You hit the car in front of you. Regardless of the reason you are at fault.

I can't see how you wouldn't be found at fault. You didn't leave enough space or you were going too fast to avoid slamming into her. I assume her brake lights were working.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah I still can't believe Caitlin Jenner got off for killing that lady by rear-ending her.

In Alexandria a few years ago a dump truck ran over a pedestrian so violently it literally cut her body in half. The driver kept going, dumped her load of gravel and drove all the way back to PG County to her job headquarters. She left a trail of blood for several blocks (I saw it) and a woman’s dismembered body in the street (the police couldn’t even identity her for a few days and because she lived alone there were all these announcements by the police to please report anyone missing, it was awful). BUT because there were no other cars or witnesses at the intersection, no traffic cams or other cameras, and the body was literally so badly damaged the investigators couldn’t tell whether the victim had been on the sidewalk, crossing at the crosswalk or running/walking for exercise in the street, the only testimony the police could count was the dump truck driver who claimed she didn’t know she had hit anything and stuck to that story, no charges were ever filed.

point: if the tow truck driver denies everything, you didn’t call the police at the time of the accident, and there is no damage to the truck, I think you’re SOL.

You hit her - it's your fault. Next time leave some space in between.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t k ow what state you are in, but regardless of the tow truck you are responsible (likely 100% so) for the fact that you rear-ended the other driver. Your insurance will deal with her insurance. For you personally, the tow truck driver is irrelevant.

There are actually special circumstances when this doesn't apply. There's the presumption that the driver in the back is at fault, but that doesn't mean it is always so. I've seen enough Judge Judy cases where there were special circumstances by another person--such as a bicyclist that darted into traffic, or someone running a red light--where the "rear-ender" person was able to recover damages from the them.

Is this some kind of a joke? Please don’t give legal advice based off of Judge Judy. Sweet Jesus. Plus that jurisdiction is CA.

Yeah I still can't believe Caitlin Jenner got off for killing that lady by rear-ending her.

Give it to the insurance company and let them sort it out.

You may be found at fault. A basic rule of the road is that you should not be following so close or at such speed that you will hit the person in front of you if s/he stops suddenly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t k ow what state you are in, but regardless of the tow truck you are responsible (likely 100% so) for the fact that you rear-ended the other driver. Your insurance will deal with her insurance. For you personally, the tow truck driver is irrelevant.

There are actually special circumstances when this doesn't apply. There's the presumption that the driver in the back is at fault, but that doesn't mean it is always so. I've seen enough Judge Judy cases where there were special circumstances by another person--such as a bicyclist that darted into traffic, or someone running a red light--where the "rear-ender" person was able to recover damages from the them.

May be in other states, but in VA the law is pretty cut and dried on this.

You call the police. I was in an accident with someone who would not give me their information and after talking to my insurance company they said I needed a police report. The police were totally great about and gave me some good information. If you are in a car accident there are 3 times to call the police: 1) and ambulance is called; 2) air bags are deployed and 3) the other driver is not cooperating/won't give you information or claims they are uninsured.

Also be careful saying you think you're partially at fault. Just tell everyone the facts. Your insurance company will decide what they think your fault is.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t k ow what state you are in, but regardless of the tow truck you are responsible (likely 100% so) for the fact that you rear-ended the other driver. Your insurance will deal with her insurance. For you personally, the tow truck driver is irrelevant.

There are actually special circumstances when this doesn't apply. There's the presumption that the driver in the back is at fault, but that doesn't mean it is always so. I've seen enough Judge Judy cases where there were special circumstances by another person--such as a bicyclist that darted into traffic, or someone running a red light--where the "rear-ender" person was able to recover damages from the them.

What state?

You can call the tow truck company but I don’t think there is anything you can do. It sounds like the tow truck didn’t hit any cars and none hit him. In Virginia, you are automatically responsible for whoever you hit from behind. You hit the other car, you were following too closely (under the law) and were unable to stop to avoid a collision. Your insurance pays. What are you expecting, the tow truck driver to get a ticket? Doesn’t sound like anyone called the police at the scene. That’s your mistake. If he has no damage to his truck because he hit no one and no one hit him, insistence can’t prove anything.

I don’t k ow what state you are in, but regardless of the tow truck you are responsible (likely 100% so) for the fact that you rear-ended the other driver. Your insurance will deal with her insurance. For you personally, the tow truck driver is irrelevant.

You call your insurance and give them the tow truckers info that you do have. Let them deal with it.

Your insurance company will deal with it. And, regardless if you were following so close that you couldn’t stop, you may well be found at fault. But like I said, your insurance carrier will deal with it.

Sorry, I've never been in an accident before so I'm not sure exactly how to proceed, and DCUM is always good for quick advice.

This morning, I was driving down a major road (3 lanes in each direction, speed limit is 50mph) and had a green light at an intersection. I was in the far right "straight" lane--the right turn only lane next to me ended at the intersection. A tow truck driver came up on the cross street, ready to make a right turn. He came up very fast and pulled out into traffic, but stopped. He definitely did not have time to make a turn, and I think he did not realize that he had actually pulled into the traffic lane. About the front third of his truck was in the lane of oncoming traffic. The car in front of me slammed on her brakes, of course, and was able to angle her car to avoid hitting him. I braked as well but had a car right next to me, so I couldn't swerve. I rear-ended her.

The tow truck then pulled out in front of the first car and went on his merry way. There was a gas station just a few hundred feet ahead and he pulled into it, so the lady in front of me signaled that she was going to pull in there and I followed. At the gas station (the tow truck was just getting gas), we confronted the driver and he denied everything and said he didn't know what we were talking about. He said he pulled up and stopped, and then only made his turn because the lady in front of me yielded to him. He refused to give any insurance information. The other driver and I exchanged info and took pictures of his truck, which had the wrecking company's information and his truck number, and his license plate, and he was in one of the pictures. I don't have any real damage to my car, other than needing to replace all the headlight bulbs, but other car does.

Should I call the wrecking service to inform them and ask for their insurance information, so that our companies to settle it out? I know I'm partially at fault because I hit her, but the tow truck driver caused the collision by pulling out into rush hour traffic when he had a red light. And if I call them, what do I ask for? Should I include that their driver refused to give the information? I'm a little worried that the driver will be the one answering the phone!