turboboost

Some background info:

I have a perfect driving record. No tickets, no accidents, nothing. The car I got into the accident with is my 1990 Toyota 4Runner, which is a Standard.

What happened:

I was heading northbound on a street, and was going to cross another street. I entered the intersection, and established myself right before the median line, waiting for one westbound car to pass so I can completely cross the street to the other side. So just as the westbound car passes, I put my truck into gear, but I roll backwards about two feet or so and "THUMP."

I realized that my 4runner and the Lincoln had hit. We both drive off to the side to asses damages/info. There was no damage whatsoever to my truck, but there was light scuffing and a scratch or two on the front bumper of his Lincoln. While we are talking, the guy was trying to get me to sign papers saying the accident was all my fault. He told me it would be best if I paid for the damages out of my own pockets, and not to let M.P.I. (Public insurance company) know since his family owns a bodyshop. I refused to sign anything, since I'm actually honestly not completely sure who's fault it is.

My question to all you folks out there is who's fault do you think it is? Keep in mind these points:

-He was around two feet behind me.
-I was established in the intersection, and as far as I know only one car is supposed to be established at a time in an intersection
-My car is a standard, so it's not like I just put my automatic in neutral and rolled back for the hell of it.
-I find it suspicious that he was so quick to want to settle outside of the insurance company (It makes me wonder what sort of driving record he has, or maybe he knows that it could go either way in regards to who's at fault.)

What is my best bet? Who do you think is at fault?
Thanks,

Derek.

snwbrderphat540

your fault, tell him to stop being a dick and to just clay bar it out his freakin bumper if he owns a body shop scuffs should mean nothing to him. ive done my share of body work and bumper scuffs are extremley easy and cheap to remove. also some old lady opened her door into my Z32 once and i let her go, its not a big deal this guy is a tool. dont sign anything unless its something that you both sign and says you paid him money and thats the end of the dispute so that way he cant come back for you. and did you get a police report? i doubt it since it was so minor but hopefully you still exchanged information so he cant report you as a drive off. in all honesty if its really just scuffs no paint removal like you say, i would just ask him to bring the car by and fix it for him just get some duplicolor touch up and very light wet sand paper clay bar and buffer and go to town. its no big deal. if i were you id also tell him to stop being such a dick and not pay him anything. lol, if its only scuffs, nothing on your car and no paint was exchanged he would have no proof, i woulda just ditched his *** in that case lol. id never drive off anything but in that case, he is honestly just trying to get money from you. he's a scammer. tell him to stuff it.

turboboost

We exchanged info. He literally rubbed most of it off with his fingers. If he gave me 20 minutes with his car I'm quite confident I could buff it out.

turboboost

And snw, not to make beef, but my local car forum seems to lean more in the direction of him being at fault:

http://www.winnipegheights.com/forum...d.php?t=170587

hoov100

if they ask, he hit you.

turboboost

I don't know man, I'm usually a pretty honest guy. I guess that would be a definitive way to win the battle though.

chinesekid

if your the one that rolled back.. its your fault.. cause you can drive a manual without rolling back... just saying...

chinesekid

but if they ask.. he hit you.. haha

snwbrderphat540

that was my justification if YOU ROLLED BACK then its YOUR FAULT thats like saying, well the dude stopped in front of me not like its my fault i rolled into him. but yes you can always say he hit you. see, the problem is, you cant prove how close he was nor that he was in the intersection but at the same time he cant prove you backed into him. or rolled or w/e. honestly id just tell him to bring the car over and see what you can do cause you don't feel its worth anything more than 20 dollars.

turboboost

I have a feeling he isn't gonna let an 18 year old kid try and fix his 2003 lincoln... So far he hasn't phoned me at all, so I'm hoping he just decides it's not worth it to do anything about. Good thing there's no damage to my trusty rusty truck.

turboboost

I know I can, but with that being said, I shouldn't have to check my mirror every time I roll back the slightest bit to make sure the jackass behind me isn't almost touching me. I'll keep you guys posted.

z-hag

LEGALLY, HE IS AT FAULT. always watch it when they jumop you before you can figger things out....is his fault by law---he hit you in the rear.....HIS FAULT. not yours. go with it.......lincoln---you hjave neck pains...he is trying to make sure you will not sue him for hitting you---he was waay too close if you were rolling back while engaging your clutch---he needs a ticket and a lesson.......good luck, buddy......so he has 2 ticketable offenses---1) following too closely for safety
2 hiting you in the rear while yo were tryiong to make a turn......which results from following too closely....HIS FAULT ONLY......

nismo619

i was taught in driving school to always give any car 3 to 5 feet behind there bumper just in case if there " your " car is a standard car " standards roll back and little bit... its life... i think its his fault for not being a carefully driver and maybe a little your fault for not letting out hte clutch sooner... more brake pedal less holding in the clutch.. ;-)

Bleach

2 feet is a lot of room. People around here give you maybe 6 inches.

I leave probably a half car length because I care about my car. I can usually see the ground in front of my car when I'm stopped behind someone. (especally on a hill) In Seattle I leave a full car length on the steep hills but it seems everyone drives an auto but me.

Are you sure you even rolled back 2 feet? maybe it was more like 6-10 inches. He probably knows he was hugging your bumper.

Barry'Z(NJ)

The lady who types in purple is 100% correct!

280gty

Do u guys have trouble parallel parking between cars?

turboboost

Could have been around there. I just know that I rolled back a little bit and we hit. I usually don't roll back at all, but I was waiting for the westbound car to move, and I wasn't expecting a guy to be right, right behind me.

snwbrderphat540

ever get an escalade hug your *** on a near 30 degree incline in a standard? i have, you gotta be aware of these things, if he was a cop or a cop was watching and saw you roll into him its your fault, in an honest world it would be your fault, but in our world you can totally pin it on him if he tries to pull some crap on you. like said, theres no proof about who hit who and he has marks on the front, which would lead an outside party to believe he rolled into you.

z-hag

thankyou good joyzee-ite----i have been to so many traffic schools because of my excite-able lead foot and history with scca and other stuff related---i got a lot of speeding tickets...there was always some fool who tried to get out of a rearending of someone else because he was too close to the one he hit.....but ANYTIME the hit is to the rear of the vehicle, the one doing the hitting from the rear is the badguy
there are special circumstances--road rage---which negate that......but this one is classic. and i learned to drive in noo jawk.....on the guyland......longuyland.....