Involved in an accident, need forum's opinion

[eamon]

Let's say the following scenario happened, theoretically.

So I pulled out of a shopping center and immediately sped up to the posted 40mph speed limit, however another car behind me was traveling at an immense speed, and decided to display road rage by swerving out from behind the friend at the very last second. And I mean absolute last second.

Within the next hundred feet past the shopping center there was a school zone, which said guy continued speeding through until the traffic ahead of him forced him to slow down. He did however proceed to tailgate the cars and cut them off whenever he could.

So eventually down the line, lets say I ended up past him because I was in the left lane and he was caught in traffic on the right lane. I switched into the middle lane approaching a red light, and he did the same except he was traveling at a high speed. We were approaching the red light like I mentioned earlier, so I slowed down rather quickly and this is when I got hit.

Now this is where I got rather interesting. I got out of the car, and asked him to pull into the neighborhood on the right. As soon as I got into the car and I was closing my door I got hit again. Now this could have been by accident or on purpose, and I don't know. But the fact that he was driving like the way he was leads me to believe that there is a possibility that he it on purpose.

According to the police officer who arrived on the scene, the other driver admitted to hitting me a second time, but by accident because he was looking behind him.

The accident felt a lot worse than it looked. My car looks rather ok compared to his bent front end (bumper and hood). I have a crick in my neck, the headrest popped forward, and am worried about whiplash if I'm already feeling pains in my neck.

Advice?
Should I contact a lawyer? Should I let it go?

Appreciate any adivce

[gatorfast]

Contact your insurance company and tell them everything. If you need medical attention, the insurance company and their lawyers should be able bring a case against the other drivers insurance company.

[Billup]

Originally Posted by eamon

According to the police officer who arrived on the scene, the other driver admitted to hitting me a second time, but by accident because he was looking behind him.

The accident felt a lot worse than it looked. My car looks rather ok compared to his bent front end (bumper and hood). I have a crick in my neck, the headrest popped forward, and am worried about whiplash if I'm already feeling pains in my neck.

Advice?
Should I contact a lawyer? Should I let it go?

Appreciate any adivce

Anyone can admit no fault or that it was an accident (All State commercial where the guy floors it through the garage door looking backwards?) I do not know a single soul that floors it thinking they are in reverse.

If you are having any neck / back pain now, I would get a lawyer involved. PROTECT YOURSELF. What might seem as a minor problem now could get much worse down the road, then you are caught paying for something someone else did to you. I was involved in a rear end collision years back and to this day still suffer some back issues, but all my doctor visitation fees and screenings were covered on my behalf in court.

Just food for thought.

[Titanium3er]

Speaking as a former insurance adjuster, it will be hard to prove his state of mind before the crash and thus nothing before the initial impact really matters - unless you have an independent witness or can get the person to admit to it.

Were you established in the middle lane when you got hit the first time? Were they? Did the police officer discuss fault for the initial impact? All of those questions should point at whose fault the initial impact was.

As for the second impact that was admitted to, do you think that was really the cause of your injuries or was it the first impact? You can argue the second one was, but an adjuster or ultimately a lawyer in a courtroom could argue the majority of the injuries were sustained during the first impact.

If you were really injured and plan on seeking medical attention I would consult a lawyer to get their opinion. Usually they do free consultations and only charge you if they get a settlement.

[Titanium3er]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Contact your insurance company and tell them everything. If you need medical attention, the insurance company and their lawyers should be able bring a case against the other drivers insurance company.

This is only true for medical bills, not pain and suffering. If you intend on collecting anything above medical bills talk to a lawyer on your own.

[RandomHero]

-Immediately, seek medical attention. Your medical bills will be covered either by your insurance company (assuming you have coverage) or theirs.
-If your car was hit directly from behind, you will probably not be found to have encroached the other driver’s lane. If it was hit in the side, you run the risk of being at fault for not yielding to the other driver who had control of the lane.
-It sounds like the other driver has engaged in an “unsafe lane change” which would make them at fault.
-The traffic light is the major factor here. If the light was in fact red, the other driver is almost for sure at fault.
-In Texas, the majority of rear end accidents are found to be the fault of the driver that hit the other party from behind. There are certainly exceptions to this rule such as pulling out onto a busy road.
What I would recommend:
1.) Write down your entire statement of the events that occurred. If possible, document the times each event occurred.
2.) Get your medical issues checked out and have them documented.
3.) Make your insurance aware of the situation- You have the choice of filing with your insurance so they can represent you, or you can file through the other party’s insurance directly. I’ve had better experience with filing through the other party’s insurance directly. If you are found to be at fault, you can then consider getting your insurance involved.
4.) Go to Google maps and take screen shots of the location of the accident.
5.) You may also consider annotating those screenshots to include the paths of your vehicle and the other party’s vehicle.

Often times, pain from an accident will take a while to notice. It can also be much worse that you might have originally thought.
Do not take advantage of the situation, but also make sure that you do not have to pay out of pocket for anything you did not cause.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and this should not be taken as legal advice. My comments are based solely on personal experience and research after I incurred a similar situation.

[eamon]

I should point out that the police officer already claimed the other driver was indeed at fault.

Whenever I mentioned to him that he hit me a second time, he would keep saying, "what do you want me to do." All I wanted was to do was to express my concern, but he said that I was basically implying assault by car or something of the sort, and might of said something along the lines of, you don't want to pursue that.

My main question is whether you guys think I should get a lawyer involved or pursue some sort of settlement money. I mean accidents happen, so I don't know if I should make it into a hard time, or if I should let it go. I was just concerned about his erratic driving and more of the fact that he hit me twice.

[Billup]

You are answering your own questions though, no? Accidents DO happen, but he was driving erratically, caused bodily harm to you, AND ran into you a second time. No action could leave you with hospital bills, and him the relief of getting off and continuing to drive aggressively and then putting ANOTHER person at risk.

I think it is agreed that you should take measures to not only help yourself, but possibly help others that he could endanger. Maybe it will make him think twice next time.

[Titanium3er]

If you were truly injured it is absolutely reasonable to seek medical treatment and hire a lawyer to protect your interests. If the injury effects your daily life at all you are also entitled to compensation for pain and suffering.

Although you can look at filing a claim as a form of punishment, I would avoid that. While there's a small possibility that it will make the person rethink their aggressive ways, the more likely outcome is that it will have no correcting effect whatsoever.

Do what is right for you and let karma handle the rest.

[Templar]

Agree with most people here.

If you are having symptoms, you need to seek medical attention sooner rather than later. Not to mention the monetary issues at hand, but your own health is important too. mTBI and neuro damage like that may not appear immediately, so it's best to have it checked out sooner so you can be taken care of and diagnosed appropriately. IMO it's not about the money or trying to punish him, it's about taking care of yourself.

Speak to a lawyer to get an idea what to do about the other driver. I mean the guy was driving like an asshole based on your account, he deserves no preferential treatment. Even if the accident was only an accident, he shouldn't be swerving in and out of lanes and driving like that. No excuse IMO.

[kevinbahnz]

If you feel a crick in your neck then you should. It may come back and bite you 5-10 years down the road(no pun intended).

[954Stealth]

So you started off your story with road rage, immense speed and illegal/unsafe speeds, especially in the shopping center lot. He hit you twice. You are injured.

and you are wondering if you should make it hard time or not? While you can not prove intent or state of mind for either incident, it is irrelevant when you are talking failure to use due care and negligence.

The impact sites on your car as well as the police report will make this a fairly cut and dry case.

My vote is to seek settlement above and beyond the cost of repair. Put it this way: it's obviously not this guys first time driving like that. He needs to learn a lesson financially before he kills someone with his dangerous driving.

[eamon]

Originally Posted by Templar

Agree with most people here.

If you are having symptoms, you need to seek medical attention sooner rather than later. Not to mention the monetary issues at hand, but your own health is important too. mTBI and neuro damage like that may not appear immediately, so it's best to have it checked out sooner so you can be taken care of and diagnosed appropriately. IMO it's not about the money or trying to punish him, it's about taking care of yourself.

Speak to a lawyer to get an idea what to do about the other driver. I mean the guy was driving like an asshole based on your account, he deserves no preferential treatment. Even if the accident was only an accident, he shouldn't be swerving in and out of lanes and driving like that. No excuse IMO.

Originally Posted by Titanium3er

If you were truly injured it is absolutely reasonable to seek medical treatment and hire a lawyer to protect your interests. If the injury effects your daily life at all you are also entitled to compensation for pain and suffering.

Although you can look at filing a claim as a form of punishment, I would avoid that. While there's a small possibility that it will make the person rethink their aggressive ways, the more likely outcome is that it will have no correcting effect whatsoever.

Do what is right for you and let karma handle the rest.

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

So you started off your story with road rage, immense speed and illegal/unsafe speeds, especially in the shopping center lot. He hit you twice. You are injured.

and you are wondering if you should make it hard time or not? While you can not prove intent or state of mind for either incident, it is irrelevant when you are talking failure to use due care and negligence.

The impact sites on your car as well as the police report will make this a fairly cut and dry case.

My vote is to seek settlement above and beyond the cost of repair. Put it this way: it's obviously not this guys first time driving like that. He needs to learn a lesson financially before he kills someone with his dangerous driving.

I felt the same as you guys, thinking this guy is out of hand, but is there anyone on this forum who hasn't driven like a jerk at some point? And like I mentioned, I did brake rather hard, but thats because he was still traveling fast as we approached the red light.

Don't get me wrong, I'm leaning towards pursuing action, I just wanted to make sure I was in the right for doing so.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by eamon

I felt the same as you guys, thinking this guy is out of hand, but is there anyone on this forum who hasn't driven like a jerk at some point? And like I mentioned, I did brake rather hard, but thats because he was still traveling fast as we approached the red light.

Don't get me wrong, I'm leaning towards pursuing action, I just wanted to make sure I was in the right for doing so.

I have never intentionally swerved in and out of lanes just for shits and giggles.

I have been pulled over for speeding, usually on an open road in the country though. If I am driving like a jerk, I can assure you it is never intentional. Sure, sometimes if I am being tailgated or flashed from behind, I have a desire to run over whatever puny car is doing it with my truck, but I don't. I always just move over and let them do their thing.

[Mr Tonka]

Get an attorney independent of your ins company. They will find out the limits of the other person's policy and file suit for that. The ins company will likely settle in a matter of days, maybe weeks. Pay your Attny 40% and keep the rest. Unless this guy is worth some amount of money, going after the insurance policy limits will likely be the extent of what you can get. This is why rich people pay to have a million or multimillion dollar umbrellas attached to their policies. The attny will figure out the at fault parties net worth and advise you make a decision based on that figure. If it's $100k and his policy is worth $25k they will say go for the policy. If his net worth is $500k and his policy is $25k, they may say go after him personally.

As much as it sucks, this is the society we live in. Of course, this action should be taken only if you really have pain. And as other have said, sometimes this pain and issues come about a few weeks after the accident.

I was bumped once while waiting to turn right on a red light. The car in front of me went and i pulled up to see if traffic was clear. It wasn't and the guy behind me bumped me. Got out and there was little to no damage on my car. 3 days later, my neck got stiff and remained that way for over a year. Couldn't play sports, do anything athletic, etc... The problem was that i was looking over my left shoulder when he hit me. Felt fine when it happened but was messed up for a long time.

[eamon]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

Get an attorney independent of your ins company. They will find out the limits of the other person's policy and file suit for that. The ins company will likely settle in a matter of days, maybe weeks. Pay your Attny 40% and keep the rest. Unless this guy is worth some amount of money, going after the insurance policy limits will likely be the extent of what you can get. This is why rich people pay to have a million or multimillion dollar umbrellas attached to their policies. The attny will figure out the at fault parties net worth and advise you make a decision based on that figure. If it's $100k and his policy is worth $25k they will say go for the policy. If his net worth is $500k and his policy is $25k, they may say go after him personally.

As much as it sucks, this is the society we live in. Of course, this action should be taken only if you really have pain. And as other have said, sometimes this pain and issues come about a few weeks after the accident.

I was bumped once while waiting to turn right on a red light. The car in front of me went and i pulled up to see if traffic was clear. It wasn't and the guy behind me bumped me. Got out and there was little to no damage on my car. 3 days later, my neck got stiff and remained that way for over a year. Couldn't play sports, do anything athletic, etc... The problem was that i was looking over my left shoulder when he hit me. Felt fine when it happened but was messed up for a long time.

Good info.
Was the person who hit you at a standstill behind you before rolling forward and hitting your car?
So is your injury gone now? I think I may have been looking to the side slightly when this happened.

[Seminole]

To be honest, none of how he was driving means anything. Fact of the matter is he hit you square in the rear due to excessive speed, the end. He's at fault. Even if he hit you a second time it means nothing in the grand scheme of the accident. He's liable for the damages and for the medical bills.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

Get an attorney independent of your ins company. They will find out the limits of the other person's policy and file suit for that. The ins company will likely settle in a matter of days, maybe weeks. Pay your Attny 40% and keep the rest. Unless this guy is worth some amount of money, going after the insurance policy limits will likely be the extent of what you can get. This is why rich people pay to have a million or multimillion dollar umbrellas attached to their policies. The attny will figure out the at fault parties net worth and advise you make a decision based on that figure. If it's $100k and his policy is worth $25k they will say go for the policy. If his net worth is $500k and his policy is $25k, they may say go after him personally.

As much as it sucks, this is the society we live in. Of course, this action should be taken only if you really have pain. And as other have said, sometimes this pain and issues come about a few weeks after the accident.

I was bumped once while waiting to turn right on a red light. The car in front of me went and i pulled up to see if traffic was clear. It wasn't and the guy behind me bumped me. Got out and there was little to no damage on my car. 3 days later, my neck got stiff and remained that way for over a year. Couldn't play sports, do anything athletic, etc... The problem was that i was looking over my left shoulder when he hit me. Felt fine when it happened but was messed up for a long time.

Agree 100%

My dad was rear ended pretty bad once at a red light. He got out of the car to see the damage. Not much to his truck but a decent amount to the kid's car. Kid was texting and not paying attention and hit him going about 20. A little later, my dad said he actually had to sit down; he felt sick to his stomach. He didn't go to the hospital right away until my mom pressured him to go. Come to find out he had a mild concussion. He's fine now, but they did give him some directions for work/rest etc. Biggest thing with any sort of TBI is rest, both physical and any activities that require a lot of concentration. As long as you don't suffer another concussion, you will be fine.

For your sake, OP, at least see a doctor even if you decide not to go after the guy.

[dreamingat30fps]

I felt fine immediately after my accident, but after a few hours I started feeling pretty shitty. I think the adrenaline from the accident covers up any pain you may be having immediately after.

[1fastdoc]

Pain from swelling usually peaks around 48-72 hours. Make an appt to be seen asap.