Car accident

edvedder913

I feel so terrible for my brother in law.....

This weekend he was driving and some 20 year old guy ran out in the street and he ended up hitting him. Totally not his fault - he had the green light - kid came out of nowhere - and no, drinking was not involved.

So now this guy is in the hospital, my brother in law feels AWFUL. But the kicker is he thought he was insured under his mother - she thought so too - and apparently he is no longer on her policy - so he has no insurance.

I feel so bad for him, he is such a great guy and who knows what is going to come out of this. I hope the kid he hit is okay and doesn't sue.

Thanks for letting me vent.

*good thoughts*

Steve Dunne

wow. quite a bummer if their ever was one.

*good thought...*

markymark550

If the kid does sue and the kid is at fault, any decent judge or jury should be able to determine that your brother-in-law shouldn't be financially responsible for the injuries.

I can only imagine what your brother-in-law is feeling right now. I would feel pretty horrible too if I hit someone, my fault or otherwise.

Hope things turn around with the situation and everything is alright.

chinobaeza

wow Cynthia that sucks....hope everything ends soon.
Same story happened to my dad 20 years ago, with the difference that my dad killed the guy :(..... the good thing was that the family didn't sue because it was not my dad fault, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time

NY PJ1

good vibes to u cyn

Heineken Helen

chinobaeza wrote:

wow Cynthia that sucks....hope everything ends soon.
Same story happened to my dad 20 years ago, with the difference that my dad killed the guy :(..... the good thing was that the family didn't sue because it was not my dad fault, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time

wow :( so sorry to both of you.

I know of a guy in my town who killed a guy once... the guy was drunk and stumbled out in front of the car on really really bad windy roads. Obviously he was never found to be in any fault but the dead guys family have been harassing him for years since :(

SPEEDY MCCREADY

markymark550 wrote:

If the kid does sue and the kid is at fault, any decent judge or jury should be able to determine that your brother-in-law shouldn't be financially responsible for the injuries.

I can only imagine what your brother-in-law is feeling right now. I would feel pretty horrible too if I hit someone, my fault or otherwise.

Hope things turn around with the situation and everything is alright.

the brother-in-law driving without insurance...should not have been behind the wheel to begin with.

if i was injured by someone who was driving without insurance....the first thing i would do is call a lawyer.....

and im sure thats just what the kid is going to do once he is out of the hospital...

GreenTeaDisease

isn't it illegal to be driving without insurance in most states? sounds like this could be his biggest legal issue!

Heineken Helen

GreenTeaDisease wrote:

isn't it illegal to be driving without insurance in most states? sounds like this could be his biggest legal issue!

I'd imagine it is... and obviously it's up to everyone to make sure they're fully insured so let this be a lesson to check your insurance now.

Get_Right

markymark550 wrote:

If the kid does sue and the kid is at fault, any decent judge or jury should be able to determine that your brother-in-law shouldn't be financially responsible for the injuries.

I can only imagine what your brother-in-law is feeling right now. I would feel pretty horrible too if I hit someone, my fault or otherwise.

Hope things turn around with the situation and everything is alright.

pedestrians always have the right of way

Bummer sorry to hear about that

markymark550

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

the brother-in-law driving without insurance...should not have been behind the wheel to begin with.

if i was injured by someone who was driving without insurance....the first thing i would do is call a lawyer.....

and im sure thats just what the kid is going to do once he is out of the hospital...

true, didn't think about the insurance part.....:o

josevolution

this situation does suck for all parties involved hopefully the kid won't sue but any time you drive someone else's car you take that chance of not being covered ......

edvedder913

thanks for everyone's kind thoughts.

he was driving his own car which is registered under his mother's name. he thought he was insured. they removed him from the policy in early February, but both he and his mother were unaware. not sure how that happened, but it did...

markymark550

Get_Right wrote:

pedestrians always have the right of way

at intersections, crosswalks, and with pedestrians already in the road this is true

if you are driving and a person just walks right out in front of you, that pedestrian did not have right of way (this was how I interpreted the original post)...if they do have right of way in that case, there would be a lot more frivolous lawsuits of people walking out stupidly in front of traffic just to try and get some money

AnnaMelinda

josevolution wrote:

this situation does suck for all parties involved hopefully the kid won't sue but any time you drive someone else's car you take that chance of not being covered ......

That really does suck for your brother in law. Sorry to hear.

And...unfortunately...if the kid is sitting in the hospital...what do you think the chances are of him not filing a lawsuit?

Slim to none sound like really good odds on this one.

So Sorry....

josevolution

edvedder913 wrote:

thanks for everyone's kind thoughts.

he was driving his own car which is registered under his mother's name. he thought he was insured. they removed him from the policy in early February, but both he and his mother were unaware. not sure how that happened, but it did...

whoa that is way different than what i thought happened, he was driving hi's own car with no insurance? that is a whole other story damm i wish him luck ..

Poncier

edvedder913 wrote:

thanks for everyone's kind thoughts.

he was driving his own car which is registered under his mother's name. he thought he was insured. they removed him from the policy in early February, but both he and his mother were unaware. not sure how that happened, but it did...

The insurance company can't remove someone from the policy without sending them notifiaction of cancellation, so if the insurance co. did not do this, they will have to cover for him if the premiums are paid.

edvedder913

well i think that b/c the car is NOT registered in his name, it may make the situation better. it is registered under his mom's name and she has insurance. so we are hoping her insurance covers him using the car. we will see....

it's just sad b/c this guy ran out in the street in front of him - he even tried to swerve to avoid hitting him - almost hitting another car - there are witnesses thankfully.

i would feel for anyone who this happened to - insurance or not - someone runs in front of your moving car - and you are at fault. fair system....

he's just such a good guy, i really feel for him.

AnnaMelinda

edvedder913 wrote:

i would feel for anyone who this happened to - insurance or not - someone runs in front of your moving car - and you are at fault. fair system....

Yeah, That is really scary, huh?

I would be totally FREAKED OUT if I hit someone! Even if... like in this case... it wasn't "my fault." God. He must feel horrible...and now scared too. :(

Get_Right

markymark550 wrote:

there would be a lot more frivolous lawsuits of people walking out stupidly in front of traffic just to try and get some money

and most times they would win

markymark550

Get_Right wrote:

and most times they would win

actually, I just looked it up, and most places have laws in place stating that a pedestrian can't just walk out into traffic and must yield if going into the road wouldn't give a driver enough time to react appropriately

Get_Right

markymark550 wrote:

actually, I just looked it up, and most places have laws in place stating that a pedestrian can't just walk out into traffic and must yield if going into the road wouldn't give a driver enough time to react appropriately

Right so they would issue a jay walking ticket, but comparative negligence applies I believe.

the pedestrian gets the sympathy 90% of the time, unless its someone trying to kill themself

josevolution

Get_Right wrote:

Right so they would issue a jay walking ticket, but comparative negligence applies I believe.

the pedestrian gets the sympathy 90% of the time, unless its someone trying to kill themself

so what do they say "oh fuck'mm he was just trying to kill himself ? ...

markymark550

Get_Right wrote:

Right so they would issue a jay walking ticket, but comparative negligence applies I believe.

the pedestrian gets the sympathy 90% of the time, unless its someone trying to kill themself

If the driver is following all rules of the road, comparitive negligence does not apply as the driver's actions did not cause the accident. In this case the pedestrian is 100% at fault. This is what the original post sounded like and if a lawsuit is brought up, any good lawyer should be able to prove why his client shouldn't be financially responsible (especially if witnesses testify) if the lawsuit isn't dismissed before going to trial.

The driver would have to be impaired or doing something else like changing lanes for comparitive negligence to apply. Although, if impaired, the driver faces worse things than a personal injury lawsuit.

Get_Right

markymark550 wrote:

If the driver is following all rules of the road, comparitive negligence does not apply as the driver's actions did not cause the accident. In this case the pedestrian is 100% at fault. This is what the original post sounded like and if a lawsuit is brought up, any good lawyer should be able to prove why his client shouldn't be financially responsible (especially if witnesses testify) if the lawsuit isn't dismissed before going to trial.

The driver would have to be impaired or doing something else like changing lanes for comparitive negligence to apply. Although, if impaired, the driver faces worse things than a personal injury lawsuit.

Isnt it for the jury or judge to decide if the drivers actions caused the incident?

C'mon you know its never that simple, and often no tickets are issued, so its not typically as clear cut as that. Anyway, I dont wait to write a treatise on the subject. In my experience, pedestrians are sympathetic and when hit by a vehicle, tend to get the benefit of the doubt (absent uncontroveted, crystal clear evidence to the contrary as you pointed out).