Legal Question. Respond ASAP

[84rabbitchick]

Ok, so I got involved in an accident a few days ago. On monday. Since i was an excluded driver in my moms car, the car i was driving, it's basically my fault what-so-ever.

So this is what happened: I was driving south on El Camino Real coming up on Palizada. This guy was driving towards the freeway, coming from the ocean on Palizada. My light is green, i see his car and i'm slowing down (now keep in mind that i get paranoid in intersections) i can't remember how fast i was going, but it wasn't fast at all, it was pretty slow. I still look at my light and the driver. My light's still green and he's still driving across and i hit his back left end righ behind the wheel. I didn't have enough time to stop because i was assuming he would stop sinc ehis light was red. So i go look for the guy, and he's telling me that I was the one who ran the red light. The only person who witnessed this was Joe.

Yesterday he's saying that he saw a car turn left on his lane (and both joe and i remember there was no car turning left on his lane). And now he's saying that I'm going to lose my license if i don't pay for his damages which he said is going to be $600. I've been told 3 times that I won't. But i'm still very very sceptic about this. And now i don't know whwat to do. The guy was a jerk. Even ask Joe.

Also, he just left me a message saying that he spoke to my mom this morning, and my mom is saying that it's all his fault (which it is because i remember the incident clearly and so does joe) and that she doesn't want me to pay for the damages. And so he told me he's gonna go down to the DMV and file an Uninsured Motorists claim on me so that I can lose my licesne for a year.

so.. um.. please please please ANYONE
HELP ME!

This is seriously stressign me out.

[twistedangel]

Ok, so I got involved in an accident a few days ago. On monday. Since i was an excluded driver in my moms car, the car i was driving, it's basically my fault what-so-ever.

So this is what happened: I was driving south on El Camino Real coming up on Palizada. This guy was driving towards the freeway, coming from the ocean on Palizada. My light is green, i see his car and i'm slowing down (now keep in mind that i get paranoid in intersections) i can't remember how fast i was going, but it wasn't fast at all, it was pretty slow. I still look at my light and the driver. My light's still green and he's still driving across and i hit his back left end righ behind the wheel. I didn't have enough time to stop because i was assuming he would stop sinc ehis light was red. So i go look for the guy, and he's telling me that I was the one who ran the red light. The only person who witnessed this was Joe.

Yesterday he's saying that he saw a car turn left on his lane (and both joe and i remember there was no car turning left on his lane). And now he's saying that I'm going to lose my license if i don't pay for his damages which he said is going to be $600. I've been told 3 times that I won't. But i'm still very very sceptic about this. And now i don't know whwat to do. The guy was a jerk. Even ask Joe.

Also, he just left me a message saying that he spoke to my mom this morning, and my mom is saying that it's all his fault (which it is because i remember the incident clearly and so does joe) and that she doesn't want me to pay for the damages. And so he told me he's gonna go down to the DMV and file an Uninsured Motorists claim on me so that I can lose my licesne for a year.

so.. um.. please please please ANYONE
HELP ME!

This is seriously stressign me out.
it is his fault. and legally, his insurance will have to pay for damage to your car. but they won't pay any injury claims. have you called one of those lawyers in the phone book with the "free counsel"?? You do have the right to sue, and you also have a witness.

file a police report with your witness (you have to cover your @ss). Yes, you will lose your full driving privledges, but they will give you a provisional to get around where you need to go... just always say you're coming/going to work when you get pulled over :D

i was rear-ended in college w/o insurance. my car was fixed, but wound up with provisional license.

hope this helps

[Tom (aka Godzilla)]

I'm not sure about the insurance thing, but the guy sounds like he's trying to extort you. With no witnesses, it's a he-said, she-said thing, but you've got Joe on your side. I doubt the DMV will suspend your license just because some civilian walks in off the street and tells them to, but, this is California.

Are you sure there's no way your covered either through your insurance or your mom's?

[madajb]

Sounds like a scam to me.
Did the police take a report, or was it just the two of you by the side of the road?
-ajb

[84rabbitchick]

it is his fault. and legally, his insurance will have to pay for damage to your car. but they won't pay any injury claims. have you called one of those lawyers in the phone book with the "free counsel"?? You do have the right to sue, and you also have a witness.

file a police report with your witness (you have to cover your @ss). Yes, you will lose your full driving privledges, but they will give you a provisional to get around where you need to go... just always say you're coming/going to work when you get pulled over :D

i was rear-ended in college w/o insurance. my car was fixed, but wound up with provisional license.

hope this helps
See, the thing is, i don't know how to prove it's his fault because it is a "he-said, she-said" thing. And yes I do have Joe on my side, but he doesn't count because he was in the car with me. I'm not insured/covered what-so-ever not unless i say that i was runnign errands for my mom because she was sick and she wasn't able to do it herself. or somethign in the lines of that.

[twistedangel]

See, the thing is, i don't know how to prove it's his fault because it is a "he-said, she-said" thing. And yes I do have Joe on my side, but he doesn't count because he was in the car with me. I'm not insured/covered what-so-ever not unless i say that i was runnign errands for my mom because she was sick and she wasn't able to do it herself. or somethign in the lines of that.
what happens is he goes to the DMV and claims you hit him on so and so date, and the damage was greater than $500... so they send you a form to provide your insurance information on that date REGARDLESS of whether or not you dispute the accident.

try being the first to file a police report. that's the first step to suing also. it means that you mean business. and two people against one is more powerrful that one against one... AND almost every single accident is he said she said.

if you don't do anything, then you look very guilty.

tell him to write and sign on paper that if you give him $600 the problem goes away. it's like settling out of court ;) . Then you can either pay him, or sue him for extortion.


anyways, i'm done trying to help. i've been in soo many accidents already, that it's just a waste of time to stress as long as your car still runs. a provisional license isn't that bad, and i personally would go after his insurance to fix my car.

i would
1) file police report with Joe
2) contact his insurance
3) file in small claims court

[audiracer2002]

you have insurance for yourself and your car though right? regardless if you are excluded on your moms policy, your insurance should cover you. did you guys swap information at the scene? did you file a report with your insurance or your moms? if he ran the red light, and you have a witness, he won't win anything. don't let him scare you and ALWAYS call your insurance company. they have good lawyers and will fight if he tries to pull shit.

[Tom (aka Godzilla)]

I've thought about this a little more.....

You need to contact the police ASAP. You'll probably have to go down to the station to talk to a traffic investigator. Tell him the whole story and see what he/she says. Regardless of your insurance status, what the guy is doing is illegal. And don't discount Joe as a witness just because he was in your car. Also, you need to contact your insurance company and your mom's insurance company ASAP. If you have the other guy's info, you should call his insurance as well and inform them what he's trying to do.

Don't stress about it too much, I don't think you have to worry about getting your license suspended.

[84rabbitchick]

um... well, i don't have insurance on my car...

and yeah, i was told that i don't have to worry about my license being suspended. My mom is already calling the insurance comapny, she also thinks the guys a jerk. I remember the whole thing pretty damn clearly. She's speaking to insurance as we speak. I'll do the "file the police report" today as well.

[84rabbitchick]

Sounds like a scam to me.
Did the police take a report, or was it just the two of you by the side of the road?
-ajb
Police came after the scene and didn't take a report at all cuz he said that no one was injured at the scene. Something like that.

[GTIcrazy]

He's just trying to scare you because of your age.

DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING sent by the other driver or his insurance company.

Write down what happened and have anyone else in the car do the same, so that you have your story down while you remember it (streets, intersections, time of day, etc.).

Remember that California is a shared fault state.

Contact your insurance. You may be covered driving other cars. They may provide a person that will handle the details and you can have the other driver just call that person. You might also think about getting a lawyer if there are injuries of any sort. Sometimes they take a day or two to make themselves present. Then you let the other driver know to contact your lawyer, not you, regarding the accident.

Best of luck.

[mitssn]

Hey--- I think your best bet is to settle this out of court regardless of fault. Pay the man $600 for damages and make sure you get it in writing that:
a. All financial responsibility is lifted off of you
b. HE AND ANY PASSENGERS are OK and have not sustained any bodily harm

The reason I say this is because:

Quote CVC:
You must provide proof of financial responsibility:

To a peace officer when stopped for a traffic violation
To other motorists when involved in an accident

Failure to provide valid evidence to a peace officer is grounds for a citation. If convicted of the violation, a fine of not less than $500 is required by law and additional penalties and court fees may be incurred. The court may also order the vehicle impounded.

So basically, if either of you decide to involve the police/court, you are going to end up paying WELL over $600 with the posibility of the car being impounded until the case is settled....

[84rabbitchick]

My mom's making matters worse now.... and i don't know how to tell her that I just want to pay the guy whatever. I just want it done and over with now... I fucking missed english and missing math just trying to resolve this!!! And the thing that sucks is that i'm broke. I litterally only have $20 to my name and that's about it. I spoke to the wife, and she said that they just want the car fixed. I tried to have them go to a place that'll do it cheaper, and the same, but better results.

fawk, i just want this done and over with.... and parent's won't let me!

[audiracer2002]

and get insurance for you and your car!

[84rabbitchick]

and get insurance for you and your car!
and I am working on that

[KkJetta]

Dont give up Pia...and Please dont admit any kind of fault to him or his insurance company. If he goes to DMV to file a SR-1 form the damage must total over $750 for it to go against your driving record. It use to be $500, now it is $750. Just because you were driving a vehicle that you are an excluded driver on the policy does not mean the car is uninsured. The car is insured but they willl not cover or assist in any accident that happens while an excluded driver on the policy is behind the wheel. You need to do what I said and contact his insurance and file a claimant report with them. If he has already filed a claim with his company then you can explain your side of the accident and dispute the fault. Maybe if they are unable to investigate and determine liability they may just say 50/50 and they will take care of their insured's damages and you take care of your own. I hope it all works out, but take this as a lesson that if you're excluded on an insurance policy you should not be behind the wheel of any vehicles listed on it. Even in cases when you're not at fault in the accident your insurance company will not step in and pay for the damages and subrogate against the at fault party because the driver in their car was excluded. When I worked in insurance i cant tell you the amount of times I had to tell my insureds that we could not cover their loss or any liability becasue the driver was excluded. Again, I hope it works out Pia

-Kk

[mitssn]

He's just trying to scare you because of your age.

DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING sent by the other driver or his insurance company.

Write down what happened and have anyone else in the car do the same, so that you have your story down while you remember it (streets, intersections, time of day, etc.).

Remember that California is a shared fault state.

Contact your insurance. You may be covered driving other cars. They may provide a person that will handle the details and you can have the other driver just call that person. You might also think about getting a lawyer if there are injuries of any sort. Sometimes they take a day or two to make themselves present. Then you let the other driver know to contact your lawyer, not you, regarding the accident.

Best of luck.
DID SHE NOT JUST SAY SHE DOESN'T HAVE INSURANCE

[mike]

you shouldn't have been driving your moms car to begin with so I would pay him off the $600, get the cover your ass stuff in writing, and call it a day because this could really screw you over, you could loose your license and be responsible for ALL damages if he reports you to his insurance and im not even sure of what the dmv will do as far as fines. Pick your battles.

I know the 18 year old kid who totaled my truck with his brothers rice rocket accord, he was excluded from his brothers policy, he WAS responsible for his brothers totaled new accord, my totaled new truck, my med bills, his and his moms med bills, property damage, which between all was over $100K and he would have been responsible for the $$ if I would have sued his punk ass. he lost his license too and had DMV fines (I found all this out from Mercury) and he was only 18 and still in high school!

[mitssn]

you shouldn't have been driving your moms car to begin with so I would pay him off the $600, get the cover your ass stuff in writing, and call it a day because this could really screw you over, you could loose your license and be responsible for ALL damages if he reports you to his insurance and im not even sure of what the dmv will do as far as fines. Pick your battles.

I know the 18 year old kid who totaled my truck with his brothers rice rocket accord, he was excluded from his brothers policy, he WAS responsible for his brothers totaled new accord, my totaled new truck, my med bills, his and his moms med bills, property damage, which between all was over $100K and he would have been responsible for the $$ if I would have sued his punk ass. he lost his license too and had DMV fines (I found all this out from Mercury) and he was only 18 and still in high school!
Exactly what I'm sayin.... Pay the man the $600 (which is cheap for body work) and be done with it.

[madajb]

Make it an even $1k.
Let him take his woman out to dinner and feel like he got the good end of the deal.
-ajb

[84rabbitchick]

Make it an even $1k.
Let him take his woman out to dinner and feel like he got the good end of the deal.
-ajb
uh.... what?!?!

[84rabbitchick]

anywho... my mom's trying to fight this so that we can win it. and i don't know how we can win this case. I'm confused of this whole thing. I haven't been able to pay attention to anything whatsoever today. I missed school today, i'm stressing like no other. I have a hard time paying attention to what people are telling me. I know i shouldn't have been driving my mom's car. But I didn't have insurance on my car and I had to run errands for her as well.

[madajb]

uh.... what?!?!
If you are going to try and pay him off, give him a bit more than he asks for.
Hopefully he will return the gesture by not reporting you.
-ajb

[84rabbitchick]

Dont give up Pia...and Please dont admit any kind of fault to him or his insurance company. If he goes to DMV to file a SR-1 form the damage must total over $750 for it to go against your driving record. It use to be $500, now it is $750. Just because you were driving a vehicle that you are an excluded driver on the policy does not mean the car is uninsured. The car is insured but they willl not cover or assist in any accident that happens while an excluded driver on the policy is behind the wheel. You need to do what I said and contact his insurance and file a claimant report with them. If he has already filed a claim with his company then you can explain your side of the accident and dispute the fault. Maybe if they are unable to investigate and determine liability they may just say 50/50 and they will take care of their insured's damages and you take care of your own. I hope it all works out, but take this as a lesson that if you're excluded on an insurance policy you should not be behind the wheel of any vehicles listed on it. Even in cases when you're not at fault in the accident your insurance company will not step in and pay for the damages and subrogate against the at fault party because the driver in their car was excluded. When I worked in insurance i cant tell you the amount of times I had to tell my insureds that we could not cover their loss or any liability becasue the driver was excluded. Again, I hope it works out Pia

-Kk

I'm trying not to give up. The insurance company is going to be contacted, or actually, more in the lines contacting me. They already contacted Joe, but couldn't get to me because I was at work.