got in an accident today

Good thing i was in my beater truck. Even better, it wasn't even damaged.

I was in the parking lot here at work (which is of a completely asinine design, with two lanes through the middle, going the same way). I was looking for a closer spot, but couldn't find one, so i put it in reverse to go back to the previous row and park. I looked in my mirrors and nobody was behind me, so i put it in reverse and started backing up. All of a sudden i hear a honk and a thunk, and there's a minivan in my bumper. Apparently she pulled out from one of the aisles right into me.

Anyway, she needs a bumper cover and a grille on her pontiac minivan (montana?), and my already-bent bumper is about the same as it was before we collided. No serious damage, but her car is going to cost a few $$ to get right.

Then she goes to the base cops and files a police report, so they call me down to file an affadavit. I put what happened, of course, without trying to assign fault. I think it was her fault, but technically, i was backing up the wrong way in an one way driveway, so it could go either way. She did rear-end me, but i did have it in reverse. No-fault insurance in the state of MI, but her ins. company is still going to go after mine because she (naturally) is going to tell them it's my fault, and i have to convince them it's not or my rates might go up.

RE: got in an accident today

damn that sucks good luck with your case. Hopefully you'll end up paying nothin.

RE: got in an accident today

Dave,

Here in Ontario where we also have no fault, insurance and fault doesn't apply in parking lots. Kinda like you're on your own. Meaning you pay for yours, she pays for hers. It's not that way in MI?? Parking lots are usually private....therefore not covered under our insurance as such...

RE: got in an accident today

It is like that here, her insurance company is liable. But usually if you're not at fault you can go after the other driver for like $500 or something. I'll most likely get a call from my insurance company next week and they'll interview me about the accident on the phone. That's what happened before. They call and say "so, were you involved in an accident on such and such date?" and go from there. Even if the officer determines you were at fault at the scene, you can dispute it with the insurance company when they call. But this is my second accident this year (my '78 didn't stop too well...) so who knows.

As for it being in a parking lot, that doesn't really work. I was at work, and i work on a military installation. The lady that hit me apparently went in to file a report with the cops on the installation. They called me at my desk and had me come down and file the report. Nothing should come of it at work, though, she'll just file a claim with her insurance, and i'll probably hear about it through mine.

RE: got in an accident today

Sorry to hear about the accident. At least you didn't ding that beautiful Mark.

RE: got in an accident today

Good luck Dave. Just to give you a heads up, you are right. They are going to more than likely call it your fault. It is going to be very hard to prove that you did not back into her. The key factor to remember is that the cop/mp who investigated your crash was not there. I have to explain this to people all the time. They dont have special powers to look back and see what happened. Cops really shouldnt be investigating crashes anyway as a general rule. The should show up, see that there is no crime that has been committed, then leave. But once again the insurance companies have taken over our legal system.

RE: got in an accident today

Well, my insurance company is more on the ball than i thought. They called me yesterday and took my statement over the phone. I told them the truth, what happened. I said that i put it in reverse and was about to back up, and that she turned out of an aisle right into me. Sequencing there is pretty tricky, so fault can go either way. But they asked me, "would you say that the accident is your fault or hers?" and of course i said "I'd say that it's her fault". They said that there was a conflict between our two versions (they had already talked with the other party) and that they'd get the police report and decide fault themselves. They also said that if the case of a dispute, they back their insured. After all, it's in their best interest financially if it wasn't my fault, so if there's no proof that it was my fault, they'll most likely say it wasn't and tell the other insurance company to shove it.

I think the reverse thing won't play to my disadvantage as much as it would have had this not occured in a parking lot. One has to expect people to be using reverse regularly in a parking lot, and when you turn out of an aisle you have to be sure that the person in front of you is not backing up.

RE: got in an accident today

Dave, the only way I see you at fault is IF you saw her coming and continued backing out. Had she been paying attention she obviously would have seen you backing out and(if not driving too fast) would have been able to stop and not have the collision.

In my experience, it comes down to who hit whom? Was she stopped and you backed into her or were you stopped and she collided into you? The moving driver is almost always at fault if the other is stopped.

RE: got in an accident today

"so i put it in reverse and started backing up. All of a sudden i hear a honk and a thunk,"

"what happened. I said that i put it in reverse and was about to back up, and that she turned out of an aisle right into me."

Dave, the best I can do is share my experience with you. In my experience, they are going to place fault on you. If they don't, it will be the first time I have seen that. There is a first time for everything. Good luck to ya.

RE: got in an accident today

about to back up, backing up, what's the difference?

I won't be surprised if i'm found at fault. Perhaps i am, but i know if it were me driving the minivan i wouldn't have pulled out directly behind the blazer. I wasn't really in a position to prevent the accident, whereas from the vantage point of the other driver, it was obvious that i was trying to park, and she could have easily gone around in the other lane.

RE: got in an accident today

about to back up, backing up, what's the difference?

Click to expand...

In the insurance world, it's everything. There would be a huge difference between 'about to back up' and 'backing up', even 'backing up and stopped'.

Allow me to relate a story. Several years ago, on my way home late from work on night, I had a blowout on the rear of the F350 dually I was driving down the interstate. The inner tire blew, sheared the wheel studs allowing both wheels to careen down the highway. One wheel literally passed me and veered to the right and off the side of the road while the other was last seen heading towards the median. Luckily traffic was very light as I coasted to the berm. I got a flashlight to hunt my missing wheels when I noticed a tractor trailer off the opposite side of the road behind me. I was scanning the median looking for the wheel when another car coming the opposite way suddenly illuminated the wheel laying smack dab in the traffic lane of the opposite side that I was on. I watched as it never slowed, no brakes, ran directly over the wheel with a crash of sparks before the brake lights came on and then it pulled off the side behind the tractor trailer. I scurried to get the wheel out of the roadway and proceeded to the car and truck to ascertain the damage.

The truck had smacked the rolling wheel with its huge bumper. The car literally ran directly over it dead in the road. The truck sustained very little damage while the car had severe undercarraige damage(and no oil pan). Several days and interviews with the insurance company later, the truck's damage was MY fault since my wheel was still moving when it hit, while the car's damage was NOT my fault, simply because the wheel was stopped motionless and the other driver failed to avoid the collision. This was all very explicitly explained to me many times over by more than one person.

Literally like the judicial system, the insurance industry lives by prior precedence. While each accident may be unique, countless similar others haved paved the way, right or wrong, to the conclusion of where the liabilty lies.

RE: got in an accident today

There is no doubt there. Most crashes that I work could have been avoided by the not-at-fault driver. The larges percent of crashes that occur are from people backing up and hitting stuff.