Oh..i've seen it..driven in it.(on a Motorcycle no less).and live in Michigan..another **** *** state for laws and the lack of competent drivers.
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. Never happened.
thats how it is in cal.......no contact, no claim.....period cant speak for your state but i bet its the same based on the other posts sorry bout your truck though, next time let him hit ya. seems you'd almost have to prove he tried to run you off the road to recover. basically the other driver would have to fess up to that ans we know how likely that is skull
Sorry to see your crumpled truck.....glad your OK. You can sleep at night knowing you did the right thing. ....however - no vehicle to vehicle contact + no witnesses willing/able back up your claims + failure to mantain control of your vehicle (that can get you a ticket here in NY) = not much of a leg to stand on with the insurance companies or courts. Yes, he cut you off (and that ****s) but that situation happens countless times on countless highways all over the US and most of the time people are not spinning out and whacking guard rails in the process. The insurance companies will, no doubt, bring this up in court. I think your lucky they are offering 70/30 on damages/vehicle value. If I were you I'd get a couple of well thought out estimates on the repairs/vehicle value negotiate a settlement and take the money and run. The most you'll ever get is the current market value of the truck (maybe - remember your dealing with insurance companies, not Hot Rodders). This seems like it was a nice truck but when you start comparing what its value is against lawyers fees/court charges I think you'll begin to realize that the money situation can/will get lopsided in a hurry. The 30% additional awards you *might* get if a judge finds the other party 100% liable can easily be chewed up by any additional lawyers fees you'll spend just to make a point/squeeze every dime out of a ****py situation. Remember if you push this to court the judge may not see things as you do and the ZERO percent you *might* get out of this (plus getting to pay court charges/lawyers fees for both parties) would really ****. Keep that in mind. Good luck with everything. Bigchief.
The problem is you can be ****ed even if they hit you. I say that because .. I dunno 6, 7 years ago now I'm on my way to the hardware store and I'm close to my exit on the highway. I p*** some guy who has his left signal on to change lanes; two lanes veer to the right and are divided from the main highway. Dumb*** turnsignal is apparently in the wrong one, but I was going faster, I didn't jam on my brakes to let him out - I guess that was evil? Anyhow I slow down because the on-ramps I'm coming up on both have yields and guys have to get in my lane to get on the highway. Next thing I know the turnsignal guy is p***ing me on the left shoulder. He clips me because he comes over to avoid the guardrail that protects a bridge abutment, just a bump, then goes on down the off-ramp to pull over to call the cops. Long story short, cop talks to him first, doesn't believe me, other driver and his p***enger lie and say I came from the other lane and cut them off. I have no witness, it's just me in the car, so I'm boned. And in retrospect the truth made little sense - the guy was either road-raging, or it was an attempt to scam my insurance company into fixing his car - but it sure as hell was the truth. Judge Judy's wrong about things that don't make sense not being true. I had gone to the closest pay phone to call the cops - I was so pissed I didn't dare go to where this dip**** had pulled over, I would have pulled out a tire iron and beat him to death most likely. So that may be why they got to him first. Two hours later when one shows up, I'd calmed down about it, but the cop was a **** right from the start, talks to me like it's a traffic stop, wants me to sit in the car and all. In the end the insurance company blamed me too, but decided that since his car already was damaged from some other accident, he was only en***led to like $12. So I got to laugh a bit. What's $12 going to pay for? A pack of sandpaper and a can of Rustoleum? But it's getting so you need a ****ing video camera in the car to prove your story, like the cops have in theirs. I've decided the next time something like that happens, I'm going to just go ahead and hit them so there's skidmarks and maybe he wrecks ********, but at least can't possibly lie about it. My dailys are cheap to buy and I try and keep a spare one ready to go if I need it, so **** them. Either that, or I should have just stayed in my lane, got back on the highway and dissapeared, and grab some sandpaper myself and hide the evidence of an accident at some other hardware store. Anyways in your case, guy could just as easily have done the same thing - he and his rider claim you cut them off instead of the other way around. I think your only option is try to hit them for 50% to 100% more than you want, be willing to settle for what you do want, and make sure you settle for enough to get what you need even if they bang you for this comparative neglegence ********. The system is the system, you just have to work it so it works out for you.
If you pull out if front of someone there is a short distance where it is failure to yield right of way, even though you get popped in the rear. I was in the innermost lane of a 6 lane road & had a woman come flying out @ me. I turned hard left, too hard, &whipped the wheel back right. Cought her in the Q.P. She got the ticket for improper lane change & FTY.
First this happened in FL, so the law in CA is irrelevant to this situation. Second California is a 'Pure comparative negligence state'.
Same thing happened to my wife. She dodged a jerk and spun in heavy rush hour traffic. Only kissed the wall but was on the verge of getting a ticket for it. She was real lucky to not be hurt. I suppose it's better to go ahead and make contact with the joker then work it out.
Sorry about your truck - the problem is that it will more than likely happen to all of us eventually. It's at that time you realize how lame our system really is. A few years ago my wife got rear ended by some ding bat. Being smart my wife called the cops to get a report before moving her car. My wifes car had damage, but not a ton. Cops finally arrive and at first don't want to fill out a police report - they relented only after my wife insisted. I really suspect the cop was friends with the dingbat. Anyways during this time the cop asks the wife to step into the cop car to fill out the report - my wife declined because our (very young)kids were now napping in the back of our car & the wife refused to leave them alone - the cop ridiculed my wife for this!!! What a duesh. Anyways - all we wanted was the money to fix the car. Days later we find out the dingbat lied about having insurance - this was on the police report. At the time we didn't care so much we just wanted the car fixed. After talkign with the dingbat it was obvious she wasn't gonna pay anything which ticked me off so I called the cops to let them know she was driving without insurance - to which they told me they didn't care - not the police's concern. Long story short we sued her & won but she's yet to pay a dime & that was 5 or 6 years ago. She never showed up for court - she never got in any trouble for lying on the police report - she never got in trouble for NOT having the insurance required by law - she basically hit our car & ignorred the system & it worked for her - nothing ever happened. Contrast this to the time I got a equipment violation ticket for having a burnt out tail light - the ticket said that if I didn't get it fixed within a week and show up at the police station to prove it to them - I would get an arrest warrant issued to me. WTF?? Far too often our system ****s.
fiftysomething; It sounds like your insurance company is giving you the idiot treatment. It might be too late, if you have already communicated with your insurance company and agreed to anything concerning action to be taken. It's your insurance company's job, after they have fixed your car, to sue the other guy if that is also an issue, not your job to wait for that. You buy an insurance policy for a reason. You bought insurance and you only have to deal with your insurance company. They are responsible to fix your car, no matter who's fault it was. If they won't settle your claim in a reasonable time, about ten days, tell them you are taking them to court, and while that is happening, to cancel your policy because you are going to go to another company that will do their job.
It has not been confirmed that any insurance company is yet involved in this matter. Care needs to be excersized in advice given since Insurance Laws vary from state to state. An insurance company will only pay for the repair of your vehicle if you have the proper coverage ( in Fifty's case ,Collision) . An insuror will not pay for the damages to the policyholders property if they only have purchased liability coverage. Please dont spread the mistruth that insurance companies fix cars ( God help us if they did). They have a contractual agreement to provide payments for damages in the event of a loss to an insured or a claimant. Insurance companies really dont want the liability of the vehicle repair. State vehicle repair laws bind the consumer and the repairer for the responsibility of the workmanship and payment for the repair. All insurance company auto damage reports clearly state that the authorization for repair must come from the vehicle owner.
My only problem with C/N is that I posted this question to someone else and they said that even if I accept 70/30, 80/20 or 50/50 be it whatever divide, I'm still saying that yeah I guess I was at fault too, then they take that to court and tell the courts that I admitted fault and the guy gets off scott free.
Fiftysomething, I feel you pain, the first though on reading your first post was had to be a Florida Driver. Florida is a gathering area for idiots, bad drivers and blue-hairs steering by looking under the wheel rim. My first experience down here was a rain storm, watching idiots slam on their brakes and turn their hazards on without seeing if there is a vehicle or truck behind them. Good luck with the insurance battle. Glad your ok. Scott <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
getting compensated for repairs to your truck and or physical body does not make you a money grubbing hound. You should get whats owed and if you are not, get a better attorney now!
For those that say they dont know why a 180, me neither when it happened to me it did a 90. almost the same thing, guy cut me off i jammed on the brakes while trying to move to a lane with no cars in it rear end lost grip and did a perfect right into a cement wall. 18 s***ches in my knee from the window crank knurl. the window handle had come off that morning and i was going to tighten the set screw when i got home. Never caught up with the guy, and couldnt even get traffic to stop they just went around. I got pissed climbed into it in compound low ( truck trans at the time) and forced it up off the road into a parking lot. thats when i noticed my jeans where wet and that it was because my knee was torn open. funny what adrenaline does to you. Truck was rebuilt over the next year. no pictures of the damage i couldn't stand seeing it like that.
Here's yet another example... The driveway for the school I taught at was right across the street from "stoner park". I'm sitting waiting to turn left into the drive when a kid pulls out from the curb and slams into my 8 month old Dodge pickup. He floors it, drives down the whole right side of the truck (pushing me into oncoming traffic!) and speeds off with body parts dragging and flying off. I was too busy watching cars coming at me to get a plate#... Turns out it was a drug deal gone bad. The police said they wouldn't do anything to find the kid because I was stopped in a traffic lane. A bunch of other students saw it happen, but they all vanished because they were "holding". Insurance told me they wouldn't waive my deductible because I didn't get a license #. So 5 years later I've got most of it fixed out of my own pocket... Someone finally came forward and told me where the car was parked. Turns out it was one of those Ford ******s that had a problem with catching fire...
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