I was driving in the far right lane of a major road. A Mercedes SUV that was in the turn lane on the opposing side of traffic turned into traffic. The other driver barely avoided the other lane of traffic, but clipped the bumper of my BMW. The driver was clearly at fault, and claimed her insurance would take care of it. I had no insurance at the time as I was leaving the country in a few days, and felt no need to renew my insurance. I gave her contact information for my current residence, and told the driver if they had any problems my roomate would forward me the information. I am still out of the country, but My father tells me that my roomate has recieved a call from the Disctrict Attorney's office. I assumed since I had not heard anything, and that the other driver was at fault that the issue had been resolved. I would like to return to the U.S. eventually, but need to know what I should do, since I am out of the country, and what kind of penalty I may be look at?
2006-08-15 20:20:41 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Insurance & Registration
You didn't say what the DA's office told your roomate, so I would call and find out. Are you sure it was the DA, and not a plaintiff or defense attorney who might be involved in civil litigation arising from that accident where one of the parties sued the at-fault person? Maybe you're needed as a witness at trial.I could see how it would take 5 years for this to come to a head. It's not uncommon for a lawsuit to drag out a long time. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I say call to see for sure.
2006-08-19 14:46:08 · answer #1 · answered by Chris 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The problem with me answering this question is I don't reside in CA. State laws differ from state to state.
In my state and several others if you are driving a vehicle without insurance and are involved in an accident you are the one who is at fault regardless who actually caused the accident.
The reasoning behind this is that you did not have insurance, your vehicle should not have been on the road and therefore since it was in traffic where it should not have been and you were driving it you take a claim to all liability.
Some states will suspend your license for this others impound cars, and consider it a misdemeanor.
Since the laws do vary from state to state you should contact the DA. This is probably considered a crime on your part otherwise it would not have made it to the DA.
2006-08-16 07:38:40 · answer #2 · answered by The Eight Ball 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call the DA office and ask them. Could be anything.
2006-08-16 03:24:04 · answer #3 · answered by Kyle M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋