pedestrians that walk in road

I was driving a couple days ago and there were a couple guys walking on the side of the road after I turned the corner one of them keeps walking towards the middle of the road I screech on my breaks swerve to the left to avoid him but hes running that way falls on top of my car cracks my headlight and headlight assembly and makes two huge dents in the hood my wife and kids were with me. All of us were very shooken up espescially my cute little Leo. Long story short its 1400 worth of damage. The guys very very lucky all he has I believe is a broken leg, if it was any other vehicle thats hood wasn't ten feet long he probaby would be through the windshield. The insurance agent said we got a 100 deductible of course were going to get fixed he said I don't blame you, the hardest thing will be finding the headlight assembly and the hood if needed hope not how rare are these parts for an 88 custom cruiser. I haven't seen a car like this in my area in years.

Wow, what a story. Glad your family is ok. Just be sure to not talk to anyone about this except your insurance adjuster, or your agent. I hate to say it, but the guy you hit will probably "lawyer up" and try to get money from you and your insurance company. If any one (including the guy you hit) call you for any reason, DO NOT give them any information, and direct them to your claims adjuster. I used to be in the insurance business, and have seen what happened to you many times, and the end result is always the same. Even though you were not at fault, someone will come looking for money. Good luck and keep us posted as to the outcome.

Thank you very much for the advice will do. Yeah probably will he's got two years in ct maximum fingers crossed

Marks right,this reeks of a insurance scam and this guy is obviously a complete idiot or he would have ran into a newer car like a Merc or BMW.Glad you guys are all OK.

I second that, glad everyone is ok. Thisalso sounds like a scam to me. Tread lightly and keep us in the loop!

-Mike

I am not so sure it is a scam, but my guess it that the guy you hit will seek an attorney. The reality is that if you have valid insurance, your company will probably pay him something. We all know that the guy on foot has the right of way over the car. That being said, at the many insurance companies I worked at over the years, when an insured hit a person, they got paid something. Unless your state is different than the two I worked in, it will probably happen. Call your adjuster and ask them what is going on with the claim from the guy. And, even if you happen to have it, don't call him directly!

Like Mark and others have said, this could get sticky. The way you describe it, it seems like the guy just wasn't paying attention. If he gets a 'mouthpiece', the lawyer will focus on when you noticed the pedestrians, and what you did from that point on. Speaking from experience, I know that some insurance companies are not so adept in the 'investigation and defense' end of the deal. Some seem to just want to roll over for the attorneys and get a quick settlement off their caseload. Just in case, I would suggest doing a bit of legwork yourself. Canvas the scene - check for witnesses. Don't discuss the case with them. Just get their contact information for the insurance company. Are there any skid marks that you can photograph? Take some digital images that would show where the impact occurred.

Good luck.

I am not saying this will get ugly,but it could. Get pictures of the scene and if there were witnesses
get their names ,phone numbers and an account of what they saw. Eye witnesses can make
a huge difference in settling the case.Also keep every bit of documentation from the accident,
get the police officers names and phone numbers. I would also make a time line regarding
everything that happened. In a situation like yours,even though you are "right",the people
walking down the street are in the best position. Let us all take a lesson from this.
Oh, and dont get the idea/attitude that the insurance company will do all of the above,usually they are undermanned and will just do the minimum. I know you want to forget this ever happened,
but you need to protect yourself in this situation. Good Luck, ed

If the idiot was not in a crosswalk, you can use that in your favor.

BTW I just saw an 88 full size wagon in the yard here. It will be there for another week. It should have the same hood. If I remember correctly, it has a good hood, and headlight assembly. Since the insurance company is paying for it, it could be a possible deal for you. The hood is $150 plus shipping (Greyhound is cheapest). I would have to get back to you on the headlight parts, because I am not sure what is involved (Should be about $50).

That sounds great is it a custom cruiser wagon?

Thanks everyone will def take everyones advice and make sure to keep you guys posted

bigbluey88 wrote:

That sounds great is it a custom cruiser wagon?

I believe it is. I will have to check this week. It has been there for a while, and will soon be crushed. I may have to get someone to help me with the hood if it is in good condition. I see a number of nice junk yard cars here. A lot of them are FL cars, and have little rust.

Now it looks like I may not need a new hood because the dent is very minor they are going to see if they can pop it out so I guess its just the headlight assembly pieces and the side light that's craxked. Flordia cars are beautiful its a shame that they are junked. I'm going to try my hardest to keep and save my wagons at all cost (within reason) love them.

A good paintless dent removal guy should be able to get even a decent size dent out. I have seen them do wonders. I will get the parts you need if it is an OCC, and the parts are in good condition. I will get back to you with a price. Post a picture of the parts you need.

RockAuto should have the headlight and side light pieces you need.

I bought several of those type pieces for my 88 Caprice and am happy with the quality and fit.

That sounds great will definitely post pictures of what I need as soon as I can

Got the vehicle all fixed the hood and the light assembly look incredible looks like a brand new vehicle. For anyone who was following the story I got a call from my insurance agent today and she wanted a recorded statement of what happened I told her in my words of course how he was walking on the side of the road with his buddies started walking out towards the middle and I slammed on my brakes and swerved to the left and he walked faster towards the vehicle. She said that he has an attorney but it probably wouldn't go to court since I got no tickets and the accident isn't my fault. I think he might be doing it for pain and suffering anyways to soon to tell yet they really don't know much. They still need the accident report and more information regarding the patient. Apparently he has a broken tibia, and insurance pays for his bills. I think he should of paid for my car to get fixed but I'm just mean $100 deductible not bad though. Look forward to when this process will be over with insurance agent said that it could take weeks until they have the accident report requested, and who knows whats going on with the whole injury case thank god for insurance.

You could sue him for the $100, but there are no witnesses, so it might be a "draw". If you do sue him, you will get a letter from all of the judge shows, and you could get to be on TV with it. They pay the litigants from a pool, and if you do win, you get your $100 plus your half of the pool.

After a few close calls over the years, and after one proved my buddy to be not at fault for an accident, I've recently decided to get a dash cam for each car. After much research, I settled on the DVR-207GS. It doesn't have certain bells and whistles like built-in GPS to record your speed, but samples of video (both day and night) I've viewed are pretty decent. It'll record 720P @30 fps or 1080P @ 15 fps. $125 for two, plus another $50 for a couple of fast 32 gig SD cards, so less than $100 per car. I'll post my experience with them once I have used them a bit.

At this stage, for you it might be a case of closing the barn door after the horse has left the building, but who knows what the future may hold? Google dashcam scammers for some pretty hilarious videos of con artists getting caught on camera taking a dive or backing into the vehicle behind.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

but there are no witnesses, so it might be a "draw".

It was stated he was walking with his buddies. So there are witnesses, but for the other guy. Anyway you look at it, I would predict the court would decide it was "failure to yield to pedestrians" Minimize your loses.

Lakeffect, very good point,in situations like this the pedestrians are always made to look more
innocent than the big bad car drivers. I think you should let the case run its coarse and not try to battle the guy. If this guy is one of those incorragable type of people , trying to get $$$ from an insurance company, he wont stop until he owns your house and your car. I know its frustrating but make nice nice ,get the case signed off and closed and put it behing you. ed

Sorry...could not resist. Thought of this pic every time I've read the title to this thread...

Haha the beatles nice thanks for the advice Dave and Ed yeah I'm definitely going to let the insurance company handle everything and try to put it behind me asap.

The Beatles are in the road and the Beetle is on the sidewalk.  

Haha  .