Any accident experts here?

[Kolyan2k]

How to prove that you were not at fault in accident. The other party lied to insurance. My car wasn't moving, the other party took a wide right turn while texting on phone and hit me. Obviously didn't tell insurance that she was texting or whatever that she was doing, and said that we both were moving and hit each other.

[ASAP]

was there Police involved? i thought thats up to them to determine

[alex2364]

You need a police report, video evidence, or eye witness. Otherwise, it's he said she said.

[cbpip]

Had similar situation, call her insurance company and filed on her. Filled out the report showing I was stationary. Did a drawing of how the vehicles where placed when she backed into me. Also I standing out side my car yelling at her when she did the damage. She also tried to give me false insurance info that had expired. Wouldn't let her leave until I spoke to her insurance to validate it was current. Push back.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by ASAP

was there Police involved? i thought that's up to them to determine

That has been my experience.
That is why you always request a police report even if it's a parking lot issue. The police may turn you down but at least you tried. The insurance companies will generally do arbitration to decide the percentage of fault. If you don't like the results, there is always small claims court. Good luck.

[BlkGS]

File against other drivers insurance. What you'll find out quickly is that insurance doesn't care who's fault it was for a little fender bender. It costs them nothing and is cheaper to fix the damage to the altar than it is to investigate.

Had a similar situation where some jackass turned out of a gas station and sideswiped me. He filed against my insurance, I filed against his. My insurance never contacted me to even ask about it they just said "a couple grand to fix your van, whatever". When I found out that this had happened I called and said the guy was at fault and sideswiped me, they said "we don't investigate for minor incidents like this to determine fault".

At the end of the day, either of you could be lying, and without video proof or whatever, it's cheaper for the insurance company to not care and split fault.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by ASAP

was there Police involved? i thought thats up to them to determine

Originally Posted by alex2364

You need a police report, video evidence, or eye witness. Otherwise, it's he said she said.

lol. I did call the police, they showed up and left. Refused to file police report

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

File against other drivers insurance. What you'll find out quickly is that insurance doesn't care who's fault it was for a little fender bender. It costs them nothing and is cheaper to fix the damage to the altar than it is to investigate.

Had a similar situation where some jackass turned out of a gas station and sideswiped me. He filed against my insurance, I filed against his. My insurance never contacted me to even ask about it they just said "a couple grand to fix your van, whatever". When I found out that this had happened I called and said the guy was at fault and sideswiped me, they said "we don't investigate for minor incidents like this to determine fault".

At the end of the day, either of you could be lying, and without video proof or whatever, it's cheaper for the insurance company to not care and split fault.

I have a feeling you are correct. I was just thinking, isn't it obvious that if one vehicle is stationary and the other vehicle collides with it, the most damage will be on the stationary vehicle. And in this case her car has minor scratches and I have probably 5-10k in damage there. Its not a big accident, but I just replaced a mirror on my other car and that was $3k I wouldn't be surprised if this one is close to 10k

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

I have a feeling you are correct. I was just thinking, isnt it obvious that if one vehicle is stationary and the other vehicle collides with it, the most damage will be on the stationary vehicle. And in this case her car has minor scratches and I have probably 5-10k in damage there

Actually no.

My wife had someone slide into her in her expedition last year (shitty Corolla, shitty tires, little bit of rain, little coked out girl driver). While the final bill to repair everything was pretty sizeable just due to it being a moderately expensive vehicle, her car had basically no damage easily visible. The Corolla lost its front end. The corolla hit our expedition in the wheel, scuffed that up, scuffed up the fender and the power running boards, and that was it. I think they towed the Corolla away.

I wanna say the final bill for her car was about $7k, plus another $1k for the child seats that insurance paid to replace (because they're one time use no matter how minor the incident was - cheaper for insurance to replace them than to maybe have to pay medical bills if it was actually damaged).

Ultimately it's one of those things where you just have to focus on the important part that nobody you care about was hurt.

[freakystyly]

I think the police refusing to report is due to it being on private property and not on the street. Might depend on the area's laws. Of course it's the other driver's fault for the wide right turn into oncoming traffic, stationary or not, it's just not their circus or their monkeys.

You'll have to ask insurance how best to handle it.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by freakystyly

I think the police refusing to report is due to it being on private property and not on the street. Might depend on the area's laws. Of course it's the other driver's fault for the wide right turn into oncoming traffic, stationary or not, it's just not their circus or their monkeys.

You'll have to ask insurance how best to handle it.

I did, they said sit tight and wait for the outcome. And I am 99% sure it's 50/50....

If it was 1% of my fault, I wouldn't loose sleep over it But it was 0 and the btch is just lying to insurance.....

[gblansten]

Sorry this happened. I had thought about getting a dashcam with my last car. Makes me appreciate the cameras on my Tesla. Too many people lie about accidents.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by gblansten

Sorry this happened. I had thought about getting a dashcam with my last car. Makes me appreciate the cameras on my Tesla. Too many people lie about accidents.

Yeah, the insurance agent told me nearly 100% of people lie. But this is the 1st time in my life I could've benefitted from dash cam

[STATIC A$TRO]

lmao, i like how the paint traded was from the other party to you

[RM7]

You need to make written sworn statements as to what happen. You need to send a summary to yours and the other insurance companies. You need to take all the pictures, see if you can get some business security cam footage. Yes to the police report. Don't take no for an answer, if they say they won't take it, ask to speak to a supervisor and explain, if still no, that's what your elected representative is for. Written documentation is absolutely critical, as in a paper trail. Phone calls are typically poor ways to do this, because they can just be denied as to ever having happened. For each new development, write a new statement and sign it. Even if you make phone calls, make a statement summarizing that phone call. You've got some good stuff starting there with your pictures, make sure they get included in the police report.

Also, how do you know the person was on their phone? If you visually observed this, again, put it in the statement.

[RM7]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

lol. I did call the police, they showed up and left. Refused to file police report

Call your elected representative and explain how the police are not doing their job. Go down to the station and demand to file a police report. Don't let them convince you otherwise. You have rights.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by RM7

You need to make written sworn statements as to what happen. You need to send a summary to yours and the other insurance companies. You need to take all the pictures, see if you can get some business security cam footage. Yes to the police report. Don't take no for an answer, if they say they won't take it, ask to speak to a supervisor and explain, if still no, that's what your elected representative is for. Written documentation is absolutely critical, as in a paper trail. Phone calls are typically poor ways to do this, because they can just be denied as to ever having happened. For each new development, write a new statement and sign it. Even if you make phone calls, make a statement summarizing that phone call. You've got some good stuff starting there with your pictures, make sure they get included in the police report.

Also, how do you know the person was on their phone? If you visually observed this, again, put it in the statement.

That sure seems like an awful lot of hassle for a fender bender of no importance. But you do you, Karen.

[zx10guy]

Many police departments are not even responding to simple fender benders anymore. Dispatch will tell you to exchange insurance information and that's it. They will respond if any of the vehicles involved are not operable or if there are injuries.

I had a similar situation where it was my word against the other person's. I was turning left as I was already in the intersection when the light turned red to clear the intersection. Some old bat ran the red light and creamed the rear corner of my car. She claimed it was my fault and I claimed it was her fault. My insurance said based on what I said about the incident, they're denying her claim as she did try to file against my insurance.

Not being satisfied, I had a chat with a friend/coworker. He's a licensed professional engineer that has done expert testimony in court for crash cases. He said he would do some analysis and a write up based on his professional opinion. He went out to the intersection, timed the lights, did measurements, calculations, and then the write up. I sent the write up where he was supporting my position to my insurance company. A few months later, I received a check in the mail for my deductible I had paid to get my car fixed under my policy. Definitely pays to have friends with unique skills/qualifications. Best of all, I got his services free of charge.

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

Yeah, the insurance agent told me nearly 100% of people lie. But this is the 1st time in my life I could've benefitted from dash cam

Had a driver sideswipe me going from 93 South to 95/128 South. Old people in their 70s, told me it was his fault, wife was on oxygen going for surgery at Lahey.

They of course told insurance it was my fault. That's when I realized *everyone* lies and without a witness or a dashcam, my agent told me it's 50/50.

Wrote a big long letter to my insurance company explaining everything and adamant I was at 0% fault and got lucky and they covered the repair, no deductible.

After that, front/rear dash cam went in my M2 and front dashcam in the X3 and Mazda. I hope I will never have to use them. Only accident I caught was right next to me and didn't hit my car:

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by RM7

You need to make written sworn statements as to what happen. You need to send a summary to yours and the other insurance companies. You need to take all the pictures, see if you can get some business security cam footage. Yes to the police report. Don't take no for an answer, if they say they won't take it, ask to speak to a supervisor and explain, if still no, that's what your elected representative is for. Written documentation is absolutely critical, as in a paper trail. Phone calls are typically poor ways to do this, because they can just be denied as to ever having happened. For each new development, write a new statement and sign it. Even if you make phone calls, make a statement summarizing that phone call. You've got some good stuff starting there with your pictures, make sure they get included in the police report.

Also, how do you know the person was on their phone? If you visually observed this, again, put it in the statement.

She was either texting or picking up something from the floor or something. The car was headed right at me and I could see that the entire time she wasn't looking at the road. That's the entire reason why accident happened. She was basically driving diagonally on the parking lot

Ps. Police responded, they just didn't want to file report and left

[Kolyan2k]

Cops here are POS. My dad had dementia, no insurance, and no license, and was very old and bad driver.....dangerously bad. Many many accidents.
He was driving around town and I was worried for his and other people's safety. I called the police and told them the story. You will never believe what they said.....Wait till he kills someone, then we will get involved.
This all ended with him running over a pedestrian, I think with only minor injuries. He was taken to court but due to age and no insurance there was nothing the injured person could do

[Kolyan2k]

Will do writen statement and get police call log. I can guarantee they will arrest me if I demand some report lol.