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Also posted in new york city section as I wasn't sure if there are location specific advice.
I'm asking this for a relative. He was going straight on the fast lane (lane 4, 1st lane from left) and hit by someone on i-278 east on the passenger side. The culprit kept on driving so he had to chase after this guy for 30 seconds. At this point, the other guy stopped, came out, start yelling and screaming. (If only I can smack the guy.)
Police was called, who arrived within 5 minutes. the other driver went to the police and said a few sentence. The police then asked both parties to go to a quieter location to exchange information and did not 'want' to write a report. The big problem is that this relative does not speak much english, but does have someone in the car that does. The police left after arriving at the quieter location.
The insurance company for the other driver determine that it was his fault (!!!) after taking both statements. According to the other company, the other guy stated that the relative try to overtake him on his lane (lane 3, 2nd lane from left) which caused the accident (exact opposite happend). He will have to file a claim with his own insurance company.
Now, several questions:
What should he have done differently so that this outcome is different and that the other drive will take responsibility for his action?
What can he do now given the information so far? His insurance say to get the repair done and they will go after the other driver's insurance. From my personal experience, that is highly unlikely.
Insurance company mentioned to go to the police within 30 days and ask the police to issue a careless driving ticket to the other driver. I didn't think this makes sense as this guy could say the same to the police and ask them to issue a ticket also.
Oh the joys of dealing with insurance companies. They never want to pay out what is due. In a situation like this, it's difficult to prove which party was at fault without an unbiased witness. Therefore it will almost always end in a 50/50 fault decision with each party needing to pay their own repairs. If your relative has collision, his insurance can pay for his repairs and his rates will increase. Your relative's insurance company probably won't go after liability unless there is a lot of damage. And in this case there's not really any way to prove who is at fault. Both stories could be true.
The police have nothing to do with insurance by the way unless they actually witnessed it happen. A report or any citations given won't necessarily change anything. The insurance companies will do their own investigations.
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