How Can I challenge a accident where both people are listed as contributing to collision if I was the one in the right?
Question Details: I was driving in the slow lane about to make a right hand turn. There was a car in the left lane slowing down and the car behind him swirved into my lane and hit my car right above the back left tire. Noone was hurt and both damages were very minor. When we pulled over he gave me his card and said he works for a paint and body shop and he would fix it, not to call the police. I knew if i didnt he probably wouldnt fix my car so I did. When the cop came i told him what happened and the other guy said he wasnt sure what happened. He said either he ran into me or i ran into him. He just knew we hit. The cop didnt issue out any tickets. When I got to work and looked at the paper it said we both contributed to the collision. I called the officer and ask how this could be when i didnt do anything wrong. I was told that the police were told in a collision if the 2 peoples story weren't the same and there wasnt a 3rd person that they had to write it up that way. My insurance now says my insurance may go up. What can I to dispute this so my insurance will not go up?
Well first of all, you said that your insurance, "may go up." Therefore, you might want to have another conversation with your insurance company and try to pin them down on this. If the officer was clear that there is nothing else that he can do or that he could have done, then it would appear that there isn't anything that you could benefit from with regards to contacting him again.
Since you said that the damage to your car was, "very minor," you might want to consider just paying for the damage yourself and asking your insurance company if you can withdraw the claim. If you go this route you might want to contact the other driver and ask him if he would kick in on your repair bill. You might also discuss with him having your car fixed at his body shop. Maybe if you had to you could offer to just pay for materials and see if he would provide free labor.
The only other thing I can think of is suing him. But if you decide to go this route, I strongly suggest having a detailed conversation with an attorney so that you completely understand what is involved.
That is about all I can think of. It never hurts to get a second opinion, so call another attorney to be on the safe side.
I wish you well.
