Lunchbreak massacre

[Scrappy Doo]

Here we don't write accidents reports for accidents like this. It is just how we do business. I obviously can't speak for CA cops, but thats how we do things here.

Also, we don't do "points" here, what are they?

[MrE]

Originally Posted by Scrappy Doo

Here we don't write accidents reports for accidents like this. It is just how we do business. I obviously can't speak for CA cops, but thats how we do things here.

Also, we don't do "points" here, what are they?

Here ya go: http://www.dmv.com/ca/california/dmv-point-system

[Dboy23]

Should have called the cops, either way, go to the police station first thing in the morning and give them his info. With a police report he'll have to pay for it one way or another.

[TAG UR IT]

The guy admitted it was his fault at the scene but we didjnt call the cops and he could barely speak English so who knows if he knew what was going on, plus he had someone with him in his car if the two of them were to cliam it was my fault would I be screwed cause there were no ther witnesses? Im really frustarted right now.

Of course he knew what was going on... But didn't call the police? If you WERE at fault and didn't call the police, you are on the right track... hehe...but if not, first thing you do is grab a pen and start writing their plate number down in case they take off on you. I had an 87 year old man run a stop sign on Saturday...girl passing through hit him. She insisted on calling police. He didn't want them. She went to her car to get a pen to begin collecting his info as she was calling police. What did this old 87 year old do??...He hurried back into his car and FLED THE SCENE. He was too worried about getting "points," losing his license, and having his insurance company drop him! Yes...I follow up on my investigations and my partner went to his house for me...spoke to the wife, told her to have him call us when he got home, and he never did. I went by his house, he admitted to getting into the accident. I asked why he didn't call. He said insurance would take care of his car and he didn't need a report. I asked "what about the driver that struck you?" He said, "I saw her car. There was hardly anything there." This is where I almost lost it... I advised him that "hardly anything" is still something and would NOT have been there had it not been for his careless actions. I asked how she was going to get it fixed if he fled the scene failing to give her his info. He said "well, she got my plate!"

This would have been a "blue form accident." In other words, I didn't have to make a report should he have stayed. But, he fled. Now, he could have gone to jail, faces jail still, faces hundreds of dollars of fines, will most likely lose his license, will lose his insurance. ...all because he was most likely worried about getting in trouble with his insurance due to his age, etc. Crazy.

Ok. Sorry bout the off topic...lol...

Yes, you should have called. They might have written something, maybe not. But, it's worth it!

Originally Posted by Sevn86

Another place to never get in an accident is Houston Texas...the cops are lazy and take their good old time to get there(maybe not all but the ones my dad spoke to)....last time my dad got hit by someone who ran a red light...my dad called the cops and they asked him if everyone was alright, he said yes i think so...and they then said they wont come out and told him to just get each others insurance copies...my dad was like WTF he took off the whole front part of my car and they said they have more important calls to attend...

Lazy cops...lol. You realize that we, the cops, don't know what calls are holding until they are dispatched by the dispatcher, right? So....it's not like we can sit there and see you are waiting and we just say...."hrm...I'll make him wait longer!"

BTW, Texas is going to a new format....called blue forms. Basically, if everyone is okay and certain conditions exist, we don't write the accident any longer. That is correct. It's civil in nature (for the blue forms) and it's handled with insurance companies only. If there is some other factor (towing, taking someone to jail, tickets, etc) we write the report.

And yes....thefts in progress, family violence, assaults in progress, psych cases where mentally ill people are in immediate danger of hurting themselves or others, robberies, "MAJOR" accidents (lots of injuries, etc), burglaries in progress, etc, etc, etc, DO take precedence over a civil action such as a minor crash. Again, it's not that we are LAZY, Sevn86, it's that we have to PRIORITIZE. And, like I said earlier, we don't know about it unless a dispatcher tells us about it.

So...

Don't be so hasty to judge officers that you don't know by calling them lazy (and generalizing an ENTIRE police department)....ESPECIALLY when you weren't even there, didn't talk to the call taker on the phone, and weren't the one in the accident.

Thanks.

[streetjudge79]

ALWAYS, ALWAYS make a police report. I can't stress that enough. You can screw yourself if you don't. All the guy has to do is say it was your fault after the fact.

[HDDAN]

Originally Posted by VT2CA

So I was headed home for lunch today on my regular route about to make a right off the major road I was on when: #SMASH#. The car that was in the lane to the left of me decided to merge into my car without looking. His red paint is now scattered across every panel on the drivers side of my once beautiful CGM Camaro...
Luckily, no one was hurt and he did have legit insurance. My first conversations with his insurance compnay went well, but then once my official adjuster got on with me she made me quite nervous, explaining that they are only going to pay if he admits fault. That I should call my insurance company and consider filing a cliam as well, I certianly dont want to be held responsible or have to come out of pocket for my deductable. I can't imagine a situation where this could possibly be my fault but the adjuster said in cases of accidents with vehicles merging it can be hard to determine who is at fault and that if he claims I merged into him than they will not pay the claim.
Have any of you had similar situations? What was the resolve/how did you handle it. The guy admitted it was his fault at the scene but we didjnt call the cops and he could barely speak English so who knows if he knew what was going on, plus he had someone with him in his car if the two of them were to cliam it was my fault would I be screwed cause there were no ther witnesses? Im really frustarted right now.

NEVER, NEVER GO THROUGH THE OTHER GUY'S INSURANCE COMPANY! I am sure that with a new car like yours, you will have a collision deductable waiver. What this means is that your company will look at the damage and assign responsibility for the crash. They will pay you without a deductable if they deem you not to be at fault, then they will go after the other guy's company to get their money back. They are on your side. The other guy's company is on his side. The do not care who says what about the accident. They do not care about witnesses. They know that people lie. They assign fault based on the damage to your vehicle, and the road conditions. Good luck. I went through this in 2006 with my brand new 2007 Harley FLSTC. I wouldn't even talk to the other guy's company. He rear ended me and claimed that it was a side to side accident like yours. He was looking for a 50% - 50% decision so that he would not be surcharged on his insurance. My company paid me in full and did it promptly. About him admitting fault at the scene, I am sure if you read his accident report, it will not be the case at all. When he got home and talked to his friends and family I am sure that he came up with a new version of the accident that would baffle you. As far as what the adjuster said about merging accidents, there are variables like who was in front of who? Did either driver's lane end? Believe me, go through your own company.

[flyby]

I hope you do not find out the hard way, but...... if you (any of you) are involved in an accident, no matter how small it seems at first, CALL THE CPOS!!!!!!!

[HDDAN]

Originally Posted by flyby

I hope you do not find out the hard way, but...... if you (any of you) are involved in an accident, no matter how small it seems at first, CALL THE CPOS!!!!!!!

Amen to that! When I had the motorcycle accident two posts back, I immediately called the Vermont State Police. I also took many pictures of the accident scene with my cell phone camera. I knew the guy that rear ended me and he still lied on the accident report to his insurance company. But it was to no avail for him because of the type of damage, the police report from the officer and my cell phone pics.

[2010 SSRS]

Wow, that sux.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by MrE

Well, it did happen in good old CA. Hell, it was the CHP officer on scene that told all three of us that if filed the paperwork, we'd all get assessed the 1 point on our records, even if you aren't at fault. Awesome, huh?

ANOTHER good reason for NOT living in California...


Sorry just had to say that.. I visited Cali (LA) once.. didn't care for it, had an earthquake while I was there... got stuck on the freeway...EVERYTHING was expensive, Glad to get back to Tennessee...

[Diabel1969]

It's funny, but lately alot of Yield signs have been taken down around here at various merge's.. Now i'm friends with a few officers in the area, and I asked them "why would the city pull these signs down, knowing that there will be more accidents there??"
His response was that wasn't really a concern, they were more interested in freeing up flow. Then I asked well, what if there's an accident there?? who's at fault??? His reply was that "He who gets there first is in the right, he who gets there second is in the wrong" Meaning that like your camaro was hit in the quarter panel.. Any damage to your front fender, door???? if so, that would mean according to this officers thought process, that the person who hit you, was actually hit by you because you could have and should have plainly seen them. However, if your hit behind the door, then the other driver hit you and they're at fault. See where i'm going with this? take ALOT of pictures, report it to your insurance company, and let them do the rest. But you should also have called the police.. Good Luck!!

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by MrE

Only problem with calling the police, is that if they file a report, you all get dinged a point on your record even if you weren't at fault. I had a fender bender earlier in the year where a minivan hit the car behind me whom in turn hit my bumper. Cop arrived and said that we'd all get dinged, or, just let the insurance companies take care of it. Luckily for me, the guy that started the small chain admitted full fault, but it could have gone the other way just as easily.

This can't possibly be true.

I can't imagine a drunk driver piling into a car stopped at a redlight and killing 5 kids in the back of the car at the light and the police coming and filing a report and the driver of the car with the killed kids gets points on their license.

Makes no sense.

[Mr Twisty]

A pickup merged into me awhile back. If you're going fast enough, lay on your brakes and hopefully leave skid marks dark enough to photograph. If someone is following too closely and hits you, you now have a witness LOL.

FIRST thing, if no one was hurt... Take at least one distant photo before you move your car that shows where you and they came to a stop and hopefully skid marks from you in your lane.

IMMEDIATELY CALL THE COPS even if you don't think they'll respond. My call went like this...
911, what is your emergency?
I was involved in a minor accident with a white Ford pickup tag number XXXXX.

They record everything, so that's covered.

Take LOTS of photos, not just of the damage, but of the area, skid marks, how the auto's are positioned, the face of the driver and any passengers, etc.

Get their info from their license, don't take their word for it when they give you their name and address and INSURANCE CARD. If they refuse, let them drive away, then call the cops back and tell them your minor accident is now a hit-and-run.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by Diabel1969

It's funny, but lately alot of Yield signs have been taken down around here at various merge's.. Now i'm friends with a few officers in the area, and I asked them "why would the city pull these signs down, knowing that there will be more accidents there??"
His response was that wasn't really a concern, they were more interested in freeing up flow. Then I asked well, what if there's an accident there?? who's at fault??? His reply was that "He who gets there first is in the right, he who gets there second is in the wrong" Meaning that like your camaro was hit in the quarter panel.. Any damage to your front fender, door???? if so, that would mean according to this officers thought process, that the person who hit you, was actually hit by you because you could have and should have plainly seen them. However, if your hit behind the door, then the other driver hit you and they're at fault. See where i'm going with this? take ALOT of pictures, report it to your insurance company, and let them do the rest. But you should also have called the police.. Good Luck!!

Now that is stupid. what if you are going to be in front of the other guy and he guns it at the last second and bash him in the side? Not really your fault, he caused it by speeding up... Usually if there is no Yield sign the person merging in or changing lanes is the one that has to yield to the other traffic...
Common sense tells you that...