[lavita]

Hello,

I was recently in a minor fender bender incident with another person. Here is the situation which I don't feel fully responsible for an I wrong or am I particlly right. We were approaching an intersection both going about 40mph it was a green light, out of now where ambulance sirens go on and the same second the lady slams on her breaks coming to a screeching halt in the middle of an intersection where the light is still green and other traffic continues moving. I hit the breaks immediately after I saw her hit hers how ever my car was not able to come to a complete stop before hitting her car. The damage done to both cars was very minimal my car has a total of 4 small scratched where the paint was chipped off a bit. Basically her car is in the same position very minor scratches. Anyway we didn't call the police we just swaped info name phone and address. Now she wants me to pay the full amount for her car damages which she says is about 600 however she won't show me a estimate. Basically I want to know if I am even responsible because in my opinion she was negligent by coming to such an abrupt stop in the middle of a green light while other cars in the lanes next to us proceeded to move forward. I believe it was her fault that I bumped in to her and she blames that ambulance for her stopping so quickly and me for being responsible because I bumped in to her. Do I have to pay her anything ?
If some one has been in a similar situation or knows a appropriate way to handle this situation all suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated

[Fr_Chuck]

No seriously you don't really believe she is at fault?

As a police officer who did many auto investigations, you are from a legal view point totally responsible, But you need to get her to sign that your payment is for full paymemt, There is no reason that is acceptable in court for you to hit someone from behind and it not be your fault.

She needs to give you a copy of the estimate from a body shop.
But of course yes you have to pay for her damage

[momtobe949]

I agree why on earth where you even following this lady that closely? In any case you are supposed to be a car length behind and I do understand some times that's not possible. As for the lady she was following the law when it came to the emergency vehicles. At the same time the lady should have pulled over and not stopped in the middle of the intersection, as for the damages I agree with Fr_Chuck she must give you a copy of the estimate form the body shop.

[ScottGem]

why on earth where you even following this lady that closely?

That's the key! If you were following at a safe distance then you would have had enough time to stop. That's why just about every rear end collision is considered to be the fault of the vehicle doing the rear ending.

If you don't want to turn this over to your insurance company then you have two choices. Tell this woman, you will be happy to pay the damages, but she has to either show you a bona fide estimate or she can take it to a shop of your choosing.

And she will have to sign a release that she will not pursue any further claim.

[smoothy]

I agree with everything ScottGem said here, I've been in this position before. On both sides of it in fact. With no police reports to point fingers conclusively at one or the other.

If she was driving a deathtrap you could argue the damage was there with the insurance company, but if she had a nice car, just pay it. If you turn it into your insurance they will likely jack up your premiums to recover that and then some if you are young.

Do however get her signature that the claim is satisfied if you pay cash, just in case she decides she wants more later. And keep it where you won't lose it. I've known people that those people tried to have more money extorted out of them after they paid what was asked initially. That can get ugly if you don't have such a signature. Unfortunately there are people like that out there.