Lunchbreak massacre

[themossman]

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...

Originally Posted by TAG UR IT

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!

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.

LOL...this sequence made me laugh....mainly because after sevens post...I knew it was coming and he would be 'educated' on the difference between 'lazy' and 'priority'.


There's lots of reasons I'm glad I live in Florida...one being that we're a 'no fault' state...every files on their own insurance and the insurance companies duke it out. I had a guy merge into me last summer...insurance turned out to be invalid. Sucked for him. I offered him an 'easy' way out, pay the body shop to fix my truck...he said 'nope'. Now his license is suspended and he's got a large law firm representing a mammoth insurance company after him. I'm out my deductible until he settles...but...it's allot easier and cheaper than dealing with all that mess.

Best of luck to you OP!

[Iwantone2]

VT2CA, i'm so sorry to hear that your car is hurting at the moment. Let's all hope for the best!!!

[VT2CA]

Everyone who said call the cops I did that and they todl me it was a civil matter and that it doesnt meet the requirements for filing a report. This may be different in other parts of the country but in LALA land the cops dont have time for people who are uninjured smashing into each other on the streets apparantly. Too many high speed chases to jump on and endanger some more lives.
Anyway his insurance company are "still trying to reach him" to see if he admits fault. They did their estimate and it's around $2500, still waiting to hear back from my shop and insuarnce company on what their quote is.
Super annoyed by the whole sitaution

[Iwantone2]

I remember when somebody backed into my mom in a Ralphs parking lot and the cops said they couldn't do anything because it was a private parking lot...okay, i can understand that, but if the accident occurs out in the street?!? C'mon! My mom got hit by somebody that ran a red light and while my mom didn't have any injuries (thank the heavens), the cops came out right away.

[Wild Bill]

Originally Posted by kutch720

Always call the cops. His word is no more trustworthy as yours now when it comes to the insurance companies. Always have it documented. It is the classic he said, she said deal. Hope everything works out in your favor. Good Luck.

You should always have a police report unless you are admitting the accident was entirely your fault. Good Luck!

[HDDAN]

Originally Posted by VT2CA

Everyone who said call the cops I did that and they todl me it was a civil matter and that it doesnt meet the requirements for filing a report. This may be different in other parts of the country but in LALA land the cops dont have time for people who are uninjured smashing into each other on the streets apparantly. Too many high speed chases to jump on and endanger some more lives.
Anyway his insurance company are "still trying to reach him" to see if he admits fault. They did their estimate and it's around $2500, still waiting to hear back from my shop and insuarnce company on what their quote is.
Super annoyed by the whole sitaution

In Massachusetts there is a dollar limit on when the cops must be called. This is to prevent auto insurance fraud. Lawrence Massachusetts was the insurance fraud capital of the world. The TV stations did specials on this a few years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, any accident with either personal injury or $500.00 damage must have a cop investigate at the scene. The do not mind doing this here because the police consider it part of their job. They investigate so that the officer can look you in the eye to get a sense of any shenanigans. The police would never respond to stolen car reports years back because the vehicle was obviously gone. This is what happened to me when my pristine 1970 Mercury Montego was stolen. Then, because of how many cars were reported stolen and burned because people wanted to get out from under their loans, the cops started showing up to interview the car theft victims to see if the theft did not ring true. Sixty Minutes once did a car theft segment from Logan Airport in Boston because of how notorious their parking lots had become. I am sure that you will find that the guy that rear ended you will now have changed his story. I wish you luck collecting. Here in the Bay State, the damage determines the fault, not the story. Look into the deductable waiver to see if your state has it like mine does, it will save you lots of grief in the future if you can add it to your policy. it is a cheap option here. I think that it only adds about $25 to &50 per year.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by HDDAN

In Massachusetts there is a dollar limit on when the cops must be called. This is to prevent auto insurance fraud. Lawrence Massachusetts was the insurance fraud capital of the world. The TV stations did specials on this a few years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, any accident with either personal injury or $500.00 damage must have a cop investigate at the scene. The do not mind doing this here because the police consider it part of their job. They investigate so that the officer can look you in the eye to get a sense of any shenanigans. The police would never respond to stolen car reports years back because the vehicle was obviously gone. This is what happened to me when my pristine 1970 Mercury Montego was stolen. Then, because of how many cars were reported stolen and burned because people wanted to get out from under their loans, the cops started showing up to interview the car theft victims to see if the theft did not ring true. Sixty Minutes once did a car theft segment from Logan Airport in Boston because of how notorious their parking lots had become. I am sure that you will find that the guy that rear ended you will now have changed his story. I wish you luck collecting. Here in the Bay State, the damage determines the fault, not the story. Look into the deductable waiver to see if your state has it like mine does, it will save you lots of grief in the future if you can add it to your policy. it is a cheap option here. I think that it only adds about $25 to &50 per year.

the thing is nowadays if you have the slighest scratch it could cost $500 to get it repaired.. seems to me if you have any kind of body damage to your car it's going to be over that limit.. so CALL THEM!!!

[Kurt_OH]

When it's the other person's fault, I give them two choices on the spot:

1. Hand write a confession stating their guilt/fault, and accepting responsibility to pay. Include D/L number, insurance info and a signature.

or

2. Call the cops without moving the cars.


Any other move is asking for a mess. BIG mistake to let him off.

Still, you should file a police report now and get your side documented ASAP. What's your benefit of NOT calling?

Any pictures taken at the scene/time of the accident - before cars moved so you can document positions?

[2001ragtop]

Another good reason for bringing your lunch to work

[Dave McFly]

to the OP i feel your pain man, 12-13 years ago I was living in Daytona Beach Florida. I was in my 88 Camaro coupe i was coming up to an intersection and cause the heavy traffic flow in the major intersections we have 2 sets of turn lanes. I was in the far left lane at the end by the light waiting for the arrow. in the lane to my right, next to me pulled up this HUGE mid 70s Lincoln Town Car, he was easy a few feet longer than my car! well we both get our arrows and we pull away from the light as we are both making turns he starts to come into MY lane, i jam on the brakes and jam on the horn, just BARELY missing that boat of his taking out the right front end of my car . I followed him for a few blocks until he pulled into a shopping center i get out of my car and let him know what he did and almost did to me. he turns to me and says "well, your young." and walks away from me , i was so PISSED . Oh did i mention he was a older guy in his late 60s to early mid 70s, gotta love Florida where people are dead, they just have not laid down yet .