Bogus Injury Claim

[hellsng]

My question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: VA

Hello, in advance I'd like to thank you for taking the time to look at this and help me.

In general this is what happend:

I was driving, the conditions of the road were not the best it had just snowed the previous day but the roads were fine with minor spots of slush/snow left on the road, going about 35 mph (in a 35 mph zone) in the right hand lane when a car behind me starts to get really close. It pulls out of the right lane and gets into the left hand lane. I turn on my signal to make a right hand turn, the car that is now on my left guns it and gets in front of me, without signaling the lane change, and as soon as it's in front of me slams on the brake. The distance that I had kept in front of me now was gone so I end up taping the rear bumper of this car. The driver doesn't stop and get out but instead drives off. I stayed at the scene for about a min then leave, as I procced to turn right I notice the car and pull up beside it and get out. I start talking to the person, the damage to both cars is minimal/non-existent. I offer to call the police to file a report but he refuses, I also offer to exchange insurance and they refuse that to. We both agree that it was no ones fault and that they road conditions weren't the best.(also I want to add that the driver told me that when he made the lane change and got in front of me he knew that I was going to hit him in the rear since the distance between us was so small; and the reason he brakes so suddenly was because there was a car in front of him that braked as soon as he got into my lane) We exchange phone numbers and liscense numbers and go our seperate ways. A few days later(4/5) the mother of the person calls and starts telling me that she wants to get an estimate done on the car and show me. Another 3/4 days go by and now she is demanding that I pay for the full repair of the car. I refuse since we agreed it being no ones fault. Now all of a sudden almost 3 weeks a after the whole thing, my insurance calls me and says that the family has filled a claim for property and bodily injury law suite against me. I want to know if they actually have a case or can I just let the insurance handle this.

I called my insurance company today and told them my story, they said they want to get an agent out to see my car. My car has no visable damage to it at all.

I havn't spoken to a lawyer yet about this. Any advise would be greatly appreciated and if you need more information/clarification please ask.

Thank you

[DaveJames]

Unfortunately they have a case because you hit them and the statutes have not run out. But you have a case because they pulled in front of you and cut you off and slammed on their brakes. That to me is an unsafe lane change and if the police were called and you could prove they cut you off, they would have been at fault maybe.

Now it is you word against theirs with you rear ending them.

You insurance company will defend you and they will ask the other driver his version of the story. I have a hunch his story and yours will not match.

I think once he drove off, you were streetwise free to go you own way but maybe not legally.

I rear ended a truck 20 years ago who was too involved with his girl friend to notice the light had changed green and I thought he was going to go as it was a green light. So I bumped his truck thinking he was going to go. He didn't want me to call the police and went his own way and I went the opposite way and took the long way home.

I also remember when I got tapped from behind with no damage and the guy gave me his info. I got home told my father who insisted I go get an estimate. I refused to do so because their was no damage. I can only imagine he may have had a similar conversation but gave in to his mother.

What we can not do is downplay someones injuries though as we don't if they are hurt or not or if pain set in later that night. That has happened to me.

[hellsng]

now just wondering but i was told that unless the airbags went off a bodily injury claim cannot be initiated? and i dought he was harmed, he's only 19 years at the most and looked pretty fit to me and also i remember him telling me that he already got into 2 accidents were people have rear ended him.

[jk]

hellsng;490022]now just wondering but i was told that unless the airbags went off a bodily injury claim cannot be initiated?

not true at all. An airbag is designed to not activate under a certain speed and certain conditions. The airbag not deploying simply means the control computer did not read the appropriate inputs to activate the airbag. It doesn't mean anything other than that.

and i dought he was harmed, he's only 19 years at the most and looked pretty fit to me and also i remember him telling me that he already got into 2 accidents were people have rear ended him

I've never seen a person be invincible due to their age. As to the other accidents; unless you can confirm that and confirm there were already existing injuries, it is irrelevant.

[DaveJames]

How do you know he didn't buy his car used and the previous owner never repaired the air bags or disabled them?

I thinking this about my airbags as they never went off an I had a large impact. Also do air airbags go off on rear end collisions? because I though they worked on the principal of deceleration and not acceleration as what would happen with a rear end collision.

I'm so glad I had my seat belt on or I would have whacked the windshield or wheel with no cushion but it really snapped my neck around.

I believe airbags do not deploy in a rear end collision for many cars.

[hellsng]

well i wasnt sure about that statement being true or not just something i heard, and when i point out his age im just stating that since he is younger he has a healthier body (or so i would expect) nothing more, nothing less. but anyway my insurance agent is now geting statements from both of us and when she did his, they had a lawyer present who kept changing his words all the time. should make for an interesting story to see what they're going to try and ask for

[DaveJames]

Yea, I'd say interesting.