Car accident

What is the name of your state? Florida

Heres the setup...

I was backing out of a driveway onto a two way street

a driver had passed behind me, and continued driving
down the street, i saw her pass behind me, and gave it
no additional thought, as wi was backing out, she backed
into me - backing against the flow of traffic.

when the police officer arrived, he said "since you were both in reverse, you both are equally at fault"

even though i protested that she was backing against traffic (because she missed her driveway) she should be 100% at fault.

police and geico say nope, both equally at fault.

I am totally upset at this verdict by the cop, and would like to sue the lady that backed into me - the damamges were only $650.00 to my truck, but i think she should pay to get it fixed.

would this qualify as small claims case???

thanks

You don't have a claim. When the defendant presents the info to the court from the officer and insurance company, the case will be dismissed. The fact the other party was backing down the street is of no consequences, it is NOT illegal to back down a street. You will look mighty silly in court, drop it and get on with your life.

Sorry, but Racer is not correct on this.

"police and geico say nope, both equally at fault."
*** I presume that Geico is HER insurance company, correct?? If so, what did YOUR insurance company say when you contacted them??

"You don't have a claim."
Wrong. The other party clearly has an obligation to check behind her before she backs up. You however, have no obligation to look in the direction OPPOSITE to the traffic flow on the off-chance that some idiot is backing up. Same concept as turning onto a one-way street. You have no obligation to look the other direction to see if someone is driving the wrong way.

"When the defendant presents the info to the court from the officer and insurance company, the case will be dismissed."
*** The officer nor his/your insurance company is the 'trier of the facts'. That is the task of the court, based on the law and the evidence presented. In my opinion (and based SOLELY on the information in your post), I think you have a good chance of winning your claim against the other driver.

"The fact the other party was backing down the street is of no consequences, it is NOT illegal to back down a street."
*** It is if the driver fails to do so safely. See above.

"You will look mighty silly in court, drop it and get on with your life."
*** I disagree. Go for it.

additional information

Hi everyone -

Sorry about the lack of information -

Geico is MY insurance company

The other driver failed to provide proof of insurance to the police officer.

I have since received a certified letter from the other driver, stating that she has talked to her lawyer, and a copy of the letter was send to him, and she states that she is sorry to have "met by accident" and that she and i agreed to pay for the damages ourselves.

This is totally not true - she did not want to get the insurance companies involved, and told me she would pay for my damages if we didn't involve the insurance companies. I agreed to not involving the insurance companies, but never to pay for the damage she caused to my truck.



I am going to go ahead and do a small claims court case against for the damages she has done to my truck. I've had 3 estimates, each one for around the same amount - ~$650.00

So - at least she should pay for half of the repair bill - but i will try for the full amount of the repairs.

thanks for the advise!!

take care