As par for the course, asking a legal question on an NFL Board. Yesterday I was a passenger in my friend's car. We were on a busy road, light is green, we proceed. We're going about 35 mph, and we got creamed at full speed from behind. Got showered with glass. It was so shocking. The impact of the crash blew the driver's car back to the stoplight. If you see the photos of both cars you would not believe that everybody walked away alive. We are OK, including the driver. Driver/kid runs over and says, "I'm so sorry, I can't believe this. I'm gonna call my Mom." "That's why it's called an accident. Did your air bags go off? Seatbelts save lives. Your knuckles are bloody." Then some other guy approaches us 5 mins later and I go, "Are you this kid's father?" Gets all vague on me that he's a relative. Then the Mom is talking to the cop across the way, she doesn't ask if we're alright, I get it, the legal meter is on. After the cop drove what was left of my friend's car away from the main drag, I asked the tow guy, "Hey, if that kid was texting and driving, what happens? Do they only look at time stamps for cell phone activity if there's a fatality?" "Pretty much." That kid is 100% responsible, and in the state of NY, if you rear-end someone, it's your fault, PERIOD. My question is, can my friend go beyond complete replacement value for her car if this idiot was texting? ETA: I might push both ins cos to ask for cell phone records and go from there.
My apologies, connection dropped. So car rental coverage is complete BS. It only works if you make the person at fault pay for the rental. If you are NOT at fault and you call in a rental, your ins co will raise you at renewal because you used what you paid for. So basically it only works if you're the crasher and not the crashee.
Did the other driver take responsibility at the scene? If so you call it all in on his/her insurance (If not, you are kinda screwed in the short term with the no-fault law) has there been charges filed against that driver? Maybe they are still pending since it happened yesterday. That would help and would allow your friend to sue — I was driving down a country road and got smashed by a kid who crossed over and hit me head on. He was obviously texting just like in your situation. It sucked in the short term but I will say it did work out over time as the insurance companies battled it out
He blasted us from behind, so pretty much at fault no matter what story he tells. Shockingly no charges or a ticket, the whole thing is odd, no clue how that's not reckless driving. However, you can't get around destroying someone's car in NY when no one is turning. The kid's ins co (Progressive) started fishing and offered $500 for medical eval this a.m., my friend got suspicious and said no. Turns out that's the road for them to quash a lawsuit if you accept. You go to your own Dr. after the fact, and they pay. Working on getting a rental, they are suddenly not returning calls.
100%. You need to call a lawyer before you do or say anything else. Even though it seems that no one was hurt, you and friend should get evaluated by a doc. They say whiplash is somewhat devious in that it can turn up days later. There may be a lot of legal issues that you may not understand and insurance co. lawyers work for their clients best interests not yours. You should be able to get an injury lawyer to work for you on contingency.
I definitely feel like I got tossed around in a washing machine today. I slept very late. My friend developed some pretty bad bruises. I actually did speak to an atty this afternoon, going to make an appt. In retrospect, I should have gotten in that kid's face and said what is wrong with you. The whole thing is very odd. State Police showed up also and did not walk over to see if we were OK or to talk to us, took off after 5 mins. I called the Deputy this afternoon who handled everything. He couldn't have been more disinterested at the scene, but the reason I called was to find out the easiest way to obtain the official police report. I know it's going to infuriate us when we get it because this kid started saying to us you guys ran a red light. The light was green and you destroyed us, buddy. So as I'm having this conversation with the Deputy about the police report, I asked him why this kid wasn't ticketed for reckless driving. "It's his word against yours. There weren't any witnesses." ON A BUSY STREET?! I said, "A good Samaritan pulled over to see if we were OK and if we needed any medical assistance. He called 911 and that's why you showed up. I did not get his name, but he told me that he gave information to the police." "I'll check the call logs to see who it was and I'll get back to you." It turns out that this "kid" will be 28 yrs old next month. The Deputy spent most his time talking to this kid in the distance with his Mom hovering in the background. I don't know what I'm trying to say here, but something seems awry. ETA: I also said to the Deputy, "We didn't ram ourselves. The damage speaks for itself."
Apologies in advance because this is probably going to come across a little harsh but nobody was hurt and everyone has insurance. Maybe there’s a crime that’s been committed but this is a situation cops really don’t give a shit about. Not saying that’s right but it’s pretty obvious law enforcement isn’t the answer for you here.
Not harsh at all, but no field sobriety test, no were you hopped up on weed, no let me see your phone to see your last text. Bottom line is it was distracted driving and everyone could have been killed and would have been back in the day. Again, you would not believe the photos, and I can't be bothered scratching out license plate #s to post them. The bigger issue was if he had insurance at all. If it's super low end, I still don't know that part yet, and if that's the case, fck you and fck your car, fck you if you did get seriously hurt, all we got for you is $10K, enjoy your wheelchair. Law enforcement obviously is not the answer but that phonecall had to be made.
Sorry to hear this jeto. Looks like you need to get a good lawyer to go after that kid and his insurance.
I'm not a lawyer, and I don't even play one on TV, however, I'm not sure if a passenger has any legal status to sue the one who caused the accident. @jetophile may have to sue his friend to collect any damages. The friend collects from the one who caused the crash. A lawyer will be able to sort it out.
It's really very clear cut. The driver was not paying attention, slammed us in the back at high speed, totalled his car and my friend's. It's 'no fault in NY', but he is at fault. It will get hammered out, but I'm going to copy and paste my question from the first post: That kid is 100% responsible, and in the state of NY, if you rear-end someone, it's your fault, PERIOD. My question is, can my friend go beyond complete replacement value for her car if this idiot was texting? Penalties for texting and driving are starting to carry the same penalties as being high af. It is just beyond baffling how this guy was not issued a ticket of any kind. I was a passenger and a WITNESS, and that Deputy didn't ask me ANYTHING about what happened. Zero. He took my license and ran it which is good practice because it's wild the kind of wanted degenerates that get pulled over for something dumb. All good, but he handed it back and said nothing. He could see we were dazed, and my friend goes, "Red light, what red light. What is he saying? It was green and we were going about our business. Are there cameras at this light, how about that?" Nothing. I'm starting to think this is very bizarrely Paul Murdaugh super-ultra lite, lol.
As I said I'm not a lawyer, but I urge you to get one. I'm very gratified that you were not seriously injured and wish you and your friend the best outcome.
The cop told you why there was no ticket written and without probable cause there will be no drug or alcohol test, much less an illegal search of his phone - Fourth Amendment stuff. It seems to me the cop also had no probable cause to run your license which is an invasion of privacy - see above. Just see a lawyer if you believe you have "damages" in the legal sense.
I did not ask why do you need my license, I did not complain, I immediately complied; but I did say wtf to my friend when he walked away with it because I wasn't driving. When he came back, he said we do that for identification of everyone in the vehicle, including toddlers. Toddlers don't drive, but OK . . . ? Again, I do think it's great practice in case someone is wanted for who the f knows what but I saw and I do see your point. All I'm saying is in a crash this bad caused by an almost 28 year old when we were barely asked anything reeks of something. If this guy was texting, then fuck him I mean it. Are you Tom Brady's attorney or something?
