flaagan

Was coming home from some errands, sitting at a overpass stop light to make a left onto the freeway. Light turned green, looked and saw it was all clear, rolled out into the intersection and got about halfway across, suddenly WHAM! and I've got a facefull of airbag.

Took a second or two to realize what'd happened, look up over the deflating air bag and see the side of a newer Dodge Charger. After a moments daze, both of us hook around to the shoulder on the overpass. We get followed by the car behind me, guy witnessed the whole thing, took care of calling the cops for us. I called my family to get them to come pick me up, then called one of my tow truck driving buddies to help sort out picking up the car.

Talked with the cops, and even though the witness corroborates with my story that puts the gal at fault, cop said he can't cite her as it's a "he said / she said". She drove off, I get towed to a shop.

Initial visual inspection consists of passenger side window's sticking up and out a bit, both front fenders are damaged (driver's side is bent out), front bumper's pushed in and up, hood's flexed enough that it actually separated at the driver's side corner (I think the hood latch is actually still connected with the lower half to its latching point).

I had the car towed to "Active Auto Body", place on my insurance's network and someone more than a few Corvette owners have spoken highly of, already got a claim set up with insurance, so we'll see what happens. I'm glad I hadn't put on the RK Sport hood I picked up recently or that the Radioflyer headlights haven't been shipped out yet, but the TigerShark front bumper took a beating and I'm just hoping my A&A supercharger's intercooler or my maybe two month old DeWitts radiator didn't get damaged.

04Vette1431

Sorry to hear that. Let me give you some advice regarding the officers actions and what you should do next.

Even though the officer said its a "He said/She said," you should contact the department which responded to the scene and request a traffic collision report. From the sound of it, the officer did not want to take the report for some reason....every accident is "He said/she said." The officer is supposed to take the circumstances into consideration and make an accurate assessment as to who is to blame for the accident. With the witness statement and the point of impact, it is clear (based on the information you have given) that the other party caused the accident.

Even though he or she may think that, the insurance company would like to know what happened in the accident...not only via your story, but a police report of the incident would benefit and corroborate your story...especially if there is an unbiased witness who saw the accident occur.

I hope this helps and you get your car back better than it was. Everything will be ok...glad you are alright.

s'noJob

Make sure you become real good buddies with that eyewitness - your insurance company's really gonna want to talk to that guy.

As to that cop's actions, or in this case, non-actions, I'd want to have a chat with his Sgt. regarding proper police protocol at an accident scene.


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STALION

THAT IS TOTAL BS!!! I'm not sure how the laws work in your state but here officers are trained to identify error in an accident and charge. Even when they don't have a witness they will interview both drivers to corrborate their story and can still lay charges that way! Even when no charges are laid they can still place someone at fault!

I was in an accident last december with no witnesses. The other driver admitted to not knowing what color the light was. Although there were no witnesses the officer did not charge the other person (even though they should have) but placed them at fault in their report. The insurance company interviewed the driver as well and they were placed at fault.

Anyways, really sorry to hear but you should not be responsible for any out of pocket, and I sincerely hope that the officer gets a talking to by his superior.

DevilDog II

[QUOTE=s'noJob;1584883246
As to that cop's actions, or in this case, non-actions, I'd want to have a chat with his Sgt. regarding proper police protocol at an accident scene.
.[/QUOTE]

Unless an officer observes an accident, it's always he/she said. If you and a witness saw the same thing, it seems to me that there's more than enough corroborating evidence to issue a ticket. It's up to a judge after that to sort through the evidence and determine who's at fault.

I'd get a copy of the accident report. It will be interesting to see what he wrote in the narrative. If he indicated what you and the witness observed, it should be pretty cut-and-dried. I almost always issued a ticket for an accident. They sometimes helped to speed up the insurance process or at least did back in the day. I also told the driver who had been struck that they had the option of not appearing in court and testifying if their vehicle had been repaired properly and there were no injuries. Good luck.

Vetteman Jack

Got to agree with others on this - the LEO should have done more in terms of placing the blame for the accident and perhaps he did in his report. But IMO the other driver should have been ticketed.

Sorry to see and hear about the damage to your car. Hope the body shop can make it look like new again.

oldC5

Man that sucks. Good luck with repairs. I feel your pain. With the air bag deployed it might be totaled.My next door neighbor had the same thing happen to him, not much damage but airbag deployed they totaled the car to his surprise.

oldschoolvette

that sux

at least you are OK

good luck with this, I am afraid you have an up hill battle

get a lawyer

sfc rick

He could have known the female?

runner140*

Guess thats what insurance companies and lawyers are for. Glad you are ok. Cars can be fixed or replaced.

calvins

First off, I'm so sorry about your car and super glad that you were not hurt!

So she hit you coming from the opposite direction?

Maybe I'm not reading it right but it seems like there aren't enough details in the OPs post to determine fault. IF he was making a left hand turn across traffic, it is his responsibility to ensure that crossing the oncoming traffic lanes is safe to do. Not a shot at you flaagen, just a thought.

Of course there can be extenuating circumstances which would affect that view, which is where the witness would be crucial.

I also agree that the officer did not follow procedure (I'm not an LEO, but it sure seems to make sense). Something fishy there.

Sorry for the negative waves... just sayin'

JaxEagle

Sorry man. That's just terrible.

MSG C5

Sorry to read about your accident. A nice Tigershark bumper too!

I guess there was no red light camera to help you out this time.

A lot of good advice already provided and you probably already know not to sign any type of settlement offered by the other insurance, or your insurance, before an independent appraisal.

There are a lot of additional factors such as if the other driver has any DUIs on their record, etc. I'm not a LEO and I'm sure he was following their local protocol, however I would make sure to question the process. Hopefully you have a good agent who will fight for you and not just process the paperwork into a large insurance black hole that we all eventually pay for with higher rates.

envyz06

damn that is so crappy man, I really hope you get it situated I know it can be rough working with PD and insurance at same time! good luck!

onspeed

I think it's the officer's discretion to issue a citation... however I'm sure he did write an accident report. Everyone seems to think the officer just drove away?

Can you clarify OP?

dork

I dunno... I'm a PRK refugee and as I recall, the LEO standards (especially in the urban areas like Silicon Valley and the SF Bay area) the scenario as reported by the OP doesn't seem that far-fetched to me.

LEO is so understaffed they hang around for TA's for the minimal amount of time; there's no law anymore in CA requiring motorists to even wait for police, so long as information is exchanged (unless there's bodily injury, of course).

Back in the early 80's I called a cop to document hit-and-run damage to my car. He showed up after about 90 minutes, rolled up, took a look at the bent bumper, and said, "bumpers are made to be hit. Tell it to your insurance company." I insisted he take my name and note the location and time along with my claim that it was hit-and-run. That's as good as I got out of him--a field report, which wouldn't evaluate "responsibility".

mtndv8

Glad you're ok bradda!!!

Bummed about your ride...

Maxx_Z06

Man that sucks extremely, sorry to hear about your misfortune.

VETJAZZ

I have nightmares about this sort of thing. Glad you're OK and hopefully the car will be better than new once repaired.

C5Txfan

Looking at the picture I'm guessing the car that hit him might have run the red light coming from his left the way the damage on the car looks ?? Seems if the he turned in front of the car coming at him the damage would have been pushed back toward cabin instead of forward. Anyway .. sorry for your damage hope it gets fixed correctly.