<p>D2 hit a pedestrian today with her car. It was not her fault. Victim and witnessesses
said so. She was driving the speed limit </p>
<p>so sorry to hear this, i am glad no one was seriously hurt. i do not live in NY. yes it could affect your insurance even if you are not at fault. you have to report it to the car insurance for medical reasons alone. i always found it comforting to my D’s to say ‘these things happen’ and ‘did i ever tell you about the time when I or you dad…’ totaled the car, drove into the mailbox etc.</p>
<p>How could it affect their insurance if she is not at fault??</p>
<p>I had a similar thing happen a few years ago. My insurance company paid a small settlement because the guy who walked in front of my car was mentally disabled. It did it not affect my insurance. I was not cited or at fault in any way. My guy had some abdominal injuries. It was very traumatic for me, so I know how your daughter feels.</p>
<p>How awful for your poor daughter! I would say concentrate on consoling her and don’t worry too much about the other details. It shouldn’t affect her record and you should tell the insurance company that his friends told you that he was high. </p>
<p>New York is a no-fault state and that is helpful too. I know my insurance was raised after I was in an accident that was not my fault (not in NY). I guess they figure you’re in a risky area if there are other bad drivers or pedestrians out there, or you don’t have the best reflexes, or something. In reality, they will raise your rates to the extent that the law allows them too. Hopefully NY law will not allow them to.</p>
<p>I ran over the toe of a pedestrian in NY a few years ago. I still get nauseous even now because it was so traumatic. The man was in his 90s and had wandered into the street. It had to be reported to the police and insurance company. Since he was a pedestrian, a small settlement was paid and insurance rose a tiny bit. I am very surprised that the police didnt come and take a report from your d when an ambulance became involved.</p>
<p>So sorry. Hope you have called your insurance by now. Your rep should be able to walk you through it all. Misinfo will worry you more than dealing directly with this. You need to start to keep notes immediately. When you come up for air, you can google about your state policies, to better understand and confirm. Generally, no fault doesn’t raise rates (at least not first incident,) but this can vary by state and some processes can change when someone is hurt. When you are not cited or ticketed, it is often because there wasn’t enough to suggest your D was at fault. But you won’t have access to the police rept for several days- your insurer, otoh, can usually get it as soon as available.</p>
<p>My DH had a similar accident at 17. It made him a cautious driver, ever since. Best wishes.</p>
<p>I don’t know about any possible implications but just wanted to add my condolences–I am so very sorry your daughter had this experience. My D hit and killed a deer while driving and was very traumatized (also not her fault) so I can only imagine how it feels when another person is involved.</p>
<p>No fault, aiui, isn’t about living in a risky area. It’s about procedures for resolving costs and claims. From Wiki: …any type of insurance contract under which insureds are indemnified for losses by their own insurance company, regardless of fault in the incident generating losses.</p>
<p>So sorry! I know it won’t set your mind at ease, but this will all work out. It was a young man. He will heal quickly! Nice that he admitted it was his fault. There may very well be a blood test performed at the hospital. Try not to worry too much. :(</p>
<p>Report to your insurance company immediately if you haven’t already done so, and let them handle it. Worrying about how it will affect your rates won’t help your D deal with the trauma of hitting this boy. Be happy that he wasn’t seriously injured and hope that he has a speedy recovery. In many places, no fault rules apply only to collisions between two vehicles, not between one vehicle and a pedestrian. In many places, this type of collision isn’t automatically a pedestrian’s fault, even if they just walk out into traffic. Determining fault is a different process than it is if you collide with another car. Many states have comparative negligence rules which would reduce any settlement for injury by the extent that the pedestrian is deemed negligent. This is why you let your insurance company worry about this.</p>
<p>morrissmm – I’m sending you a PM</p>
<p>Report this to your insurance company ASAP. I don’t know how this will affect your rates, but I can tell you from personal experience that your insurance company will protect you & your D against legal action. That’s why you have insurance.</p>
<p>Years ago, DH was involved in a minor fender bender in the parking lot at work. He was somewhat acquainted with the man, who suggested that they NOT report the incident to insurance & take care of repairs themselves. Several days later, the man contacted DH complaining about a stiff neck & sore back and the need to see a chiropractor. At that point, DH notified our insurance company about the incident. We did not hear anything more until about 9 months later when we received notification in the mail that we were being sued for $65,000 for “lost promotion opportunities.” The man had continued to send bills to our insurance company and was now claiming that he had been denied a promotion because of “injuries” suffered from this fender bender. I called the insurance company in a panic - they reassured me that they would provide an attorney IF the case went to court and that they would also counter sue for insurance fraud. Apparently they hired a private investigator to check out the man after his claims escalated. They had videos of him playing ultimate frisbee while telling the insurance company that he was disabled. It never went to court and the claim was dropped.</p>
<p>My point is that you have insurance for a reason. Tell them about this accident. Regardless of whose fault, you don’t know what the pedestrian will do in the future, and your insurance company is there to protect you from potential litigation. That’s their job.</p>
<p>I can only imagine how traumatized your D1 must be. Be gentle, listen to her, let her cry and help her through this. Best wishes to all of you.</p>
<p>So sorry for your D. It is traumatic.</p>
<p>Others have answered your insurance questions but I want to talk about the emotional issues. Is she willing to drive now? After an accident, many kids are hesitant.</p>
<p>I had an accident the first time I drove after getting my license. It wasn’t my fault and luckily, like your daughter’s case, there were witnesses. I was hysterical and the driver of the other car was carrying on and screaming for an ambulance (she had a minor cut on her forehead from hitting her sun visor) but the police shut her up pretty quickly. I was driving my mom’s new car, which had to be towed. A police officer drove me home and was very supportive, as were my parents. But I was scared to drive again. The best thing my parents did was insist I drive that day. (Postscript to this story - the woman tried to sue me even though the accident had been her fault!)</p>
<p>Give your daughter lots of hugs . . . and make her drive!!! And hugs to you!!</p>
<p>Totally agree with12rmh18
Some guys’s daughter backed into me (and my kids were small and in the car at the time) in a parking lot many years ago. We were not hurt but the car was damaged. Her dad called me and asked if we could handle it without going through insurance. I was young and naive at the time and agreed. Big mistake. Never again.</p>
<p>How scary. Hope your D feels better soon. I am sure it was very unsettling for her.</p>
<p>I think you should worry with your daughter. If they took the victim to the hospital they probably examined him and if he was high at that moment ( or if they suspected that he was high) they would discover. I do not know if that will be disclosed to the police at that moment, but the fact that they did not ticket her is a sign that they did not believe she was at fault. The trauma for her however can be bigger than the accident itself, so she needs all the support she could get from you. Let the insurance take care of the rest.</p>
<p>I suspect that it will have some effect on the insurance, and it obviously will go on the record. You should monitor the police report to make sure it is accurate.</p>
<p>One thing that happens (usually) in instances like this is that it becomes a learning experience for us when we have an accident that arose from circumstances that we felt were highly unlikely to ever happen (especially to us). The lesson for all drivers is that whatever “could” happen will happen, and to the degree possible, you have to be prepared.</p>
<p>Once the police report is written, I don’t think it can be changed. You can, however, challenge the report if it is inaccurate. You should contact the police department and request a copy of the report to see what has been written. The police might try to tell you that the report goes to insurance, but if you are insistent, they are obligated to give you a copy. Your insurance company will also want a statement from your D1, which will give her a chance to report her side of the accident.</p>
<p>The emotional side of an accident is more challenging. Cars can be repaired, insurance will deal with the other stuff, but helping your D1 heal from hitting a pedestrian will be harder. I would try to get her out driving as soon as possible - a short, easy drive to help rebuild her confidence. Don’t force the issue if she isn’t ready today (day after the accident), but try to get her out soon. It’s important to rebuild confidence in a driver.</p>
<p>I hit a bicyclist once–or, rather, he hit me. The sight of this guy flying over the hood of my car was very traumatic. I wasn’t at fault, and he got a ticket. Still, the experience stayed with me for a long time. It also reminded me that people do nutty things (drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists), and I was probably super-defensive in my driving for quite a while afterward. With a young driver, I agree that it’s especially important to help her rebuild her confidence. My sympathies to your D. She’ll get through it with your help.</p>