wreck today; need advice

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SS69

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so here's the deal. i was driving home today and i was at a redlight. the light turned green and everyone was driving, i had only gotten up to about 15mph when i noticed the person in front of me went from moving to a dead stop, i was maybe 20 feet from her. i slam on my brakes and just when i thought i was gonna stop in time i bump her. that sends her into the guy that she was already right behind. the bumper on the truck i was driving is made of plastic; it was a big box truck by the way which is why it was hard to stop, all it did to my bumper was crease it in a little bit, no other damage was done to the truck or anything behind the bumper. the only damage that was on the car in front of me was scraped paint on the rear bumper. the front of her car was smashed. here's what i need to know. will i even be responsible for the front of her car and the truck she hit? from what i understand she is legally responsible for the truck she hit because according to the law she is supposed to leave a certain amount of space between her and cars in front of her. and i believe the reason she stopped all of a sudden anyways was because she ran up on that guy's ass. anyone know?
 
You're responsilbe for the damage to the rear of her car, and trust me (I know from experience), they will pin you for more than "scraped paint on the rear of the bumper". Even if you couldn't see anything at all resembling anything else notable, they will find more ways of extracting money from you. I put a 20c size dent in the rear of a Mitsubishi Lancer (mind you, she admitted the accident was her friggin' fault), and she "needed" an entire boot re-alignment, new badge, a whole rear paint job and a whole new bumper, where all the panelbeater could have done was knock out the dent in the bumper. So expect a much heftier fee than you think.

As for the front of her car, in Australia it would be classed as her fault for the reason you stated: she didn't leave enough space between her and the car in front of her. If you get pinned for those damages you would have a case in court.
 
I'd think that you'd be held responsible for the frontal damage on lady's car as well, but I do not know that rule on that. I just hope she won't start claiming neck or back pain. Do communicate with your insurance company, dont' get ripped off. Good luck, man.
 
I think it differs from country to country. I've had an accident like that. I was the last one in a "head tail" (don't know if this is the right expression)collision . I was supposedly the one who slammed all 3 cars in front of me into eachother (I didn't) by hitting the car in front of me (that I did) but one of the victims knew the police officer whom filed the report, so.....
To make a long story short. I was held responsible for all 3 cars in front of me!!! They were tailgating and the first car suddenly stopped........
So, I think you're going to be held responsible for the damage to the front of her car and even the damage to the first car.
The reason behind all of this. You have to be able to stop at all times and for all objects in front of you. If you didn't hit her car, she probably wouldn't have hit the car in front of her. You caused the accident by hitting her car, so you probably are going to be responsible.
 
That's it exactly. You caused her to hit the guy in front, therefore you are responsible. If you hit someone from behind, you are responsible, no matter what they did.
 
daan
That's it exactly. You caused her to hit the guy in front, therefore you are responsible. If you hit someone from behind, you are responsible, no matter what they did.
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Yep. Even if the secondary impact was nothing to do with you, because she is liable for it, her insurance company will attempt to recover costs from you.

And even though it appears as if there's no damage, there are all sorts of deformable structures behind the bumper which may require replacement to ensure proper protection in the next accident.

Oh, and Jimmy Enslashay, there's no such thing as a panel beater any more. All they are is fitters.
 
Jimmy Enslashay
As for the front of her car, in Australia it would be classed as her fault for the reason you stated: she didn't leave enough space between her and the car in front of her. If you get pinned for those damages you would have a case in court.
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I'm not Australian but logic dictates that it doesn't matter that she didn't leave enough space between her and the car in front of her.
SS69 said that she came to a "dead stop". So if he didn't hit her from behind she wouldn't have hit the car in front of her, no matter how much space there was between her car and the car in front of her.
You're probably right if she (her car) was still moving!!!
 
Usually most accidents will only look superficial but underneath its a different story as the chassis will have been designed to soak up the impact. Especially as you were in a truck the underneath of her chassis is probably bent in certain places.

When a jeep crashed into the back of me the damage seemed minimal but the dealer who carried out the repair said they had to cut out part of the chassis and replace it or something along those lines. Even showed me the warped and twisted parts. Said that the accident was alot worse than it looked.

But in short your fully responsible for the accident.
 
My brother was involved in something like this. There was a chain of 4 cars, his being the 2nd in the chain. The first car pulled up so he slammed on the brakes, then an expensive looking WRX slammed on the brakes and they pulled up fine, then a dirty ratty lady smashed into the back of the Rex sending it into my brothers car and his car into the front one. The Rex definately came off worse, destroyed back and my brother has a tow bar without the ball so it punctured his radiator and did a fair bit of cosmetic damage and the ratty lady in the Falcon had to pay for it all.
 
A lot of people in this counrty make up a bunch of crap just to suck more money out of you. If you go to court, speak smart, know what you're talking about, make sure you tell the whole truth (not just a part of it, like a lawyer would do), and make sure you have plenty of statements to back up your previous statemnents. That's about the only way to get out of leagal crap, just make it better than anyone else. Of course, you will be responsible for all three cars, unless your place of employment take car of the box truck for free.
I was in a situation something like this with an old lady. The police officer came, she made up a bunch of bull, my dad was with me and he started getting mad, I told him to shut up before he got me in more trouble, I told my story, the cop believed me and told the lady to get lost. Now, I didn't actaull hit her, which is what she was claiming. The cop agreed with me, mainly because she was an idiot lady and didn't pay enough attention to her own car to know what it did during the whole thing. She said she felt a big thump. It was her ABS. She's an idiot.
 
Sorry to hear about your accident, SS69 :( - it seems pretty unfair that you be held responsible for the damage to the front of her car and the damage to the rear of the car infront of her, but I reckon that daan and kikie are right... sometimes these unexpected things just happen out of the blue, and sometimes it works out in your favour, and other times not... I really hope you don't get stung for too much - you'll have to let us know how it goes from here...
 
well it was just a case of wrong place wrong time. ive heard several times before this incident that i wouldnt be held responsible for the front of her car or the truck because of what i said earlier and i dont think i will be, what im mainly worried about is if she tries to come back and sue me. all this over what should have been a simple fender bender.
 
At the end of the day, if you didn't hit her, she wouldn't have hit the car infront. It's definitely worth checking up on your local laws because it may be the case that being too close does make it her fault where you are, all I can tell you is that it wouldn't over here.
 
In America, which is where both of us are, the law is that you'd be responsible for all three vehicles. You didn't leave enough space, so you hit her. There's a charge against you. That impact caused her to hit the dude in front of her. I'm not sure if this would be her fault or your fault, but I'd expect the worst. Oh an, it is America, so expect to get sued. Be a pessimist in situations like these, because then you won't get dissapointed. Just imagine all other people are dirty, rotten scoundrals. The only way to beat a cheater is to cheat better. I hate to say stuff like that, but if you get in trouble, that's pretty much how it goes. That's why I don't get into trouble.
I'm not purposly trying to make you feel bad, this wreck does seem like a genuine accident. I hpoe all goes well.
 
Hey look at it this way. At least you didn't have anything to do with this bus accident:

(look for "bus slams into 8-ton rig... on camera" near the top right)

http://www.cnn.com/
 
I don't know about Texas laws but my friend had the same kind of thing happen and he was responsible for both cars.

This can vary from state to state in the US. You might want to ask your insurance company when you file the claim. Even if she sues you for medical damages or something they will go after your insurance company first, they have more money. If your insurance won't cover that then you get sued.

Did she request any medical attention at the scene? This won't clear you but it can help.
 
no she didnt claim to be hurt, there wasnt even a police report filed. my insurance company said that at this point it seems as if im only responsible for the rear of her car but they wont know for sure untill they do more investigating.
 
SS69
no she didnt claim to be hurt, there wasnt even a police report filed. my insurance company said that at this point it seems as if im only responsible for the rear of her car but they wont know for sure untill they do more investigating.
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That reminds me. Have you filled out the accident report at DMV? If you haven't, make sure you do so right away. It's a pain to deal with DMV, but you could get in trouble later when you skip this process.
 
a6m5
That reminds me. Have you filled out the accident report at DMV? If you haven't, make sure you do so right away. It's a pain to deal with DMV, but you could get in trouble later when you skip this process.
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there's no reason to do that, the police stated that the insurance company would determine who's at fault, if i can keep this wreck off the state record i will.
 
GG
Oh, and Jimmy Enslashay, there's no such thing as a panel beater any more. All they are is fitters.
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Well, yeah. Though here they're still known as panel beaters.
kikie
I'm not Australian but logic dictates that it doesn't matter that she didn't leave enough space between her and the car in front of her.
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Well, sometimes in situations like this logic is left out, but I agree with what you're saying.

I know of an old family friend of my family who caused a very similar accident, but didn't get done for the car in front of the car he hit.
 
SS69
there's no reason to do that, the police stated that the insurance company would determine who's at fault, if i can keep this wreck off the state record i will.
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If I did that in Oregon, it'll be against the law. I have to report to DMV, even if the Police already filed the report. By not reporting, DMV could actually suspend my license. I'm not telling you, but I would suggest checking your local law regarding this. If it was against the law where you live, and if there was a lawsuit, it could come back to bite you in the a**. Again, just a suggestion. :)
 
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