Car Accident Question

[Anyway]

Okay, friend calls me freaking out about how he just got in his first accident, yada yada. Says he only rear ended him and not hard. Then the other guy looked at his car and let my friend go cause it wasnt bad. My friend is flipping out because now he thinks the guy is gonna come back and sue him, but I told him they can't because they didn't call the police there. Am I correct or no?

[tyven]

idk for sure, but i would assume you are correct.

[Exoduso]

If the dude let him go he can't do shit to prove that it was him... and worst case scenario, he will sue his insurance, big whoopie.

If he still wants damages and threatens to sue but your friend doesn't want to get it on his record (it'll probably raise his insurance if he's a young driver still...), he might just want to pay it off by himself straight to the guy (have the guy who was hit bring an invoice for whatever the damages were and if the price is acceptable just pay it without going through the insurance..)

My brother had the same thing, it's no big deal.

You are correct though..

[Tyche]

No Police Report = No worries.

[Clipse]

Same thing happened to me a few years back. Luckily, I never heard from the guy ever.

[Correction]

Scare the shit out of your friend. That will make him a better driver. Just shrug and say 'ask a lawyer. Or learn to drive.'

[Elesirdur]

Have him file a Police report and attempt to get in touch with the owner of the vehicle he hit (I hope he got the plate #)

Because your friend is at fault in this case, the other guy could file with the cops or his insurance company claiming of "soft tissue damage", claiming for vehicle damages, or that it was a hit-and-run. By filing a police report first you ensure that, as the party at fault, you have fulfilled your duty to report the accident. Now, some insurance companies may require you to file a report with both the police and the insurance company within x days or hours of an accident or your coverage for that incident is void.

Lesson here; always, always, always report any altercation between two vehicles to first your insurance company and the police if necessary. If you don't, and if you're the party at fault, it can seriously come back to bite you in the ass.

[Kaylia]

Lesson here; always, always, always report any altercation between two vehicles to first your insurance company and the police if necessary. If you don't, and if you're the party at fault, it can seriously come back to bite you in the ass.

And have your insurance fee go up? When it's minor, it's usually better to just stay away.

[Correction]

His point is that the consequence of fessing up now is minor compared to being caught not fessing up later.

[Norelco]

I think the dude fucked up cuz he didn't get police involved. If the damage wasn't bad then it wasn't bad. No worries. It's actually refreshing to hear that a guy wasn't a total douchbag for once.

[archibaldcrane]

Okay, friend calls me freaking out about how he just got in his first accident, yada yada. Says he only rear ended him and not hard. Then the other guy looked at his car and let my friend go cause it wasnt bad. My friend is flipping out because now he thinks the guy is gonna come back and sue him, but I told him they can't because they didn't call the police there. Am I correct or no?

Tell your friend to stop flipping out - if there was no damage the odds the guy is going to, after the fact, go file a police report claiming...? is slim to none. I got rear-ended like this last week, my car was fine, hers was fine, just startled the shit out of me (sitting at a stop sign for 15 seconds before i got hit) and I just let the girl go. It happens all the time.

[Shuemue]

Cars have bumpers for a reason, eh?

[Aeromyth]

If this happened in Canada, your friend can/likely will be charged with a hit and run if he doesn't file a police report in 24 hours.

To do so he needs the information of the car he hit. Without it, the guy who he hit can be charged with fleeing an accident/obstruction, w/e, but if he makes the report without the victim doing so, he's going to be confessing to being at fault in an accident he wouldn't have had to let anyone know about.
Also, we have the option here of reporting accidents to the insurance companies or not, the police leave it up to us if we want to involve the insurance companies (when nobody is injured).

[Elesirdur]

If this happened in Canada, your friend can/likely will be charged with a hit and run if he doesn't file a police report in 24 hours.

To do so he needs the information of the car he hit. Without it, the guy who he hit can be charged with fleeing an accident/obstruction, w/e, but if he makes the report without the victim doing so, he's going to be confessing to being at fault in an accident he wouldn't have had to let anyone know about.
Also, we have the option here of reporting accidents to the insurance companies or not, the police leave it up to us if we want to involve the insurance companies (when nobody is injured).

Good info, mine is based on dealing with ICBC here in British Columbia. You have the choice to make a claim or not, but to reiterate, not reporting a vehicle-to-vehicle or especially a vehicle-to-cyclist/pedestrian incident can easily be turned into a hit-and-run charge by the other party or a crown prosecutor.

[archibaldcrane]

If this happened in Canada, your friend can/likely will be charged with a hit and run if he doesn't file a police report in 24 hours.

To do so he needs the information of the car he hit. Without it, the guy who he hit can be charged with fleeing an accident/obstruction, w/e, but if he makes the report without the victim doing so, he's going to be confessing to being at fault in an accident he wouldn't have had to let anyone know about.
Also, we have the option here of reporting accidents to the insurance companies or not, the police leave it up to us if we want to involve the insurance companies (when nobody is injured).

Good info, mine is based on dealing with ICBC here in British Columbia. You have the choice to make a claim or not, but to reiterate, not reporting a vehicle-to-vehicle or especially a vehicle-to-cyclist/pedestrian incident can easily be turned into a hit-and-run charge by the other party or a crown prosecutor.

Even if the guy he hit said "don't worry about it" and left? Or does that guy he hit have to lie about what he said in order for it to be a problem?

[Elesirdur]

If this happened in Canada, your friend can/likely will be charged with a hit and run if he doesn't file a police report in 24 hours.

To do so he needs the information of the car he hit. Without it, the guy who he hit can be charged with fleeing an accident/obstruction, w/e, but if he makes the report without the victim doing so, he's going to be confessing to being at fault in an accident he wouldn't have had to let anyone know about.
Also, we have the option here of reporting accidents to the insurance companies or not, the police leave it up to us if we want to involve the insurance companies (when nobody is injured).

Good info, mine is based on dealing with ICBC here in British Columbia. You have the choice to make a claim or not, but to reiterate, not reporting a vehicle-to-vehicle or especially a vehicle-to-cyclist/pedestrian incident can easily be turned into a hit-and-run charge by the other party or a crown prosecutor.

Even if the guy he hit said "don't worry about it" and left? Or does that guy he hit have to lie about what he said in order for it to be a problem?

A few years ago a cyclist rubbed up against my car's passenger door/rear quarter panel and took a spill. I immediately pulled over, helped the cyclist up, asked if she was okay, offered to call her an ambulance on my cell, checked to see if she had hurt herself or damaged her bike, and we exchanged info - she took my insurance info, I got her name, and driver's licence number. She said she was fine, refused my help, and after a few minutes went back on her way. As she rode off under her own power I didn't think much of it and neither called the police to file a report or informed ICBC.

About 5 days later I got a call from an ICBC agent saying that the cyclist was going to file a claim against me because she is now suffering "soft tissue damage" and needed ICBC to cover her worker's comp expenses. There actually was rubber from her handlebars on my car that I (luckily) washed off when I got home after the accident, but it only indicated that she bumped into me in the first place anyways. So, I go in to ICBC, talk to their agents and they basically determine that I was not at fault and this woman was trolling for cash. I never heard anything more about this case, but I was informed by the ICBC agent that I could have been seriously up shit creek (obviously my words) and because I failed to file a police report and, if the cyclist had decided to litigate, could have tried to pin a hit-and-run charge on me - which ICBC would have defended me against but my insurance only covers up to $3,000,000 in damages. Anyways, it was a rather scary time as I was only 18 and facing the possibility that I could end up in court, in massive legal debt, or even in jail because I didn't file a police report after some dumbfuck cyclist lost their concentration on a busy thoroughfare at rush hour and swerved into the side of my car.

[Norelco]

I was just thinking it was kind of dumb for that guy to let you friend go. Sure, fender benders happen all the time, but even a fender hit that doesn't look like it did any damage can have caused alot of hidden damage. If I were that guy I would taken down your friend's info as a precaution just in case any hidden damage did pop up.

On the other hand, was the guy's car old? Maybe he just didn't care. If I was driving a beater I know I wouldn't.

New Year's Eve a few years ago I was parked out in front of my gf's house and it was snowy/icy on the road. This douche in a crappy red Mitsubishi Eclipse was driving too fast for the conditions. I was in my car looking in my rear view mirror as this red blur was sliding out of control towards my rear fender. I braced myself for the hit and his little plastic car slammed into my old school pontiac bonneville.

Afterwards I got out to survey the damage, ask the guy if he was okay, etc. He got the worst of it. I had a little red paint on the corner of my rear fender (no dent), and his entire front end of his car was crumpled like a tin can. It turns out it was a little punk kid on his way to a party. When he got out of his car he was shaking. I'm a pretty tall athletic looking guy. He probably thought I was going to hammer his face in.

Anyway, he's like "I wasn't driving fast at all" and I'm like "Uh, apparently you were for the conditions otherwise you wouldn't have needed to slam on your breaks two house lengths away just to slam into my car anyway."

[jmc]

I was just thinking it was kind of dumb for that guy to let you friend go. Sure, fender benders happen all the time, but even a fender hit that doesn't look like it did any damage can have caused alot of hidden damage. If I were that guy I would taken down your friend's info as a precaution just in case any hidden damage did pop up.

On the other hand, was the guy's car old? Maybe he just didn't care. If I was driving a beater I know I wouldn't.

New Year's Eve a few years ago I was parked out in front of my gf's house and it was snowy/icy on the road. This douche in a crappy red Mitsubishi Eclipse was driving too fast for the conditions. I was in my car looking in my rear view mirror as this red blur was sliding out of control towards my rear fender. I braced myself for the hit and his little plastic car slammed into my old school pontiac bonneville.

Afterwards I got out to survey the damage, ask the guy if he was okay, etc. He got the worst of it. I had a little red paint on the corner of my rear fender (no dent), and his entire front end of his car was crumpled like a tin can. It turns out it was a little punk kid on his way to a party. When he got out of his car he was shaking. I'm a pretty tall athletic looking guy. He probably thought I was going to hammer his face in.

Anyway, he's like "I wasn't driving fast at all" and I'm like "Uh, apparently you were for the conditions otherwise you wouldn't have needed to slam on your breaks two house lengths away just to slam into my car anyway."

At least you know he wouldnt be driving under the influence later on in the night lol

[Quixon]

If no information was exchanged you have nothing to worry about. How is the guy going to track your friend down without a driver's license number, plate number, or anything else.

This is in the U.S. anyways. It was the other dude's fault for not calling in the accident, which is what the police will tell him. Even if the guy reports it as a hit and run, there's no information or witnesses in order to track your friend down.

Funny story about "soft tissue damage":

In NY a soft tissue damage settlement runs from $10-30 Grand. My mom was whacked by a Telephone Company Truck that ran a stop sign, and t-boned her car. The Company's insurance wanted to settle for soft tissue damage, when there was a ton more nerve damage done to my mom's neck and back, along with some slipped disks in her spine. We obviously declined the soft tissue settlement.

Not settling turned the judgement from $10,000/$30,000 USD to $600,000 USD in our favor.