djyoshi626

iTrader: (5)

Long story short, my friend with an older Accord (the ones with the rubber bumper) love taps a BMW at a stop light. An older lady (50s or so) was driving it and is now claiming back injuries and pain. There was absolutely no marks made on the BMW's bumper, nor on my friend's bumper. Now they are trying to go after my friend. I'm absolutely amazed that there can even be grounds to go after her as there was absolutely NO damage done at all. How can a <1mph "impact" even cause any damage? Do lawyers and the chiropractors that continue this cycle not have spines? What can she do in this situation?

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

Your friend needs to talk to her insurance company ASAP. They will have lawyers to help her out.

Some people get law suit happy and will sue anyone over anything because they have the money to. Sadly, people like this usually do end up winning a lot too. But if your friend gets a lawyer from the insurance company, i'm sure they will prove that an accident that caused no damage to the vehicles probably didn't cause her pain either.

djyoshi626

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, I already told her to speak to her insurance company. Problem is, it's just liability insurance. I hope her insurance company just doesn't leave her out high and dry. Things like this really angers the crap out of me.

whoster

Disregarding the force of impact...your friend is still at fault here. If the older lady had existing problems with her back and an unexpected event tipped the scale of pain, your friend is in some trouble as the cost of recuperation including the exacerbation of existing conditions is now at the expense of your friend.


Now, it could be true that the older lady is trigger happy and just after your friend--which side of the coin the lady belongs to I don't know, but your friend needs to consult with her insurance company ASAP.

djyoshi626

iTrader: (5)

She did bring up something about her back at the scene of the accident, but she was more vocal about how she just bought the car and now this [the accident] happened.

I know my friend is at fault, but if this lady is just after some blood, I hope she falls flat on her face trying! I'm not sure how insurance companies handle these cases, but would they be able to check her medical history if she did have previous back pain, etc

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

Well liability insurance covers the car you hit, just doesn't cover your car. So the insurance company would still want to prevent the other lady from suing and collecting more than any damage to the car (even tho damage is probably $0 in this case)

mmarshall

I sat on a jury (as the foreman) on a civil rear-impact case very similiar to ths one. All of us, almost immediately in the first 5-10 minutes of deliberation, found for the defense, and thought that the plaintiff was just grabbing at straws trying to get easy money.

Ty419

Was there a police report for the accident? What was the official description as written by the officer?

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Your friend's insurance will deny the claim, esp. if there's hardly any visible damage-that's how insurance will look at it.

Most importantly, your friend's car doesn't have any damage.

It's up to her to pursue, and no attorney will take her (elder woman) case b/c there's no money to be made since there's practically no damage.

BostonVP

Kinda stupid if she has back problem and is allow to drive, you know wah im saying. Last min stops happens all the time, and she can be in worst condition than wah so u called love tap. These people should not be allow to drive what so ever..but good luck on the case...

dunnojack

you guys have pictures of the 'damage' right?

anyway, if she had an existing medical condition, she'd have to prove it.
and I don't think any reputable doctor would risk losing his medical license to write up a bogus record for her, if it was just a 2mph tap.


the bmw lady does deserve some small compensation though. Maybe a new bumper will make her happy.

djyoshi626

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, she took pictures of the accident with her camera phone. I can probably ask her to send them to me so I can post it here.

Good point on the risk of losing their medical license. But "just to make her happy [the 'victim]," if there is no visible damage, no way in hell should I think my friend should fork out any money. I should mention that this BMW is also an M5 if that changes anything at all

I will need to see what the officer said on the report.

BostonVP

Get those pic as soon as possible, just in case the damage you saw might be different from what the car could be right now. These kinda case can get out of hands quick, and you should also have your friend hired an attorney or lawyer. Hes gonna have to pay a price, but a lawyer he will be able to leverage the case for your friend.

mmarshall

I agree. Photos were a significant factor in the verdict we all came to when I was on an accident-case jury.

Lil4X

Good point! Shoot pictures of the damage sustained by BOTH vehicles in any accident. There is a long-standing scam in which the "victim" of a very minor accident will swap license plates with a seriously damaged car and take it to a "friendly" body shop to have it repaired for several thousand of your dollars. Most shops will only look at the license and not take the trouble to record the VIN. Be sure to get the license plate in at least one of your shots.

My daughter accidentally let the door of our van swing open in a gust of wind, scratching the paint on a car that had just pulled up in a parking lot beside her. The driver was really upset and when I arrived on the scene a cop who happened to be passing by was trying to sort out the situation. Since it was all on private property there was no ticket issued - as the cop said, it was clearly an accident and not anyone's fault.

The lady in the other car was raising cane about the damage to her "new" car (a tiny scratch), but when I got out my phone and started taking pictures of the damage, she backed down fast. This was several months ago and she's never filed a claim with our insurance carrier.

She's probably waiting to sue for whiplash.