Got in a Fender Bender today

[EBondo 233]

I'm coming off the highway to a yield to get onto another road, lady in front of me starts to go, then slams on her brakes. I rear end her at like 5 miles an hour. We pull off the road, and she tells me she doesn't want to make it a big deal because there was no damage done to any of our cars and she wasn't going to call the insurance company, however she did ask if I had 20 dollars on me to make up for her not calling the cops or the insurance company. I said not on me but I can get it to you at a later date. (Mistake number one). I called my parents after the incident, we had each other's information. My parents said this sounded really fishy to them and that I should file a police report just to be safe, and to see if the reason she said she didn't want to call the cops or insurance company was because she had no driver's license or insurance. So from there I called my boss' husband, who is a police officer to get his opinion. He said it all sounded too fishy too and he would do a check on her name to see if everything was copacetic. However, he said NOT to file a police report, because as far as he's concerned there isn't much either of us can do.

I'm just worried about her turning around and saying oh my car has 500$ of damage on it, or "oh my back hurts now" and I get sued and royally fucked. What should I do here? Any input is helpful.

[furlanitalia 1]

I know in Canada it's a little different but I've been screwed this way before in a similar incident:

Going about 5km I nudged a ladies van, no damage and I didn't wake her two sleeping kids in the back seat. She told me the damage on her bumper was from backing into a pole. 6 months later I get a receipt for 1200 dollars because she got the bumper replaced and said it was from me. I'd call your boss' husband again and ask why he doesn't want you to file the report. Getting your information across right away is probably the best bet here. In the future, be sure to take pictures.

[Chadd 916]

Any time something like this happens, immediately take pics of her car where you made contact. It's so much easier now that everyone has a phone with a camera. I wouldn't be too worried, it sounds like she was just trying to shake you down for a couple bucks to cover a latte.

[the_game 452]

Always, always, always, phone the police to report the accident. My mom worked in car insurance (subrogation) her whole life and always stressed how important it was that there is an 'official' record of what happened, get stories straight, assess damage, verify insurance, etc.

You can get screwed easily if someone says 'hey lets take care of this ourselves and not include insurance companies'. Heard way too many horror stories to ever think about not phoning the police after an accident.

[chk hrd 164]

How do you know he info was correct? I'm sure being an honest hockey player you gave her the right info. Report it to your insurance company, they will tell you what to do. Since everyone has left the accident sight there is nothing the police can do.

[Powerfibers 8]

I would say that you should report to your insurance company asap.

But with that said, I don't know if it is just me, but I do not like the police running anyone's plates unless you were to file a police, report. I'd say that is an unfair use of authority. Also, I know at least with INS here at the Peace Bridge, people have lost their jobs before over such acts. I would not put your friend in that position even if he offers to do it.

[EBondo 233]

I just got back from the police department. Picked up a report form, and it's going to get mailed out. The info we gave each other was all correct, she called me from the number she gave me, and then we went by her apartment complex and snapped a couple pictures of her car incognito. Most likely the insurance company will get called tomorrow as well. My dad called her last night (I was on the highway, couldn't talk at the time) and she tried to pass of stories that her power steering was gone, alignment was off, and her back bumper was pushed in. Amazing that 5 mph can do that, eh? My dad said to her at this, "well then why didn't you call the police or insurance company?" only to her response being "I don't know it might just be me being paranoid there may be nothing wrong" (which there isn't.)

This is the damage to her car, or lack there of damage.

[furlanitalia 1]

I just got back from the police department. Picked up a report form, and it's going to get mailed out. The info we gave each other was all correct, she called me from the number she gave me, and then we went by her apartment complex and snapped a couple pictures of her car incognito. Most likely the insurance company will get called tomorrow as well. My dad called her last night (I was on the highway, couldn't talk at the time) and she tried to pass of stories that her power steering was gone, alignment was off, and her back bumper was pushed in. Amazing that 5 mph can do that, eh? My dad said to her at this, "well then why didn't you call the police or insurance company?" only to her response being "I don't know it might just be me being paranoid there may be nothing wrong" (which there isn't.)

This is the damage to her car, or lack there of damage.

And that's why you report everything and a good thing you have photos of it!

EDIT: removed photo

[Jarick 5]

Bought a new (to me) BMW 330xi a few years back...next morning, some dumb lady runs a red light, almost hits a school bus, then put the car in reverse and backs into my car. Took a couple weeks to track down the insurance info because it was her friend's car or something.

This past April, I traded the BMW (after numerous repairs, piece of crap car) for a fully loaded Nissan Murano. Two days later, some dumb lady makes an illegal turn and smashes in the corner of my car. Lesson learned, immediately call the cops, she gets out while I'm on the phone, looks at my car, jumps back in and drives off.

The city tracked down her info based off the license plate and "sent her a letter"...still haven't heard anything yet. And 10 months later, probably won't.

On the plus side, once the car got smashed up in the corner, I decided I wasn't going to baby it with weekly washes and waxes and details. I might run her through a gas station wash after the snow melts.

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

report it!

A drunk driver hit my friend's car a year ago. The drunk driver was close to home and my friend felt sorry for her and told her just to call him in the morning to work something out. He didn't want to ruin her life by getting her arrested/criminal records etc. She still hasn't paid or responded to his calls since.

[zrez 0]

Always, always, always, phone the police to report the accident. My mom worked in car insurance (subrogation) her whole life and always stressed how important it was that there is an 'official' record of what happened, get stories straight, assess damage, verify insurance, etc.

You can get screwed easily if someone says 'hey lets take care of this ourselves and not include insurance companies'. Heard way too many horror stories to ever think about not phoning the police after an accident.

No. Always report it to the insurance company, not always to the cops. Its a very annoying myth that all accidents have to be reported to the cops. Unless theres over 1000$ damage, someone is injured or a vehicle is blocking traffic (or there is NOTHING going on) we wont come see it anyways. Let your insurance company know asap. If you want you can tell the police and they can make a file and give u a file number but, this will be a civil matter anyway.

[silverclrk 0]

I'm just worried about her turning around and saying oh my car has 500$ of damage on it, or "oh my back hurts now" and I get sued and royally fucked. What should I do here? Any input is helpful.

I work for an insurance company in NJ. Basically no matter what happens in this situation you are going to be held at fualt even if she has doesn't have a drivers license. You have hit her in the rear. As far as the medical payments go as long as she does not have the right to sue (which the majority of people driving dont becuase it is to expensive) She will not be able to recoup her medical bills from you. Part of the no fualt rule in NJ is that each party has to pay there own medical bills. If you have any other questions pretaing to NJ auto accidents just let me know.

You should have traded that 20 dollars for your information back. In the end your insurance company is most likely going to have to pay her something. You did hit her even if it was just a scratch it wasn't there before. This in turn is going to make you rate go up. If in any way you can make a settlement without getting the insurance compnaies involved I would highly advise it. $1 or more payed out can make your rates go up 100 or 300 more each policy period.

[EBondo 233]

Suprisingly enough, I've been in another fender bender before, the day after I got my license, and then a major auto accident in November of 2008. I was at fault for both accidents, however, nothing ever came out of it. The major accident was a crash at 45 miles an hour and caused significant body damage to my car, but not to his.

I realize I'm at fault for it, I hit her, regardless of how idiotic she was. She seemed like a scumbag from the second she got out of her car. But if she tries to turn around and say I caused any physical damage to her car, or herself, that's complete bullshit, because I have the pictures to prove it. I don't want to get the insurance company involved, because as far as I'm concerned it isn't serious enough to warrant that. And the whole money thing, it wouldn't have helped me because I had nothing on me.

[Miserable 6]

I wouldn't report it to the insurance company especially if you have other accidents. You're begging for your rates to go up. As far as a police report, I've been told several times by several cops to file one no matter what, they don't assign blame and it's basically just a record that an accident took place. That being said, I wouldn't file one for a minor fender bender like this. I think your only mistake was exchanging information. If she didn't want to file a police report or get insurance involved, there was no need for your info. Pretty fishy that she wanted money and at that point I would have told her she needed to twenty me up not to call the cops.

[shotty 7]

what pisses me off about insurance claims is that when the dust settles, there's so much that you're accountable for, but in the heat of the moment, your mind is nowhere near a state of organization or the right frame of mind to be covering your ass. i'm sure if the accident is very minor, or you have a lot of experience with them, it's easier, but i've been in four and three were pretty major. the fourth was raining, dark and on a highway during construction, and person who hit me had no license or insurance. i had no idea what to do.

[Monty22 833]

Any time something like this happens, immediately take pics of her car where you made contact. It's so much easier now that everyone has a phone with a camera. I wouldn't be too worried, it sounds like she was just trying to shake you down for a couple bucks to cover a latte.

I used to keep a disposable camera in the glove box before cell phones- Get some pics of the other driver if you can as well.

report it!

A drunk driver hit my friend's car a year ago. The drunk driver was close to home and my friend felt sorry for her and told her just to call him in the morning to work something out. He didn't want to ruin her life by getting her arrested/criminal records etc. She still hasn't paid or responded to his calls since.

That's all well and good until she kills someone.

[gxc999 7]

 It's a tough position to be in from either side, but if you're the one who did the hitting, you need to go into full C.Y.A. mode. Like Chadd said before, taking pictures is a great idea. Having witnesses is also a big plus. However, a real part of the problem is that people can easily claim post-accident injuries and some of them are very hard to document. Generally though, insurance companies pay out to avoid lawsuits, because even if Judges and juries can spot bullshit quickly, they don't wanna haggle it out.