Car Accident - Sideswipe on Freeway

[KJSmith]

If they assess any of the blame on you, you get nothing... at least in my state.

Happened to my son, Lady pulled out right in front of him, her view was totally blocked by other vehicles.
It was decided he was 20% at fault.
He did not have full coverage and was not paid at all.

 

[Chris142]

You had your chance to pit him.

 

[Dave9]

I would have stopped as soon as possible, after getting the license plate, to make an argument for leaving the scene.

This kind of idiot **** needs to lose his license before anyone gets hurt. It is unfortunate that you may suffer loss from this incident, but being the self righteous tool I am, I would follow up and monitor this jerkoff tool and really give him a hard, hard, impossible time continuing to drive on public roads because his behavior is deadly, just a matter of when and who he kills.

If you have less of a conscience than me then you are lucky to not have that burden, but I'd be borderline stalking that guy to either get him off the road or get him in jail for attempting to exercise his freedom from my oppression.

Don't get me wrong, I easily forgive decision based and other traffic accidents, and if the guy seemed to drive safely then I'd let it go, but this was no accident and followed by the behavior of someone who intends to keep doing it. He was lucky that you had the presence of mind to keep control of your vehicle while some worse drivers might have caused a much worse accident from swerving out of control.

Traffic accident deaths are avoidable "most" of the time. It depends on keeping idiots off the roads more often than not.

 

[MoneyJohn]

This is the kind of arrogant creatures on the road I dislike the most.
Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
I don't have full coverage on this vehicle ('96 Maxima), so I have to wait and see if they'll reimburse me for the damage at least.

I was with you until this line. Most likely, it is 50-50 or totaled. My neighbor's early 2000 Odyssey was totaled just for a small ding on the door (small tap during T-bone). The reason, cost of fixing it is more than the value of the vehicle.

For the dashcam, one would need at least 6 dashcams to cover all sides of the vehicle, which is not possible and/or practical. I have 2, front and the back. If something like this happens to me, I will not be able to capture the swipe but I will definitely be recording how fast he was riding his horse.

For dashcam, visit dashcam dedicated board. Don't buy cheap, buy the one that has a good resolution and you can read the license plate later.

 

[Jimzz]

Originally Posted by John_K
Originally Posted by Jimzz


Get a dashcam. I have 1 in each of my vehicles. A cheap but good and reliable dashcam is the Blueskysea B1W.


Was looking at this online. Can you pop it off base to take inside? I am afraid of car breakins.



Yea it can come off. But I like this one as its very small with no screen so you can fit it behind the rear view mirror and its almost invisible. Run the power cord around the edge of the headliner and chances are no on will know its there.
Just add a 64gb high endurance memory card and test it monthly. Other than than you are good to go.

 

[GMFan]

Based on this guys "character" as you've so far described him, I'd say expect the worst. Some people just suck.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
As long as he stated he moved into the left lane and your story was that you were already there, your story should stick. No other way can that kind of impact happen. Good luck, get a dash cam, and still drive like every idiot around is going to do the dumbest thing possible- because experience proves this to be true!


And if he says he was in the right lane and our hero changed lanes without looking and hit him?


Which side of the highway did they pull over to? If OP was the "aggressor" and the other guy got tagged, the other guy's not going to move 2 or 3 lanes over to the left, he's going to exit stage closest right and pull over...?

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
What a total [censored] bag pos! I wonder if you can get him for attempted hit and run? I'd definitely consult with a property damage attorney. Are you feeling any aches or pains? You usually have 10 days to file a case with a personal injury attorney.


In NJ you have two years to file a personal injury case. Never heard of a property damage attorney. The firm my wife works for doesn't bother with property damage unless it's real significant. A '96 Maxima's worth isn't significant.


10 days to get checked by a dr after an accident to file a personal injury claim is what I'd meant to type. A pi attorney friend of my gf's (she's an immigration attorney) has colleagues who do pd law. But most if not all attorneys won't touch a case if it won't net a min of $10,000 for them. Small claims would be your next recourse.

 

[diyjake]

Originally Posted by Nick1994
Definitely get a dashcam now. I have the one in the below link in my Genesis and have another one I need to hook up in my Jeep.

My brother drives my Camry but I did today for the first time since October and was almost T-Boned bad in it today.

Amazon Link


Reviews and price are good, might get myself one. How do you like?

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Are you feeling any aches or pains? You usually have 10 days to file a case with a personal injury attorney.

If the OP's state is like Ohio, since he filed a police report, it's public record, and the ambulance-chasing lawyers will be sending him mail within days offering to "help".

 

[Snagglefoot]

If you have to remove the dash cam every night it's probably not for you. It becomes a pain. I find it bad enough just to turn it on when I leave. I believe some models will turn on as soon as it detects motion.Thats the one you want. Also, they don't use much power. I can leave mine on overnight without affecting my morning start. Also, some will go dormant automatically and start recording if they feel a shock. Good luck.

 

[Fitz98]

I think driving like that is a requirement in South Florida.
That scenario happens to me all the time on I-95.
Fortunately no accident yet, but a lot of close calls.
I hope the insurance thing works out in your favor.
Based on the description of the damage, the fact that it is a 96 Maxima, insurance deductible and potential long term increase of premium, perhaps it would be less expensive just to replace the fender and repair/replace the bumper. On some cars, bumpers and fenders are easy to change and after market ones are inexpensive. If it was as simple as paying a deductible and it is done, without increase in premium, or better still that the offending party's insurance pays, that would be better.
I am curious when making an insurance claim like this, do you have an option to accept the claim option if it makes more sense financially, or decline if the increase in premium and deductible would not offset cost of repair, in order to avoid the premium increase.

 

[Alfred_B]

He can say you clipped him while changing lanes.

I'm imagining a 2003 dark red Exploder doing this.

 

[Pew]

Rereading your story, it reminds me when a mom of 2 clipped in a hummer clipped my Evo. She made contact but only broke the driver side mirror cover off and left tire-sidewall marks all down my front fender. She ran (or rather, tried to run) but I just kept behind her since it was late night and we were the only two cars on the street. Followed her ~2 miles to her house while calling the cops. The cops asked her side of the story and I told mine (the complete truth, where I was in relation to her car and that she did use her turn signal before merging into my lane.) Cops said they I was driving aggressively and tried to race her but they believed my side of the story since it made more sense. I was dumbfounded when the cops told me their story. I'm not sure why anybody would care to race a truck that's twice the weight of their own car on a street that's patrolled by cops non-stop.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted by geeman789
He is going to say you hit him ...


He can claim that all he wants, he was the one changing lanes.

 

[PimTac]

Obviously the other driver was an idiot for driving like that.

It's too late now but when I see knuckleheads like that my first reaction is to keep clear of them. That might mean slowing down to let them have their way. Karma has a way of getting to them eventually.

Good thing you are not seriously injured.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Cujet
Originally Posted by geeman789
He is going to say you hit him ...


He can claim that all he wants, he was the one changing lanes.

Where's the proof ? The OP could have changed lanes to the right and caused the same damage. Just playing devil's advocate, of course....

 

[92saturnsl2]

Thanks for all the input fellas.

Update: Got a notice that the police report was available (all done online), paid the $10 fee for it. Can't believe you have to pay $10 for your own police report but I digress.

Other driver's statement is that he was in the right hand lane, then while in the process of him changing into the left hand lane, I came speeding up trying to cut him off and struck his vehicle.

All of which is bologna, I was in a line of traffic, there was nowhere to speed up to except the next guy's bumper! He simply didn't have enough room or didn't see me in his blind spot.

The officer sort of butchered my statement, she wrote that I saw the driver coming up behind me, which I didn't-- I didn't see him until he was about even with me. She also wrote that I said vehicles in the right hand lane were changing lanes to pass a slow driver which isn't accurate. The only people passing were already in the left lane in a long line.. Then this guy tried to cut in to go around the slow driver (in right lane) that everyone was already passing. Not sure the significance of these misstatements.

Under "PRE-COLLISION VEHICLE ACTION" she has me as "GOING STRAIGHT AHEAD" and other driver as "CHANGING LANES."

Under "HUMAN FACTORS" she has me as "NONE DETECTED" and other driver "FAILED TO YIELD RIGHT OF WAY"

What do you all make of this?

 

[stxonall8]

Sounds like the cops have the other driver at fault. What happens next depends on whatever your laws allow to get you whole.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by Dave9
I would have stopped as soon as possible, after getting the license plate, to make an argument for leaving the scene.

This kind of idiot **** needs to lose his license before anyone gets hurt. It is unfortunate that you may suffer loss from this incident, but being the self righteous tool I am, I would follow up and monitor this jerkoff tool and really give him a hard, hard, impossible time continuing to drive on public roads because his behavior is deadly, just a matter of when and who he kills.

If you have less of a conscience than me then you are lucky to not have that burden, but I'd be borderline stalking that guy to either get him off the road or get him in jail for attempting to exercise his freedom from my oppression.

Don't get me wrong, I easily forgive decision based and other traffic accidents, and if the guy seemed to drive safely then I'd let it go, but this was no accident and followed by the behavior of someone who intends to keep doing it. He was lucky that you had the presence of mind to keep control of your vehicle while some worse drivers might have caused a much worse accident from swerving out of control.

Traffic accident deaths are avoidable "most" of the time. It depends on keeping idiots off the roads more often than not.


That is not the behavior of a normal, well adjusted adult living and driving in this day and age...none of it. So keeping that in mind, I have an honest question: is it that you know it's abnormal behavior and just don't care, or do you honestly see nothing wrong with behaving in that fashion?