There is no "he said/she said" if you have an independent, unbiased witness. Make a police report and get the witness to make one, or have them sign an affidavit stating what they saw.
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need advice car and bike accident.....
- Thread starter HattoriHanzo
- Start date
There is no "he said/she said" if you have an independent, unbiased witness. Make a police report and get the witness to make one, or have them sign an affidavit stating what they saw.
If this was an all-way stop there's absolutely no ambiguity about who was at fault and it's not you. 
Get on it! The Father said "I'll be in touch with you." He didn't mean he'd be in touch to say thanks. Your cousin is a lawyer? Call him NOW!
Im not. Ive dealt with some very lazy POs who didnt want to bother filing a report after I was hit by someone running a red light. My insurance people kept claiming that there was a report and I had to go to the Sheriff's station to get a copy. Turns out there was a police report for the guy, only my name was not on it at all and I couldnt get a copy. The guy who hit me had gotten into another accident earlier that same day.
Yup. Tell them the situation, they'll make a record of it. If the kid didnt stop his bike at a stop sign then it doesnt sound like you are at fault.
You're about to get fleeced, or at least your insurance company will. I hope you have good coverage.
-Mike
-Mike
Yup. Due dilligence is key. Cover your ass. Or you premium could skyrocket. And all because some ass wanted to get a quick buck at your expense.
Thanks for all the advice you guys are effin awsome! Yeah it was a 4 way stop and the kid was going down hill. He said we was starting to slow down but he didn't bother stopping. The witnness even said there's no way he would've flown up in the air after the collision if he had started from a complete stop. I filed the police report and contacted my insurance 
I've heard it mentioned before but TB is the place I go to for my legal advice.
In all seriousness though, get a police report & assume the worst. I know from first hand experience that you can't assume people will do what's right they will do what's in their best interest.
In all seriousness though, get a police report & assume the worst. I know from first hand experience that you can't assume people will do what's right they will do what's in their best interest.
Here's something that MANY drivers AND cyclists don't understand...
A bicycle is considered by the California Vehicle Code to be a "vehicle", and therefore must operated according to the rules of the road, just like a car. This includes stopping at stop signs and obeying traffic signals. A cyclist is not a pedestrain who happens to be on a bike. If the kids did not stop at the stop sign, and you did, they are 100% at fault. From what has been described about the incident, there is no grey area in this case.
(I'm not a lawyer, or police officer. I am a serious cyclist who has educated himself on this issue.)
A bicycle is considered by the California Vehicle Code to be a "vehicle", and therefore must operated according to the rules of the road, just like a car. This includes stopping at stop signs and obeying traffic signals. A cyclist is not a pedestrain who happens to be on a bike. If the kids did not stop at the stop sign, and you did, they are 100% at fault. From what has been described about the incident, there is no grey area in this case.
(I'm not a lawyer, or police officer. I am a serious cyclist who has educated himself on this issue.)
- Nov 8, 2010
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This is a very important point and should be addressed; his bike may not have even been up to code(no brakes, etc) which may explain the fault of the accident and he could be fined for it.
Thank you. Can you come up here and give out some lessons?
-Mike
I haven't finished with California yet.
- Dec 28, 2009
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Contact your insurance and advise them what happened. Tell them if they want money for anything you want to contest it.
2 years ago, our youngest son was having open heart surgery. His Mom and I were at Childrens Hospital with him. Our oldest boy had borrowed my truck for work. He was at a friends house and backed out of the driveway. It was a residential neighborhood with a speed limit of 15 m.p.h.. There was a car doing 40 plus down the street that he did not see and back into the car. Our son had multiple witnesses that the guy was grossly speeding but because my son didn't know any better, he simply gave the guy are insurance info and didn't call us. Our insurance in turn, paid the claim when the guy called them and my son get dinged for an accident that cost the insurance $3,500.00 to pay out. They called me 2 months later and said they settled the claim. I had no clue what they were talking about so the agent had to explain to me what she knew. I then confronted my son and he told me what happened. He didn't want to call us because he thought we would be angry but also, he knew we were dealing with our youngest son and thought we didn't need the extra stress. Well, had he called us, chances are, the accident would either have been shown to be both parties faults or the others persons due to their speeding.
After the fact, I called my agent and asked them to call me if any future claims are made. They apologized to me because they thought we knew. I saw there perspective and everything was handled just fine but definitely notify your insurance to avoid them paying on a bogus claim!
2 years ago, our youngest son was having open heart surgery. His Mom and I were at Childrens Hospital with him. Our oldest boy had borrowed my truck for work. He was at a friends house and backed out of the driveway. It was a residential neighborhood with a speed limit of 15 m.p.h.. There was a car doing 40 plus down the street that he did not see and back into the car. Our son had multiple witnesses that the guy was grossly speeding but because my son didn't know any better, he simply gave the guy are insurance info and didn't call us. Our insurance in turn, paid the claim when the guy called them and my son get dinged for an accident that cost the insurance $3,500.00 to pay out. They called me 2 months later and said they settled the claim. I had no clue what they were talking about so the agent had to explain to me what she knew. I then confronted my son and he told me what happened. He didn't want to call us because he thought we would be angry but also, he knew we were dealing with our youngest son and thought we didn't need the extra stress. Well, had he called us, chances are, the accident would either have been shown to be both parties faults or the others persons due to their speeding.
After the fact, I called my agent and asked them to call me if any future claims are made. They apologized to me because they thought we knew. I saw there perspective and everything was handled just fine but definitely notify your insurance to avoid them paying on a bogus claim!
