Legal questions - parking lot accidents

[Kat_Dog]

Okay, so I was at Sonic today, and I guess I crashed into to someone(I didn't know, I just drove back through the parking lot like nothing and parked at walmart) and they wanted to report it as a hit and run.

The people chased me, were tailgating and honking. I parked and they blocked my car in. They accused me of crashing into them while backing out.
The police were called. I guess there was damage on their car and it matched damage on mine, but my car is pretty banged up from the previous owner, it honestly might have been there beforehand.


The police acted like it was no big deal, assured me that the other person did something illegal too by blocking me into a parking spot and explained to me the legality of a hit and run. They told me "accidents happen, the insurance will deal with it) The other person claims that they have witnesses(though I don't know how they could have talked to people there in that time frame), but I also have witnesses on my side that called the police right there and explained(someone who was at the scene, and a guy on a bike who saw the people yelling at me)... honestly, the whole story is all jacked up and I don't think there's going to be a linear story.


So what happens at this point?
What should I do? I just got my license so it's all pretty stressful to me. I honestly think these people just wanted to cause trouble.

I am so stressed out and I need something to calm my nerves.

[bcr229]

1) Let your insurance company deal with it, that's their job. I assume you do have liability coverage, yes? And no one was hurt so its just property damage.

2) "Combat park" as much as possible from now on - either back into the parking spot or pull through, so you always pull out forward into traffic, and if you must nose in park your car far away from other cars. Parking lots are dangerous.

3) Install dash cams in your car so there's no "he said she said" after an accident. You can get front/rear combos for under $200 from amazon.com these days. They are cheap insurance.

[OhhWatALoser]

Did you get a ticket? I realize you are stress but this is the wrong place to ask, you might be able to get free advice from a cop or judge in the city it happened, depending on your ability to actually talk to them. Other than that, a lawyer familiar with that city would be the one to ask.

Only advise I can give is don't let anyone brainwash you into changing your story you know is true. The other party might try to do that.

[Albert Clark]

Don't stay stressed over it. The main thing is no one was hurt. Most of these property damage cases are "no fault" depending on what state you live in. The parking lot should have cameras that can be accessed by the insurance companies or the police. Some times they will release a tape of the accident if you ask the security guards or the parking lot management. That could be arranged. Check it out , you may be surprised when you ask. Certainly worth a try. Good luck and stay in peace and not pieces.

[mikesmelly]

If it wasn't a big enough of a collision for you to notice, I seriously doubt there could have been any damage done to the cars. Good job keeping your nerve though, if someone acted like that to me I would've probably taken a baseball bat to their windows to give them something to actually complain about.

[Kat_Dog]

Thanks guys.
I didn't get a ticket, the police officer didn't seem to be on anyone's side or worried at all really.

He seemed a little upset the the people were parked behind me blocking traffic and was sure to let me know that that was illegal and also explained the legality of hit and runs. They told me that there was paint on my car that matched damage on theirs and it was going on the report.

I'm totally willing to cover any costs of any damages I may have caused, but these people didn't seem willing to work with me at all, they didn't even listen to 2 words I said.


I guess I'll just wait and see what he insurance/police say to me.


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[Yonny]

Sounds to me like they just wanted some insurance $$$ and you were an easy target. Good luck on your situation. Karma cares for everybody and takes no sides.

[MarkS]

It was on private property not a public roadway so the police won't be issuing any citations. Wouldn't it be equally possible that they hit YOUR car in the parking lot and waited around for you to show up so they could collect on your insurance? (hence the matching damage) Do NOT admit any fault (not even a 'maybe') and just let the insurance company handle it.

[KMG]

MarkS shared some good info.

I am a police officer in Texas. Though a different world than Cali some things will still be the same.

Like MarkS said a parking lot is private property. That means no citations and many times no accident report at all. Here we don't have to do an accident report for people and can let them report the accident to the state themselves, and that's if they want. It is always perfectly fine to just exchange information and go your separate ways, only reporting it to the insurance companies, or settling whatever way the two parties see fit. Too many people believe you must get an accident report.

I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened but Im not so sure the people following you broke any law by blocking you in. Even on private property you are to stop and give information in the event of a collision. Failing to do so can be an FSGI. If the car truly believed you were trying to flee they could have had ever right to follow you and block your car. If you had done nothing then it would be a whole other matter but from the limited info I have Im not sure they broke the law by blocking your vehicle. Again, I was not there but don't freak out and take a bat to their car as mikesmelly said they would do.That will just get you shot or run over. It sounds as if you handled it as well as you could and the more calm you are the more the police will be willing to help you. We deal with crazy drama all day long so its nice to be able to deal with people with a level head from time to time.

As a police officer you get very good at picking out new damage from old and putting together how the damage was caused. You can see the direction the two cars were going when they hit and very rarely need much help in getting things sorted as to who was at fault.

You should be getting a call from both yours and theirs insurance companies. Be very careful when talking to theirs and if at all possible let your company handle all dealings with them. They will try to rope you into saying things to place blame and everything will be getting recorded. If the other party really is just out for money don't be surprised to hear they went to the hospital or doctor and have some sort of injury.

Good luck.

[Kat_Dog]

Thank you!

I stopped and gave them the info they asked for, but that was after they chased me... Would that still be a hit and run?? I'm assuming yes.

I told them I would pay for whatever damages there may have been, even if it meant sacrificing entire pay checks. They kept telling me that I was going to "learn my lesson" which really freaked me out because the wife went inside walmart after they said that, and it was just me, my tiny sister and her husband(a man that looked to be around 50) who was yelling at me and causing a major disturbance. I felt threatened and didn't know what to do. I wanted to get back in my car and lock the doors. I was kinda glad I ended up in the walmart parking lot where there was a bunch of people and security, even though that is the worst part of all this, but it may have actually kept him from lashing out at me while his wife was gone.

What I'm scared of, is that I did drive out of the sonic parking lot pretty fast(not more than 15mph) because my sister was on the phone with my angry dad who wanted us to go to the store and come home ASAP so I may have looked like I was trying to flee, but I slowed down once I got into the walmart parking lot(they were behind me tailgating and honking, so I thought they were pissed that I slowed down.
I would have stopped had I known of the accident(could this hold up in court? Probably not since I didn't stop to give info at the scene) I would have been willing to go back to sonic and talk there where it happened if they didn't block me in.

I was very calm and collected when the cops were questioning me, I told them what happened to the best of my ability. I didn't even know where the damage was, and the people weren't telling me. The cops kept asking "where is the damage" and I kept telling them "I don't know, they didn't tell me"
I thought it was rear damage to my car, and I didn't see any so I was very confused, but the cop showed me the damage in the front, it was a pretty light scrape and there was about 6 inches of their paint none of mine came off it looked like, no dents or anything. They had several other scratches all over the back of their car and I'm not 100% sure which one they think I caused. I was going so slow(I was riding the brakes), I must not have felt it happening if it did indeed happen the way they said it did. I don't remember who I was parked next to in sonic, which obviously doesn't help my case.

I'm happy that the cop was very cool though, he made me very comfortable, the other cop talked to me like he was a close friend.

I understand what can happen, and I'm fully prepared for whatever is going to come my way. Even though it sucks because it's going to put a misdemeanor on my record and my insurance will be super high, but I guess that's the responsibility I have to take for being reckless.
I guess it's "welcome to the adult world" ._.

Will I be able to get the witness report from the police? I didn't get the info on the witnesses that were there, but they were on the phone with the police, and another guy called the cops because he saw the man screaming at me.

Whatever happens, my dad has a good lawyer and I'll have to talk to him to see what the best course of action will be.


I'm hoping the people will be willing to just take cash and drop the charges, but the world doesn't work like that unfortunately.


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