fender bender question

so i was involved in a minor fender bender. i "love tapped" her car from behind at a stop light and there was little to no damage to my car as well as little to no damage to her car. not sure who was at fault as i believe we both made some mistakes while driving.

she was in a hurry, so i gave her my name and phone number. she didn't even bother to give her information to me (i politely asked but didn't get it). we didn't trade insurance information and police was not involved as it was very minor. we did stop at a gas station, so i know there is visual evidence to back up any possible claim of me not talking with her.

what do i do? do i tell my insurance agent just in case? do i call the police and let them know what happened? i haven't been in any sort of accident before.

unfortunately this happened in another state, so i can't just drive over to the police station...
Post edited by novEmb3R at 9/24/2012 9:31:51 PM

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First, the whole world over if you hit another car from behind you are at fault. Even if you aren't really, you are, ya know?

Second, you should have snapped some pics and reported it immediately. And definitely never give out your info without getting the other party's info as well.

If I was you I would crack a beer and try to forget it ever happened.

Rear ending someone is always your fault. That's just how the shit flows.
If she didn't give you the info you requested, i'd give your insurance company a heads up that she left the scene without doing so.

^ yeah.

Unless she did something grossly wrong/illegal (and you can prove it) then hitting a car from behind will almost always be considered your fault.

You'll probably end up paying for whatever damage happened to your car. That's about it.

Originally posted by: Allen
^ yeah.

Unless she did something grossly wrong/illegal (and you can prove it) then hitting a car from behind will almost always be considered your fault.

You'll probably end up paying for whatever damage happened to your car. That's about it.

should i still tell my insurance company even though she has no idea what my policy number is or who i'm insured by?
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No need to file an accident report, just give a heads up to your ins co.
That way if she files a claim you can call her on leaving the accident without exchanging her info.
My guess is she left without giving you any info because she likely didn't have insurance.
You'll likely never hear a word from here.

Originally posted by: (SF) DirtyRatFink
First, the whole world over if you hit another car from behind you are at fault. Even if you aren't really, you are, ya know?

Second, you should have snapped some pics and reported it immediately. And definitely never give out your info without getting the other party's info as well.

If I was you I would crack a beer and try to forget it ever happened.

yeah after reading the illinois laws, i believe you are correct with who is at fault.

unfortunately, this was my first accident... EVER, so i really had no idea what to do or how to react. sometimes you just learn the hard way...
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"I wasn't even in that state lady, I don't know what you're talking about"

Use that if she ever calls and forget it happened.

Originally posted by: novEmb3R

Originally posted by: Allen
^ yeah.

Unless she did something grossly wrong/illegal (and you can prove it) then hitting a car from behind will almost always be considered your fault.

You'll probably end up paying for whatever damage happened to your car. That's about it.

should i still tell my insurance company even though she has no idea what my policy number is or who i'm insured by?

nooooooooooooooooooooooo

if he is not reporting to authorities and you are aren't either, then NO.

but make absolutely sure she is not reporting, cuz then she can go herself to the station and report a hit and run with injuries faked an all.

it used to be you could report to cops, with no damage, so no claims, thus insurance does not go up.

last time I did that in Michigan the fuckers jacked the premiums, even though I did not file a claim and neither did the other person, I called to complain and ask wtf? their response "remember that insurance premiums are not based on previous claims, they are based on previous driving habits, used to assess future risks"

fuckers! so...ther u have it, damned if you DO, and maybe damned, MAYBE, if you dont.
Post edited by Aria Giovanni.pZ at 9/25/2012 8:58:08 AM

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Originally posted by: Smiling Canadian
.... My point was...with a shit attitude like yours...ie. you know better than everyone else about everything apparently...how did you get through without getting a good ass whipping? I know how your attitude would go over during my time and I just stated what would be done about it. It was a fact of life at the time. ...

Quick life tip on accidents:

1. If you are involved in an accident, regardless on how minor or severe, call 911 and get a cop out there. People think when a cop response they get all "OH NOEZ I GETTING LOCKS UP" but thats not the case...they are there so you can get a report of the accident, an incident number, the cops badge number and proof it happened. Sometimes they give you tickets or whatever, but if the cop is cool or lazy he might not.

2. Don't exchange information until the police come, this way if the driver of the other car decided to just get up and leave without giving you anything, they pretty much fucked themselves leaving the scene of an accident. Let the police handle from there, and your little bump might hold up and not go anware on your insurance. Also right after it happens, get a pic of their license plate if they decide they didn't want to stay...they'll probably get into trouble leaving the scene of an accident, have bigger worries from there (Makes you look better in court).

3. NEVER EVER LET THE PERSON OR YOU SAY "Don't worry about it! its cool!" and drive off. That shit will come back and bite you in the ass sometimes. People get greedy and figure they can fuck you over down the road, I've seen this happen to some friends it sucks.

4. Take pictures of the damage, minor or not. This can help if they claim you wrecked their whole back side of their car when infact you just dented their license plate.

I've gotten in to quite a few car accidents, most not my fault, I just drive a lot. Hope my tips help.


In your case, I wouldn't worry about it too much, give your insurance company a heads up so they can document it, tell them what kind of car/paint color it was. This way if something is claimed against you somehow down the road they can take it from there if it matches up.

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I recommend installing RPG cages and reactive armor.

Originally posted by: [-NM-] -SS-
I recommend installing RPG cages and reactive armor.

you forgot the .50 cal on the roof turret

Originally posted by: Killet

Originally posted by: [-NM-] -SS-
I recommend installing RPG cages and reactive armor.

you forgot the .50 cal on the roof turret

I think his training is limited to squirt guns.

As others have mentioned, it is always your fault if you hit another car from behind. Regardless of background reason.

At best you can split the blame, but it will never ever be their fault enough to pay for your damages.

Things to be sure of:

1) In some states, no matter how small of a collision, you have to report this event in an accident claim to the DMV within X amount of days. Oregon is this way, but California is not.......so check the state laws for that in the area it happened.

I know someone who was put at fault for an accident, in Oregon, even though the other driver hit them......because they failed to report it. Total dog shit......so beware.

2) Take pictures of any and all damage to your car. Just because this lady might have seemed cool at the collision site doesn't mean that she isn't going to try to sue you for alleged "injuries" later. I've been through this one first hand in the exact same situation that you described above. No matter how small of an accident, some people feel entitled to sue you for their preexisting conditions, or just because they are a cock sucker.

3) See if you can contact her and potentially make arrangements to pay for her damages/etc without going through your insurance company. It would potentially save all of you a lot of grief.....especially for you in increased insurance premiums.

4) If 3 doesn't work definitely report it to the your insurance and give them a heads up and prepare for anything that she might be plotting against you. As a young guy, with a nice car, you are ripe for some trial lawyer to try to bilk you through litigation.

Originally posted by: Water Demon
Quick life tip on accidents:

1. If you are involved in an accident, regardless on how minor or severe, call 911 and get a cop out there. People think when a cop response they get all "OH NOEZ I GETTING LOCKS UP" but thats not the case...they are there so you can get a report of the accident, an incident number, the cops badge number and proof it happened. Sometimes they give you tickets or whatever, but if the cop is cool or lazy he might not.

2. Don't exchange information until the police come, this way if the driver of the other car decided to just get up and leave without giving you anything, they pretty much fucked themselves leaving the scene of an accident. Let the police handle from there, and your little bump might hold up and not go anware on your insurance. Also right after it happens, get a pic of their license plate if they decide they didn't want to stay...they'll probably get into trouble leaving the scene of an accident, have bigger worries from there (Makes you look better in court).

3. NEVER EVER LET THE PERSON OR YOU SAY "Don't worry about it! its cool!" and drive off. That shit will come back and bite you in the ass sometimes. People get greedy and figure they can fuck you over down the road, I've seen this happen to some friends it sucks.

4. Take pictures of the damage, minor or not. This can help if they claim you wrecked their whole back side of their car when infact you just dented their license plate.

I've gotten in to quite a few car accidents, most not my fault, I just drive a lot. Hope my tips help.


In your case, I wouldn't worry about it too much, give your insurance company a heads up so they can document it, tell them what kind of car/paint color it was. This way if something is claimed against you somehow down the road they can take it from there if it matches up.

Great advice........all of it!!

Who is at fault in an insurance perspective entirely depends on the state law where you live.

Michigan is a no fault state, meaning your insurance pays for your damages, and their insurance pays for theirs.

Either way, the absence of a police report probably precludes her from filing a claim with your insurance company even if you are not in a "no-fault" state.

Yea, that's pretty much a good way to do it here in Maryland...from what I have learned thru the years. Also if you get hit by someone like T-Boned, fender bender...etc. Don't be a dick to them, they are going to be FUUUUUUCKED later hardcore. Just try to be nice, don't give them any ammunition they can use against you. Also, if you feel hurt in anyway, and i mean seatbelt burns, neck hurts, airbag scrapes...go to the hospital. Trust me, it's better to go and get checked out, then to go 2 days later because your back still hurts.

Plus if you really did get messed up, you did the right thing by going right then and there and it's more plausable that your injury was from the accident. Instead of going 2 days later because you **cough** fell off a ladder from working on your home and use the accident as an excuse **cough**. Lawyers love it when you don't go right away, they always say something like "WELL WHAT IF JOE BLOW WAS FINE AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND JUST HAPPEN TO HURT HIMSELF THE NEXT DAY, HE COULD BE USING THIS ACCIDENT AS A WAY TO PAY THE BILLS" or something around those lines...




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Is Illinois an at fault or no fault state?
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"I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making it easy for them in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it" Ben Franklin

Snake, have they caught you yet for running blacks over with your killdozer?

Or were those 'no fault'?

i would have rammed her again until she got memory loss
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The right is more virtuous than the left. They have twice as many virtues because they have double the standards.

Originally posted by: Mockery
As others have mentioned, it is always your fault if you hit another car from behind. Regardless of background reason.

At best you can split the blame, but it will never ever be their fault enough to pay for your damages.

Things to be sure of:

1) In some states, no matter how small of a collision, you have to report this event in an accident claim to the DMV within X amount of days. Oregon is this way, but California is not.......so check the state laws for that in the area it happened.

I know someone who was put at fault for an accident, in Oregon, even though the other driver hit them......because they failed to report it. Total dog shit......so beware.

2) Take pictures of any and all damage to your car. Just because this lady might have seemed cool at the collision site doesn't mean that she isn't going to try to sue you for alleged "injuries" later. I've been through this one first hand in the exact same situation that you described above. No matter how small of an accident, some people feel entitled to sue you for their preexisting conditions, or just because they are a cock sucker.

3) See if you can contact her and potentially make arrangements to pay for her damages/etc without going through your insurance company. It would potentially save all of you a lot of grief.....especially for you in increased insurance premiums.

4) If 3 doesn't work definitely report it to the your insurance and give them a heads up and prepare for anything that she might be plotting against you. As a young guy, with a nice car, you are ripe for some trial lawyer to try to bilk you through litigation.

problem here is that i don't have her contact information, but she does have mine.

anyways, i contacted my insurance company and let them know what happened. they said no one filed a claim but thanked me for letting them know.

secondly, i checked the state laws for illinois in reporting accidents...

http://www.dot.il.gov/trafficsafety/MCRinfo.pdf

apparently, if the accident does damage > $500 or more then it must be reported. in this case, i have no idea the damage to her car since she just drove away and mine is definitely not $500.

right now i'm just going to sit and wait until i hear something from her or the police. i doubt she will file a police report for a hit and run considering we talked in a gas station parking lot with video cameras everywhere and i gave her a sheet of paper...

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Originally posted by: [-NM-] -SS-
Snake, have they caught you yet for running blacks over with your killdozer?

Or were those 'no fault'?

They couldn't afford a real attorney and I can..MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
_______________________________________________________________
"I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making it easy for them in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it" Ben Franklin

Originally posted by: novEmb3R

Originally posted by: Mockery
As others have mentioned, it is always your fault if you hit another car from behind. Regardless of background reason.

At best you can split the blame, but it will never ever be their fault enough to pay for your damages.

Things to be sure of:

1) In some states, no matter how small of a collision, you have to report this event in an accident claim to the DMV within X amount of days. Oregon is this way, but California is not.......so check the state laws for that in the area it happened.

I know someone who was put at fault for an accident, in Oregon, even though the other driver hit them......because they failed to report it. Total dog shit......so beware.

2) Take pictures of any and all damage to your car. Just because this lady might have seemed cool at the collision site doesn't mean that she isn't going to try to sue you for alleged "injuries" later. I've been through this one first hand in the exact same situation that you described above. No matter how small of an accident, some people feel entitled to sue you for their preexisting conditions, or just because they are a cock sucker.

3) See if you can contact her and potentially make arrangements to pay for her damages/etc without going through your insurance company. It would potentially save all of you a lot of grief.....especially for you in increased insurance premiums.

4) If 3 doesn't work definitely report it to the your insurance and give them a heads up and prepare for anything that she might be plotting against you. As a young guy, with a nice car, you are ripe for some trial lawyer to try to bilk you through litigation.

problem here is that i don't have her contact information, but she does have mine.

anyways, i contacted my insurance company and let them know what happened. they said no one filed a claim but thanked me for letting them know.

secondly, i checked the state laws for illinois in reporting accidents...

http://www.dot.il.gov/trafficsafety/MCRinfo.pdf

apparently, if the accident does damage > $500 or more then it must be reported. in this case, i have no idea the damage to her car since she just drove away and mine is definitely not $500.

right now i'm just going to sit and wait until i hear something from her or the police. i doubt she will file a police report for a hit and run considering we talked in a gas station parking lot with video cameras everywhere and i gave her a sheet of paper...

It doesn't take anything to go above 500 bucks. Even a scratch in the bumper will give you that. If a body shop has to replace, or touch up paint anything it will be more than that amount.

BTW...Same exact thing that happened to me over a decade ago........

And that cock sucker tried his best to sue the shit out of me (up and beyond my 50k policy coverage). In the end he didn't get anything, because the courts dragged it out and knew it was fraud......but it still sucked ass.

Hopefully you didn't have a run in with the same kind of awful person that I did. If I knew it would be such a pain in the ass, over something so insignificant, I would have hit him full speed, hit him again, or outright tried to run his ass over.

Good luck!

to take out a scratch and paint a rear bumper or front bumper should be no more than $125.... No more than $250 even from an professional bodyshop, especially if its a vehicle with just a bumper cover and not chrome...she probably found out what it would cost to get it fixed and did it on her own to keep an accident off her record and keep insurance costs down.

Originally posted by: *sMoKeDoG*
to take out a scratch and paint a rear bumper or front bumper should be no more than $125.... No more than $250 even from an professional bodyshop, especially if its a vehicle with just a bumper cover and not chrome...she probably found out what it would cost to get it fixed and did it on her own to keep an accident off her record and keep insurance costs down.

Dude, if you through insurance (especially in CA) they are going to rape you.

I used to do this for a living and I agree with your cost estimates......but once you get insurance involved it becomes an entirely different story.

It becomes analogous to what it "costs" you to go to the vet and get shots...versus what it costs to go to the hospital to get shots.

Since it might be state dependent, I will not call this a universal truth, but in CA it's insane to get your car worked on if insurance is involved.

The cost in my area to get a bumper cover repainted, even a simplistic spot blend, through insurance, is upwards of $600-800.

A coworker gave me their body shop estimate when they backed into a car in our parking lot last year.

It was fucking asinine........

Originally posted by: Mockery

Originally posted by: *sMoKeDoG*
to take out a scratch and paint a rear bumper or front bumper should be no more than $125.... No more than $250 even from an professional bodyshop, especially if its a vehicle with just a bumper cover and not chrome...she probably found out what it would cost to get it fixed and did it on her own to keep an accident off her record and keep insurance costs down.

Dude, if you through insurance (especially in CA) they are going to rape you.

I used to do this for a living and I agree with your cost estimates......but once you get insurance involved it becomes an entirely different story.

It becomes analogous to what it "costs" you to go to the vet and get shots...versus what it costs to go to the hospital to get shots.

Since it might be state dependent, I will not call this a universal truth, but in CA it's insane to get your car worked on if insurance is involved.

what i suggested was what i think happened....either she got a reduced price and got it fixed herself or she just said screw it and didnt fix it and you got off that way. the last thing u need in cali is an accident on your insurance record for a $250 repair so they can raise your rates for 3 years.
Post edited by *sMoKeDoG* at 9/25/2012 7:07:50 PM

Originally posted by: Mockery
The cost in my area to get a bumper cover repainted, even a simplistic spot blend, through insurance, is upwards of $600-800.

A coworker gave me their body shop estimate when they backed into a car in our parking lot last year.

It was fucking asinine........

I would wager that was because the insurance company demanded the bumper be replaced.

Typically the reason it is always best to bypass the insurance company for repairs when possible is because the body shop guy might say "I can fix this, straighten this, bump this out, hammer this out, etc..." and the insurance company will say "No, replace everything.", often doubling or more the cost of the job.

Originally posted by: DirtyMitten

Originally posted by: Mockery
The cost in my area to get a bumper cover repainted, even a simplistic spot blend, through insurance, is upwards of $600-800.

A coworker gave me their body shop estimate when they backed into a car in our parking lot last year.

It was fucking asinine........

I would wager that was because the insurance company demanded the bumper be replaced.

Typically the reason it is always best to bypass the insurance company for repairs when possible is because the body shop guy might say "I can fix this, straighten this, bump this out, hammer this out, etc..." and the insurance company will say "No, replace everything.", often doubling or more the cost of the job.

That and much like health care, they know they can get away with charging the insurance company a disproportionate amount and ultimately get away with it.

A buddy of mine got his car keyed and they told him 4-5k to repaint his car. His car was worth about 3500 max.......

Nothing like totaling a car out, or getting a salvage title, over something as irrelevant as a paint job.

Insanity.......pure insanity.

Especially when Maaco/earl scheib down the street would do it for 800 bucks.
Post edited by Mockery at 9/25/2012 7:54:53 PM