Legal Question in Insurance Law in New York
Car Accident Liability
I was traveling along a one-way city street and just began to go thru an intersection (the traffic light was green) when another car made aproached and entered the intersection without stopping. To avoid a collision I attempted to brake (I was traveling approx. 20mph unfortunately the roads were covered with slush due to a very recent snowfall and my car fishtailed. Unfortunately as I was gaining control my left rear fender struck a parked car on the right rear passenger door, the driver was not in/at the vehicle. I immediately called the police and filed a report indicating what happened , giving a description of the car and license plate number. The officer placed contact information on the other vehicle. My question(s): am I solely responsible for all damages to both vehicles (yes I have insurance) and if the other person is tracked down, do they assume any of the liability?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Car Accident Liability
This kind of case is troublesome. IF there had been serious personal injuries involved, it would make sense to try to pin blame on the *expletive deleted* who ran you into the parked car. However, since there was no contact between you and the bad guy, his/her insurance company will almost certainly insist that there is no liability, leaving you to try to convince a judge or jury that your conduct was in keeping with the emergency doctrine. Likewise, I assume that the bad guy left the scene, and I do not suppose the police were terribly exercised about finding him. (In the Five Boros, I can virtually guarantee that unless you are a close relative of a cop, they would not even have written up an accident report conveying how the accident took place.)
You should report the accident to your broker "as a matter of record." Until the owner of the car you struck comes forward, I would not (unless broker tells you otherwise) file a claim (unless you want first party coverage for the damage to your car, but more likely than not, it's under your deductible, so there is probably no reason to file a claim or a notice of claim, which may have an impact on your rating and premium).
Next time, let him ram you! (Just kidding.)
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