Fender bender advice....

[Canucks3322]

So tonight I approach a 2-3 ton truck at a red light on a small street downtown, a couple blocks from the Maid. He has no turn signal on. I proceed to go to his right side to make a right. He starts turning and in 2 seconds he has hit my Murano and taken off my front bumper cover. He says he is working and delivering and calls his boss who agrees they'll do repairs at the body shop the guy works at and then bill his boss' company. I'm agreeing to do this it's minor damage, new front bumper cover, new left headlight cover, take out 2 dents on driver side front quarter panel and repaint....can't really fuck it up, plus my Murano is an 03 and I could only get 13-14 grand for it if I'm lucky.....anything I should be cautious of though?

PS...I had 2 friends with me in the car and for sure he was not intending to turn right (he was right up beside the road's dividing line...and did NOT have his turn signal on when I approached.

[4lti]

Did you get his information at least in case hes fucking with you?

[03ozwhip]

if you got his info, you should be fine. if not, you dont have a leg to stand on, because anyone in YOUR vehicle cant be used as a witness.

[ExtraSlow]

Could easily be over a grand. Have you filed a police report?

[Tik-Tok]

File a police report. Go through insurance.

[Ca_Silvia13]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
File a police report. Go through insurance.

x2 ecspecially if it a business vehicle that hit you.

[Canucks3322]

Yea I got his info...he first gave me his business card, then after he got my cell number I got his cell number and called it to confirm and also asked his name to confirm the name on the business card. I am reasonably sure he's an honest guy, I'm just worried about having to haggle over what needs to be fixed/replaced but if what he's saying is true, it'll just be billed to his boss and be written off as a business expense.

Going to file a police report today, guess I'll just ask the officers what to do.

[Canucks3322]

Originally posted by Ca_Silvia13


x2 ecspecially if it a business vehicle that hit you.

Can you explain more? Why "especially"?

[R154]

Why didnt you ask him for his licence and insurance info?

[Canucks3322]

I did lol.

[Team_Mclaren]

I wouldnt take it to the body shop of their choice. Its your car, you should make the decision of where to have it repaired. Last thing you want is some idiot attempting a shitty repair on your car.

[Zero102]

Originally posted by Canucks3322
PS...I had 2 friends with me in the car and for sure he was not intending to turn right (he was right up beside the road's dividing line...and did NOT have his turn signal on when I approached.

Well then obviously you do not understand how trucks make turns on small streets, because he should be right up beside the dividing line to make a right turn. I agree if his signal is not on his intent is not clear, but arguing his lane position determines his intent is a very bad stance to take.

That said, you are lucky they are agreeing to pay the damages, take it to their body shop for an estimate, then take it to some shops YOU trust. Compare the estimates at the end, if they are comparable they should have no issues paying for your shops, if they are not close then you have some work to do, figure out what parts/prices are different and why, and see if you can get their body shop to give an estimate close to what the shops you trust would charge, then they should agree to pay for your shops. If there is no way you can get them close and they do not agree to pay for your shops, then its insurance time, but don't expect it to be an easy fight if you involve insurance, and they will likely want to push it to 50/50 for passing a truck on the inside of its turn (even though it had no signal light on).

*EDIT*
Insurance companies like to talk about the last person who could have avoided the accident. Since you were on the inside all you had to do was stop when you saw him start turning and the collision would have been avoided, this is why I am arguing that if it goes to insurance you will not get away with 0% liability. Its like when somebody is running a stop sign, and you have time to stop but choose not to.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Zero102
this is why I am arguing that if it goes to insurance you will not get away with 0% liability.

Yes he will, same thing happened to my father-in-law last year, and the 100% liability was on the truck driver for not having a turn signal on.

Also, by the sounds of the OP, he was also stopped for the red light when the truck started turning.

[FraserB]

File a police report NOW! The damage you described is way over $1000, probably closer to $3k-$4k

[Canucks3322]

I HAVE filed a report geez lol....and I filed with insurance today because the guy called me up and said his boss was not gonna pay for it since he wasn't working at the time he was driving it.....the lady at the insurance has filed it as not at fault but said the his insurance company could argue and say I should not have went to his right side since it's technically a one way street, but that is bullshit, it was 12:15am and there were like one or 2 parked cars, tons of room for me to approach on his right and make a right turn while he waits to go straight. I could understand if it was a 4 way stop but it wasn't.

[ANDYPLUS]

Your insurance should take care of you, but the best thing in this situation was to go straight to his insurance, because now your insurance will have a record of an accident. They say it does not matter, but I find that it does.

Make sure you find out what is your rental coverage for this claim (you can do it through your insurance). Sometimes insurance companies are going to fuck you over by not paying the full bill for the rental.

Since you reported it to your insurance - you have to deal with them. Make sure they will get paid, otherwise they will just put it as a claim on your record.

PS: Never even think that you were wrong! Always say that you were following the traffic rules and made everything possible to avoid the impact.


Take care!