question about a car accident

[jgcable]

Hey guys, my 17 year old daughter has been driving for a year and finally saved enough money to buy her first car. ITs a 1995 Dodge Neon. After 5 days of driving her car she hit somebody from behind on the way home from work.
Here are the details...
She was at a light and the women in front of her started to go but suddenly stopped. My daughter couldn't stop in time and hit her from behind. She got a ticket for traveling too close.
The women she hit was driving a 1998 Oldsmobile Aurora. The women had 2 young kids in the car. Both were in baby seats. There is virtually no damage to the womens car. Just a few scratches. The cops and firemen said everybody was fine but it was law that they take the kids to Yale New Haven Hospital to get checked out because they are under 10 years old. One of the girls said her neck hurt but the cops, firemen and a nurse who happened to be in back of my daughter said they were just scared. The women had no insurance and the car was not registered so it was impounded by the police.
My question is about a potential lawsuit. Many of my relatives and friends said that since she has no registration or insurance that unless there is injury she probably couldn't sue me. They don't even think she will call my insurance company because she is driving a car with no insurance or registration.
We are calling our insurance company tomorrow to report it. I have never gotten into an accident with somebody that was driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.
What tops is off is that right after the accident my daughter was crying hysterically and the women started throwing the f-bomb at her and being extremely rude. Even to the cops. I am greatful that nobody got hurt but I am really nervous about what might happen.

[rjohnstone]

Was the other driver actually cited? If so, your daughter will most likely not be held liable. The law regarding this varies by state. Just make sure that YOUR insurance company is aware of the citations (no registration or insurance) and be prepared to go to court
Technically the driver she hit had no legal right to be there.
Here in AZ, if you are not carrying proof of insurance, registration and a valid license, you are at fault as you had no legal right to be on the road.
I know... I got lucky when I made a bad choice on a left turn. Technically the accident was my fault, but the other driver was driving on a suspended license.
We were both ticketed (I got a failure to yield), but my insurance company told her to pound sand with her claim. She never pursued it beyond the claim denial as I'm sure any competent attorney would have told her she was SOL.

Good luck.

[Endrik]

I don't want to sound like a paranoid but during times like these there are many people out there who are in a difficult situation and are desperately looking for a way to make money, and most of them aren't really smart and do stupid things, like trying to get another car smash their's but forgetting to do the insurance. I may very well be wrong but I have seen some crazy shit over the year. The weirdest one was about 10 years a go in Poland, some old ladies were hiding behind the bushes and trees on the side of the highway in a city, when the cares came, they ran on the road like nuts trying to get hit and luckyly for them the cars go very slowly in Warsaw.

[Newc]

As RJ said, see if you can get the whole thing waived since the other driver had no legal right to be there.

However, your daughter was still in the wrong by travelling too close to stop in time. It makes no difference that the other driver stopped suddenly. There's no such thing as "stopping unexpectedly" as one's expectations do not apply to other drivers. Always assume the other driver is going to do something stupid, and always keep 1/2 to 1 full car length between you and the car ahead of you, even at a stoplight.

For one, there's an old trick where one car stops at a light, you pull in tight behind them like normal, and their buddies pull in tight behind you. Then both cars empty and they drag you out, rape or kidnap you or just kill you for your car.
Always keep enough space between you and the car ahead and watch the guy behind you. If you see their doors open and someone get out of either car, stomp it and go around them.

For another thing, if the driver ahead of you needs to back up for a firetruck, big rig, or other traffic-related reason (i.e. stopping too far into the crosswalk), they have room to do so.

[horns666]

John ..relax. It's an accident. You're obligation is over once you made the MVA report and contacted your insurance company. A rear end collision is cut and dry who's fault it is. It happens.

Once a MVA report is made, the insurance companies and the BMV will be contacted anyway. The officer on scence made a report, if he cited your daughter, and occupants were conveyed to the hospital. So, let your insurance company handle it. That's what you pay them for. They'll handle the ER, medical charges and property damages. Don't worry about the other party insurance/registration status. If that's the case, that matter will take care of itself, and that's their problem. They'll be paying alot more legal fees than a traffic citation, and prolly catch a case. Again, that's their prob.

There is no reason to contact the other party. Just take care of you and yours. Like I said your obligation is over in c/w the MVA.

Your insurance premiums will prolly go up, but some companys have a "forgiveness" policy such as Allstate. Look over your policy and see if it states anything about that, and just confer with your agent.

I'm sure you have a lawyer if any BS happens, if you do you may want to advise him as well. But he'll prolly say the same thing I did, and just play it by ear.

[horns666]

BTW..I've only handled about a billion of these things.

Don't let the insurance company make you do their work for them. It's their job to get a copy of the report. Get a repoire going with your agent and adjuster. Things will be fine. If you have full coverage on the Neon, they'll fix it and maybe cover a rent-a-car for your daughter.

BTW you can do what many do. Drive the Neon as is, sell it as is, and use the repair check to put down on another vehicle.

[Rsmacker]

I don't want to sound like a paranoid but during times like these there are many people out there who are in a difficult situation and are desperately looking for a way to make money, and most of them aren't really smart and do stupid things, like trying to get another car smash their's but forgetting to do the insurance. I may very well be wrong but I have seen some crazy shit over the year. The weirdest one was about 10 years a go in Poland, some old ladies were hiding behind the bushes and trees on the side of the highway in a city, when the cares came, they ran on the road like nuts trying to get hit and luckyly for them the cars go very slowly in Warsaw.

The trick over here is to remove the brake light bulbs and wait until someone is pootling along behind them, then jam on the anchors. One of these cunts had over 200 separate claims made from members of his immediate family who were "injured" in such accidents. (Easy to pull off when your surname is Mohammed and there's about 45 of them living in one house. The only English they know is "compensation")

[jgcable]

Was the other driver actually cited? If so, your daughter will most likely not be held liable. The law regarding this varies by state. Just make sure that YOUR insurance company is aware of the citations (no registration or insurance) and be prepared to go to court
Technically the driver she hit had no legal right to be there.
Here in AZ, if you are not carrying proof of insurance, registration and a valid license, you are at fault as you had no legal right to be on the road.
I know... I got lucky when I made a bad choice on a left turn. Technically the accident was my fault, but the other driver was driving on a suspended license.
We were both ticketed (I got a failure to yield), but my insurance company told her to pound sand with her claim. She never pursued it beyond the claim denial as I'm sure any competent attorney would have told her she was SOL.

Good luck.

Yea,ther driver was sited for driving without insurance and driving an unregistered motor vehicle. Her car was impounded.

[horns666]

John I got seriously injured by a uninsured motorist (stolen car chase). Anywhoo, I got got a nice settlement from my own insurance co. I have "uninsured motorist" coverage. Took a few years to get it..but I did. My lawyer handled that one.

[horns666]

Yea,ther driver was sited for driving without insurance and driving an unregistered motor vehicle. Her car was impounded.

Good, I wouldn't worry about it. Report is already made. Just contant your ins. That's it.

[Grandturk]

My wife rear-ended two guys in a rented SUV a bunch of years ago. They sued us for $20 million. Allstate took care of everything and only bothered us a couple times for statements about the accident. I was worried, but it turned into a non-issue.

From what the insurance guy told me, the plaintiffs had trouble staying out of prison when the court dates for the lawsuit came up.

[Vass]

Sorry to hear about this- especially sorry for your daughter. Even though this sounds like the sort of thing that could happen to someone driving for 20 years, ultimately it may be a good lesson for her- and it probably won't be a very expensive one: You may be a great driver, but the road is covered with distracted and sometimes just stupid people.

Bill's advice regarding how to handle this is perfect, so nothing really to add there. The train is on the tracks, so to speak, and you worrying about it one way or the other isn't going to make it go any faster or slower.

I would echo the scam angle and mention it to your insurer, however. In New Jersey they went through a spate of these scams a couple years ago, except in those cases they'd load the car up with 5 buddies and then go jam the breaks in front of people. All of em would go for consultations with the same doctor, same lawyer- Everyone got banged up for that one, and I believe the doctor lost his license & the lawyer ended up disbarred. It was a very sophisticated far-reaching network.

It's important that you mention it because if the insurer is sued they'll be especially careful to look for accident reports filed by the same woman. That's how the other yahoos got caught- an insurance investigator recognized the name of one of the yahoos playing the game from other accidents.

Glad to hear your daughter is ok- That's all that really matters.

[zeegler]

It sounds to me like you have nothing to worry about as far as a lawsuit goes. However, you really need to make sure she understands the importance of leaving enough space to give yourself time to react and stop. For whatever reason, people seem to frequently jam their brakes on randomly (especially old people. I think they hallucinate ).

[Strangletooth]

(especially old people. I think they hallucinate ).

Back to Mr G's pill thread! That's true tho, and it sux that it happened, but no worries as everyone else has stated. her fault no doubt, but that's what insurance is for. And Matt, you're right, but I hate to even think of that shit, and it's always something to keep in the back of your head. I don't do this regularly, but I do when I find myself in "da hood" but it can happen anywhere, something to think about, that's for sure. The important thing is she's safe, that's number one! Who cares what the cars look like, everyone's safe!

Watch those premiums, 17? man,,,,, that's prolly gonna suck, hope not, but we do live in reality here and we've all had our experiences with insurance companies!

I've had a few smaller type claims in the last 5 years or so and they want to cancel me now because of some nics and scratches on my car, I said nm, I'll pay for it myself, this phone call never happened...

Good luck bro!

[WarPig]

John,

There's a lot of sleazeball people and even more sleazeball lawyers (I'm sure you get the "1-800-LAWYERS" commercial there). That's why you have an insurance company - in case the woman tries something.

The only angle they may try and build something on would be the kids. If they got an "all clear" from the hospital, I think you can put this behind you.

Damn, bro, you and your kids have had bad luck after bad luck. If good luck could be wished your way, you have a bunch coming from me. Hang in there!