Alright, I'm sure someone saw me out there on Morrill today. Red Eclipse and a tan Maxima.

Dude was stopped on the side of the road in the bus lane. He started to pull out in front of me and I couldn't stop in time. My car has a pretty good amount of damage, but not his.

I've never been in an accident before so maybe someone can give me some tips. I'm waiting to view the report online to get his insurance info. But how do I prove that it was his fault? The officer said he doesn't determine fault.

Any advice will help. Thanks.

4/11/2007 11:08:46 PM

Get a lawyer you putz.

4/11/2007 11:10:30 PM

Did he make it completely into the lane before you hit him or was he still merging?

4/11/2007 11:11:12 PM

I'm not even sure if he was trying to merge. The way he was about to come out it seemed as if he was going to pull a U-turn. I hit him in the side. And he was halfway in the lane and half in the bus lane when we stopped. I hit him with the right-front corner. And I was in the lane where I should be if not to the left a little bit.

4/11/2007 11:13:41 PM

Quote :

"The officer said he doesn't determine fault."

The couple of times I have been a witness to an accident when I told the officer what I saw, he said he would put it in his report as to who he thinks is the guilty party.
Maybe the insurance companies officially decide?

4/11/2007 11:17:39 PM

Quote :

"I'm waiting to view the report online to get his insurance info."

just fyi, you probably should have recorded his insurance info on the spot when it happened. I know, first time and all, I didn't either in the first accident I was in. (minor, not my fault) But for future knowledge and all...

4/11/2007 11:23:42 PM

did the officer not give you a copy then and there of the other guy's insurance info? i mean, i'm assuming not since you're waiting on it, but i was in an accident (some emo girl on her cell phone backed into me in a parking deck) and he gave me all the info that he recorded on a carbon copy before i left the scene.

4/11/2007 11:25:37 PM

nah he said wait 5-7 days and it will be online. I'm guessing I will be fine if I get that. But I have his plates and cell number, and email. He told me to send him my resume and he would get me an internship with his businesses. Trying to make up bullshit to get on my good side. Dude drives like a 1989 Nissan Maxima.

4/11/2007 11:28:20 PM

Happened to me, exact same thing......

For me, the cop rushed through it and got the entire situation down wrong. He said I pretty much rear ended the guy, when he actually pulled out in front of me and I hit him when he was trying to merge.

Sounds like the cop is doing the same for you.

Hope you have witnesses, b/c my insurance company (judging by the police report) said it was my fault for rear ending him. After sending about a month getting statements from the 2 witnesses, and taking lots of pictures of the damage....I was finally able to prove he pulled out in front of me, and I hit him as he was merging.

Whoever is changing lanes has the responsibility to do it safely, so it should be his fault. But the cop probably just drew it down as you hitting him after he had changed lanes.

4/11/2007 11:32:00 PM

^exactly. That's what I'm saying. And the guys were saying that the weather was the one at fault here. But it would have happened either way if he pulled out like that.

There were a lot of witnesses, since it was right in front of the bus stop. Everyone left though. I guess its good that I didn't rear end him.

I know the officer who assisted us since I'm in the citizen's police academy thing. But still...I hope I don't get screwed over in this situation. Thanks for all the support, guys.

4/11/2007 11:34:46 PM

Get some witnesses that actually saw it happen, make sure you get their info.

Otherwise, its going to be recorded as you just rear ended him.

4/11/2007 11:36:13 PM

Quote :

"He told me to send him my resume and he would get me an internship with his businesses."

42earn.com

4/11/2007 11:40:46 PM

4/11/2007 11:41:38 PM

Were any tickets issued for the accident? The insurance company will look at that along with the report to determine fault. When the officers say they don't determine fault, they mean that they don't decide who is liable for the damages of the accident. They state what they believe are the facts, and issue tickets for any violations. ie unsafe movement.

If you have witnesses, you want that to be documented at the time of the accident.

98.789% of the time if you rear end somebody, it's going to be your fault.

You said you hit him in the side, so most people would agree that it was pretty much the other guys fault.

4/12/2007 7:55:01 AM

Quote :

"He told me to send him my resume and he would get me an internship with his businesses."

Was this dude Nigerian?

4/12/2007 7:59:44 AM

Quote :

"The officer said he doesn't determine fault. "

In pretty much every accident I've been invloved with the fault is determined by who gets the tickets.

I was in one a few years ago where no tickets were written, and the cop said from what she heard I was at fault, but I had a witness saying otherwise......ended up being no fault my insurance paid for my damages and theirs paid their damage.

If no tickets are written its usually up to the ins. companies to hash it out.

4/12/2007 8:52:38 AM

If there is damage to the vehicle and you need to get it in the shop or get a rental, you wouldn't have 5-7 days to wait on some police report to show up. Get the insurance information yourself next time.

4/12/2007 10:50:45 AM

^ that and yes it is the person that is changing lanes responsibility to do it safely..

if this guy's excuse is the weather...haha That is weak as hell.

4/12/2007 11:26:07 AM

^^if he has collision/property damage he can go ahead and take it to the shop on his insurance...if it's shown the other party is liable, his insurance will subrogate the amount of property damage from the liability co to recoup the loss. he will also get back whatever money was paid from his deductible. he's fine.

4/12/2007 11:36:56 AM

I was in an accident in high school...a guy driving his Department of Transportation truck ran a red light and t-boned me.

The officer who handled it was awful...didn't call and ambulance (from what I was told later if a minor is involved you have to call an ambulance). Didn't even give the guy a ticket!!!! He even admited he ran the red light.

It took forever with out insurance company. Of course since I was only 17 and he was 40 something in a DOT truck they were trying to find a way for it to look like it was my fault but there were way to many witnesses and too much stuff going against him.

Like I wasn't even the first car to go through the light, two other cars went through before me, so there was no way I pulled out before the light turned red for him.

4/12/2007 12:01:21 PM

The officer who took the report should have given you a green drivers exchange slip that had your info on it along with his. This would have his insurance info on it as well as the report number which you are going to need. I would not wait 5-7 days to look at report. you need to call them and at least get the report number. They can look it up by your name then call YOUR insurance and let them know you were involved in an accident and tell them a police report is filed. they will contact the other parties insurance company and settle things out. Police officers dont determine fault that is correct. Thats the job of the insurance company however on the accident report police officers will put down who they think "contributed" to the accident. Most of the time its just one driver who did something stupid "failed to yield right of way", "failure to reduce speed" stuff like that. If you hit him in the passenger side front quarter panel and I think you said part of his car was still in the bus lane then Im sure you will be just fine. But if you wanna read the wreck report right then you are gonna need to find a code book. There are numbers on the outside edge of the report that include the contribution factors thing. If theres a 00 for you then that means you didn't have any contributing circumstances. which means the other guy probably did. you do need to look over the report especially the picture on the back and the officer's narrative and see if it pretty much jives to what happened. Remember the drawing wont be to scale

4/12/2007 2:28:38 PM

Since when do officers not say who's at fault? Is that a NC thing?

4/12/2007 2:30:10 PM

traffic accidents are a civil matter.
police officers deal with criminal matters.

two entirely seperate beasts.

4/12/2007 2:32:16 PM

On one minor incident I was involved with I saw that it was the other persons fault. The other person saw that it was their own fault. We both told that to the officer. He declared no fault.

4/12/2007 2:37:59 PM

so unless you where speeding or violating some other traffic thing...

4/12/2007 2:38:23 PM

Ahahaha, I know the guy you hit.

He started talking to me at a gas station one time. I got the impression he was one of those scam artist recruiters, so after talking to him for like 20 minutes at the gas station, he gave me his cell, email, and business card, and told me to contact him "if I had what it takes to succeed".

Needless to say, I never called. You might want to check out what this "internship" means.

Not surprising that he's on State's campus...

4/12/2007 3:47:34 PM

Quote :

"Since when do officers not say who's at fault? Is that a NC thing?"

It's more of a district by district thing. In Wake County the police are hesitant to take a stance in a wreck. In other counties they like to give out tickets to those at fault as collateral to make sure they handle their responsibilities. They usually get dropped so Wake County doesn't bother because it's not very profitable and it hurts their stats.

[Edited on April 12, 2007 at 4:42 PM. Reason : ?]

4/12/2007 4:41:52 PM

Quote :

"(from what I was told later if a minor is involved you have to call an ambulance)"

that's the dumbest thing i have ever heard.

4/12/2007 9:44:40 PM

I mean my mom drives a school bus and I don't know if it's just a law for school busses or not, but if there is a car accident involving a minor in which the minor is injured in anyway you have to call the ambulance because the minor isn't able (legally or mentally) to make the call if they need the medical help or not

[Edited on April 12, 2007 at 10:03 PM. Reason : ]

4/12/2007 10:02:39 PM

Damn. You really need some witnesses, or the insurance folks will stick it to you.

My car got hit last year at the intersection of Gorman and Sullivan. One of my friends was driving it, I wasn't there, but this chick ran the light there on gorman and hit my car. Didn't mess it up too bad, but at the scene she said that she "could tell which it was", then told the officer taking the report that she "knew it was green. I'm sure it was...".

Insurance people call...she says "I couldn't tell. The sun was in my eyes. Might have worked except that this was around dusk, while she was heading SOUTH. I told the insurance agent "WTF?" and she was like "yeah, this shouldn't be a problem".

Now I just laugh about it.

4/12/2007 10:30:22 PM

Quote :

"traffic accidents are a civil matter. police officers deal with criminal matters. two entirely seperate beasts."

Quote :

"They usually get dropped so Wake County doesn't bother because it's not very profitable and it hurts their stats."

I'm hearing a consensus that Wake County police don't want to do their job and can't spell.

4/12/2007 10:42:03 PM

Quote :

"traffic accidents are a civil matter. police officers deal with criminal matters. two entirely seperate beasts."

Yeah, truth. Unless they issue a ticket for some sort of violation. Which would have helped. But oh well, I guess I'll try to get it sorted out =/

4/12/2007 11:07:02 PM

so writing someone a ticket for speeding and parking in the wrong place, which happens all the time here is a terrible offense to humanity

But when someone bumps into someone else that's not the cop's problem i guess.

4/12/2007 11:31:22 PM

maybe if someone dies they deterime fault?

4/13/2007 3:35:30 AM

i drove around you that day after that mess happened, i figured that was the situation ( him pulling out of the bus lane or something like that)... it was barely in front of you from what i could tell, aka he hadnt pulled out far when you hit.... which basically points all fingers at him considering you have the right of way and all that good stuff... can't believe you didn't get insurance info on the spot... maybe it's different now, but the last time i had something like that i got all that stuff immediately... i know they said to wait several days but i'd get on that asap, good luck

4/13/2007 3:51:00 AM

^thanks. That makes me feel a little better that it looked like it was his fault from another driver's perspective.

If you guys go to http://www.ncsu.edu/police and search April 11, I'm the first report on there. Guess it takes less than 5 days. I'm bout to try and get this to my insurance.

4/13/2007 12:40:18 PM

Im pretty sure since you hit him in the side its his fault and thats all the proof you need as well

4/13/2007 1:22:21 PM

I just read the narrative on the report a couple hours ago. And I'm really pissed off. The narrative is wrong. I just got back from the police department and there's nothing I can do until Monday. The way my report is now, Allstate just told me that the best thing I can do is to "let it go." I can't express how mad I am now.

My insurance advised me to get statements from anybody that was at the scene or that passed by. If anyone could help me out...if you saw anything that day, please contact me. I really need this. The other guy didn't even want to get insurance or police involved. He drives a 1988 Maxima that suffered close to no damage. And he knows its his fault.

Sorry for the rambling. I'm not in a great mood right now.

4/13/2007 4:14:22 PM

hopefully fry can help you out

4/13/2007 4:33:23 PM

^yeah I hope so. I sent him a PM earlier.

4/13/2007 4:55:33 PM

Quote :

"I've never been in an accident before so maybe someone can give me some tips. I'm waiting to view the report online to get his insurance info. But how do I prove that it was his fault? The officer said he doesn't determine fault."

You are screwed if you don't have a third party witness or videotape to prove your story. Their insurance will side with them, and your will side with you.

I even pointed out to the investigator that the sequence of the traffic light made what the other person said impossible unless the traffic light malfunctioned. Doesn't matter, it's your word against theirs. My words were in english though...


Edit: It didn't make it better that it was pouring down rain. No way was anyone going to stop to tell the officer anything.

[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 5:56 PM. Reason : .]

4/13/2007 5:54:38 PM

Quote :

"The way my report is now, Allstate just told me that the best thing I can do is to "let it go." I can't express how mad I am now."

oooooouch

4/13/2007 6:03:31 PM

yeah you're really gonna have to man up on this one.

You're gonna need to throw some weight around while keeping a clear head. You fucked up bad at the scene by not getting all the info and getting a witness.

Best advice is right above. Find a witness.

[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 6:42 PM. Reason : a]

4/13/2007 6:41:47 PM

Quote :

"Get some witnesses that actually saw it happen, make sure you get their info. Otherwise, its going to be recorded as you just rear ended him. "

Like I said, unless you have witnesses that will testify he changed lanes and cut you off its going to be recorded as you rear ended him.

Quote :

"Hope you have witnesses, b/c my insurance company (judging by the police report) said it was my fault for rear ending him. After sending about a month getting statements from the 2 witnesses, and taking lots of pictures of the damage....I was finally able to prove he pulled out in front of me, and I hit him as he was merging. "

Cops are almost worthless in traffic accidents like this, they don't take the time to investigate and properly document the situation. They just want a quick in and out. I guess so they can solve the "real" crimes

[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 8:24 PM. Reason : a]

4/13/2007 8:22:41 PM

^but I didn't rear end him? He merged into me. So the damage is on my right-front and rear-quarter and his left side. Will that be enough to help my case??

4/13/2007 10:58:25 PM

Right now, I'm waiting until Monday for the PD to get back to me. And for the body shop to get me an estimate.

4/13/2007 10:58:48 PM

wasn't for me, assuming your insurance company actually looks at the damage. Mine relied on the police report, which was drawn as me rear ending him, even though the damage completely told the opposite.

4/13/2007 11:07:05 PM

Quote :

"In Wake County the police are hesitant to take a stance in a wreck. In other counties they like to give out tickets to those at fault as collateral to make sure they handle their responsibilities. They usually get dropped so Wake County doesn't bother because it's not very profitable and it hurts their stats."

Yeah, when I got hit a few months ago (here in W-S), the officer gave a ticket to the girl who caused the wreck.

Can't believe they won't assign responsibility in Wake--that just makes everything so much more difficult.

4/13/2007 11:08:43 PM

^ yeah, where I'm from the police would write a ticket to someone to pretty much every wreck they saw regardless. If you were going under the speed limit and hist something, they would write too fast for conditions or something about coming around a turn too fast.

I actually liked the cops there, which is not something I can say for Raleigh.

4/16/2007 9:32:25 AM

SET'EM UP

4/16/2007 10:03:11 AM