Got in an accident this morning....

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ps99472

New member
So got in a fender bender this morning on my way to tour the prestigious Turtle Rock preschool (1 month wait just to tour the school, and $100 non-refundable deposit just to put ur name on the waitlist).  So this kid driver switched into my lane, I was in his blind (he failed to check), I do the pit maneuver on his car.. and we pull over to the side...

My wife and kid was right behind me in another car... Luckily I pulled ahead of them a few lights back or else I would be witnessing my wife in a car accident. 

So we're pulled over on Culver, and start exchanging info.. when he gives me a AAA card as proof of insurance.  I looked at the card and it looks like the same card I have, a regular AAA card for tow truck/flat service...  I asked if he pays for his own, he says it's his parent's car.  Told him to call his parents and I decided to call IrvinePD so they can take a report...  Kid comes back and tells me they have Farmer's but no proof.. I told him I called police because he has no insurance proof.  So in 10 minutes Irvine PD arrives... asked if we're ok and we said we were not injured... He then says why he was needed and that we could just exchange info ourselves...  He even mention that in a noninjury accident, most cities don't send out an officer but since we're in Irvine...I then told the officer that he doesn't have insurance proof and that was why I called police.  The officer then says.. "He has a brand new car, I'm pretty sure he is insured"..  ok... but I just want to be 100% sure that my car will be repaired costing me only my precious time and not a dime of my precious money...  anyways the officer says if we do a official report the kid will automatically get 2 points on his driving record and that if we can work it out on our own, it's better that way...  hmmm.. are all Irvine PD this considerate?  Another Irvine PD rolls up, this time its the accident investigation van...  a lady comes out and pretty much tells me the same thing, and even told the other driver that I'm very nice for not requesting a police report.  At least the police was able to verify the insurance info for me before they left.  The kid seems genuine.. maybe just confused when he first gave me the AAA card...  he has since called me to see if we can work out a deal without involving insurance.. I told him I already called my insurance and gave his insurance info to my adjuster... so too late should've told me earlier... what a headache.. but at least I'm not injured and most important of all, my wife still made it to the preschool tour... 
 
Glad to hear you and your family were unharmed. You did the right thing by calling the police. There are so many uninsured motorists on the road and many who will change their story after the fact. Hopefully you took lots of photos as well--it never hurts to have more documentation.
 
ps99472 said:
So got in a fender bender this morning on my way to tour the prestigious Turtle Rock preschool (1 month wait just to tour the school, and $100 non-refundable deposit just to put ur name on the waitlist).  So this kid driver switched into my lane, I was in his blind (he failed to check), I do the pit maneuver on his car.. and we pull over to the side...

My wife and kid was right behind me in another car... Luckily I pulled ahead of them a few lights back or else I would be witnessing my wife in a car accident. 

So we're pulled over on Culver, and start exchanging info.. when he gives me a AAA card as proof of insurance.  I looked at the card and it looks like the same card I have, a regular AAA card for tow truck/flat service...  I asked if he pays for his own, he says it's his parent's car.  Told him to call his parents and I decided to call IrvinePD so they can take a report...  Kid comes back and tells me they have Farmer's but no proof.. I told him I called police because he has no insurance proof.  So in 10 minutes Irvine PD arrives... asked if we're ok and we said we were not injured... He then says why he was needed and that we could just exchange info ourselves...  He even mention that in a noninjury accident, most cities don't send out an officer but since we're in Irvine...I then told the officer that he doesn't have insurance proof and that was why I called police.  The officer then says.. "He has a brand new car, I'm pretty sure he is insured"..  ok... but I just want to be 100% sure that my car will be repaired costing me only my precious time and not a dime of my precious money...  anyways the officer says if we do a official report the kid will automatically get 2 points on his driving record and that if we can work it out on our own, it's better that way...  hmmm.. are all Irvine PD this considerate?  Another Irvine PD rolls up, this time its the accident investigation van...  a lady comes out and pretty much tells me the same thing, and even told the other driver that I'm very nice for not requesting a police report.  At least the police was able to verify the insurance info for me before they left.  The kid seems genuine.. maybe just confused when he first gave me the AAA card...  he has since called me to see if we can work out a deal without involving insurance.. I told him I already called my insurance and gave his insurance info to my adjuster... so too late should've told me earlier... what a headache.. but at least I'm not injured and most important of all, my wife still made it to the preschool tour...

Sounds like you pulled a prick move. The cops tried to give you an opportunity to be a nice guy. Having a phone conversation same day doesn't sound like he was late in asking to work it out on the side.

FYI: there's a possibility your insurance will go up as well, depending on your insurer and driving record. And not sure if carfax accident reports come from the dmv, mechanic, insurance co, but this may make it more likely that your car will show an accident when you go to sell, thus lowering your resale value.
 
I would say damage to bumper and passenger side fender... that's two body panels... probably $1000-1500?  Car is still driveable just a big eyesore right now.. 
 
MovingOnUp said:
ps99472 said:
So got in a fender bender this morning on my way to tour the prestigious Turtle Rock preschool (1 month wait just to tour the school, and $100 non-refundable deposit just to put ur name on the waitlist).  So this kid driver switched into my lane, I was in his blind (he failed to check), I do the pit maneuver on his car.. and we pull over to the side...

My wife and kid was right behind me in another car... Luckily I pulled ahead of them a few lights back or else I would be witnessing my wife in a car accident. 

So we're pulled over on Culver, and start exchanging info.. when he gives me a AAA card as proof of insurance.  I looked at the card and it looks like the same card I have, a regular AAA card for tow truck/flat service...  I asked if he pays for his own, he says it's his parent's car.  Told him to call his parents and I decided to call IrvinePD so they can take a report...  Kid comes back and tells me they have Farmer's but no proof.. I told him I called police because he has no insurance proof.  So in 10 minutes Irvine PD arrives... asked if we're ok and we said we were not injured... He then says why he was needed and that we could just exchange info ourselves...  He even mention that in a noninjury accident, most cities don't send out an officer but since we're in Irvine...I then told the officer that he doesn't have insurance proof and that was why I called police.  The officer then says.. "He has a brand new car, I'm pretty sure he is insured"..  ok... but I just want to be 100% sure that my car will be repaired costing me only my precious time and not a dime of my precious money...  anyways the officer says if we do a official report the kid will automatically get 2 points on his driving record and that if we can work it out on our own, it's better that way...  hmmm.. are all Irvine PD this considerate?  Another Irvine PD rolls up, this time its the accident investigation van...  a lady comes out and pretty much tells me the same thing, and even told the other driver that I'm very nice for not requesting a police report.  At least the police was able to verify the insurance info for me before they left.  The kid seems genuine.. maybe just confused when he first gave me the AAA card...  he has since called me to see if we can work out a deal without involving insurance.. I told him I already called my insurance and gave his insurance info to my adjuster... so too late should've told me earlier... what a headache.. but at least I'm not injured and most important of all, my wife still made it to the preschool tour...

Sounds like you pulled a prick move. The cops tried to give you an opportunity to be a nice guy. Having a phone conversation same day doesn't sound like he was late in asking to work it out on the side.

FYI: there's a possibility your insurance will go up as well, depending on your insurer and driving record. And not sure if carfax accident reports come from the dmv, mechanic, insurance co, but this may make it more likely that your car will show an accident when you go to sell, thus lowering your resale value.

So my insurance will go up even though I'm not at fault?  How does that work...my car has 120k on it.. don't plan to resell, drive it till it dies..

maybe you misread my post... there was no official report.. so the kid is not going to get points on his driving record... when we parted ways we were told by police to call our own insurance and give our info to them... the kid contacted me later that day to tell me to not call insurance... if I was him I would've told the other person right away.. not wait 4 hours later...
 
Sorry to hear about this... but I think you did the right things... never know when someone is trying to scam you with no insurance.

I got hit by someone driving a rental car and she claimed she had insurance. I didn't call the cops but I wrote down all her driver's license info, got the name of the rental car company and then called them. Luckily, she did pay for the car insurance option (which is weird because I don't when I rent) and the rental company took care of my repairs.
 
ps99472 said:
MovingOnUp said:
ps99472 said:
So got in a fender bender this morning on my way to tour the prestigious Turtle Rock preschool (1 month wait just to tour the school, and $100 non-refundable deposit just to put ur name on the waitlist).  So this kid driver switched into my lane, I was in his blind (he failed to check), I do the pit maneuver on his car.. and we pull over to the side...

My wife and kid was right behind me in another car... Luckily I pulled ahead of them a few lights back or else I would be witnessing my wife in a car accident. 

So we're pulled over on Culver, and start exchanging info.. when he gives me a AAA card as proof of insurance.  I looked at the card and it looks like the same card I have, a regular AAA card for tow truck/flat service...  I asked if he pays for his own, he says it's his parent's car.  Told him to call his parents and I decided to call IrvinePD so they can take a report...  Kid comes back and tells me they have Farmer's but no proof.. I told him I called police because he has no insurance proof.  So in 10 minutes Irvine PD arrives... asked if we're ok and we said we were not injured... He then says why he was needed and that we could just exchange info ourselves...  He even mention that in a noninjury accident, most cities don't send out an officer but since we're in Irvine...I then told the officer that he doesn't have insurance proof and that was why I called police.  The officer then says.. "He has a brand new car, I'm pretty sure he is insured"..  ok... but I just want to be 100% sure that my car will be repaired costing me only my precious time and not a dime of my precious money...  anyways the officer says if we do a official report the kid will automatically get 2 points on his driving record and that if we can work it out on our own, it's better that way...  hmmm.. are all Irvine PD this considerate?  Another Irvine PD rolls up, this time its the accident investigation van...  a lady comes out and pretty much tells me the same thing, and even told the other driver that I'm very nice for not requesting a police report.  At least the police was able to verify the insurance info for me before they left.  The kid seems genuine.. maybe just confused when he first gave me the AAA card...  he has since called me to see if we can work out a deal without involving insurance.. I told him I already called my insurance and gave his insurance info to my adjuster... so too late should've told me earlier... what a headache.. but at least I'm not injured and most important of all, my wife still made it to the preschool tour...

Sounds like you pulled a prick move. The cops tried to give you an opportunity to be a nice guy. Having a phone conversation same day doesn't sound like he was late in asking to work it out on the side.

FYI: there's a possibility your insurance will go up as well, depending on your insurer and driving record. And not sure if carfax accident reports come from the dmv, mechanic, insurance co, but this may make it more likely that your car will show an accident when you go to sell, thus lowering your resale value.

So my insurance will go up even though I'm not at fault?  How does that work...my car has 120k on it.. don't plan to resell, drive it till it dies..

maybe you misread my post... there was no official report.. so the kid is not going to get points on his driving record... when we parted ways we were told by police to call our own insurance and give our info to them... the kid contacted me later that day to tell me to not call insurance... if I was him I would've told the other person right away.. not wait 4 hours later...

Not an insurance agent, but yes based on your driving record/insurance co.

Sounded like he was a kid...to the point where you had him call his parents and probably couldn't make a decision/speak on behalf of his parent's money on the spot.

btw, what was the point of calling the cops? If he didn't have insurance, what? That he be arrested? Ticketed? Not sure how that would solve your problem of a damaged car. You have his license, registration, license plate, phone number...when you go to call him after and if it doesn't check out, you can call the police then and find him and handle thereafter like you are now all while making it to tour your kids preschool/daycare.
 
The most important info was missing, his proof of insurance, that's why I needed the police.  Yes it was a brand new car, but how would I know that.  Aren't there new cars out there without insurance.  The kid is 21, he needs to learn responsibility, again he is lucky, he didn't get a ticket because I didn't pursue it.  But miraculously the insurance info was found when the police showed up.  Cool how that works huh?
 
I don't see what the big deal is. Two people get into an accident, one guy claims he can't find his insurance info, and the other guy wants to get a police report to document everything. Isn't that what everyone "who doesn't want to get raked over the coals later on" would do?

What do you expect? Take "his word" that he'll fess up to his mistake later when he magically finds his insurance info?
 
You did the right thing. Always get a police report so the other party at fault doesn't turn around and place the fault toward you. 

Doesn't matter where you are, Irvine, San Marino, Beverley Hills, or what you drive, if you get involved in an accident..  Safest thing to do first is to call the cops..
 
IndieDev said:
I don't see what the big deal is. Two people get into an accident, one guy claims he can't find his insurance info, and the other guy wants to get a police report to document everything. Isn't that what everyone "who doesn't want to get raked over the coals later on" would do?

What do you expect? Take "his word" that he'll fess up to his mistake later when he magically finds his insurance info?

Forgot...dealing w a bunch of Irvine bubble folk here. Fyi, he could just as easily lie about what happened to the cops as the insurance co.

Btw, thanks for your two cents shay

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5jrcYUptSxA&v=5jrcYUptSxA&gl=US
 
Always call the cops for a traffic accident -

My dad was rear-ended by a pair of teenagers while my brother and I were in the car. One of the teens (the passenger) proceeded to run at my dad trying to attack him. My brother and I got in front of my dad and were about ready to reintroduce him to the pavement (we are both big guys) when the driver (wisely) held his friend back. The driver said he was sorry for his friend and was nice, etc so my dad just took his insurance info and we went on our way.

Fast forward a month and the driver has suddenly changed his story (We backed up into him ON A FOUR LANE ROAD?!?!?) and now my dad/brother/I have to give statements to the police/insurance company. Long story short, good job being protective ps99472.
 
MovingOnUp said:
IndieDev said:
I don't see what the big deal is. Two people get into an accident, one guy claims he can't find his insurance info, and the other guy wants to get a police report to document everything. Isn't that what everyone "who doesn't want to get raked over the coals later on" would do?

What do you expect? Take "his word" that he'll fess up to his mistake later when he magically finds his insurance info?

Forgot...dealing w a bunch of Irvine bubble folk here. Fyi, he could just as easily lie about what happened to the cops as the insurance co.

Btw, thanks for your two cents shay

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5jrcYUptSxA&v=5jrcYUptSxA&gl=US

Yes that's true, but at least the cop can analyze the scene and figure out if things make sense, they are trained for these type of scenarios by looking at impact points on each vehicle, tire marks on the road, etc.

If you don't call them, you don't even give yourself a chance. It's up to the other person's "honesty" to bail you out. You would bet your insurance premium on some random person's honesty? Really?
 
IndieDev said:
MovingOnUp said:
IndieDev said:
I don't see what the big deal is. Two people get into an accident, one guy claims he can't find his insurance info, and the other guy wants to get a police report to document everything. Isn't that what everyone "who doesn't want to get raked over the coals later on" would do?

What do you expect? Take "his word" that he'll fess up to his mistake later when he magically finds his insurance info?

Forgot...dealing w a bunch of Irvine bubble folk here. Fyi, he could just as easily lie about what happened to the cops as the insurance co.

Btw, thanks for your two cents shay

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5jrcYUptSxA&v=5jrcYUptSxA&gl=US

Yes that's true, but at least the cop can analyze the scene and figure out if things make sense, they are trained for these type of scenarios by looking at impact points on each vehicle, tire marks on the road, etc.

If you don't call them, you don't even give yourself a chance. It's up to the other person's "honesty" to bail you out. You would bet your insurance premium on some random person's honesty? Really?

If the guy came out of the car ready to punch me, yes. A kid in a new car in Irvine, no. Been in 2 accidents (both weren't my fault) and never called the cops and everything worked out. Maybe I'm naive or lucky.

Let me guess...you're probably the type that gets into a fender bender yet stays in the middle of the road waiting for the cops to show up, totally oblivious to the traffic being built up.  As if you couldn't have pulled to the side and done the same, saving thousands of people from a $hitty commute.
 
The people on this board are funny. On one thread, it seems everyone and their mommas own(ed) a porsche 997 turbo 3 times in their life. And now it's the same people worried about an insurance premium bump...so much so they think you need to waste your time waiting for the cops and missing your kids preschool appt. I'd think personal time for an owner of a porsche 997 is > than a premium bump.

And most of you sound married. When I was single, my insurance was consistenly 2.5k-3k/yr. After marriage, a 40k+ car costs me 900ish to insure with State Farm. If my premium increased 30% ($270), I'd personally rather go to my kids preschool that I waited a month to go see. And maybe even took time from work, losing PTO hrs that will total much more than $270, thus causing me to miss work again to go see the preschool.

Many stories here don't add up.
 
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