On the other hand, you were in his blind spot, making it much more reasonable to believe that HE hit YOU.

 

[CdwJava]

Traffic collisions are almost exclusively civil matters. There is really very little reason that a police officer needs to take a collision report at all. Most states require reports only when an arrest or citation is issued, or if someone is injured. If we took reports for every small fender bender that happened, we'd need to hire many more cops!

Also, as was previously stated, many officers cannot issue citation sat the scene of a collision for the party who is deemed responsible. Sometimes - after special training - an officer can mail a citation if a report is submitted. But, by and large, non-injury traffic collisions are not a police matter. Even the insurance companies are under no obligation to assign fault as it is determined by the police report! Thus it has only one real purpose in a case like yours - to provide the contact, vehicle, and driver information for the insurance companies ... something that the parties are certainly able to obtain on their own.

Sorry, but the reality is that collisions are really not a police problem unless politics make it one or a crime has been committed.

- Carl