Who's at fault?

[K-man1989]

Just had my '98 240 fixed in October for scratches on my hood, my GT-R totaled, now this happens.

I was in a left hand lane of a two lane road, all traffic was stopped as the light was red. There was about two car lengths of space between myself and the car in front of me. The person behind me honked me to move up. I didn't see the point as the light was red. He became irate and cut to the right, creating his own lane of traffic, basically driving between the dotted lines, and then cut in front of me.

At this point the light turns green and I begin to accelerate at a normal rate of speed. He slams on his brakes, causing me to slam on mine. I couldn't stop in time and bumped into him. There was no damage to his vehicle but my hood is buckled and the paint is coming off. Who is at fault?

He's stating he's a lawyer yada yada and no matter if he slammed on his brakes on purpose, I am at fault no matter what since I rear ended him. He had minor scratches on his Lexus RX300. I didn't want to go through insurance thinking it would go up so I agreed to give him cash to fix it. But since then I've talked to a police officer and my girlfriend, and they're saying I shouldn't give him any money at all since we're both at fault. The cop even said he wouldn't give the guy any money and just report it.

What would you guys do in this situation? Suck it up and tell the insurance company or give the guy the money even though he did a d!ck move and stopped short?

[ILoveMyRHS13]

You rear ended him. Game over. Unless you have some gypsy way of proving he intentionally brake checked you. Well, I don't know what the awkward laws of America's awkward hat are, but that's about how it is down here.

[JustDriftMore]

Question- Who's at fault? Answer- You are at fault.

End of thread/

[gnvarnadore]

you should have grabbed a tire iron and beat the dudes a** to teach him a lesson. nothing says dont be an ***hole like messing up someones face....lol. all joking aside you should have called the cops right then and there, what he did was wrong and should have been reported. he broke the law and then caused an accident on purpose. your better you than me because i would have beat his a** the second he said anything about giving him money and not calling the cops.

[ZX88]

you should have grabbed a tire iron and beat the dudes a** to teach him a lesson. nothing says dont be an ***hole like messing up someones face....lol. all joking aside you should have called the cops right then and there, what he did was wrong and should have been reported. he broke the law and then caused an accident on purpose. your better you than me because i would have beat his a** the second he said anything about giving him money and not calling the cops.

ok tuff guy.

[gnvarnadore]

i don't play when it comes to my car. what he did was malicious in intent and therefore deserving of whatever happens to him. its not a "tuff guy" thing, its a matter of doing whats right. i see people like that as a threat to my safety and the safety of the general public. i might be a bit extreme but hey that's me bro, I'm a no nonsense type of person. a few days in jail for assault would be worth it to me.

[dana541]

no matter how much of a jackass that guy ways being the authorities will take his side because you ran into the back of him.i think you are pretty much screwed on this one.

[gnvarnadore]

dang bro your sig is huge for a 4x4 stock exhaust piggy hatch.

[ILoveMyRHS13]

no matter how much of a jackass that guy ways being the authorities will take his side because you ran into the back of him.i think you are pretty much screwed on this one.

Holy s*** signature.

[Black on Gold]

Your at fault. No matter how much you want to argue the DMV or 'whatever you have' handbook says you must keep a certain distance away. I cant remember but i think its like 5 seconds/3 cars or something like that

[Dazzla]

If your lucky they could do 50/50 fault. But the fact remains that YOU rear ended HIM, how that happened and the situation before doesn't honestly matter much, as its really just a matter of he says or she says.

[Hoffman5982]

Your at fault. No matter how much you want to argue the DMV or 'whatever you have' handbook says you must keep a certain distance away. I cant remember but i think its like 5 seconds/3 cars or something like that

when your stopped at a red light? cmon lets get real.

op, your legally at fault. but you should have called a police officer and maybe have gotten the guy a ticket for going around you the way he did. Next time you see his car in an empty parking lot, suger in the gas tank and pebbles in the valve stems of tires. other then that, there's not much you can do. I wouldn't give him a dime though

[JSDEVILDOG29]

Always call the police. They will investigate. They could have talked to witnesses and mesured skid marks etc. If ge drove on the shoulder then cut you off and slammed on his brakes then they could have proved it and he would have been at fault. Typically if you rearend someone it is looked at as your fault. But if the other party is breaking the law to begin with it is very likely it would be found to be their fault. Then call your insurance company. Alot of times they'll investigate as well. One of the biggest types of insurance frauds happens to be trying to get rearended.

[dana541]

Holy s*** signature.

ya i know i said the same thing when i saw it,think i got it under control now.

[dana541]

ya,gettin sick of the 4x4 look but im just not rushing things with the suspension.want to do it right with coilovers so people can poke fun all they want about 4x4 mode.would rather have 4x4 look than some ghetto cut springs like most of the 240's around here.oh and i fixed the sig,atleast it appears to be a decent size no. i apoligize for the 4x4 piggy poster.

[K-man1989]

when your stopped at a red light? cmon lets get real.

op, your legally at fault. but you should have called a police officer and maybe have gotten the guy a ticket for going around you the way he did. Next time you see his car in an empty parking lot, suger in the gas tank and pebbles in the valve stems of tires. other then that, there's not much you can do. I wouldn't give him a dime though

Yes, I was stopped at a red light. Where I live the police only come to a collision if the damage is over $3,000. They more than likely wouldn't show up since it wasn't a major accident. If I report it, the insurance company more than likely will say it's my fault and my premiums will go up. But it's better than paying that douche any money out of my pocket. I'd rather pay extra on my insurance than give that dud any money.

[safin]

dont do anything just fix your car

[zacmil]

Wow, that really sucks. Unfortunately, I think legally you would be at fault since you rear ended him. You really probably should have called the police. Not too long ago some woman cut my dad off in the middle of rush hour on a rainy day and then locked up her brakes. She was fine and perfectly polite until the police got there and then she became hysterical. It was pretty obvious to everyone that she was trying to get some insurance money. Her insurance company launched an investigation and after hassling my dad for a while they discovered that he had absolutely no damage and that she had a scuffed bumper. That was the last we heard of it. I suppose maybe if there was some sort of witness(es) to back up your story you might have a slightly better argument but I doubt it would do much good.

[Hoffman5982]

Yes, I was stopped at a red light. Where I live the police only come to a collision if the damage is over $3,000. They more than likely wouldn't show up since it wasn't a major accident. If I report it, the insurance company more than likely will say it's my fault and my premiums will go up. But it's better than paying that douche any money out of my pocket. I'd rather pay extra on my insurance than give that dud any money.

The red light comment was to the guy above me who said your supposed to leave a 3 car gap. whether you report it or not dont pay him any money

[ORUG@]

Just some advise to take into considerationO.K my friend, I tell you this from experience even if he break check you and you end up hit him.it has to be report it, because he could always come back around and say something in between lines of, that you hit him and did not report it, and ask for more money.The best thing you can do is report it to the police and insurance an tell them straight up what happen, because if he says he is a lawyer, he knows that taking money without a written contract is against the law.were the contract states that you guys have come to an agreement were you are going to assume all the responsibility for paying the damages on his vehicle.

The other thing that you could do is report it an let the insurance on behalf of both parties take care of it, as long you are insured of course,so you get your ride repair as well, it could also be cheaper, because I know some people "friends of mine" will take their car to the most expensive shop they can find get a ridiculous estimate and later give you the paper an ask for the cash out. I know it will look bad on your record, but I know is better than giving some a punk a** lawyer money after he intimidate you with him being a lawyer/bad driver an all.

Personally if you haven't left any details out of your story I think he is at fault for causing the accident,and rear ending somebody is not always the losing side ,because I know a couple of people that have beaten the case in court against the driver in front for causing the accident.

[Black on Gold]

when your stopped at a red light? cmon lets get real.

op, your legally at fault. but you should have called a police officer and maybe have gotten the guy a ticket for going around you the way he did. Next time you see his car in an empty parking lot, suger in the gas tank and pebbles in the valve stems of tires. other then that, there's not much you can do. I wouldn't give him a dime though

I wasnt saying you need to be damn 3 cars behind then, im just explaining what the book says. Ofcourse 99.8% of us dont follow it anyway thats what the book says.

I do feel bad for the OP though seeing how such a s*** moved was made on him. I cant stand ***holes like that.

[K-man1989]

Ok, update. I called the guy and told him I'd rather go through my insurance company. He replied that I'm backing out of my agreement to give him cash and that how does he know I'll change my mind again. I then politely asked for his insurance information but he refused and said his lawyer will give me the information. He kept saying that I would hear from his lawyer. After he said that, I just said ok and hung up.

Is he ticked off that I backed out on agreeing to give him $500? He's going to go out of his way to hire a lawyer just to get that money? If I go through insurance and they find that it's all my fault, he still gets his bumper fixed by my insurance company. So he doesn't lose any money at all.

[str33tprintz]

He's bluffing about the lawyer unless its a friend of the family or something. Otherwise it will cost more than he will get out of you. Of course he liked the cash offer better. Was there a police report. Because without that here in the Florida he can call your insurance company till he is blue in the face they will say prove that it happened.

[bersh240]

hold up.you said."He's stating he's a lawyer yada yada"

so... a lawyer needs a lawyer?

[mudvayne9790]

hold up.you said."He's stating he's a lawyer yada yada"

so... a lawyer needs a lawyer?

sounds like a bluff to me. i say just fix ur car and move on

[snowyred180]

Sounds fishy. You're technically at fault. But this guy sounds like a con artist. I guess since he didn't want to volunteer any info, he doesn't want any money. He probaly doesn't have insurance or something. Maybe there was a dead hooker in his trunk. I don't know. But that guy was no lawyer, and he wouldn't be getting any money from me

[safin]

hold up.you said."He's stating he's a lawyer yada yada"

so... a lawyer needs a lawyer?

sounds like a bluff to me. i say just fix ur car and move on

not always the guy that rear ends is at fault. He sensed you could have got him. you did not report it then so.... now along the lines of the 'he said she said', YOU ARE AT FAULT.... I would just move on then face the consequences if the guy even goes thru with something...good luck

[sommmatt]

VOID ALL PREVIOUS COMMENTS

YOURE IN ONTARIO

YOUR INSURANCE WILL RAPE YOU

CASH CASH CASH CASH CASH

Will be so much cheaper for you in the long run.

[mrgreeneyes]

im all about the steezy turtles, twice a day.

^^ that sentence sums up the awkwardness of your americas-awkward-hat crashy-scenario youve just depicted so vividly for us american folks.

[K-man1989]

Just called the insurance company and told them what happened. When I said I panicked and offered the guy cash, then when he called me I said I would rather go through insurance - the broker said by offering money it was an admission of guilt.