Talk about driving in Austin, the spouse's car was rear ended tonight! (insurance, deductible)

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

OK, first the spouse is fine, just a little shaken. The car bumper cover is toast, and the actual assembly will need to be replaced.

The question I have is I need to start strategizing. The police eventually came, but no one was sited. Each party received a blue accident summary report, and they will supposedly determine fault based on the forms. My wife's car was rear ended, but the problem is the man that rear ended her vehicle had his friend that was following his car in her own car, so they both start telling my wife she cut him off, and the person was saying she would be his witness.

My wife was already outnumbered two to one. Those are rarely good odds when you are the "one." The only thing we got going for us is she saw him in her rear view mirror and he was on his phone!!!!! She was watching because she had used her blinker, changed lanes, and then had to stop for the yellow light because she didn't think she could make it through safely, and he was coming up fast, too fast, so that's when you grab the steering wheel and grit your teeth!

Well, the person being on his cell phone being enough of a distraction to him probably sped up so he could make the signal, but then had to quickly stop when my wife did not chance the red light.

How can a person subpeona cell phone records. I know the accident happened at 4:55PM based on my wife calling me immediately asking what to do because this was her first accident in 29 years of driving! I want his phone records so I can prove he was on the phone. I don't want my wife having any trouble just because it is two against one.

When my wife even went to the woman (witness) and asked her "why did you say I cut him off" and she said "I have to go" and she was gone. The person who hit my wife's car then said several times that he has a witness that will say she cut him off.

Later, he was even nice enough to even to mention to my wife when he found out we have the same insurance company that one of his best friends works for the company and he can take care of it so we each pay for our own car's damage.

Well, no way Charlie, we are not going to pay a $500 Deductible when our car was rear ended.

Anyways, anyone face something like this have some good advice?

[2austin]

Sorry to hear that. I have been in a rear end accident recently and can relate to it.

Since your car was hit from the rear, you should have an upper hand when it comes to claims and litigation. Depending on where your car was struck, it may help your case further as well. If it was center-rear then the cutting-in story from the other guy does not make much sense IMO.

Did you talk to you insurance agent to get his opinion?

I don't think it is that simple to get someone's cellphone records to prove that he was talking at the time of accident and even if you had those records, proving the accident happened at that moment is tricky...


Were there any witnesses?

[LongTimeAustinite]

The person that did the rear ending would be at fault 99% of the time. Tell your insurance agent that the witness knew the driver. That would reduce her credibility.

[S6Sputnik]

Originally Posted by LongTimeAustinite

The person that did the rear ending would be at fault 99% of the time. Tell your insurance agent that the witness knew the driver. That would reduce her credibility.

Agree, and supena(sp) those phone records if you feel it is worth while! Have your wife check her memory if she did give this person assuming in an accellerating car enough time to stop for her. I have had a few close ones where someone pulls in front of me just as my turbo kicks in and gives a serious boost to my velocity making stopping extra hard . I am shocked that the police did not issue a sitation to the othere person, so some how the cop might have perceived that there was not a reasonable amount of space for your wife to change lanes stop and turn. jUST RAMBELING THOUGTS Hopefully it will all work out for you!

[Moonlady]

There has always been an issue with people running stoplights since I've been in Austin. I was taught that if the light turns yellow and you can stop safely, you should do so. Unfortunately, what people in Austin seem to do is they think a yellow light is equivalent to green and as long as that light is yellow they can still go. Frequently when I'm at a stoplight, three or four cars, or maybe more, are still going through the intersection when my light turns green. If you "go with the flow" you risk getting a ticket for running a red light, but if you follow the laws, you risk getting rear ended. It's a tough choice.

Sorry about your spouse and car - but I agree with LongTimeAustinite, the person in the rear is usually at fault. Good luck.

[Trainwreck20]

The police almost never determine fault, mainly because it is not as simple as it sounds. They started handing out accident reports many years ago and let the ins. cos. handle it. Just as an example, it is not illegal to drive and talk on the phone, so what would the citation say? It would have to be about safe following distances, and the officer has no way of knowing if you did slip in 2 feet in front of him. Anyway, the person that rear ended you will most likely be determined at fault, since that is usually the case. Ins. cos are not into spending a dollar to save a dime, so they will only investigate if forced to. You will make a statement to your ins, they will make a statement to theirs, and the two ins cos (sometimes the same one!) will spend all of 5 seconds determining the 'rear-ender' is at fault after looking at the police report to see which party that was.

[southdown]

My 2 cents - in all my knowledge and experience, the rear-ending driver is ALWAYS assumed to be at fault for not allowing safe stopping distance. Whether your sudden braking is for a yellow light or a child in the road makes no difference - he was too close to stop (or not looking).

If the two cars connected full centre at the point of collision, there should be no doubt the car in front had moved into the lane with sufficient space (ie, not cut in).

I would put all the facts in writing NOW to the insurance co and mention all the factors - witness is unsafe, cell phone use etc. Indicating and changing lanes in good time is not wrong, so mention that too and quote the Texas Drivers code which shows she drove correctly.

good luck

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by southdown

My 2 cents - in all my knowledge and experience, the rear-ending driver is ALWAYS assumed to be at fault for not allowing safe stopping distance. Whether your sudden braking is for a yellow light or a child in the road makes no difference - he was too close to stop (or not looking).

If the two cars connected full centre at the point of collision, there should be no doubt the car in front had moved into the lane with sufficient space (ie, not cut in).

I would put all the facts in writing NOW to the insurance co and mention all the factors - witness is unsafe, cell phone use etc. Indicating and changing lanes in good time is not wrong, so mention that too and quote the Texas Drivers code which shows she drove correctly.

good luck

Hopefully this is not too tricky after all, but it was not full center contact. The driver hit her bumper on the right side, with the left side of his car. He tried to avoid the collision by trying to squeeze between the curb and her car, but just missed it. Unfortunately, that also can be interpreted as a "cutoff!" I am getting heart burn again...

[jwb123]

Well, there will likely be shared fault.

I sorta had a situation like this... but it was in a parking lot. I was backing up first, and someone who was backing up after me wasn't looking and plowed right into me. You can tell by the damage of the car who did what... but the woman's husband happened to be the manager of the store whose lot we were in and one of his employees said she saw the whole thing and that it was an equal fault accident. Funny, because no one came to the scene of the accident and said they saw it...

Anyway, they will believe the witness, and there will likely be shared fault... that's my opinion!

[Trainwreck20]

Also, I don't know your exact situation, but lane changes within a certain distance of the intersection (before and after) are illegal. I think it is 150 feet before and 100 feet after, but not sure, don't quote me .