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3 Tickets after accident - hit and run

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WIdriver

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WI

I was cited with hit and run, reckless driving, and failure to notify police of an accident.

Here's what happened:
I was at my buddy's house and it was like 3:00 in the morning when I left. I was kind of parked in. I was backed into the driveway with a truck on my passenger side and another car in front of me, but a little room diagonally on the drivers side. I was backing up and going forward while turning the wheel to try to get out of there. I ended up in forward and thought I was in reverse and ended up hitting the car in front of me on my passenger side. I cracked my bumper, but bent their hood, cracked their front bumper, and cracked their headlight. I know I should have stayed, etc, but the reason I left in the first place was because I had dislocated my thumb wrestling around with my buddy and I thought I broke it; I was in excruciating pain. I didn't know the owner of the other car (she came home with my buddy's roommate). I did, however, contact my buddy and let him know that I was obviously going to pay for her car to get fixed and when I got her info, my insurance company contacted her. She had filed a police report right away though, and now I am being cited with these three tickets. I was wondering if this is worth hiring an attorney about or how I should go about this. I know I need to fix her car and maybe get a ticket, but this is 12 points worth of tickets (lose my license then) that I frankly don't think I deserve since I didn't really run, I had my insurance contact her and told her I'd pay for it. Oh yeah, there wasn't any alcohol involved and I was alone in the car (the police verified this with witnesses at the house). Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for your help!
 


ecmst12

Senior Member
Why would you pay anything out of your pocket? That is why you have insurance.

Use that money to hire a lawyer to get the tickets reduced. Expect to still pay a considerable fine, but hopefully keep your license. And next time make better choices.
 

WIdriver

Junior Member
My insurance agent advised me not to go through them with these 3 tickets and to pay it out of pocket if possible. He thinks the insurance company will drop us, not specifically because of me, but because of incidents from other family members. He also advised me to get a lawyer. I'm just wondering if it's worth it. If I get a lawyer and my tickets stay how they are, I pay all the fines, lose my license, and pay a lawyer 1500+. Does it seem reasonable that these tickets will be reduced?
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
You need to get a smarter agent.

If your insurance is going to go up because of the accident, it's going to go up whether they pay anything for the claim or not - it's on your record.

They're not going to drop you because of other people's records unless those people are on the same policy. And if they are, the easy way to fix that is to get your own policy in your name only which covers the vehicle you own. If no one else drives your car, then no other name needs to be listed.

The questions about the tickets are what you should ask a lawyer before you decide whether to hire him.
 

WIdriver

Junior Member
Thanks for the advice and sorry for the questions, I just have never dealt with something like this as I am only a college student. So should lawyers be answering these questions and telling me basically if they can do anything for me before I hire them and end up paying them, or do they figure out what they can do after I hire/pay them? What's a reasonable fee for something like this? Thank you.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
I paid $1200 for a lawyer in a situation like this. It was worth it.

Yes, a lawyer should tell you what he thinks he can do for you (or she) before you agree to pay him anything. If he doesn't, look elsewhere. He probably won't be able to PROMISE anything but can tell you what the likely outcome is.
 

WIdriver

Junior Member
I paid $1200 for a lawyer in a situation like this. It was worth it.

Yes, a lawyer should tell you what he thinks he can do for you (or she) before you agree to pay him anything. If he doesn't, look elsewhere. He probably won't be able to PROMISE anything but can tell you what the likely outcome is.
Thank you so much for the help, I atleast know where to start now.
 

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