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This all occurred while I was abroad, so I don't have the best description of details, please forgive me. A couple of weeks ago, a relative was involved in an accident. He was in the left lane of a 5-lane access road. (Yes, there are access roads that huge in Texas). The left lane could go only left while the adjacent lane could make a left turn or go straight.
Well, this old geezer just cuts him off completely instead of going either forward or making a left turn and my family member evades him, crashing into the curb & causing damage to our vehicle. The old geezer was kind enough to stop and check if he was okay, exchanging information & waiting for the police.
Fast forward two weeks. We receive notice that his insurance company will not pay anything because "it wasn't their fault". "No contact" or some such crap. If their incompetent client didn't do what he did, we wouldn't have had to make an evasive maneuver! Ridiculous. It turns out that the other guy is changing his story now! What?!
Well, if he didn't do anything and wasn't at fault, then why did he stop to exchange information & why is there a police report? Ridiculous. Looks like we'll have to pay out of pocket for a bit of the repair, but the deductible is taking care of most of it. Still.....extremely annoying.
What would you guys do in such a situation? Besides making old people get off the roads or take classes?
Unfortunaly they are right, if there was no contact, the driver of your vehilce is at fault for "failure to maintain control of the vehicle" If the other drive would have hit you, it would have been there fault, but since there was no contact they arnt responsible for anything.
Its the same thing as if you swerve to avoid a deer, it would be collision, and at fault, but if you were to hit the animal it would be comp not at fault.
Well, you can pay your insurance deductible and get it fixed. This may increase your premiums. If its not to much, you can fix it all yourself, no insurance, no premium hike.
Unfortunately, your family member is at fault for the wreck. If they were to hit the other guy, they most likely would not be at fault.
Back in 2011, I swerved to avoid a drunk that pulled out in front of me. I hit a patch of ice and spun into a curb. I was not ticketed, but it was marked as an at fault for crossing the double yellow avoid her. Sucks, but that's how it is. The cop even said not to swerve because if you then hit anything, its your move that caused it.
Now, in the last 3 months, I have had two people pull out right in front of me. Now, instead of trying to miss, I just slam on brakes. Unfortunately, I rear ended both. We all know the saying, you rear end someone, you will be at fault. WRONG. Both times, they have been cited and at fault.
Use their wreck as a learning experience. It wasnt the old guy driving that caused the accident, it was the driver that avoided the old guy that caused the wreck. If they didnt try to avoid it, it would have been a different type of wreck that would have showed the old guys negligence.
First of all, there are two separate assignations of fault. The police at the scene can assign fault to a driver, and cite the driver for a traffic law infraction, subjecting him to a fine. Sometimes both drivers are given tickets for violations.
Then, later, the insurance companies investigate the accident, not necessarily arriving at the same conclusion as the police.
There is wording in your insurance policy of a "land phantom motor vehicle" (which evokes a wonderful image) which basically means that your car was involved in an accident in which at least one vehicle (not a boat or airplane, hence "land") was implicated, but not actually having contact with any insured vehicle, such as causing or requiring evasion, or was actually involved in impact, but left the scene and cannot be found. Your "old geezer" was basically driving a land phantom motor vehicle, and may have been cited by the police for the way he was driving, but your insurance company is not recognizing that he had any fault in your hitting the curb. This can be argued by saying you were not fully in control of your vehicle. It's analogous to saying it's your fault if you skid on the ice, no matter how much you complain that it is the ice's fault.
There's a difference between what the insurance company says and what the law is.
If you were to sue the driver of the other vehicle for negligence (and I don't even know if Texas is a fault or no-fault state) it's possible that the court would conclude that the other driver was negligent and caused the damage to your car. The fact that the carrier is denying coverage isn't necessarily the end of the conversation.
You might want to consult with a Texas attorney who handles this kind of case to evaluate whether it's worth retaining an attorney and suing.
What would you guys do in such a situation? Besides making old people get off the roads or take classes?
Of course, if a person is old it means they must therefore be at fault, and that the causal factor would have been eliminated if that person had taken a class. That's some good reasoning there.
One could point out that the only vehicle that was damaged was not the one which supposedly "caused" the collision. Obviously since you weren't there, you really don't know exactly what happened, so the blame must automatically lie with someone older.
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