Car crash during the test drive

What is the name of your state? Oregon

Hi

On sunday, I went to test drive a new car at royalmoore delarship. I was driving well with in the speed limits. The sales man who sat next to me told that " this is very good car & it handels turns very well and i can drive at faster speed and test it out". so to test it out i went at 40 mph on a curve. The car skid and went to other side of the road. There was a
ditch & car went in to the ditch. when i came out i saw the car front tire was punctured & there was a crack on the bumper. the dealership called the police and filed a case. I explained the incident to the cop. The cop took my license information. He didnt give me any ticket but told that the dealers Insurance company will call me & i have to talk with them.
I dont have any insurance as i dont have a car yet. The sales man did not ask me for the insurance before letting me to test drive.

Can you give me some suggestions on how to deal with this situation? Will the dealers insurance company make me pay for all the damage? How should i handle those people?

Thanks
Kirankumar

Salespeople are not authorized to allow you to break the law for testing purposes. You are reauired to drive in a safe manner with a speed appropriate for road conditions.

If you don't get a ticket for driving without proof of insurance I would be surprised. Another ticket for your driving wouldn't be unusual either.

But of course, the car is more expensive to fix than the tickets. The salesperson did not cause the accident. Your following his bad advice did cause the accident. If the insurance company thinks they have any chance of getting money from you, they will pursue the matter. Since you supposedly have enough money for a new car, I would expect them to pursue the matter.

P.S. As for how to handle the people looking for you to pay the damages - you really have nobody to blame but yourself for the accident. argue over the dollar amount of the damages and oer your ability to pay. You don't have too many options here.

Some Random Guy said:

Salespeople are not authorized to allow you to break the law for testing purposes. You are reauired to drive in a safe manner with a speed appropriate for road conditions.

If you don't get a ticket for driving without proof of insurance I would be surprised. Another ticket for your driving wouldn't be unusual either.

But of course, the car is more expensive to fix than the tickets. The salesperson did not cause the accident. Your following his bad advice did cause the accident. If the insurance company thinks they have any chance of getting money from you, they will pursue the matter. Since you supposedly have enough money for a new car, I would expect them to pursue the matter.

P.S. As for how to handle the people looking for you to pay the damages - you really have nobody to blame but yourself for the accident. argue over the dollar amount of the damages and oer your ability to pay. You don't have too many options here.

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I agree with everything except the indicated text. The auto dealership will have a liability policy to cover this sort of incident. If not, then you're telling me that EVERY car that is test-driven is being test-driven illegally...I think not.

I agree -it makes sense that during a test drive the dealer's insurance will cover accidents and damage but, of course, not things like speeding tickets should a ticket be issued.

Dealers are required to have insurance to protect themselves but I would suspect that before they would try to collect on their claim they would come after you.

Offer to buy the car@msrp/their price, after it's repaired without pressing charges. One of my co-workers took a car on an overnight test drive, its one of those new cars (ahem dodge caliber) with bad blind spots. Well she backed out and hit a pole on the rear quarter including tire damaging the body and frame, "lightly". They were pretty irate but she offered to buy it after it is repaired and they bit as it was probably the best resolution to the situation.

They might but since OP had no ins., they will probably just submit the claim to their ins. co. instead of making OP pay out of his pocket. (but whose to say)

The dealer's insurance wil pay, if they submit the claim to the dealership. The OP wasn't driving illegally. Also, the insurance responsible is the insurance policy on the vehicle that was driven. Even if the OP WAS insured, his insurance woudn't pay. Remember, this is a collision claim, not a 3rd party liability claim. OPs insurance (if he had any) would ONLY be responsible if the insurance on the vehicle was insufficient for the damages caused.

OP, you're fine. Nothing to worry about. However, you SHOULD make your purchase at that dealership!