Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Maryland
Auto Accident
Involved in auto accident in DC. I live in MD other person in PA. Both given tickets for accident. I had the right of way travelling straight, however was cited for passing a yellow light. She made a left hand turn into the intersection. I tried to avoid collision but she got my car on the entire drivers side. Insurance company decides both of us at fault due to tickets issued. However, I was just informed that the appeal of my ticket was reviewed and has been dimissed.
Does this dismissal now make her responsible for damages to my vehicle through her insurance or do I go in to small claims court? If small claims, do I file in the county where I reside? Unsure, since the accident was in DC and the woman lives in PA. Do I need a lawyer and, if so, what kind, since no personal injury occurred?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Auto Accident
You have asked a number of questions, but have not really provided enough information to allow me to provide answers to everything. As far as the question of whether you need a lawyer, that depends on how much damage was caused. If the damages were less than $5,000, it is likely that an attorney will cost as much as or more than the amount you would recover.
In any case, I would recommend that you contact your insurance company and send them the information regarding the dismissal of the ticket. The goal is to try to reverse fault in their records so that your rates don't increase. In addition, they may then pay the claim and go back to the other driver's insurance company to recover the amount they paid and your deductible (which would be returned to you). If that does not happen, then you should look at small claims court.
Based on the information that you presented, you can probably choose either D.C. or the county in which the other driver lives in Pennsylvania for your lawsuit. Maryland does not appear to be an option. I do not practice in either D.C. or Pennsylvania, so you would need to talk to an attorney in one of those jurisdictions regarding which is a better option (though if you need witnesses, they are probably in D.C.).
Good luck.
Re: Auto Accident
Neither the issuance nor the dismissal of the tickets really determines the outcome of your case. The issue is who had the right of way and who contributed to the accident. If you entered on a yellow, you still had the right of way over a turning driver, so your claim seems to be stronger than the other driver.
If you have collision insurance, you can get coverage through your own policy and will only be out the deductible. Your carrier may pursue reimbursement through the inter-insurance company arbitration system, and if they are paid back by the other driver's company, they'll get your deductible back as well. This might make more sense than going through the court process, unless you don't have collision coverage.
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