Lady slammed into me yesterday. Need advice

[DrDusty86]

I was sitting at a red light yesterday and a Sequoia slammed into me from behind. My car will need a new bumper, metal support and possibly more. My review mirror landed in the back seat. We pull off, I called the cops, come to find out she had a suspended license since 2004. The sequoia was not even registered to her, it was registered to a construction company and DID have insurance. I have slight back pain today. I feel that since there is so many things wrong including my back pain that I should call a lawyer. lady and her son wanted to leave BADLY before the cops got there. Her son also had a suspended license. I'm not sure why they were suspended, thats not the point. The cop didn't even arrest her. Should I sue?
Thanks,
Dustin

 

[demarpaint]

First thing I'd do today is visit a hospital or urgent care center for that back pain, and get it documented. Come Tuesday get on the phone with a Lawyer, and go from there. JMO

 

[RamFan]

Before anything else get your back pain diagnosed and documented. I wouldn't jump to the lawyer route, but I'm kind of anti-lawsuit. If the insurance companies are going to take the appropriate actions to resolve this then let them do it, if there are any hitches because of her license being suspended or you get the feeling that the insurance company may try to wiggle their way out of the situation then I would go to a lawyer.

 

[daves87rs]

Sounds like there is quite a bit going on there. I would for sure.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
First thing I'd do today is visit a hospital or urgent care center for that back pain, and get it documented. Come Tuesday get on the phone with a Lawyer, and go from there. JMO


+1 The only way to get any sort of fair treatment is if you have an attorney involved. The at-fault driver's insurance company will screw you over nine ways to Sunday if you don't have a good lawyer to handle this for you. That is not to say you should sue anyone, but an attorney can make sure you don't get the short end of the stick. Sounds to me like the at-fault driver and her son both have a few things to hide. If you have back pain, get it treated now. If you wait too long to see a doctor about it the at-fault insurance company could try to deny any medical payments.

I found these things out the hard way myself when someone pulled out in front of me and hit me last year. Get a good attorney involved and document everything that happens with this accident: doctor visits, phone conversations, insurance company contacts, anything concerning the wreck and what happened or happens afterward needs to be clearly documented. CYA and write down dates, whom you talked to, what was said, keep good track of any and all pertinent info.

It is really sad that this is how society is nowadays but this is what you need to do to be sure you don't get screwed over. I hope it goes well for you.

 

[DrDusty86]

I will no to the University Medical Center Tuesday. I will set up the appt.I don't have the big money fore the hospital and if this takes a nasty turn I will not be thousands in debt. The Campus Medical Center has a $10 co pay. The have registered nurses so It could be documented. The same thing happened to a guy I work with and the guy that hit him declared bankruptcy after my coworker had a stack of medical bills totaling $15,000. Now he is STUCK in debt. But that guy didn't have insurance.

 

[SrDriver]

Getting your medical situation documented is a must!

You need more than visit and have a track record that you can produce if necessary.

Sounds like their insurance company will total out your vehicle?

 

[SrDriver]

Getting your medical situation documented is a must!

You need more than visit and have a track record that you can produce if necessary.

Sounds like their insurance company will total out your vehicle?

 

[40Deluxe]

Get your physical injuries documented,then do not get in hurry to settle with the insurance,your injury could give you trouble long after you have settled,then when you get older your SOL.

 

[Mr Nice]

It going to get very interesting that the driver had a suspended license since 2004 and was driving a company vehicle when she hit you.

Yes go to the hospital and contact a lawyer ASAP !!!

 

[crazyoildude]

Check your state laws some states like new jersey make it very tough to sue unless you are really hurt bad and can prove it as in not going back to work or if you are disfigured, also some states make you pay for ALL the expenses on both sides if you lose...check with a Lawyer but also make sure that construction company is not by the Sobranos...LOL
But above all make sure you get to a doctor and you are ok before anything...Health is your greatest wealth...(i saw that in a doctors office)

 

[wallyuwl]

Definitely go get your injuries documented. If it takes treatment, get that started or scheduled to start. After that, call a lawyer. Getting a lawyer doesn't mean you'll have to sue (though it might come to that). It is just having someone else handle the details, someone that the insurance company will pay more respect to regarding a possible settlement than they'll treat you trying to handle it yourself.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
Should I sue?
Thanks,
Dustin

And get what out of her? And y ou won't get a free lawyer probably.

Then again if it gives you some satisfaction go for it.

Proceeds from a lawsuit are not dis chargeable so she will have it around her neck forever.

 

[wallyuwl]

Originally Posted By: Al


Proceeds from a lawsuit are not dis chargeable so she will have it around her neck forever.


Blame the victim, huh? Or maybe it is more of defending the person at fault and screw the victim? So what if she has it hanging around her neck forever? She was driving with a suspended license, hit a car in the back, and the collision caused neck pain in the driver. She deserves to have that scarlet letter on her forehead forever if that is what it takes for the victim to get what the law determines he is entitled to for this other person's bad decisions (and it was a chain of bad decisions by the other driver that led to it).

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: wallyuwl

Blame the victim, huh? So what if she has it hanging around her neck forever?

You misread my intent. I was pointing this out as being a good thing.

I am very anti-lawsuit but in this case I could give a cr ap about her.

 

[sciphi]

This smells like a complicated situation with the lady with a suspended license driving a company vehicle. Lawyer up, or you'll end up paying the company for a new vehicle since you have insurance. They will have a lawyer, I'd suggest you have one too.

Think of it as being prepared for the legal battle about to unfold.

 

[powayroger]

You need to contact your insurance company ASAP. Let them deal with it.

25 years ago, my car was hit by a student driver in a driving school car. I was told by the driving school that they would handle it. So the day I took my car to be fixed, I was told I needed to call the driving school insurance agency, who up until this time had told me "Not to worry" and no need to contact my insurance company. Turns out that the driving school didn't have “that” kind of insurance coverage. So I ended up contacting my insurance company and they were very unhappy about the delay of me contacting them about this.

I hope the company that owns the vehicle that hit you, is [censored] in their pants right now.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
Should I sue?
Thanks,
Dustin

And get what out of her? And y ou won't get a free lawyer probably.

Then again if it gives you some satisfaction go for it.

Proceeds from a lawsuit are not dis chargeable so she will have it around her neck forever.
Might want to do a little research into who the "construction company" is that allows a long time suspended driver to drive one of their vehicles-here in OH the vehicle owner in an at-fault accident is ultimately responsible for damage caused-and their ins. co. is going to drop them for allowing a suspended license driver to drive a co. vehicle. Your insurance company DEFINITELY needs to be involved-esp. if you have an uninsured motorist property damage rider (as mine does)-they should be covering you if the other driver's insurance doesn't (or doesn't exist). I had a similar situation to this years ago-the other driver was at fault, provided an (unknown @ the time) expired insurance card to the police, I got virtually nothing for my totaled car-fortunately I wasn't injured in the accident. Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: powayroger
You need to contact your insurance company ASAP. Let them deal with it.


This.

You pay premiums and in most states you pay premiums for under insured drivers. Your insurance company won't want to pay, so they will go after some source that will.

Maybe the driver wasn't thrown in jail, surely she was cited, no?

 

[JimPghPA]

Get a good lawyer. Ask around about who is the best for that kind of case.

And when you see the lawyer be sure to ask to have a lean placed with the state department of transportation against her. She will not be able to get a license until she pay the lean.

File a accident report asap. And keep two copies, one for you, and one for your attorney.