Involved in a minor accident

[MoGottiFor3]

So yesterday I'm on my way to the Indians game and I'm driving down East 9th at around 6 PM going 15-20 MPH in the busy rush hour traffic, so I'm in the middle lane trying to make a left lane change with my blinker on for about 5 seconds and I'm thinking ok cool this lady will let me squeeze in here and bam the left side of my car gets a dent/scratches and my blinkers completely stop working. I don't know if it was my poor misjudgment or timing but I could of swore I was clear. Nobody was hurt though thankfully, my car was actually more damaged than hers. If I had cash on me at the time I think me just handing her $500 would of been good enough.

The right corner below her VW Beetle headlight area got a little damaged as well with a dent/scratches. I put my hazard on and get out the car to talk to her and first thing she says is "I'm calling the police" and rolls her window up. She then gets out the car and tells me to meet her at the BP gas station by Progressive Field.

A cop shows up, we talk for about an hour I get a "change of course ticket" where I will be required to appear in court in a few weeks. Now I'm wondering what my best course of action should be to prevent my insurance rate from sky rocketing, keep in mind this is my first accident or traffic violation and I'm 20 years old still on my parents insurance plan.

Should I call my insurance company? Maybe try to come to a mutual agreement with the lady so insurance companies don't have to be involved or is this thrown out the window now that I'll have to appear in court? Do you think it's a good idea I just plead not guilty and hope the officer doesn't show up in court? He seemed like a stubborn prick to me anyways who was annoyed by the both of us so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he didn't bother showing up.

Any help here would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[macbdog]

The point of paying for insurance is to use it. If you go fully out of pocket you avoid your insurance going up but you then basically have been paying for nothing. I crunched the #s from a minor fender bender I had at your age- it was well less then the combined repair costs + rental vehicles for both parties. But thats just my thought.

As for the cop I wouldn't blame him for being annoyed- simple fender bender, you were the one at fault since changing lanes, never should have needed a cop in the first place. Accident also sounded incredibly avoidable by both of you, yet he has to talk for an hour about an accident you described in three sentences. Exchange insurance cards, info and be on your way.
Either way good luck to ya.

 

[Surge]

Just use the insurance. Depending on the company, they may forgive your first accident with no penalty.

Good luck!

 

[Lee]

The point of paying for insurance is to use it. If you go fully out of pocket you avoid your insurance going up but you then basically have been paying for nothing. I crunched the #s from a minor fender bender I had at your age- it was well less then the combined repair costs + rental vehicles for both parties. But thats just my thought.

As for the cop I wouldn't blame him for being annoyed- simple fender bender, you were the one at fault since changing lanes, never should have needed a cop in the first place. Accident also sounded incredibly avoidable by both of you, yet he has to talk for an hour about an accident you described in three sentences. Exchange insurance cards, info and be on your way.
Either way good luck to ya.

Not true.

You got a ticket, your insurance is going up no matter what. The accident has been reported, your insurance will hit you for the accident no matter what.

Simple, use the insurance, that's what is there for. Apologize to your parents. Admit you were wrong but it was a judgment call, not you being careless and I would think your parents understand.

The cop could have been annoyed at the lady, but he had no choice since you changed lanes. Polite society she should have yielded instead of being a bitch.

Life goes on, be glad no one was hurt and only property was damaged.

 

[MikeOC33]

Flee the country. Now.

Steal another car if need be, steal ANOTHER car's plates and exchange them with the car you swiped. Head south. Do the speed limit and try to not get stopped again.

Once you get to the Mexican border, pay the bounty to get whisked across the border. Once you are in Mexico, learn spanish, kick back, and drink tequilla and eat tacos for the rest of your life. Easy street.

Oh, and never make contact with family or friends again. They will use that to track you down and kill you. Serious.

 

[Lee]

Flee the country. Now.

Steal another car if need be, steal ANOTHER car's plates and exchange them with the car you swiped. Head south. Do the speed limit and try to not get stopped again.

Once you get to the Mexican border, pay the bounty to get whisked across the border. Once you are in Mexico, learn spanish, kick back, and drink tequilla and eat tacos for the rest of your life. Easy street.

Oh, and never make contact with family or friends again. They will use that to track you down and kill you. Serious.

Solid advice. I take mine back, do this.

 

[Cavsfan1985]

I would see how much the repair cost would be first as well. If it is close the dedutivle just pay it. If it is way over then use insurance. For the ticket, I would fight it in court, and see if the judge will reduce down to a non-moving violation. This will avoid the insurance hit. I was able to get it reduced, just had to pay court fines, so the city still go their money but did not hit my record.

Also, unless you already admitted fault, I would argue, that she hit you, she accelerated as you were merging lanes.

This is definitively not any legal advice, but I thing I have done in the past.

 

[Huber.]

So yesterday I'm on my way to the Indians game

That was your first mistake

 

[natedagg]

You already decided your fate by talking for an hour to police. Whatever you said is what will go, no matter what you meant or what really happened. For example, your car was hit in the side and hers in the corner, so quite possibly it was her fault. Maybe you were clear and she was texting. If you signed the ticket admitting fault, then move on. What did you sign? Did you take a cell phone pic of what the damage was? Did you take a pic or get a copy of what you signed?

Was there anything unusual about the lady, besides the fact that she hit your car? N/m who cares unless you tell us what you signed.

If you aren't guilty, plead not guilty, unless you already signed something admitting a violation of the laws of driving. Whether you are guilty or not, your grammar sucks and "could of" been better.

 

[Man Called X]

natedagg, I appoint you my new personal business mentor. Max has failed miserably.

 

[Kyrieville]

This thing is far from over too, she will sue your insurance company for a lot of money. My wife bumped into someone at 2-3 mph, in a parking lot, and the insurance company settled for $15,000 for pain and suffering (this was 14 years ago).

You switched lanes and she saw an opportunity to cash in. People are evil.

 

[The Oi]

This thing is far from over too, she will sue your insurance company for a lot of money. My wife bumped into someone at 2-3 mph, in a parking lot, and the insurance company settled for $15,000 for pain and suffering (this was 14 years ago).

You switched lanes and she saw an opportunity to cash in. People are evil.

Jesus. Right to worst case scenario.

There is no reason to assume this is going to happen, unless and until it happens.

 

[MikeOC33]

Jesus. Right to worst case scenario.

There is no reason to assume this is going to happen, unless and until it happens.

OP deserves to get sued. Clearly he was drunk, or on the dope, and he probably had a male hooker laying in his lap. He's more lucky his wanker didn't get bit off.

 

[The Oi]

OP deserves to get sued. Clearly he was drunk, or on the dope, and he probably had a male hooker laying in his lap. He's more lucky his wanker didn't get bit off.

 

[Kyrieville]

Jesus. Right to worst case scenario.

There is no reason to assume this is going to happen, unless and until it happens.

It's sure to happen. If she hasn't thought about it already, she will when the ambulance chaser lawyers start flooding her mailbox with letters.