Well guess you can add me to the accident club. Just got rear ended while stopped at a red light.. Girl from different state, in a nissan frontier.. Local sheriffs refused to write a report stated damage didn't appear to be more then 1000.00, me and her were both mad, but they didn't care. I'm pretty ***** mad at the sheriffs, luckily the girl was really nice, normal and hot, lol! Anyway I'm pretty sore, but ok, shes ok, her bumper broken to heck and my right bumper side smacked in pretty far by the middle of the bumper, broken plastic all the way around the bumper area. No paint damage at all, even in the smacked in side. Gotta say for the hard hit I was surprised and glad it wasn't worse..

So heres my question, how much do the bumper ends cost, and the middle plastic? May just get a qoute from body shop and see if they'll pay outside insurance if total not too bad..

I checked all bolts, bed bolts too, nothing looks shifted at all, so hopefully nothing else is damaged, find out when shop looks at it.

 

First thing to do is call her insurance company - she rear ended you - her fault - tell her insurance company you want your truck fixed ASAP.

 

Your probably right, I'll find out tomorrow when the body shop looks at the truck. She gave me her cell number, so i figure if its not bad i'll do as stated above, if its expensive we'll have to do insurance.

My issue is sheriff refused to write accident report, so if her insurance refuses, i may be screwed, so figure id keep both as an option.

 

If her insurance gives you a hard time, take the repair quote and go to the Sheriff's Office and show it to a supervisor. That's a very lazy deputy that went to your scene. At the very least she should have been cited.

 

Actually, the first thing you need to do is tell YOUR insurance company. That way if the girl decides to fight you or deny anything you have someone waiting to fight for you. Like in my case.

Good Luck!!
Andy

 

Good point. Your insurance may tell you to go after her insurance, and if you get no satisfaction, then they will fix the truck, and go after the other insurance.

 

In some states there is a minimum dollar amount of damage for the accident to be "state reportable". In va its 1500 minimum to the "victims" vehicle or any injury. That being said you can still provide your insurance company with the deputy's name, number and probably a tracking number for the incident (not a report number, rather a number showing the police were called and who came out). The insurance company can then call the deputy and ask him questions about him responding if she was denying anything. Hopefully you took some pictures too.

 

How the heck would a sheriff know how much damage it is. I dont think that is part of there job description. Just doesnt make sense to have a cop estimate damage t o a vehicle. Especially when it involves other people's outcomes as well.

 

Indeed it sounds dumb, but its just a very rough estimate. Any newer vehicle with any body damage at all would usually be significant. It's there just to weed out the very minor accidents with scuffs that frequently happen.

I'm not saying maxout's accident met this criteria at all, I'm just stating a fact, because the deputy was probably being lazy.

 

I was born and raised in NYS and I know of no minimum $$ for a report being filed. A State Trooper who wrote me up for rear ending someone told me that he had no choice since I hit another party. Her car had a broken tail light and a scuffed bumper; meanwhile, my trucked was eff'd up and undriveable. Bottom line, you got screwed.

 

I didn't say anything about not being cited for the accident based on the accident amount. You can be cited in any accident regardless of how much damage there is if your at fault.

The preferred method is to document it even if the damage is minimal, it's just the state will not accept the accident report to be entered to them. So some officers/jurisdictions use that as an excuse not to file a report period....which is why I said he was probably being lazy, or that's just how that jurisdiction does all there minor accidents. Hope that explains it a little better.

 

I'm a police officer in Massachusetts and no report is required when damage is less than $1,000 and no one is injured. Basically state your case to insurance companies and go from there. She obviously rear ended you so she is automatically at fault. A paper exchange is procedure for accidents that don't mee these requirements. This is proof you can use that an officer did come to scene. To be honest with you I got kind of aggravated when you say the cop is being "lazy" when he is only following procedures that are in place, but people hate cops anyway so its par for the course.

 

A paper exchange may be procedure but are police officers qualified to make an assessment on the cost of the property damage? Maybe they have training to make the assessment or they learn from experience but I thought assessing the cost of property damage was the job of the insurance claims adjuster? That said, if the police officers know of body shops you can go to and get out of for less than $1,000, I want a copy of the database. I didn't think that was possible anymore.

It amazes me how difficult F-150s are to see.

 

I mis-typed what I was trying to say and corrected it. Either way, I agree with you that he was being lazy.

 

Is the procedural policy you referenced just Massachusetts policy? I think it varies state to state. Not sure of the law in Alabama, but I've never heard of a written report being denied here regardless of monetary damages.

Personally, I would have demanded a report, or at least the responding Deputy's name for future reference if needed. What if the driver of vehicle #2 (the one rear-ended) woke up the next day with stiffness in his/her neck? Not all injuries are evident immediately after an accident, so that's exactly why I think reports should be issued on all, regardless if it's under $1,000.

And, thanks for putting your life on the line for us. Most everyone does appreciate what the police do. I remember back in the 60's a favorite saying by police was, "Since we're all hated and despised, next time you're being robbed by an armed mugger, go call a hippie".