The judge would rely on witnesses and on the police report. That’s why it’s important to get the names and numbers of witnesses, if you can, at the scene of an accident (and why I always stop if I witness an accident).
Picture this scenario: Two cars are driving down the freeway, going in the same direction, one in the extreme right lane and the other in the middle lane. The guy in the slow lane is ever so slightly behind the guy in the middle lane who has, perhaps, just started to pass him. The guy in the middle lane suddenly realizes that he wants to exit and pulls over in front of the guy in the slow lane, without looking or signaling. The guy in the slow lane has no time to react, and consequently rear ends the guy who pulled over. In no way whatsoever was that the guy in the slow lane’s fault and, if anyone witnessed the accident, or if the police can verify the slow lane guy’s story (which they often can), the guy in the slow lane typically would NOT get in trouble for the rear-ender, since nothing he did caused it and he could have done nothing to prevent it.
If I may add another dimension to this:
As I understand the law, endorsed checks (if there’s no limiting language in the endorsement) are considered “bearer paper,” that is, they can be cashed by anyone in possession of them, and you might have significantly limited recourse against the bank. You might want to either get the writers of those checks to stop payment on them, or try to recover the checks from the car ASAP.
Of course, if these are business receipts, there may be a standard limiting endorsement stamped on the check (For deposit only, Acct. # XXX), which might help. It’s been a while since I really looked at this stuff, so don’t take my word as gospel, just friendly advice.
Fearfaoin, I would suggest that for your next vehicle you install an Easy Rider whistle rack.
For rear-enders at a traffic light, Redwolf is quite right: you are supposed to maintain at least one vehicle length from the car in front of you. If you get rear-ended, you are responsile for any damage your vehicle does to the car in front of you.
This accident points out the importance of having a large pickup or SUV versus a piddling little rice rocket. You will see the road more clearly. You will likely walk away from any accident unscathed. It may cost more to purchase and operate, but you will not need to fold yourself into the thing, and be comfortable for long-haul drives.
OK, I found my car. It was not even locked behind a gate; it
was in an open, grassy lot next to the towing office (which was
closed for the weekend). The checks were still there, and I got all
the other stuff I left behind except my garage door opener, which
is AWOL.
I took some pictures, mostly for posterity. I’ll post a few of the
pertinent ones here:
Smashy!
Check out that crumple zone!
I guess I got spun around a bit by her momentum, and hit the
rear corner of her car with my back door… I didn’t even realize
it at the time, though I did notice that window was broken.
(The neat little Celtic sticker will follow me into my next car.)
The damage didn’t even reach the engine!
I test-drove a few cars today. It was fun. I think it’s gonna come
down to the the Corolla or the Civic. I’m renting a Nissan Altima,
which is pretty nice, but I can’t get used to the torque. I keep
squealing the tires when I try to turn right into traffic…
I’m not sure what kind of car it is. It’s not that big. I also don’t know what the other car was but it must have been something with a really low sloping hood (bonnet). I guess I ought to find out but I was just glad she was unhurt.
She flipped sideways. The car that hit her went under hers and flipped it.
The girl that hit her was only 18 and it was raining hard. She just didn’t have enough experience to judge the road conditions. Needless to say the young lady felt horrified. There’s no hard feelings. If I know my sister that girl will soon be hanging around my sister’s house with all the other kids that hang around there.
My mom was rear ended a couple weeks ago. The insurance company gave her US$4000 because her little car was a total loss. She went out and bought what she wanted.
If you are in Southern California, and you see a little (less than 5 feet tall), silver streaked hair granny, sitting on a cushion from the Salvation Army store (so she can see over the dash), driving a big brand new shiny metallic red Raider pickup truck - wave to her. that’s my mom.
It looks like you took good care of CAR. A good car the never lets you down is nice to have. I hope you find something as comfortable and reliable for the future.
Your mom sounds like mine. She used a cushion for years, but lately has been able to do with “luxury” seats. She just got a Pontiac G6 - I have NO idea how she sees out of the back end of it!
So glad you are OK! Not really the best way to meet someone, granted, but I hope she turns out to be the type who takes responsibility for her own mistake and doesn’t do as others have mentioned, and suddenly see it as all your fault. I used to trust that people were basically decent… after experiencing more than a few of the ‘warned about’ situations, I’m afraid I’m more convinced that ‘most people will take every advantage they can, and invent some when none are available’. Good luck with the car search. Toyota is a good car indeed.
People can be funny. I was rear-ended a few years ago (a dog suddenly darted out in front of me, I hit my brakes, the car behind me hit me, and the lucky dog galloped off scot free). The young lady who hit me was very shaken up (her car was a total loss) and I and the passers-by who witnessed the accident were very kind to her (in fact, we were worried that she was going into shock, and kept making her sit down and stay wrapped up in a blanket that one of the witnesses had in her trunk). There was no point in my getting angry…she was at fault, she knew it, and berating her wasn’t going to help the situation. When her friends arrived to pick her up, however, THEY lit into ME! Made all kinds of snide remarks about people who stop for mere dogs and cause other people to run into them…that sort of thing. Fortunately, before I could lose my temper, the highway patrolman who had stopped to take the police report shut them up by noting that it could have just as easily been a child that ran out in front of me (or, in our area, a horse, which would have done serious damage to me and my car, not to mention to the poor horse!), stating that braking in that situation is automatic and reflexive, and pointing out that the lack of tire marks on the road indicated that their friend was either following too closely or not paying attention (she never did hit her brakes). I actually felt rather badly for the girl who hit me…she was a nice enough young lady who made a mistake and, hopefully, learned from it, and I’m sure she found her friends’ bad behavior rather embarrassing.
