Not sure if this is the right place for a question like this but... THE ACCIDENT: http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/h...iftysomething/ for more pictures Driving to work on 8/16/09 at 9am I got on the Sawgr*** Expressway. This SOB decides to cut me off/merge in to me, I had to hit the breaks and flip a 180* into a guardrail. Driver. Never. Stops. A witness picked me up and we tracked him down. He refused to pull over then swore that he wasn't involved. I'm okay, a bit of pain in my neck/shoulder but mostly a hurting heart. Watch out for these dumba$$ holier-than-thou-I-have-more-important-places-to-go-than-you-do drivers. THE QUESTION: "Comparative Fault: If you are in a state which has adopted some form of comparative fault or negligence, the judge or jury will determine your recovery and your percentage of fault. Under the rule of comparative negligence, your recovery of damages will be reduced, but not necessarily eliminated, by your contributory negligence. Contributory negligence means that your carelessness helped to cause the accident and your injuries. ***uming that the judge or jury finds that the other driver was negligent and that his negligence, at least in part, caused your injuries, then your recovery will be reduced by the percentage of your fault." -http://personal-injury.lawyers.com Have any of you had problems in any auto accident, hot-rod related or not, with this comparitive negligence? The guy says that I crossed a solid white line which is why I'm partially at fault, didn't happen. My lawyer (seems like a goon) and the guy I'm suing keeps offering 70/30. I dont want to take the hit considering this guy even FLED THE SCENE after CUTTING ME OFF. Are you kidding? Comparitive Negligence? Compare this.
Dude, That ****S! No real consolation, but at least you're alright! A truck can be repaired and/or replaced. I have no experience in the area of question, but it just don't seem right!
Will the witness testify in your behalf & state that you didn't cross the line & that the other driver was at fault? If so I think you would have a case against the other driver. Was he charged by police? Seems that would help as well. ****'s about your truck but at least you walked away could have been worse!!!
Minnesota is a comparitive negligence state. 3 1/2 years ago I was driving the '51 back from my wedding when an 85 year old man decided to ignore a stop sign and picked me off. His insurance tried ruling that I was 10% at fault since I was speeding (62 in a 60). It took an amazing amount of phone calls and lawyering to get them to drop the claim. Thankfully my insurance company stood behind me 100% and eventually won the battle (and the $10,000 in damage to the truck). There is a time and place for the comparitve negligence, but it gets over used. I feel that when one party makes a significant traffic infraction (blowing a stop sign or leaving the scene of an accident) they should automatically be 100% responsible.
hate to say it...but if he didnt make contact with your truck your outa luck.. in my state they would view this as a single car accident and you would get a ticket for failure to maintain control, or something of the like..possibly even careless driving. I would also be wondering why your truck broke into a 180 from slaming on the brakes. I know what im saying is not going to be recieved well..but its how the law looks at things at least in my neck of the woods..please dont shoot the messenger. sorry about your truck, glad yer ok
they didnt charge him for fleeing! i thought about that as i was going home, but they were fully aware because he showed up 15 min after the police (he dropped his friend off after we caught up to him!) and the witness isnt really answering calls or anything :/ he did testify that he didnt KNOW if i did or not, he was just checkin the truck out and saw it happen
It's all understandable, the roads were a bit wet from the dawn rain so I tried to keep control but tire locked up and I just had no luck on my side that day. I think it's absolutely ridiculous about the collision thing. Yes I had the ABILITY to let him hit me, but who knows how that would have turned out, I don't want to let the guy get injured just because I can't afford to spend a few bucks on fixing it you know?
I would also be wondering why your truck broke into a 180 from slaming on the brakes. yeah... me too. been driving 33 years and locked the brakes up twice in that time. once for a red light I did not know was there and once for a deer. went straight both times. edit: make that 3 times. locked 'em up in the rain once too. turned the wheel and still went straight.
Yeah, I am amazed at what the police let happen. My daily truck was rear-ended in a very common accident location. Kid was in a little dodge slammed into the back of me, was cited for speeding and no insurance and then they let him drive his car away. I pointed at the driver as he was leaving, said "no insurance, hello?" and the officer just shrugged.
This happened to my brother quite a few years ago. He was oulling out on the hiway. Clear both directions. All of a sudden this guy appears from around a corner that is at least a half mile away coming from the left. He caught my brothers car on the RIGHT side. After all was said and done with the WSP, he was told that it was partially his fault, even though they determined the other guy was doing 90+ in a 50 zone. Their reasoning was "state law" says you are at partial fault for "just being on the road". As far as I know it is still on the books.
The thing is, I'm not trying to go after this guy for lost wages or extreme pain or anything like that, YES I do have to go the chiropractor weeklyx2 because my neck/back did take a real beating, but I only want him to pay what he has to. I'm not one of these money grubbing hounds that tries to take ya for every penny you have, I just don't think thats just.
basically than as i see it ..its your word against his..and no damage on his vehicle..they are going to view this as a single car accident. how do they (Law enforcement) have proof this was THE guy that ran you off the road, and you just didnt decide to pick him out because he was wearing blue socks. Here in Michigan..if someone pulls out infront of you and you hit them..its your fault , because you are supposed to have your vehicle under control at all times reguardless of the road conditions or what the other dumb *** did.and that can be a drag in situations such as this
It's the same way in FL, if you hit someone in the rear, you're at fault. I avoided hitting him not because of a lawsuit but because I am a defensive driver, I am a generous person and I sincerely didn't want this guys car or body to be damaged because he's careless. Did he deserve to learn the hard way? Maybe. I still think the law is ridiculous. Just as the ridiculous law that you can't push a mule out of a moving plane... some laws need to be revisited.
About 10 years ago, I had a guy pull right out in front of me. I was on a through hiway, and he was on a side street with a stop sign. I saw the guy, and saw that he stopped for the stop sign when I was right up on him. Much to my amazement, as soon as he stopped, he hit the gas again and pulled right in front of me and I hit him in the p***ener rear door. The air bag went off and everything. I wasn't hurt and neither were the two guys in the other car. They were two foreign guys that could hardly speak English. As soon as he got out, the driver said "Me go home! Me go home", and took off walking down the street. By the time the cops got there, he was nowhere to be seen, but his brother (as it turned out) was still there. I told the cops what happened, and then they tried to talk to the guy that was still there, he knew even less English than his brother. Bottom line, the cops didn't do anything; as a matter of fact, when they saw there was a communication problem, they just gave up. I turned this into my insurance company, and they went after the other guy for damages. Someone, somewhere, came to the conclusion that the accident was 10% my fault. When I *****ed to my insurance company, they just said forget it, and paid for everything. I guess 10% is not enough to fight for. Bottom line, I came out OK, because they totaled the car, but I bought it back and put $1000 in my pocket after all the repairs were done. My car wasn't hurt that bad (the air conditioning condensor was bent but didn't leak). It turned out that if the air bag goes off, they automatically total the car. All's well that end well, but it just shows how screwed up everything about stuff like this is.
Well, no airbags in the '49 and no way it's totaled! Thats a crummy story but at least you came out of it okay. I agree though, sometimes life is just pain unfair.
I know ...it ****s dont it? there are soooo many drivers that i would love to push out of the back of airplanes and so many more drivers that need to be riding Mules
Sorry about your accident and I'm glad you're okay. I've never heard of Comparitive Negligence, but I can see how it could or would be used by cops or lawyers. My accident was a very rude wake up. I learned the hard way that no matter how safe you are, the idiots will still find a way to ruin your life. I drove with my head on a swivel and still got hit. One thing I used to do and don't anymore, is ***UME the other guy has a clue. I'll never do that again and I hope no one else does. Another thing I used to do is forget what I'm driving. It's easy to be "livin' in the moment" and forget that you are driving something that, compared to newer cars, is not nearly as crunch proof. Gotta give EVERYTHING and EVERYONE a wide berth and ***ume they are idiots, because in a lot of cases, they are. Oh, if your opinion of your lawyer is that they aren't up to snuff, get another one. I got a good one and thank God for that.
Man,I got two 50 Chevy pu's,I can sorta feel your pain and for sure glad you have no lasting injury pain........... Here's a lawyer link explaining this negligence **** and the states that have it. http://www.the-injury-lawyer-directory.com/negligence.html
HAHAHAH. Ah thank you for lightening this thread and making me laugh out loud at work. Until you've seen FLORIDA driving ya ain't seen NOTHIN!
Comparative Negligence laws are not enforced by the police . They are enforced by the court in property damage claims. These are some of the most abused statutes on the books. Well intentioned when written their primary purpose was to resolve issues of disputed responsiblilty . The biggest culprit for the misapplication of the law are the insurance companies (and their legal departments), especially those referred to as substandard carriers. You dont have to make contact with an auto to become 100 % liable for damages. Make sure your insurance company is aware of this situation because in a disputed liablity claim the total amount of damage is calculated from all parties and then the amounts dispersed on the percentage of responsiblity of that sum. Even if it appears that there is no damage on the other parties vehicle they still may try to collect 30% of something from you. If you have an attorney working on your behalf, dont be afraid to question his knowledge ,expierience and understanding of application of this law. An attorney whos primary practice is real estate law wouldn't be my choice for representation in this matter. Is you attorney negotiating with an insurance company representative or the other drivers lawyer ? Get involved and ask questions of your guy. Hell that what he is getting paid for .
I was under the impression that since I signed a contract with him I would not be able to switch lawyers, I was just informed of a great lawyer in my area that has dealt with this type of situation before. My lawyer specializes in traffic accidents as well as ****ing at life. I'm gonna try to give him the boot and see whats up, I'm not sure if he's dealing with the lawyer or ins. agent but either way he's not really doing a stand up job.
That's happened to me before. Looooong story. Since then - TWICE I've been in the left lane (and speeding) when someone decided to cut in front of me. Instead of slamming on the brakes and goin' what you (and I ) went through again, they hit me, in the p***. front with thier dr. side rear, lost the *** end of their car, went into the median, flipped, and in both cases were ejected from their cars. BOTH walked away (!!) but I wouldn't have felt bad at all if they didn't. Maybe they'll drive a little smarter now, because no one really slows down. In both cases - I (my insurance) fixed a fender, billed the dumba$$ in the median, and all was good. IF I had slammed on the brakes, I'd have stacked up plenty of folks behind me ( 'cause in Fl. you have to drive 4 inches behind the next guy) or wrecked myself sliding into a median or ?? They made a bad desicion and paid for it -NOT ME.
the law reads in black and white, no gray areas. even if this guy hit you, it's his word against yours. did you call the cops? did you file an accident report? do you have any witnesses? keep in mind he will probably pay someone off to say they witnessed the accident. IF YOU CAN'T DO***ENT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, not your words vs his, you're out of luck. he might be an A-Hole, but the burden of proof is on you.
a lawyer can be fired by you at any time, you will have to pay him for whatever, time, work he put into your case. see if you can get a lawyer that takes a % of your settlement, otherwise doesn't get paid-you save on retainer fee. if he doesn't win, you're not anything out of pocket.
THAT is exactly what played out in my head, it was the same situation my front p***. his rear driver, I think of all the woulda coulda shouldas but I still think I made the right call by trying to avoid him, who knows... 1. Cops? - Yes. 2. Report? - Yes. 3. Witness? - Yes. but, this is florida and everything is slow here except the traffic (unless youre counting the blue hairs in the HOV with their blinker on going 35)
My wife was in a similar accident to yours, no contact, other driver just switched into her lane w/out seeing she was there. Because she got out of his way, he gets off scot free. The police and her insurance basically told her she'd have been in a better situation if she'd let him hit her! Same rules back home in New Zealand too. The other guy isn't even 'fleeing the scene" under those rules, 'cause without contact there was no 'accident' - I'd be glad to get anything in taht situation! Sorry about your truck, hope it's up & running & better than ever again soon! All the best mate CraigR
pay for the time&work in to my case, its been since like august so id say he at least deserves my $0.02
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