Car accident in a parking lot...

[Natasha]

You guys helped me before and I know that I can count on you so here it goes:

I was driving to the store and as I turned into the parking lot, there are many stores there and one road is like a main one, connects all parking lots and all other roads have stop signs. I was driving on this main road and out of nowhere come out this speeding car and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would not stop in time so I started pushing breaks with all my power and I guess she saw me too (about time) and tried to stop BUT... we crashed somewhere in the middle :( . She comes out of the car and checks her car for damages and says that it's almost not damaged and so is mine (in her opinion). I tell her that she ran a stop sign and she smiles and nods her head in agreement. I dial 911 and tell her that I need her insurance. She starts to beg not to call 911 because she doesn't have license with her and this car is her friend's and she doesn't think that he has an insurance and that she has a daughter and doesn't want to go to jail and that she will pay for damages in cash. Her story is that she came to this party and they ran out of something and she went to get it. I tell her to call friend and tell him to bring her license. Then she says that she doesn't have license at all, just ID :eek: :eek:
Anyway I did not call the police but said that I need to call my husband so that he can come over and help me sort it out (I was a little in shock after accident, my hands were shaking). So he comes in 10 min., listens to mine and her story and calls the cops. Now she was saying that she did stopped and she thought it was 4-way because she never been here before. She also called her friend on my cell phone b/c she doesn't have one.
Police officer came and the situation is that since it happened in a parking lot, he cannot do anything, not even give her a ticket for driving without license :eek: :( :mad: Her friend comes with bunch of others. Officer gives him a lecture for letting her drive without a license and not having an insurance.
Anyway he gives us their info and them only my name and phone # and he says to us that they look like criminals and that we ran onto some pukes (his words exactly). My only choice is try to get money for damages out of her since she said that she will pay or if not, then go to court. The car that I was driving had only liability insurance.
My husband called her next day and she said that she's getting check next Friday and then she can pay. Well, he called next Friday, Saturday, etc. and the only person answered said that she was a babysitter and he left a message with her. Now she doesn't pick up a phone when we call and she disabled *67 so we can't call without her knowing who is calling. I tried to call from my cell last night and I think that was her who picked the phone but she said she's babysitter and leave a message. When I asked for her name, she hung up and did not pick up phone anymore. BTW everytime my husband or I called, it sounded like a party in the background: lots of voices, laugh, screams, etc.

Now the part that I need help with: I'm going to the court today to get a court date. I would appreciate if anyone who has been in a similar situation, can share their expierence. I know that we will need to serve her a court date but what if she won't come out of her house or something. Any your opinions and help will be appreciated and THANK YOU in advance!
BTW accident happened on Thursday 01/06/05.

[lassss]

You guys helped me before and I know that I can count on you so here it goes:

I was driving to the store and as I turned into the parking lot, there are many stores there and one road is like a main one, connects all parking lots and all other roads have stop signs. I was driving on this main road and out of nowhere come out this speeding car and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would not stop in time so I started pushing breaks with all my power and I guess she saw me too (about time) and tried to stop BUT... we crashed somewhere in the middle :( . She comes out of the car and checks her car for damages and says that it's almost not damaged and so is mine (in her opinion). I tell her that she ran a stop sign and she smiles and nods her head in agreement. I dial 911 and tell her that I need her insurance. She starts to beg not to call 911 because she doesn't have license with her and this car is her friend's and she doesn't think that he has an insurance and that she has a daughter and doesn't want to go to jail and that she will pay for damages in cash. Her story is that she came to this party and they ran out of something and she went to get it. I tell her to call friend and tell him to bring her license. Then she says that she doesn't have license at all, just ID :eek: :eek:
Anyway I did not call the police but said that I need to call my husband so that he can come over and help me sort it out (I was a little in shock after accident, my hands were shaking). So he comes in 10 min., listens to mine and her story and calls the cops. Now she was saying that she did stopped and she thought it was 4-way because she never been here before. She also called her friend on my cell phone b/c she doesn't have one.
Police officer came and the situation is that since it happened in a parking lot, he cannot do anything, not even give her a ticket for driving without license :eek: :( :mad: Her friend comes with bunch of others. Officer gives him a lecture for letting her drive without a license and not having an insurance.
Anyway he gives us their info and them only my name and phone # and he says to us that they look like criminals and that we ran onto some pukes (his words exactly). My only choice is try to get money for damages out of her since she said that she will pay or if not, then go to court. The car that I was driving had only liability insurance.
My husband called her next day and she said that she's getting check next Friday and then she can pay. Well, he called next Friday, Saturday, etc. and the only person answered said that she was a babysitter and he left a message with her. Now she doesn't pick up a phone when we call and she disabled *67 so we can't call without her knowing who is calling. I tried to call from my cell last night and I think that was her who picked the phone but she said she's babysitter and leave a message. When I asked for her name, she hung up and did not pick up phone anymore. BTW everytime my husband or I called, it sounded like a party in the background: lots of voices, laugh, screams, etc.

Now the part that I need help with: I'm going to the court today to get a court date. I would appreciate if anyone who has been in a similar situation, can share their expierence. I know that we will need to serve her a court date but what if she won't come out of her house or something. Any your opinions and help will be appreciated and THANK YOU in advance!
BTW accident happened on Thursday 01/06/05.

can you do a reverse lookup on the phone number to see where she lives and send her the bill and/or take her to court?

[MamaFairal]

i also was gonna suggest a reverse lookup and go to her home with an estimate of damages.
Or maybe have an officer go with you.
The poilce have to have record of when they showed up for the accident call so maybe i would request an "INCIDENT" report instead of the ACCIDENT" report.
Good luck ...be carefull :)

[justme23]

Try finding her here: www.meta-people-search.com

It seems to be down... I wish you luck tho!

[Tadbit]

This same thing happened to a friend of mine. She was hit in a parking lot by a non insured driver. She contacted her insurance company and they got her a lawyer to fight the case in small claims court. She won and they had to pay for the cost of damage and lawyer and court fees. I'd suggest you call you insurance company. They can help you with your claim. You may have to get your own lawyer, but I wouldn't let this go. They will serve her papers to appear and if she doesn't appear in court, I'm sure you will win anyway. I'm not sure if the court will bill her or how that works, but it's worth a shot. In my friend's case, the other person showed up in court and was ordered to pay and they did. Good luck. Yeah accidents in parking lots are a sticky situation. Sorry this happened to you.

[mistressB]

if the police were there then there will have been an accident report filled out, and on that will be her address. you have access to this so go to the police dept. if you don't have colision on your ins. policy then you will have to do all the leg work to recoup your losses.

first get the accident report, then get an estimate. write this lady a letter regarding the bill and ask her to contact you about payment. make it clear in the letter that she has a time frame to contact you and if she doens't you will be taking her to court. if you don't hear from her in a week recontact her. make sure copies of all letters sent and a log of phone conversations. if you can't resolve these issues take her to small claims court.

you do not need a lawyer, to get one will be a waste of money. you just have to file, get a process server, and then wait for the court date. you can add the court fees and server fees to the lawsuit ammount. usually though people are afraid to go to court and try to resolve these issues out of court. good luck to you.

[mistressB]

oh i forgot to add, it's the owner of the car that is responsible for paying you. they never should have loaned their uninsured car out to a unlicenced driver. their name and address should be on the accident report as the registered owner of the car

[freebielover]

He couldn't give her a ticket for driving without a license??? That is INSANE to me! I don't care if it was in a parking lot, she had to drive there didn't she??? I hope you get the money out of them. I cannot believe the police didn't so anything!

[sadie01]

A parking lot is concidered 'Private Property' that is why no ticket was issued..
The police usually WON'T show up if you call it in and it is in a parking lot. I learned that if you are ever in an accident on "private property' to call for the EMS, then the police HAVE to show up. Granted no ticket will be given, but a report should be filed.
You may only have Liablity, but I would call the insurance company anyway. They can give you advice on the situation as well..
I wish you the best of luck!!!

[freebielover]

Wow, I never knew that. The cops around here give out speeding tickets in the plaza where I work. They sit and run radar and pull people over for speeding and running stop signs. Maybe because its a Walmart plaza, not a regular parking lot? Anyways, I really hope this whole issue gets resolved, its too bad there are people out there like that!

[sadie01]

Well, I am in Texas.. Laws very from state to state. When I went to "Insurance School" (lol) to get my lisence that's what they told us. But every state will vary I am sure.. Unless the owner of the Plaza you mentioned requested that set up.. I don't know.

I wish they would do that @ my local Wal-Mart and Target.... :D

[firechic]

He couldn't give her a ticket for driving without a license??? That is INSANE to me! I don't care if it was in a parking lot, she had to drive there didn't she??? I hope you get the money out of them. I cannot believe the police didn't so anything!
I have to agree. She had to be on the road somewhere, to get to the parking lot, no? I would fight this one til the end.

[Natasha]

I have her address and owner's of the car address -- police officer gave it to me. Also all info about the car, including vin.
I cannot give her another week since she made it clear that she won't speak to me or my husband. I also called car's owner but he's never home (which I doubt too -- he just giving us a run around like she does). The accident happened on 01/06/05 -- that's 3 weeks ago. I went today to the police station and they said that no report was filled out since it happened in a private parking lot :( They gave me a form to fill out called "State of WA vehicle collision report". I will fill it out tonight and mail it tomorrow.

Question for Tadbit: did your friend had fixed her car and paid for it with her money or she had an estimate?

Question for mistressB: Should I sue driver or the owner or both? I'll get court papers tomorrow and I'll ask them how that works.

firechic, I will fight it too -- the police officer made it very clear that the road rules don't apply to parking lots. There was nothing else for me to do:( I would not fight with police officer b/c then I'll be the one in handcuffs :eek:

[tsquared]

No help here just hope things turn out in your favor. Sounds like you got a real raw deal.

[evrita]

I had a lady hit me in a PL and they filed a police report and her insurqnce company had to pay and she was sited for hitting me

[redrig]

That really bites that there's nothing the cops could do...did she just magicaly appear in the parking lot with the car, or just hover over the roads to get there?

I agree with others to call your insurance company...they've most likely dealt with similar situations and can offer some advice. Any out-of-pocket expenses you incur (paying to file anything, the process server, etc) should be tacked on to whatever amount it is you're asking.

[mistressB]

my insurance was no help to me. they said that because i didn't have collision that i had to take care of it myself. i also found out that the uninsured motorist that i was paying extra for only covers bodily damage. uggg, hello, i have health insurance, who cares about bodily damage.

[Natasha]

Yes, I did call my insurance morning after the accident b/c they were closed when we got home after the accident. I thought that I had uninsured driver coverage for the car that I was driving because agent called when we signed up and offered something and we were paying extra but that was not for uninsured driver. They said that they cannot help me and that I can purchase this coverage for additional charge which I did -- yes, too late but I did. After being accident and claim free for over 13 years and paying policy all that time, when I need them to pay -- what do I get? I have to pay THEM more money!!! :mad: :( :( Oh well, live and learn! This additional charge also covers hit and run and uninsured driver: bodily injury $50K per person and 100K per accident and 50K property damage and it only costs me $35 extra for 6 months! (silently kicking myself for the last 3 weeks :( )

mistressB -- what insurance company do you have? I'm with Allstate and they cover property damage.

Thank you all again for all your support and advise!!! :)

[mistressB]

car insurance in washington is outragously expensive, i shopped around and got the cheapest that i could find (through orion) for nearly $700 every 6 months, liability on one car. now that i've moved out of state i use safeco and pay $436 for 2 cars every 6 months. makes a huge difference. luckily for me everything with the hit and run worked out well.

the guy who hit our cars was driving his fathers car, so his father is fixing up the car and giving it to me in instead of paying the cash. he owns an auto body shop and wanted to do the repairs himself, but i would rather get a newer car than fix up my older one. i can still sell the older one for about $800 or so.

[Natasha]

We are in WA and were paying $460 for 3 cars liability with Allstate. Originally it was $390 but we added more $$ coverage ($150K for each car): being claim free we qualified for 20% off. Now it'll be $575 with uninsured driver and we are planning to fix the car and sell it. Our house insurance is with them too and they were half the price I was paying with Safeco for the same coverage.

[mistressB]

wow, i could never find insurace that cheap over there. where in wa do you live?

[Tadbit]

.

Question for Tadbit: did your friend had fixed her car and paid for it with her money or she had an estimate?

]
My friend got two estismates. No she waited until she got the money and then got her car fixed. The guy also had to pay for her a rental while her car was being fixed.

[Natasha]

in Tacoma but our agent in Bellevue. I think the big difference is 20% discount by Allstate for being claim free.