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Old 04-09-2012, 11:19 PM
 
207 posts, read 513,868 times
Reputation: 86

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So I was driving my girlfriends car down Chrystie St. We were stopped at a red light behind 20 other cars stopped at this red light and the one ahead of it.

There's a cop directing traffic and letting people fill the intersection or turn left on a red left turn light.

We've been stopped for a few seconds now when---BAM---we get hit from behind.

This girl must've been texting or something...I have no idea...her excuse was "I thought you guys were gonna go."

I don't even know what that means...if we were 'going to go' she should have waited for my brake lights to no longer be lit.

IMO.

Anyway, I call 911...and then we wait.

Called the 5th Precinct and get this lady who didn't speak very good English, but relayed to us that cops have to deal with tolls (I thought they would be on the island already) or something and we should call back in 15 to 30 minutes.

Okay.

One minute later, my girlfriend goes over to the traffic cop who has been 20 ft away this whole time (it's been about 30 minutes already now).

Her: Hi, we called 911 and they said that the police would be here shortly...we were rear ended. It's been about 40 minutes now.
Traffic Cop: Anyone injured?
Her: No.
Traffic Cop: You're gonna have to wait a while.

Cops show up ten minutes later....so I guess it's been almost an hour.

Long story short...they pretty much laughed at the damage. It was very small...but in case of any back or neck pain, we wanted the report.

They say we could have gotten the scratches just by parking in NYC and that we should work something out with the girl who hit us. My girlfriend asks if he's saying we shouldn't file a report.

Then the second cop speaks: "Whoa, whoa...we are NOT saying that...we're just sayin'...it's a small scratch...you'd have to pay a deductible if you went through insurance...but maybe you two could work something out. Get a quote. And if she doesn't agree to ya terms, then you have 10 days to file the report."

The basically say this one more time but in different words and made sure to repeat: "We are not telling you not to file a report, BUT..."

I was in the car the whole time but heard all of this.

And before parting ways, they asked what was leaking under the car of the girl who hit us...she said anti-freeze...etc...it was all irrelevant...they were probably flirting with her.

Her plates were from Vermont....license from Staten Island...random tidbit.

But yeah, how would you have handled the situation?
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Old 04-10-2012, 03:15 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn
243 posts, read 1,333,967 times
Reputation: 540
You have basically no damage and were not hurt ... But you made a report in case of "later back or neck pain."

Good luck with the lawsuit I imagine someone in your vehicle is planning on filing. If someone does , they're going to have to go to physical therapy for 3 years then file it right before the statute of limitations expires. Then it's gonna take another 2-3 years before they get a trial date. And that's only if they can meet the standard that they suffered a 'serious injury' as defined by NYS law.

Find a doctor who does spinal fusion surgery. It sounds really ominous , but isn't really. We all know doctors NEVER lie or commit auto insurance fraud. He or she can testify about it if the "victim" of the "wreck" can never work again , or gets nightmares and wakes up screaming whenever they hear a horn honking in the night.

We should all thank our lucky stars that NY has so many valiant Accident and Personal Injury Attorneys ready and willing to fight for the "rights" of "victims" of such terrible accidents.

The horror!

And to think the cops wanted to brush it off. Interesting note how odd it is the girl had plates from one state and a license from NY. It's good to know you pointed out what she might be up to.

Is it a safe assumption nobody in your car would ever consider committing insurance fraud by filing a fake injury claim and try to cheat the system like that girl may have been doing?

Of course you could have just looked at the bumper , saw no damage , and drove away like nothing happened.

Probably a good thing you didn't.
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:16 AM
 
207 posts, read 513,868 times
Reputation: 86
This is the second time in the last 6 months I've been rear ended...didn't file a police report last time and it wasn't my car. My back hurt for a long time a few days after the accident. My friend was driving and didn't file a report since he saw no damage...but my doctor wouldn't let me get a back x-ray without going through the other persons insurance....which we couldn't because all my friend got was a phone number and the person never answered their phone after they decided on a 'cash' thing.

No one in my car would fake an injury...mainly because it's immoral and 2, time consuming!
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:24 AM
 
Location: Pflugerville
2,211 posts, read 4,850,343 times
Reputation: 2242
Why would you never call the NYPD again? What is your beef with them? What happened in this situation that made you so angry at them you would take to the internet and make them the bad guys in your long story?

Other than taking an hour to show up? While I know that is a long time and it is frustrating, it is not out of the realm of normality. When I lived in Austin Texas, one of my neighbors plowed into my PARKED car in a parking space (not at a light, in a parking space) going 30 miles an hour because she was texting and not paying attention to the row of cars parked along the street.

My car was totaled. When the neighbor got out of the car, her first statement was "If I call now, do you think they will reinstate my insurance...if I pay over the phone???". So, naturally I called the cops (using 311, as it wasn't an emergency) and told them my parked car had been totalled by an uninsured driver. The first thing the dispatcher asked was "Do you need an ambulance, has someone been hurt". When I told her no, she said "We will send someone when we can.". It took an hour for a cop to show up.

Now in my case, unlike yours, I actually needed a cop to show up because I had actual damages that were going to need to be reported to my insurance company (since she didn't have insurance) and I needed a police report. But regardless...when there are no injuries, the police didn't prioritize it..that's just a fact of life. They will get to you when they can, but people whose lives are in DANGER get first priority. It is what it is.

As far as the police officer trying to, in a round about way, get you to not file a report, well duh! Why did you need to file a report for what you said was minor damage? It sounds to me that the officer was trying to help you out. Your insurance WILL go up when you report an accident, whether it is your fault or not. That is how insurance works. The cop was letting you know that if you wanted to avoid your rates going up, you still had the opportunity within 10 days to file the report if you had any injuries creep up, such as whiplash etc etc.

It sounds to me like the cop was being friendly and helpful. What did you expect him to do? Leave someone that was dying to come deal with your minor, no damage, traffic issue? Did you want him to issue a citation to the dumb woman that hit you? Cops don't do that unless they WITNESS the infraction. Did you want him to haul her off in chains? I know that the officer had to ask everyone on the scene if they were injured and needed an ambulance. If you, and your girlfriends, all said you didn't need an ambulance...what is the cop to do at that point?

Let me put myself into your mindset for a moment. You got hit by SOME idiot that probably shouldn't have a license because she doesn't know how to drive. You are angry and irritated. You call a cop (using 911) even though the damage is minor because 1) the girl who hit you wasn't sorry enough and didn't apologize profusely enough and you wanted the cop to "get her" and 2) because you wanted a report so that you could sue for "pain and suffering" later. SOMEONES GOING TO PAY FOR YOUR INCONVENIENCE!!! Let's call 911, even though this isn't an emergency, because you are indignant!

Okay, now that we have put ourselves in your shoes, let's put ourselves in the cops shoes.

The cop is called on scene for a traffic accident, probably the 80000th one to occur in NYC that day. Neither driver is injured. No passengers are injured. No pedestrians are injured. The damage to both cars is so minor that you can't even tell it is more than normal wear and tear. A person "rear ended" by another driver at a stop light, so the most she could have hit you going was maybe 5 MPH.

"Why am I even here? Why did she call 911?" the cop is thinking. The cop tells your friend (why didn't he tell you? You were the driver), the cop tells your friend she can file a report, but her insurance is going to go up, and this is not really that big of a deal. He doesn't scream at her. By your own admission he is polite. He gives you all the information you need to file a report in the future IN CASE you have hidden injuries....

It sounds to me like the cop was looking out for your best interests. We should all be so lucky. "If you want to file a report now, we can, but if you don't want the hit to your insurance, go home, take time, think about it, see how you feel injury wise in the morning, you still can file a report in 10 days."

OH THE HORROR!! THE NYPD SUCKS!!! I AM NEVER CALLING THEM AGAIN!!

It just seems to me that you wanted them to billy club the other driver to death in front of you to make her pay for being such a stupid driver. That's not really how it works. I don't understand why the title of your thread is "never calling the NYPD again" and not "What is wrong with drivers in this city".

How did the NYPD become the bad guys in this story? The other driver is the idiot.....? Or are you just one of those people that complains about the NYPD no matter what they do? Even when they are polite and trying to point out to you how silly you are being? I ask because you titled your thread with an ANTI-NYPD title, and your user name is "BE MAD", so we know you are not exactly happy go lucky. What do you have to be mad about? Why are you mad all the time so that you have to make "being mad" your screen name? So everyone knows your default position is pissed off?
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:30 AM
 
Location: Manhattan
25,368 posts, read 37,078,660 times
Reputation: 12769
I've called the police perhaps 3 times in my entire life. From those 3 fiascos I came to the same conclusion as the O/P:
"I'll NEVER call the police again."
They just make a bad situation worse.
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:37 AM
 
Location: Central, NJ
2,731 posts, read 6,118,789 times
Reputation: 4110
I've also called them 3 times in my life. They never even showed up any of the 3 times.

When we decided to leave the city I moved to a place where there are so many police they are falling all over you. Here they even acknowledge your presence even if you're not a 20 year old girl!
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:37 AM
 
Location: Lower east side of Toronto
10,564 posts, read 12,820,368 times
Reputation: 9400
Thought 9 1 1 was for emergencies?....not as a way of recording a minor fender bender with hopes of collecting some money for whip lash......You will find that cops are working less and less for insurance companies...which is good...In Toronto we have collision centers...if there is no personal injury...and the vehicles are still in operational order...both parties go there and get reports...WHEN you dial 9 1 1...for something as self serving and trivial as this...That means one less cop to attend to a real problem.
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:38 AM
 
207 posts, read 513,868 times
Reputation: 86
Umm, this thread isn't my first one lol I didn't make a user name and then make this thread. I don't have a ton of posts, but this definitely isn't my first one ;-)

This is the first time I've used 911 to call the cops...I normally use their actual number...but I didn't have the nearest precinct on me so I used 911. Next time, I'll use 311...because she will continue to text while driving and we'll probably run into each again.

No pun intended.

I agree with everything you said...it's the way the cops acted that I found interesting.

Reading what I typed, you'd think they wanted to help us out on the insurance...but at the same time, it seemed more likely that they just didn't want to file a report. You had to be there...and I'm not sure if it's a-okay to be condescending.

Based on their actions, their intentions could have gone either way if you read the event on paper, but you just had to be there to really feel the atmosphere of the situation.

I don't know if that makes any sense...but you'd have to really, really see it from our point of view.

And the title of this thread spawns from the fact that I'm not gonna call them again.

I won't waste their time or mine again.
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:43 AM
 
207 posts, read 513,868 times
Reputation: 86
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oleg Bach View Post
Thought 9 1 1 was for emergencies?....not as a way of recording a minor fender bender with hopes of collecting some money for whip lash......You will find that cops are working less and less for insurance companies...which is good...In Toronto we have collision centers...if there is no personal injury...and the vehicles are still in operational order...both parties go there and get reports...WHEN you dial 9 1 1...for something as self serving and trivial as this...That means one less cop to attend to a real problem.
I know it's NYC and there (is a perceived notion) that there is a ton of crime, but it was 11 PM.

I'm not omnipotent, but I'm sure there are a few cops on duty who were doing absolutely nothing.

Not one day goes by where I don't see at least 5 cops texting for ten minutes straight...or 12 of them on a street corner.

On Sunday I saw a van full of them flirting with a bunch of chicks in a Civic on their left...I'm surprised no pedestrians got ran over.

I'm not anti NYPD and I think they are the best police force in the country...I'm just saying that hubris and a few bad apples are gonna come with the territory.

Either way, everyone is always told...well, apparently not based on the responses here...to file a police report. No matter what.

Guess that was false.
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Old 04-10-2012, 06:49 AM
 
Location: Pflugerville
2,211 posts, read 4,850,343 times
Reputation: 2242
Quote:
Originally Posted by Be Mad View Post
Umm, this thread isn't my first one lol I didn't make a user name and then make this thread. I don't have a ton of posts, but this definitely isn't my first one ;-)

This is the first time I've used 911 to call the cops...I normally use their actual number...but I didn't have the nearest precinct on me so I used 911. Next time, I'll use 311...because she will continue to text while driving and we'll probably run into each again.

No pun intended.

I agree with everything you said...it's the way the cops acted that I found interesting.

Reading what I typed, you'd think they wanted to help us out on the insurance...but at the same time, it seemed more likely that they just didn't want to file a report. You had to be there...and I'm not sure if it's a-okay to be condescending.

Based on their actions, their intentions could have gone either way if you read the event on paper, but you just had to be there to really feel the atmosphere of the situation.

I don't know if that makes any sense...but you'd have to really, really see it from our point of view.

And the title of this thread spawns from the fact that I'm not gonna call them again.

I won't waste their time or mine again.
I understand that you don't have a lot of posts and that you didn't come up with your user name when you started this thread.

The reason I brought it up was...at some point you created an account with city-data, and you got to choose a name to describe yourself. You chose "Be Mad". At some point you thought the best way to identify yourself was a call to people to "Be Mad". You didn't choose a cutsey name. You didn't choose your real name. You just said "Be Mad" and then one of the first posts I read from you is you making the NYPD the bad guys in a situation that was a stupid drivers fault.

So I was suspecting your motives.

You can of course name yourself whatever you want. I am not criticizing. It's just that this is an anonymous internet forum, and I take a LOT of "context clues" into account when I read someones post. There are people with names like "theyareouttogetyou" who post endlessly about the zionist jews secret plan to take over the world. So when I see user names like "theyareouttogetyou", "NObama", "angry still after all these years" or "be mad" and then they post something that sort of is a ...stretch..then I suspect their motives.

If your motives were pure, then I am sorry. I am just confused why a young lady such as yourself would see herself as the type of person that should be named "Be Mad".

And you seemd to by anti-NYPD, like a lot of people on here are, by the way your described your interaction. There was a cop DIRECTING traffic, basically keeping other human beings safe, and you went and asked him to STOP directing traffic ("he has just been standing there for 40 minutes" is what I believe you said) to come help you even though you knew another officer was on the way. That just seemed incredibly selfish to me, and the actions of someone who is so frustrated she wasn't thinking straight.

You called 911 for a non emergency. You made a cop stop directing traffic because you didn't want to continue to wait for the cop specifically dispatched to help you. You titled a thread "never calling the NYPD again" and then post a story of how they were in fact very helpful to you. Your user name is "be mad". It just all added up to me like someone who complains a lot.

If I misjudged you, I am sorry. Shrug.
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