A car backed up into me on the road

[bcr229]

Was the area where you had the accident fairly well developed? If there were businesses along the street they may have security footage of their parking lot and the street in front of it, and many people are having "Ring" doorbell cameras installed which would also cover the street in front of their homes. It might be worth going to the homes and businesses close to where the accident occurred to see if they didn't happen to capture footage of it.

I also roll with a dash cam.

 

[123sunshine]

Was the area where you had the accident fairly well developed? If there were businesses along the street they may have security footage of their parking lot and the street in front of it, and many people are having "Ring" doorbell cameras installed which would also cover the street in front of their homes. It might be worth going to the homes and businesses close to where the accident occurred to see if they didn't happen to capture footage of it.

I also roll with a dash cam.

It was a residential street and people were focused on a fallen tree on a house and downed wires. I will be getting a dash cam for sure.
I can also return to the area and see if anyone has "Ring" installed. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[not2cleverRed]

First, there is no mention in the original post about the amount of damages or the OP calling 911 for this obviously non-emergency situation. Second, if that's the law, that's the law, but it's a monumentally stupid law.

1) There was a mention of the damages. In my experience, the damages described would easily exceed $500.

2) This is a legal advice forum. Your opinion about the merit of any particular state's law(s) is irrelevant.; your judgemental comments in this thread are inappropriate.

I do not know (or care) where you live, but NJ has laws not dissimilar to NY and MA: you must report accidents to the police if there is more than a certain amount of damage, and you don't leave the scene.

(In fact, I know a MA driver whose license was suspended for leaving the scene, even though she was not at fault, and all the damage was to her car.)

 

[Zigner]

I do not know (or care) where you live, but NJ has laws not dissimilar to NY and MA: you must report accidents to the police if there is more than a certain amount of damage, and you don't leave the scene.

Even knowing that you don't care - I'll tell you that he's in California (as am I). In California, there is no requirement to report an accident to the police, but there is a requirement to report it to the DMV within 10 days if the damages are over the threshold, or if there are injuries.

Of course, this doesn't apply in the least to the OP, because the OP's not in California.

 

[HighwayMan]

I do not know (or care) where you live, but NJ has laws not dissimilar to NY and MA...

In New York there is no mandatory police report - just that the accident must be reported to DMV if there is more than $1000 in damage. I'm wondering if NJ just requires reporting but not necessarily to the police.

I never have a problem doing an accident report - there have been plenty of situations I have heard about where an involved party pulls a scam and says that there was another occupant in the car who was injured even though they were alone.

 

[123sunshine]

I went to the court house to file the citation. An officer came out to speak with me and suggested that I add "improper backing up" and careless driving to the citation. I wrote up a 4 page report with every detail including times of calls to the police. The judge will look at everything on Tuesday and I'll hear next week if they are issuing him a notice.

 

[Zigner]

I would be surprised if they did, since you really do not have enough evidence to allow for a conviction.

 

[123sunshine]

Zi

I would be surprised if they did, since you really do not have enough evidence to allow for a conviction.

It's a wait and see what happens. The only good thing is that I was not backing down wrt getting a police officer on the scene. If he was innocent he would have been calling the cops but he didn't want them there. I know I'm not at fault and that's why I called the cops. After I called them, he changed his story... maybe he has something to hide, maybe he has a bad driving record... he definitely has a couple of strikes against him....

 

[HighwayMan]

Having the police present after the fact has no bearing on your "guilt" or "innocence" and certainly doesn't mean much as far as your insurance is concerned.

Also, the other party's reluctance to have the police respond doesn't mean that much either.

 

[123sunshine]

I would be surprised if they did, since you really do not have enough evidence to allow for a conviction.

2 police officers suggested that I do this...

 

[Zigner]

2 police officers suggested that I do this...

I'd bet they told you that it's an process that you can avail yourself of...
In any case, I hope this works for you. Remember: A citation is not a conviction and doesn't indicate guilt or innocence.

To reiterate what was said above, the other party's desire to not have the police involved in no way indicates guilt or innocence. There are many possible reasons that the other party didn't want the police involved.

 

[Just Blue]

That is why you should have a dash cam, it is very helpful in these cases.

If you are just going to regurgitate what has already been said several times...please don't.

 

[bcr229]

If you are just going to regurgitate what has already been said several times...please don't.

A few of the forums I moderate have started seeing bots where copying & pasting text from earlier posts is all the users do. IP's are usually not in the US.

 

[martynarv1]

I too faced a similar situation downtown near a gas station. I had parked my car near the curb and went to get a few things from the store. An SUV was backing after filling the gas and banged into me. Luckily he'd not given full acceleration, so the car came and hit me with moderate speed. I fell over and broke my elbow and my lower chin. I think the guy who drove the car panicked and sped off. The people at the store and the station who witnessed the whole thing took me to the hospital. I'd fractured my elbow and had a hairline fracture on my lower chin. My friends suggested getting a lawyer, asap. I had to manage my hospital bills, as well as my work also suffered. But once I met the lawyer, everything was taken care of including the interview with the witnesses. In a month, the car owner who hit and sped had to give me the right amount as compensation.