It was raining out and the vehicle in front of me lost control. As her vehicle entered a spin my car struck its rear quarter panel. Her car was blocking the entire ramp when the accident happened but the police officer left without saying who was at fault. The cop didn't even bother to look at the damage on the side of her car and was more concerned with what happened to the front of mine. I called the station (he's a state cop) and was told he should have stated who was at fault but his report won't be available for 5-10 business days. Where do I go from here? I got a call from my insurance company today saying the other drivers company contacted them. I filed a dispute saying she lost control and the accident was unavoidable. Soon I will have to give a statement and the only witness is my 8 year old son in the backseat (he saw everything). I was following hat a safe distance but the exit has a mean turn and once I came around it she was sideways. No tickets were issued and I live in the state of Connecticut.

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Originally Posted by Cinderblocks

It was raining out and the vehicle in front of me lost control. As her vehicle entered a spin my car struck its rear quarter panel. Her car was blocking the entire ramp when the accident happened but the police officer left without saying who was at fault. The cop didn't even bother to look at the damage on the side of her car and was more concerned with what happened to the front of mine. I called the station (he's a state cop) and was told he should have stated who was at fault but his report won't be available for 5-10 business days. Where do I go from here? I got a call from my insurance company today saying the other drivers company contacted them. I filed a dispute saying she lost control and the accident was unavoidable. Soon I will have to give a statement and the only witness is my 8 year old son in the backseat (he saw everything). I was following hat a safe distance but the exit has a mean turn and once I came around it she was sideways. No tickets were issued and I live in the state of Connecticut.

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An argument can be made that if you were traveling at a safe distance the accident would not have happened.

I'm a liability investigator in NY. Here the Police most definitely do NOT assign fault. They leave that to investigators from the insurance companies so this is a little out of my league BUT you have done what you are supposed to do - you turned it over to your insurance company and their investigator will come to a conclusion and negotiate with the other driver's company. They are skilled, trained professionals and will look at all the variables. They've also seen just about every set of circumstances a person can imagine. I doubt you can provide anything additional to them except giving a truthful statement.

In NY it is also not unusual for no tickets to be issued.

Thanks for the advice. I have a flawless driving record and hope to keep it that way. Can the cop issue a ticket after he finishes the report?

Yes. I very seldom see that happen with an accident UNLESS one of the parties cannot be interviewed at the time. In that instance the Police conduct the investigation at a later time and then occasionally issue a ticket.

As far as the flawless record, check with your insurance company. Some companies assign points for claims against a policy even if the auto is parked and you are nowhere in sight. You could be found not at fault and still be assigned points for this accident.

I'll be curious to see how the insurance companies work this out and would appreciate it if you would come back and let "us" know.

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Originally Posted by Cinderblocks

I was following hat a safe distance but the exit has a mean turn and once I came around it she was sideways.

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Hello C:

You SAY you were following at a safe distance... Then in the next instant, you contradict yourself...

IF you WERE, in fact, following at a safe distance, when you came around the curve and SAW her there, you WOULD have been able to stop. You weren't. Ergo, you were following too close.

excon

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello C:

You SAY you were following at a safe distance.... Then in the next instant, you contradict yourself...

IF you WERE, in fact, following at a safe distance, when you came around the curve and SAW her there, you WOULD have been able to stop. You weren't. Ergo, you were following too close.

excon

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I have to disagree on this one Exy.

If it was a blind turn, where you only see what's in front of you after taking the turn, then there's no way to stop, even if you were following at a safe distance.

This has happened to me. It was on a hill. Sadly, the way the hill is, you don't see what's in front of you until you get over the top of the hill. The woman in front of me was a very safe distance away, traffic flow was good. There was no reason to think that she'd slam on the breaks once she got over the hill. Even so, she did. Thankfully I had time to stop, but the people behind me didn't.

And I'm disagreeing with the disagree - I know it makes no sense when it's a blind hill, a blind grade, but when it comes to determining the cause of an accident all drivers are expected to have vehicles under total control at all times. I realize that means for practical purposes that you'd have to slow to a crawl every time there's a hill or grade but that's how these accidents are settled.

Not saying it's fair but that's how it is.

On the same page - I investigated a really bad accident. Car crossed over the center line. In an attempt to avoid getting hit head on or on the driver's side the oncoming car swerved to her left. Cross over car did hit her on the passenger side. Oncoming car was 50% at fault because she also was over center line at the time of impact. Not saying it's fair or makes sense but that's what the final insurance decision was.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

There was no reason to think that she'd slam on the breaks once she got over the hill.

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Hello again, Alty:

Nobody can contemplate what could go on in front of them that would require them to stop. That's why a driver is required to follow at a distance far enough behind (or perhaps go SLOW enough) to be able to STOP no matter WHAT happens in front of them.

That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

excon

Seldon does a police officer ever mail a ticket, if they were going to issue one, they would at the scene.

With that said, I know here in GA, in a parking deck or lot, we could not write traffic tickets since it was private property. There were only a handfull of tickets we could write on private property.

So the officer may not have called anyone at fault, merely took each persons statement and left it for the insurance company to fight it out.
I did that often on private property
*** I did not have to do the complete accident report merely a shorter report when not on the streets.

Now he may have done a complete accident report, he would have drawn out the accident on the form, showed positions of both cars before the accident and then the point of impact and finally position at total rest afterwards.

Then he would have written down in his professional opinion who was at fault and why.

If I had been doing it, from the little data you gave us.
I would have put it down as both at fault, car one for losing control and being parked in an unsafe position and blocking the road,

And you for following too closely. *** the catch there even if you were following properly and OK, if you end up hitting the car in front of you, that into itself is proof you were following too close for conditions, or too fast on a blind curve.
You are responsible to always be able to stop for anything that may be stopped in the road ahead of you.

In NY if the Police ticket following the accident they ask you to come into the Police Station, pick up and sign for the ticket. Sort of adds insult to injury!