An update:

1. The Camaro driver's insurance policy was cancelled last month, so the whole thing is going on my Uninsured Motorist coverage. It has a small deductible, so at least that's better than if it was on my Collision coverage.
2. The insurance company's Drive-thru claim center estimated the damages at $650. I then took it to my preferred body shop where they immdediately began to notice other little things, (eg. it needs an Aero bumper cover not a standard bumper cover, it will need a new heat shield, etc).
3. After hearing the whole story and all the gory details, my wife was totally blown away that I took such a chance to follow the Camaro guy. She pointed out that, in addition to being a hit & run driver, he could have also been a violent criminal and that the risk was much larger than the reward. In a word, she's right. I should have just gotten his plate number and let him go. Then let the police & insurance company handle it however they wanted. After all, it's only money, and I have a greater obligation to my wife.

 

Just glad nothing happened... and you get a great story out of it

 

As in hitting the car in front of you? Good luck when the person you "touch" is money hungry, and fakes a whiplash, say they have major headaches and neck pains, and not only do they go after the guy who hit you's insurance company, they'll go after you for the double collision, should the person behind you hit you hard enough to hit the person in front of you again.

Alot of times the first car in line doesn't speak up for a while, but when they realize you're getting all the money from the car behind you, because you hit the car in front of you first, they're going to want your money too. But it gets REALLY difficult when there are three car collisions. Person number one could just SAY they felt two impacts, but there was really only one, but siding with the client, we could go after both insurance companies of the cars behind us, and middle man can go after the car behind him... unless they hear our story of how he hit us first, THEN was hit... then he's at fault too.

I just hope i misread your comment. I'd strongly advise you to do everything in your power to not hit the car in front of you first.

BUTTTTTT if you DONT hit the car in front of you first, and you're just pushed into them once, then you can both go after the guy behind you if he's proven liable. But if you must touch the person in front of you first because you think it'll lessen the severity of the collision, maybe you should try it. Just trying to come from a legal standpoint... there are some greedy people out there. And depending on who's story they go with, could determine whether the insurance company accepts liability and decides to pay for any of your damages/medical expenses, should you have any. GOSHHHH. I hope that made some sense.

*i dont know if anyone that works with insurance has something else to say, or sayd i'm wrong... just speaking from experience handling PI claims

 

You are right about 3 car accidents like this. The one who gets the most money is usually the biggest crook. My son was the middle car in a three-way. They guy in front at first claimed no damage or injury, but later comes up with this huge claim that his czr was almost totalled. He even claimed his fuel injectors were damaged

Our attorney took a depo from him. He rememberd my son being about 22 or 23 and driving a red sports car. He was 17 and driving a green Taurus

In the end, he got over 30,000 dollars. My apologies to insurance adjusters and PI attorneys, but how stupid are you people

 

That's crazy. Usually adjusters and attorneys are quick to call someone's bluff, but i have some ODD cases. It's just sad people can't move on and realize other people have much more serious injuries/damages, and should be the ones rightfully compensated.

And yes, we suck.

 

To make things worst, I knew someone who had a car back into them after stopping to far into the intersection. The person then told the police that they were rear-ended... even though the skid marks from the stopped car were going backwards.

Sadly the police office did not understand basic physics and reported the crash as a rear-end.

 

It's a jungle out there What happened to me was outrageous and a little scary, but now that it's over I'm becoming more philosophical. It could be a lot worse. No one was hurt. And, as friend of mine taught me, if it can be fixed with money it's not a problem. There are things that can't be fixed with money; those are the real problems.

 

Short Bus,

I'm a lawyer, and I've done a small amount of accident work. But the point from the driving school concerned physics, not law.

If a car is about to strike you at great speed from behind, it is in your interest to have as much mass as possible to absorb the collision. For Newton's purposes, two cars touching are as useful as one big car.

Thus, the perfect reaction under the described impossible circumstances is to have your car touching the car in front of you when you get hit.

If you value your life in such situations, physics will take precedence over concern about adverse and improper legal consequences.

As a practical matter, if the guy behind you is coming so fast that you cannot avoid getting hit, it is probably already too late to do much more than worry about whether you are wearing clean underwear.

 

This happened to us a two years ago:
My friend who was a senior in high school at the time, had a 2000 Cadillac Escalade, it was a champagne color, the signature cadillac color at the time. We were coming back from a HALO (XBOX game) party at my other friend's house. He lives in a very,very,very large subdivision (covers about 3 sq. miles). Were moving at about 20 and up ahead we see this car doing yard jobs (doing donuts on a lawn), we figured just let'm go, as we pass all I saw were lights coming at my window and slam! The first few seconds I don't remember anything but hearing; Mikey, MIKEY are you okay? I said yea, even though I felt there cuts all over my face, and a breeze was coming in on my side of the car . Then I heard that caddy kick into gear, and suburbia was flying by a little faster! Ryan gave me his cell and told me to call 911 which I did, and I just told the operator that we just got hit I'm kind of banged up and my buddy was haulin' a$$ to catch up with these guys. She told me then to tell her our current location every time we went by a sign, I did. We saw the white MB pull into McDonalds and we waited in the parking lot of a True Value for them to come out, they went inside for a second then looked out the window when they were eating and booked out the car. Ryan gunned it and we were right on them, still by the way on the phone with the dispatcher, she said fall back, just as we did they pulled a u-ey and pulled away from us. We went on an intersecting road, only to come out to see a sheriff in a gmc yukon (which all sheriffs in IN have a tan paint job on them) pull out and flip on his lights and siren, apparently thinking it was us again they proceded for another mile before pulling over and having half the calvalry in st. joe county box them in. They were cuffed and put into the cruiser while we watched about 20 feet behind the cops. They came back told us the car was stolen, and that we did a good job. Just give them our story and info, and go home. The officer offered to give me a ride to the medical center but I declined. About two weeks ago I got pulled over in my MINI for doing 3 over in a school zone , he took my stuff back to his car came back and asked me how my how my face was doing. I'm like, sorry officer I don't get what you mean. We then talked about it for about 10 min about that night, and we play golf every saturday together (my clubs were in the trunk). I never though I would be saying this about a cop but... he is pretty cool

The Result:
They each got 6 monthes for evading arrest.
Five months for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.
10 monthes for stealing the car.

I got cut up for a few days, my friend got the choice of a new car that did not exceed the value of $38000, and we both got this awesome story to tell!

Just goes to show you...
Never move to IN
and never, never, never, assume (or steal) anything!


Mikey