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Car accident today... my favorite.

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  • #1

    Car accident today... my favorite.

    Good day,

    Today, some 88 year old man driving a 1999 Ford Escort backed into my CTS. I was parked on the side of the street, and went to the library to do some work. I came back an hour later, and saw this guy's rear bumper planted into my front bumper. My front license plate bracket was pushed into the front bumper, and this guy was dumb enough to leave the car where it was (in my front bumper...). I waited about half an hour outside, and this old man came out and walked to the car. I explained the situation to him nicely, but he didn't seem to comply. After some confrontation, mostly consisted of him saying "I don't see any damage" and "I didn't feel my car hitting yours." I got his number, address, and license, and then asked for his insurance. He gave me his insurance card, which said it expired in August 2008. I then took pictures, double checked all the info, and let him drive off. Time to get a new bumper, bumper enforcer, and a paint job.

    Hunter
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

    That's a shame, and really frustrating. I would have called the police since his insurance was expired - but it is illegal here in California to drive w/o insurance. Is it in NJ?

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    • #3
      Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

      I think it's illegal to drive anywhere with expired insurance... I didn't call the police because I called my parents before the old man came back, and they told me not to call unless I absolutely have to. And considering the man was 88 years old, I didn't want to give him a heart attack or something. As long as his insurance company fixes my bumper, I won't ask for more.

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      • #4
        Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

        Originally posted by agp423 View Post
        As long as his insurance company fixes my bumper, I won't ask for more.
        But if he doesn't have insurance? Here in NY, we have to have uninsured motorist coverage for this type of situation. Jersey may be the same?
        There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?

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        • #5
          Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

          At least no one was injured. let's hope he does have insrance. sorry this happened to you.
          quality creates its own demand

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          • #6
            Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

            Originally posted by agp423 View Post
            I think it's illegal to drive anywhere with expired insurance... I didn't call the police because I called my parents before the old man came back, and they told me not to call unless I absolutely have to. And considering the man was 88 years old, I didn't want to give him a heart attack or something. As long as his insurance company fixes my bumper, I won't ask for more.
            Huh... and huh?

            There are only 2 states that I can think of where insurance is not required (NJ is not one of them). Don't ask me why... it's just that way.

            Why would your parents tell you not to file a police report? It's _required_ that the person exchange insurance information. If the person cannot provide valid insurance, then the police need to be called. They can issue a citation which will end up requiring him to obtain insurance. Or you can simply allow him to continue to hit other people with no way to pay them either.

            Why would his insurance pay for the damage... if he has no insurance? Now, even if he does, why should he give you this information or even return your calls? Here is the thing... he did not want to admit to backing into your car at the time of the accident... why would he want to admit to it later? I'm sorry but I've seen this a million times before... he's just going to deny that he hit your car and not do anything else. It's good that you have a photos but a police report would have helped. Bottom line... how would have calling the police have hurt you? I don't understand your parents reaction.

            Taking the photos was a very smart thought. With those at lease you can show that the other person's vehicle was against your.

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            • #7
              Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

              That's horrible. I hope you get it repaired fast.

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              • #8
                Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                Originally posted by tcope1 View Post
                Huh... and huh?

                There are only 2 states that I can think of where insurance is not required (NJ is not one of them). Don't ask me why... it's just that way.

                Why would your parents tell you not to file a police report? It's _required_ that the person exchange insurance information. If the person cannot provide valid insurance, then the police need to be called. They can issue a citation which will end up requiring him to obtain insurance. Or you can simply allow him to continue to hit other people with no way to pay them either.

                Why would his insurance pay for the damage... if he has no insurance? Now, even if he does, why should he give you this information or even return your calls? Here is the thing... he did not want to admit to backing into your car at the time of the accident... why would he want to admit to it later? I'm sorry but I've seen this a million times before... he's just going to deny that he hit your car and not do anything else. It's good that you have a photos but a police report would have helped. Bottom line... how would have calling the police have hurt you? I don't understand your parents reaction.

                Taking the photos was a very smart thought. With those at lease you can show that the other person's vehicle was against your.
                Pardon my ignorance, I thought every state required insurance. His insurance expired in 2008, but he says he has insurance and it's just at home. If he was telling the truth, then his insurance would pay, if he wasn't, then he would pay as I have all his information and pictures as proof. And my parents doesn't think that calling the police will hurt me, they thought that it would make things more complicated... I'm not sure. Last accident, the driver that bumped into me agreed to work a deal out without going through insurance.
                But anyway, I just checked my car this morning, the damage doesn't seem to be that bad, just the front license bracket was pushed into the bumper very slightly. Can I still nag his insurance company to get me a new bumper?

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                • #9
                  Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                  Originally posted by agp423 View Post
                  Pardon my ignorance, I thought every state required insurance. His insurance expired in 2008, but he says he has insurance and it's just at home. If he was telling the truth, then his insurance would pay, if he wasn't, then he would pay as I have all his information and pictures as proof. And my parents doesn't think that calling the police will hurt me, they thought that it would make things more complicated... I'm not sure. Last accident, the driver that bumped into me agreed to work a deal out without going through insurance.
                  But anyway, I just checked my car this morning, the damage doesn't seem to be that bad, just the front license bracket was pushed into the bumper very slightly. Can I still nag his insurance company to get me a new bumper?
                  You should have called the police just to get the report. The insurance company may want to know why you did not call the police and get an official report since insurance companies are very suspicious about everything. The report usually would indicate who is at fault which is very important to the insurance company even if no ticket is issued.
                  Al
                  ~ Providing biased opinions

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                  • #10
                    Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                    Originally posted by agp423 View Post
                    Can I still nag his insurance company to get me a new bumper?
                    ANY damage done would be repaired by insurance. My wife and I were rear ended a few years ago in a vehicle with 3000 miles on it. The car that hit us was going, maybe, 5 MPH. Made just slight crease in bumper, you really had to look to see it, but we had it repaired anyway...especially since the vehicle was so new!
                    There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?

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                    • #11
                      Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                      Originally posted by kimchiyuk View Post
                      But if he doesn't have insurance? Here in NY, we have to have uninsured motorist coverage for this type of situation. Jersey may be the same?
                      Only problem with that is he will be responsible for his deductible. If it goes through the other party's insurance he pays nothing since he was at no fault in the incident. Hunter, maybe he has the new insurance card just wasn't carrying it. Give him a call. See what happens.

                      Andy
                      Keeping MOL family friendly! If you need help or have a question, don't hesitate to shoot me an email or PM. 101impala@gmail.com
                      Andy M. Moderator

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                      • #12
                        Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                        While it may be true that he does have insurance... and I hope that it is... if a person causes an accident and does not have insurance, what are they probably going to tell the other person?

                        If this person's card expired in 2009 I'd be more incline to think he just did not replace it but in this case it's pretty old. A police report would probably have yielded him a citation which would require him to show proof of insurance.

                        As it is, even if he does have insurance, he may be less likely to give it to you at a later date. You mentioned that he does not think he cause the damage to your car and did not want to exchange information at the accident location. So why would he be more willing to give it to you over the phone? If he refuses to pick up the phone and/or give you his insurance information, you now have a hard road ahead of you. Filing the police report and having him be issued a citation means traffic court is now working on your side. As it is now, it's just a civil matter that _you_ need to handle.

                        This person that worked out a deal before... did you have their insurance information? If so, then this is completely different. You had then between a rock and a hard space. If they did not handle it, you could still report it to their carrier.

                        If its a plastic bumper and it's anything more then a scratch to the paint, the number will be replaced. Plastic is too difficult to repair and takes too much labor. It's quicker to just replace the bumper.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                          I didn't think he caused the damage, but I don't blame him not because he didn't hit my car, but because he's 88, and I'm 19 and I can barely see the damage. He wasn't unwilling to give me his info at the site of accident, I got all his info including his expired insurance. I talked to my dad and he said that if I have to deal with his insurance company, which would be in his defense, they wouldn't even fix the bumper because the dent is so minor you can barely tell. I'm going to take a picture next weekend when I go home and let you guys take a look.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                            I've been a Trooper for 8 years. You should have had a crash report taken. Its as simple as that.

                            Colin
                            A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Car accident today... my favorite.

                              Yeah I would have called the Police irregardless since he was denying any wrongdoing even though as you state it was painfully obvious that he did in fact cause the damage (can't get any further from the fact that his rear bumper was making out with your front bumper). The expired registration itself is a big red flag, I don't know about Jersey but here in Pa, not having current insurance card is just as bad as driving without a current DL. It doesn't matter if he was 88 or 18, doing something that stupid needs to be dealt with.
                              For those who fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.

                              736th GunTrucks "Bakersfield to Bagdad"

                              Wife say's I'm "obsessed"!

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