| Nick1214 |
Some A$$hole rear ended my wife in the Pilot with my kids in the car. He is apparently a lawyer and was on the phone at the time which he of course says that he was not.
My wife has been in queens alot because her father has fallen ill and has been in the hospital for a few weeks. She drove to a park after the hospital to let my 7 year old play. As she stoped to parallel park the stupid a$$ hits her from behind. He jumps out of the car and runs at my wife in a threatening manor and starts yelling "MY JAGUAR I AM A LAWYER YOUR GONNA PAY FOR THIS." My wife gets back in the car and tells the man she is going to wait in the car for the police and locks the doors. She then called 911 and called me. I told her make sure you are not blocking traffic and to stay in the car after making sure everyone was ok. She then attempted to park in the space to get out of the way of traffic and this "lawyer" jumps out of his car and starts yelling and banging on the hood of my pilot like a f0(%inG loonitic and stupid ass that he is. Even the 911 operated told her if possible please move out of traffic. The scumbag then told the cops when they arrived that "the stupid ***** backed up into my car". After hearing this I was outraged. I called over to the 109 and identified myself and told them of the situation and how this man was acting like a druggie and how the cops were letting this occur in front of my children. So the cop basically told me he couldn't do anything. That is the most detailed picture I have from a cell phone but the bottom of the bumper is worse. I am suprised that the damage is not as bad considering how hard this "bump" was being described to me.
As for the Pilot I am going to the autobody now. It may not be worth it to report to the insurance as it looks almost "popable".
Overall the pilot held up pretty well and all I can say is thank God it was nothing worse. That morning I was debating letting my wife take my 1 week old civic and decided against it. If that was my civic the whole trunk would have gotten smashed.
The pilot is a very safe vehicle and I am happy that I can make my payment on it and be fortunate enough to have this type of safety and luxury.
~Nick |
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| krygny |
| Can you pinpoint the precise time of the accident to the minute? The scumba ..., I mean, lawyer's cell phone records can be checked to see if the phone was in use at the time (may need a warrant, tho'). Sounds like the guy might be both arrogant and stupid enough to represent himself. Find out what you can about him and find yourself a lawyer who knows him and can't stand his stinkin' guts. Shouldn't be too hard. |
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| GreenMachine |
I would think a crash reconstruction expert would be able to determine that your wife did NOT back into that guy.
Glad everyone is okay, well your family anyway.
Any dings/dents from him banging on your hood? |
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| jcantanixon |
quote:
Originally posted by GreenMachine
I would think a crash reconstruction expert would be able to determine that your wife did NOT back into that guy.
Glad everyone is okay, well your family anyway.
Any dings/dents from him banging on your hood?
It shouldn't even take an expert. The damage to both vehicles and the compression on the foam in the bumpers gives a good indication to the speed of the impact. I'd like to see him explain that she put the Pilot in reverse and floored it to get up to the impact speed. I'm surprised you didn't mention what the officer on the scene put in his report. As long as the guy in the Jag stepped on the brakes, the nose of his car came down several inches and the impact marks will show that.
According to my aunt at State Farm, 90% of rear end collisions are judged to be the fault of the person in the rear.
As for the guy being an jerk, that's just how some people are. Be thankful no one was hurt and that your wife was smart enough not to react. |
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| kramerd1506 |
| This story reminds me...aren't there black boxes in cars now that can show all kinds of telemetry data about the circumstances of an accident? Does anyone know if there are indeed black boxes in Pilots and how to get the information? If you could prove that the guy was lying to the police, he could be in deeper crap than having caused a car accident. |
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| macphanatic |
| I would report it to your insurance company based upon the facts that you reported. They have the resources to defend you should this ahole file a suit even though he is at fault. Insurance company adjusters are very good a gathering the facts and may be able to subpoena his cellphone records to determine if he was on the phone at the time. IIRC, NY is a handsfree state which could cause him some serious issues. |
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| pilot_man_dan |
quote:
Originally posted by macphanatic
Insurance company adjusters are very good a gathering the facts...
hell yeah they are! they will fight tooth and nail to make sure they don't have to pay out!! |
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| macphanatic |
| Not all are bad. Plus if you weren't at fault they go after the other guy's insurance. |
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| pilot_man_dan |
quote:
Originally posted by macphanatic
Not all are bad. Plus if you weren't at fault they go after the other guy's insurance.
oh yeah, i know.. my comment was meant as a compliment to the insurance companies!
i was in a collision that was not my fault with my old vehicle, and the bastard that hit me got out of his car, saw that my car was immobilized from the collision, then drove off. i had his license number, vehicle make model and color, and a description of the driver, and gave all that to the police, but they were basically worthless.
my insurance company, on the other hand, tracked him down and squeezed every drop of what he owed me out of him. i was very impressed. |
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| macphanatic |
| The fact that the police did nothing would have been worth a call to the State AG. You provided facts about a crime and they didn't do their job. |
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| pilot_man_dan |
an officer came to the scene, and created a police report, and said they would try to find the perp. that was pretty much the last time i heard from the police. i don't think my situation was a priority for them. anyways, when i gave that same information to the insurance company, they were able to quickly resolve the situation. initially, i had to pay my deductible to get my car repaired, but once they found the responsible party, they refunded my deductible, because the damages had been paid in full by the guy who hit me. now that i'm replaying the events that happened, i probably should have turned him over to the cops and had his arrested for hit and run, and then i should have sued his pants off.
this was over 10 years ago now! |
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| ctobio |
Basically what everyone else said. The insurance adjusters will inspect both vehicles, and easily determine that no one backed into him. If need be, they can subpoena his cell phone records if he wants to be a dick about things. He may be a lawyer, but the insurance company has more lawyers.
Insurance companies don't like to pay out. Let your insurance company fight his. You think for one minute your insurance company wants to pay some jackhole so claims he got backed into?
BTW, this wasn't Rufus King Park across from Mary Immaculate Hospital, was it? There's a courthouse right by there- I did jury duty there once, and lived in the neighborhood when I was a wee tyke with a bowl haircut, which was the style in the late '70s :) |
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| krygny |
quote:
Originally posted by macphanatic
The fact that the police did nothing would have been worth a call to the State AG. You provided facts about a crime and they didn't do their job.
What "crime"? |
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| macphanatic |
quote:
Originally posted by krygny
What "crime"?
My comment was in regards to Pilot_Man_Dan's comments - hit and run. |
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| midwest1982 |
| Claim it. My Pilot got hit while it was parked. At first I thought the only damage was the bumper was scratched (The plastic part), license plate was torn off, and a few scratches in the pant. My insurance estimated it at $670 to fix. Took it in to get fix an it was a little over $2000. You will be surprise how a little hit will cost a lot of money. |
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| krygny |
quote:
Originally posted by macphanatic
My comment was in regards to Pilot_Man_Dan's comments - hit and run.
Oops, never mind.
Yeah, I don't know about Wisconsin, but if you leave the scene of an accident here in NY, you'd be lucky not to end up in a PMITA correctional facility. If someone is injured, prison is a virtual certainty. |
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| mikey159 |
quote:
Originally posted by Nick1214
Some A$$hole rear ended my wife in the Pilot with my kids in the car. He is apparently a lawyer and was on the phone at the time which he of course says that he was not.
My wife has been in queens alot because her father has fallen ill and has been in the hospital for a few weeks. She drove to a park after the hospital to let my 7 year old play. As she stoped to parallel park the stupid a$$ hits her from behind. He jumps out of the car and runs at my wife in a threatening manor and starts yelling "MY JAGUAR I AM A LAWYER YOUR GONNA PAY FOR THIS." My wife gets back in the car and tells the man she is going to wait in the car for the police and locks the doors. She then called 911 and called me. I told her make sure you are not blocking traffic and to stay in the car after making sure everyone was ok. She then attempted to park in the space to get out of the way of traffic and this "lawyer" jumps out of his car and starts yelling and banging on the hood of my pilot like a f0(%inG loonitic and stupid ass that he is. Even the 911 operated told her if possible please move out of traffic. The scumbag then told the cops when they arrived that "the stupid ***** backed up into my car". After hearing this I was outraged. I called over to the 109 and identified myself and told them of the situation and how this man was acting like a druggie and how the cops were letting this occur in front of my children. So the cop basically told me he couldn't do anything. That is the most detailed picture I have from a cell phone but the bottom of the bumper is worse. I am suprised that the damage is not as bad considering how hard this "bump" was being described to me.
As for the Pilot I am going to the autobody now. It may not be worth it to report to the insurance as it looks almost "popable".
Overall the pilot held up pretty well and all I can say is thank God it was nothing worse. That morning I was debating letting my wife take my 1 week old civic and decided against it. If that was my civic the whole trunk would have gotten smashed.
The pilot is a very safe vehicle and I am happy that I can make my payment on it and be fortunate enough to have this type of safety and luxury.
~Nick
This is why I put disposable cameras in the glove box of all of my cars. Everyone driving them knows the first thing to do is call the police, the second is to get out and take pictures of everything. No matter who is wrong, take pictures. Then we turn the camera over to the insurance company. Gotten several people in trouble over the years as they told the cops one thing and the camera proved otherwise. Yes we also take pictures of the other driver, they are on a public street, meaning they have no expectation of privacy. None have gone so far as to try and physically take the camera away, just asked for copies of the pictures. I gave them the insurance company info and told them to contact them. If they get ornery I tell them the tow truck company might damamge it and I don't want anyone but the right party paying for the right damage. Some have even asked me to take pictures of their car, I am of course very obliging. |
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| dragoncoach |
| I understand how upset you are but did you have to actually use the Subject Title you used? I think it really degrades a forum when a person uses expletives (eventhough it's "disguised"). Good luck with your outcome. It really shouldn't be too much for your insurance company to prove the Jag owner was at fault. |
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| Nick1214 |
The dent popped right out with the help of a heat lamp. There is still a small crease fron the point of impact but I can live with it.
The estimate to repair it "correctly" was $518.
If i had to pay $518 I would have just done it out of pocket because I have a $500 deductible on that car. |
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| Sportymonk |
STOP! It was HIS fault! HE pays EVERYTHING! Don't "live with it. Your insurance won't have to pay anything. Get it fixed right. He hit you in the rear. HE PAYS not you.
(P.S. I agree with the comment on the title. It doens't reflect the subject of the thread and may have turned some off from reading it. I originally thought you were upset with your pilot. It is offensive even if disguised.)
quote:
Originally posted by Nick1214
The dent popped right out with the help of a heat lamp. There is still a small crease fron the point of impact but I can live with it.
The estimate to repair it "correctly" was $518.
If i had to pay $518 I would have just done it out of pocket because I have a $500 deductible on that car.
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| Nick1214 |
It is going to be 50/50 b.c he says that my wife was backing up and there was no one to witness it. Although my 7 year old explained to the cop that my wife was stopped and the cop told him something like "Oh your a smart one but I do not believe you"
My wife seems to think that as soon as he said that he was a lawyer the cops seemed to take his side and push her not to get a report.
I didn't even notice that it had a small crease until inspecting it from about 2 inches away. I told my son(15) wow you did a good job zainoing the Pilot just as I pulled in my driveway. He replied with "It looked better before some stuck up jerk hurt him"(yes we refer to the pilot as a he lol). I then replied with "Oh I forgot about that". It is not noticeable. Once we buffed a bit and zainoed him he looks perfect again.
I do not want my insurance to go up and he is lease anyway. We may decide to have it fixed "correctly" but it is only $20 more then our deductible and it is not worth it to go through the insurance even if we decide to fix him. I am going to wait for something to change with my father in law. Until our situation changes with him my wife is going to have to parralell park multiple times a day.
I would be angry if I fixed the bumper and then it got scraped up again.
I tried to take a picture of it and I could not even capture this 2 inch crease(with my cell phone) |
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| dragoncoach |
| Personally, I wouldn't have touched it till the insurance company had a chance to look at it. The lawyer is just trying to intimidate you...and he has. He can still sue you. If you conceed you were backing up it may work against you. Your insurance rates can go up if there is a claim against you. You were so upset at the onset and seemed to have basically caved in because of some unknown reason.......? |
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| krygny |
| Well, now this is beginning to sound like almost nothing happened. There's so little damage to the car, it won't even show up in a photograph? No police report? No insurance claim? In the OP, it sounded as though the car was slammed from behind by a maniac who then started banging on the hood in a road-rage rampage. Sounds as though we may have exaggerated a wee bit. |
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| SpecialFX |
| You shouldn't have to "live with" any damage to your vehicle. If he hit her in the back he is 100% at fault. Everyone who hits someone in the rear claims the car in fron backed into them. B.S. He'll lose. Sounds like a real piece of work. Make him pay. Even if the insurance pays you and you pocket the money if you decide not to repair. |
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| pilot_man_dan |
quote:
Originally posted by krygny
Well, now this is beginning to sound like almost nothing happened. There's so little damage to the car, it won't even show up in a photograph? No police report? No insurance claim? In the OP, it sounded as though the car was slammed from behind by a maniac who then started banging on the hood in a road-rage rampage. Sounds as though we may have exaggerated a wee bit.
i think you're on to something... |
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| Nick1214 |
The speed of impact was probably about 3-4 mph. But he was the one who hit her.
I have been through this before. On my old civic I put out my deductible for an accident I had that was not my fault. I was in my lane and he side swiped me. I paid my $1000 deductible being told they would go after him for it. They did go after him, he has no job and no assets.
I am surprised this huge dent did pop out. It looked as though it was misaligned and damaged beyond repair. When I posted the damage looked terrible. Also the problem with him being 100% at fault is that my wife said "I think I was not moving" knowing that she was not moving but just spitting incorrect words out.
It is a small crease that I am not even able to capture on camera. At most it will cost me $200-300 if it gets to me. |
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| crvrefuge |
If the police were there and your wife called 911 the paper trail and
records of this mishap are public information.
It appears very little damage ocurred.
However, this "Lawyer" may cause you problems up to 23 months
from now. Your state probably allows civil suits to be files up to
24 months after the "event". (whiplash...need I say more.)
It's best your insurance company knows of the possilbe future liability.
the CRV Refuge |
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| Shindig78 |
quote:
Originally posted by crvrefuge
However, this "Lawyer" may cause you problems up to 23 months from now. Your state probably allows civil suits to be files up to 24 months after the "event".(whiplash...need I say more.)
And yes, this does happen! I was in a fender bender in the summer of 2002. The Neon in front of me rear-ended the car in front of him; I couldn't stop in time so I rear-ended the Neon (in my company-issued V10 F-250). The accident ended up being my fault because I was the last car in line. No one was hurt, the police came and left, everyone drove away in their own cars, and my company's insurance covered everything. No harm, no foul.
Fast forward two years, now the summer of 2004, and someone comes to my house to serve me with papers! I was being sued by the driver of the Neon and his wife (who was not even in the car) for $50,000 each. The Porsche dealership where I worked at the time of the accident was also being sued by both parties for the same amount. Luckily, the insurance stepped in and handled everything. The lawsuit was obviously frivolous, but it could have been ugly without the insurance.
In the end, the dealership was very understanding (the owner actually told me not to worry about it -- they had several dealerships and many company-owned vehicles on the road at any given time, so they would get sued "weekly" over these types of incidents), and I only had to go and give a deposition in front of my lawyers, the other guy's ambulance chaser, and a court reporter.
After that experience, my advice is to keep any and all records of the accident, including any photos you may have. It might be helpful later on down the road in case anything comes back. It also might be a good idea to call your insurance agent and talk to them about the situation without filing a claim. They should be able to advise you on your options, and your rates should not be affected unless you actually file a claim.
By the way, I agree with dragoncoach -- the title of this thread could be a little more family friendly. Perhaps a moderator could edit it? |
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| rockman19762001 |
| File a claim with your insurance company, if the maniac attorney wants to sue you. Your insurance company has more attorneys then he does. The last thing a insurance company wants to do is pay out money, and if your insurance company does settle, they will protect you and your heirs from future action by this attorney in the future. |
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| DB22 |
| I just can't decide if I hate insurance companies more or less than attorneys. |
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| Jman |
Going thru something VERY similar. Kid backed out of a parking spot into my wife's car. He stated it was all his fault, he didn't look didn't see. Police come and the kids father talks my wife out of it saying he'll pay for the damage. We get an estimate and the father flips and says that's too much. On good faith we get another estimate - about the same. The father lowballs an offer to us and says if that's not good we need to go thru insurance. Both parties now have to go to Police so they can take the report. The facts are stated, the kids says it's his fault...all is good right?......Fast forward. His insurance company finds us 70% 30% (convienent that it's just about my deductible if I had gone thru my own ins). Arguing with the Ins co. right now. Apparently the kid (coached by daddy who knew his way around Ins) told a completely different story to his ins. I'm PO'd and my car is still waiting to be fixed.
If in an accident - call the police make them fill out the report. Get witnesses, take pictures. |
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| krygny |
quote:
Originally posted by Jman
...
If in an accident - call the police make them fill out the report. Get witnesses, take pictures.
I doubt you can even get a cell phone anymore that doesn't have a good enough camera for snapshots, so that problem is solved for most of us.
A police report is a good idea but it's not essential, assuming there are no injuries. A police report will rarely inculpate or exculpate either party. They're real careful about that. They just record what they saw when they arrived. They draw no conclusions and they don't take statements from witnesses unless there's the possibility of criminality (e.g., DWI). Even if you say the idiot was talking on his cell when he hit you, if the cop didn't see it, he doesn't care.
A third-party witness is your ace in the hole. Get one to agree to be contacted by your insurance company, and you're home free.
And, unless the guy is willing, on the spot, to hand you a wad of cash that you know is more than the damage, never, never, NEVER get sucked into the "Can we handle this without insurance companies?" line of BS. Always report it right away.
Most insurance companies will drop you if you're involved in an accident and you don't report it. You might wonder, how would they find out? I knew someone who was in an accident and foolishly agreed with the guy who hit her, not to involve their insurance companies. She was in regular contact with the guy, getting estimates, negotiating, and the guy seemed to be dealing in good faith. Well, the guy actually DID report it to HIS insurance company. About two weeks after the accident, she gets a call from her insurance company asking why she didn't report it!!
WAH-WAH
They dropped her. To top it all off, she never got a dime from the lyin' bastard who hit her. |
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| crvrefuge |
When you go to get your FREE estimate at a body shop...
your vin# and amount of damage to your car is in a database...
Cost to cure...yes is provided, but do you think the body shop
does all that detailed analysis down to the turn signal bulb out of the
goodness of their little hearts...
All that information is bought and sold about your auto...
So is your health insurance, home owner insurance, etc...
your credit rating also plays a part in your insurance rates...
lower the credit score the higher your rate...
watch your paper trial,
the CRV Refuge |
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