I feel stupid for this, nearly got sued

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Hi,

Excuse me for butting in, but I came here to let you know that this is not a common enough situation to know how to handle it. You're making it sound like you should have known, but in reality, you haven't experienced it before. There is a first time for everything, and you can learn from this for any future reference.

Also, if anybody else (even very social people) were in this situation, they might have acted the same way, or slightly differently; anyway, I doubt that they would have known exactly what to do. From what I read, it sounds like a very strange & unique situation.

I probably would have act the same way you did if that would happen to me. It's just a lot of pressure at once. Like you said earlier in one of your posts, you did handle it. If her car is fine and yours is fine, then there absolutely shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck!!

- sketches

Contact the police and file an accident report stating the full info, SG. Print out this list, or find your own, and keep it in your car so you can check them off next time.

Automobile Accident Law

Stay At The Scene
If you are involved in an accident involving injury, or substantial damage to property, stay at the accident scene until the police tell you that you can leave. If you have any question about whether the damage caused by the accident is substantial, err on the side of caution -- when the law requires you to wait for the police, leaving the scene of an accident can result in driver's license sanctions and even criminal charges.

Safeguard The Injured
If somebody is injured, and you are trained in administering first aid, try to help. Do not move an injured person. Have somebody call the police to report the accident. The person who contacts the police should tell the police that people are injured, if possible also providing the number of injured persons, so that enough emergency personnel respond to the scene. If you are on the roadway, turn your flashers on, or use flares to warn approaching traffic of the accident.

Obtain Information
In any accident, you should obtain the following information about:

The other driver: Name, address, driver's license number, insurance information, and license plate number.

Witnesses: Name, address, and telephone number.

Police officers: Ask the police officer's who investigate the traffic scene to provide you with a business card, with the "incident number," so that you can obtain an accident report. Most officers will provide this information to you, even if you don't ask.

The location: You may wish to take notes about where the accident occurred, the road conditions, speed limits, traffic control devices, the weather, and the lighting.

The accident: You may wish to take notes about how the accident occurred, such as the direction of travel of the vehicles involved in the accident, and what the cars were doing at the time of the collision.

Be aware that if litigation results from the accident, you may have to share your notes with somebody that you are suing, or somebody who is suing you.

Do Not Admit Fault
Even if you think you are at fault, do not admit liability. There may be factors which you don't know, which played a role in the accident, and it may turn out that the other driver was more at fault than you.

Do not make statements to anybody at the accident scene, except for the police. When you speak to the police, tell them only the facts of what happened. Let the officers draw their own conclusion from the facts.

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/person ... obile.html

The car behind is not necessarily always at fault, it's just generally true.

I have been in two accidents where I was the one rear ended. Both times the cops said that the person in front is NEVER the one at fault and the one behind is ALWAYS at fault regardless of the circumstances. That is the way the law works in Michigan.

In this particular case though it's obvious that the car behind was 100% at fault. She was driving aggressively and recklessly. She should not have been following so close behind another vehicle while pulling out into traffic. She wouldn't even have time to look.

You should report it just to protect yourself - The other driver may not pursue anything against you....Maybe she has done this before, or will do it again, so it couldn't hurt to have it on record in case someone needs to make a case against her. Give them a description of the car and what the driver and passenger look like. It couldn't hurt to be on the safe side - The next person that she tries this on might be the one to write down her information.... You never know, you might be able to help the next victim.

I know in the UK that being rear ended is the fault of the person/driver who lets the vehicle move so far. I don't know what they say in Europe or the US

For clarity, I'm saying it's the person who drove into you. If you decided that it wasn't safe, you are considered to be cautious

Yes... I agree with that.

^^^^This is the worst kind of b*tch....

One more thing, and I will stop with the incessant posting...( ); Do you think the parking lot had a camera? LET'S GET THIS B*TCH!! !

Wow, what a horrible woman. It definitely sounds like she was manipulating you because she knew she was at fault.

I don't think she was an actual scam artist, as if she was she would probably make it really look like she had been injured in the accident. As you say she looked fine, she was probably just a fairly unkind person who was ad-libbing to get out of trouble.

People like this aren't nice, they just act that way to get approval or to manipulate people. One of my personal rules to live by is always to judge people by their actions, not by the smile on their face.

I was gonna call Americans silly for them resorting to lawsuits all the time, but this lady was clearly an idiot and you should file a report, if only for the record when someone else decides to take her down.

That is not an accurate statement of the law.

A recording of a conversation made between two parties is admissible as evidence, provided it was made with the consent of one of the parties to the conversation, who may be the party making the recording.

There is no provision of the Criminal Code that prohibits the recording of a viva voce conversation. The closest offence is "Interception of Communications" contrary to section 184. However, note the saving provisions under section 183.1, and paragraph 184(2)(a), as well as the provisions for use in subsection 193(2)--particularly paragraph 193(2)(a).

The Alberta Evidence Act is silent on the subject of the admissibility of recordings. However, given that the rule against hearsay allows for an exception for a statement or admission made by an opposite party adverse to their interest, it would follow, logically, that a party having made a record of such a statement or admission cannot be foreclosed from relying upon it.

Her son was doing the driving, not her. She just took over everything while he just stood there waiting.

I'm fairly certain that in that case she would have to sue the driver of the car she was in before suing you.. so she'd have to sue her son.

I agree with the people who say file an accident report. even though you're not at fault, you have a responsibility to file a report, plus if you file it you beat her to the punch by not ending up looking like you're hiding something.

she may have got your license plate information on tape. that's enough to use to file a report, and if you don't file one then she can say whatever she wants. she could even say you backed up into her, which in my state is illegal and would put me at fault.

*hug* I can't drive but this sounds like the sort of thing that would happen to me if I could. I have no advice, just a shed-load of sympathy.