I was in a small accident today, is I'm at fault?

Question

I just left work, driving down the street. a red light approach me ahead, so I stop. I was the 2nd car, a car was in front of me. the light turn green, then the driver ahead of me went ahead, so did I. The driver then came to complete stop, in the middle of on going traffic. that when I slam into the back of her car, I dented her car a little in the back, my car had no damage whatsoever. we exchange information driver license #, phone, address, name::::she said that a car ran the red light and was going to hit her head on, I did'nt see the other car that ran the red light.

Answer 1

The rule with insurance investigators is that if you rear-ended someone then you are at least partially, probably mostly, at fault. The rule with the police would be that you were following too closely, so again you would be at fault. Sorry about that.

If you were able to find a witness that will agree with your story then you could have a chance, but I don't think you will be able to track anyone down. In that case it is a case of you said they said. Your Insurance Company would have little choice but to agree with the other driver's insurance company that you were at fault.

It's a no win situation. If this is the first accident you have had on this policy then it shouldn't be too bad and they may not jack up your rates. But, when it comes time to renew your policy then you may have to pay more. I wish I had better news, but I don't.

Did you ask her if she was hurt? Did she seem hurt, was she moving without stiffness, did she go to the hospital? You could be lucky and she will think that she wasn't hurt, but she could have had a neck injury or she could try and fake one. In that case your are in real trouble. The insurance company will have to pay part of it, but they will probably drop you like a hot potato and her insurance company won't let you off the hook.

The main think now is if you can get your car repaired. Make sure that you have her insurance company's phone number and ask them for a copy of the damage estimate to her car. The insurance companies aren't going to cheat you; they will come to some sort of deal and settle up quickly; unless one of you didn't have insurance. I had an accident like that once and the other person just disappeared on me. I even had a witness who said he saw the accident and that she was a fault, but he disappeared on me to (their phone numbers were wrong numbers or they lied and said that the person didn't live there).

I would suggest that you follow up with her. I know she was the fool who caused the accident, but you have to sound apologetic. Call the woman and make sure she was able to contact your insurance company, and then casually ask her how she is feeling. A good line after that would be, "I am so happy that you weren't hurt." If you can record the phone call, but don't try to "catch" her or to make her say she is not injured; if you do then she could just get the idea into her head that she suddenly is injured. The tape won't be admissible in court, but it can be used in negations.

For the future I would recommend that you carry a disposable camera in your car and take pictures of the damage done to both cars, then turn it over to your insurance company. They will appreciate it and it will give them a better idea of how honest the other company is. It will at least give you an independent idea of what damage was actually done.

Not calling in the police has the disadvantage of not giving you a police record of the incident, but it has the advantage that you won't get accident points on your license or a traffic ticket. You have enough problems without that.

Answer 2

There is no law against stopping. A child can run into the street. An axle could break. Or a car could run a light in front of you. The person behind that car is required to keep their distance. If you hit her, it was because you were either following too closely, or you were going too fast. So I am afraid that you're at fault. Very few cops are going to call it any other way. At best, you'll BOTH be found at fault.

That said, it was really stupid of the person not to call the cops right then. You should NEVER leave the scene of an accident without summoning the cops, even if it is minor. Now if that lady turns out to have whiplash or wants to have her car fixed, because it is after the fact, you may be able to weasel yourself out of it.

p.s. The person above that said be careful that she was not a scammer has a legitimate point. If you get blamed for this, talk to your insurance company and the cops about the fact you didn't see a car run the light. They can look and see if she has done this before. It is possible she stopped intentionally, TRYING to get you to hit her.

Answer 3

50% at fault. The driver in front of you and you yourself are not at fault. The driver turning was at fault as it was red light for him. Maybe there was a green light for turners? The faut about you is that you banged into another car! I'm sorry that u are at fault 50%... next time be more careful!

Answer 4

if you did not see the car that ran the red light then you weren`t watching where you`re going [technically], you also did not see the car in front of you stop, so you definitely weren`t watching where you were going. had a couple of accidents its not nice, but you now understand why driving is quite a big responsibility, just be grateful it was a car and not a person. nobody hurt cliche etc.
It`s a pain in the posterior, but just cos the roads have rules don`t mean everyone follows them. The world is full of stupid people and alot of them have cars.
Don`t worry about it but do learn from it.

Answer 5

I'm sorry, but even if there was no other car, I believe a car in the rear is almost always at fault. A driver is responsible for being ready to slow or stop for traffic in front.

Answer 6

A driver following another driver should always be at a safe enough driving distance to come to a complete stop no matter what the circumstances are to avoid collision. That is a law in all states, and is on most permit test to get your license.

Answer 7

you are at fault you hit her from behind unclear distance no question about that srry.... plus you need to call the law asap like now and report it to them or else she can also get you for leaving the scene of an accident. (a felony) i know some will tell you that it wont happen but believe me it can. someone once backed into me and i was nice and just let it go since there was no damage and it was all her fault the stupid b**ch called the law on me and said i left the scene. anyway you have i think 24 hrs to report it so do it now.... good luck

Answer 8

Unfortunatly this is your fault. You were too close to the car in front of you. If you had observed correct stopping distances you would have been able to stop in time. This is also the line the insurance companies take, so that is why it is very rare to hear of it not being the person behinds fault.

Answer 9

It would mostly be your fault, but she would take some of the blame for stopping short in the middle of the road at a green light. It will probably be about 20%/80%, the 80% being your fault.

Answer 10

You are at fault. Following to close, and you hit the other car.
when stopped you should always be able to see the bottom of the rear tires of the vehicle in front. Once the car in front starts to move wait 2 sec. (1001 , 1002) . You can then proceed.