Legal Question in Traffic Law in Missouri

Property Damage

I was at a restaurant last night and when I came out, there was a dent in my door. It was obviously from the rear drivers side door of the SUV that was parked next to me being thrown open to the max and damaging my 2007 Cadillac CTS. I went back into the restaurant and asked the hostess' if they would make an announcement over the loud speaker asking the owner of the SUV to come to the front of the restaurant. The two young ladies went to tell their manager about the situation. He asked me if he could see the damage so we went outside. After noticing how upset I was, he told me he did not feel comfortable getting the driver of the other vehicle for me. I happen to agree with this choice as I was very upset that someone could damage my property and walk away. Do I have any optoins available to me to make the driver of the SUV liable for repairing the damage? I have the license plate number as well. Thank you for your time


Asked on 5/28/07, 12:01 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

Re: Property Damage

If you can discover teh identity of the owner of the SUV, you might bring a civil suit. Before that you could request that they pay your damages without the law suit. Before that, you should make notes of all the details. Get the name of the manager that came out and saw your damaged vehicle. Takes pictures of the damage. If you now of soeone who saw your vehicle undamged just before you parked it, get their name and address and possibly an affidavit stating the facts of their observations.

One of the purpose of the civil courts is to resolve issues like this without an upsetting confrontation in a parking lot.

Good Luck

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Answered on 5/28/07, 10:45 pm


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