Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina
Is this a valid case?
About six months ago I was involved in a car accident at a stoplight.I was turning into a neighborhood and my light was yellow.The other person involved T-boned me and as a reflex i accidently hit the gas, taking me through a line of oncoming traffic, luckily no one was seriously injured. The police arrived and after interviewing the two of us and a witness the police officer wrote the ticket out to me stating I got a ticket for crossing a second line of oncoming traffic.I later went to court to contest the ticket and it was dismissed(the other party was subpeonad by the D.A. but never even showed). My insurance company found them at fault and denied their claim and their insurance denied mine-so mine payed for my car(it was totalled).The problem is the car they were driving wasnt even theirs,they were slightly injured at the time by the airbags deploying and went in the ambulance to the hospital where they immidiately found a lawyer.Now they have filed a civil suit against me in excess of $10,000 for pain and suffering and bills caused by the event.Do they have a case?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Is this a valid case?
Whether they have a case is difficult to determine. This is an unusual accident. Under the circumstances, you may have a good defense. The more important thing, however, is that you notify your insurer of the lawsuit. They will hire a lawyer to defend you, and he or she can provide you with more information after they learn more facts about the accident. You generally should notify the insurer as soon as possible, as you have only a limited time in which to file the answer with the court.