Need some advice, never been in an accident.

Yesterday I was heading home with the family on a 4 lane/2 way 35mph limit road. I was traveling northbound on the left lane about 5 or 6 car lengths away from another vehicle in the left lane. The vehicle in front of me signals left even though there isn't a left turn at the next intersection. I begin to slow down, but he then changes over to the right lane as if he was about to make a right at the next intersection. So I proceed to continue on my way since the upcoming light was green and there were no cars in front of me in my lane. The other car is still in the right lane and has slowed down to turning speed and my car was now about 2 car lengths away. Suddenly, as he was bearing right and looking like he's about to make a right turn, he turns left as if attempting a u-turn. His front half of the vehicle entered my lane and I just reflexively swerved left into the empty southbound lanes. If he stopped in my lane then I would have avoided him, but he kept making the u-turn and my front right hit his front left. My car is basically totaled, got an airbag burn on my hand, my wife has some airbag/belt bruising and luckily my kids seem alright. After the cops did their thing I was given a citation for failure to control vehicle speed. I believe I did everything I could to avoid the collision, but the cop wouldn't talk to me about it and basically said you were involved in an accident so you must have done something wrong attitude. I tried asking her why and how she came to that conclusion but she wouldn't have it and said I was arguing with her so I let it go. She even said the witnesses she spoke to were my witnesses and not hers so she had to use her judgement. The 2 people she spoke to were total strangers that saw the accident. I plan on going to court to fight the citation but what are the chances for me to win and recoup any property damages from the other driver's insurance co. I haven't had collision coverage on the vehicle in years since the car is 12 yrs old. Also, since the car was totaled and towed to a salvage yard I'm being charged a daily storage fee. Can I sell the car before my claim to the insurance company has been made? I can't afford to let it sit in a yard for $55 a day. Unfortunately, with the shock, commotion and my kids, and wife crying hysterically I forgot to gather information from the witnesses and other driver or take pictures. Now I have to wait on the police report to be done to file a claim with the other guy's insurance and speak to the witnesses. Any help and advice is much appreciated. I've been feeling like crap since the accident and can't sleep or eat.

Thanks and R.I.P. green A4.

 

Man, that socks BOLLS, big time. Best advice: Get a lawyer!

Second best: dig up the "Ask a Cop" thread (either search, or, surf back a few pages), and see what one of "them," has to say... AAC's a pretty decent guy (for a, youuuuu-knoooooww). Other than that, others may have some good advice to offer.

 

Thanks. I actually asked in the realpolice.net forums and just waiting for some actual cops for sage advice. Will definitely research the "Ask a Cop" thread though.

 

Sounds like the cops in your area are dicks. I know the last time I had an accident I was 17 turning left across an intersection. A lady coming across the intersection in the opposite direction suddenly switched lanes of travel and therefore came to rest in right fender. The officers I dealt with were all polite and courteous.

It also sounds like the person you hit was ******* high or something. He's making a left hand u-turn from what sounds like pretty much the right hand lane, which is illegal. Failure to control vehicle speed sounds like her way of accusing you of speeding without actually coming right out and saying it because she can't prove your speed.

 

Yup, that ******* did indeed make a left hand u-turn from the right most lane, I wonder what story he gave that made the officer think I was contributory. I don't know why but the female officer was just not in a good mood from the start. When I asked her why I got a citation she brushed me off and told me I can discuss it in court. When I asked about the witness testimonies, she dismissed them and said they were my witnesses, not her's and accused me of arguing. WTF man, total strangers who saw the accident. I don't know, perhaps she thought I killed her dog or some ****, or was suspicious because my car looks fast, or subscribes to the stereotype that asians can't drive.

 

Or maybe she knew the other driver and this is a conflict of interest type thing for her.

 

Wait... Yer Aszin?!?! You dint say THAT!!!

Yer fault!

Automatickly!

You may as well have backed up and took another running start at ramming the other guy... Who, I presume, was caucasian... Hmmm... I *just* realized, the word "caucasian" has the word "asian" right IN it... so, THEY are "cauc"-asians, it seems... Some sort of "other" kind of asian, as it were... I guess THEY think that being "cauc" gives them some sort of extra-special something-or-another, huh?

What was your question, again?

 

Let's hope that isn't the real reason she hates my guts, otherwise I'm basically screwed. I don't understand why some cops have to behave that way towards people involved in non-criminal incidents. A bit of compassion and sympathy would go a long way to improve their reputations. I swear I couldn't have been any more courteous or submissive to her requests while she did her job, you'd think she could spare a couple of minutes to answer my questions without resorting to threatening sounding statements. The few encounters I've had with cops were about 50/50 for niceness/dickishness. Unfortunately for them it's the dicks that always stand out and ruin it for everybody.

 

Forgot to ask, anyone see the photo of my car in post 1 agree that based on the way the damage looks, the other guy probably hit me? I mean look at the fender, it curls under but towards the left side of my car. The headlights and **** are also pushed towards the left side of my car. And the bumper didn't get pushed into the car. If I hit him wouldn't the fender, bumper, and headlight have been pushed towards the rear of my car? And the fender would have crumpled a lot more?

 

I'm gonna have cameras installed IN my next car, along with stickers on the windows warning that ALL interactions ARE recorded, and that approaching teh vehicle will be considered consent to record (so, they can't arrest me, just for recording without their conscent).