On May 16, 7:44 am, "Edward C." <edwardclemen...@aol.com> wrote:
> I was concentrating on the traffic to my left when all the sudden I
> looked ahead of me and Ms. Right Turn was making a sudden left turn
> into my direct path.
Based on your (snipped) description of the facts, she had already made
a right turn then changed her mind and made a left U-turn that wound
up putting her car in front of you. She was not supposed to do
that. Based on your description, you did nothing negligent and her
illegal maneuver was totally unpredictable from where you sat.
> I braked as fast as I could but still ended up
> hitting the left back side of her car causing a minor dent.
Who hit whom is NOT the be-all and end-all of deciding which was the
at-fault party. If you had been cruising steadily on the main
boulevard and she had pulled out in front of you after running a stop
sign on a side street, wouldn't you say it was her fault, not yours,
even if you are the one who T-boned her car? The difference between
being hitter and hittee is just a split second, far less than normal
human reaction time (which is what the law would look to, in deciding
whether you could have seen and reacted to the situation any
differently and therefore maybe should have done something
differently).
> So now we both park on the side of the road and begin to politely
> exchange insurance information, contact information etc.
Good Idea #1.
> Ms. Right
> Turn gives me the vibe that she doesn't want the cops involved
Bad Idea #1.
> that we only have one witness who is sympathizing with her
Says who? Did you talk to the witness? What did the witness
actually say?
And what does "sympathize" mean? Heck, I "sympathize" with the lady
too -- and with you -- because you were both in an accident, and that
is a traumatic occurrence no nice person would wish on anybody. But
that has nothing to do with figuring out whose fault it was.
> acknowledging her mistake. Since my Company Vehicle is not damaged I
> stupidly decide to agree with her wishes
So you agreed with Bad Idea #1.
At least you now know it was stupid not to call the police.
> and offer to have the dent
> fixed at my expense as long as my employer does not learn of the
> accident.
Bad Idea #2.
Where did that come out of the blue? And what did that have to do
with not notifying the police? Esp. if you feel YOU did nothing
wrong, why would you go out on a limb like that with your own
pocketbook? Car repair is not cheap these days; what was the
estimate, at least a couple thousand dollars?
And why on earth would you try to hide this from your employer?
First of all, hiding ANYTHING from your employer that they have a
right to know is one of the top All Time Bad Ideas. If you're
worried about getting fired, hiding info from the boss is a strange
way to deal with that fear, since it is one of the most surefire ways
to GET fired, when the boss finds out about it.
Besides, hiding the fact of the accident would make any sense at all
only if you were afraid you would be fired for doing something
WRONG. Having an accident that is not your fault is one of the risks
of just being on the road and no reasonable employer would hold that
against you, if the facts were known. If they DO hold it against you,
they are jerks you didn't want to work for anyway. But AFAIK it would
not be illegal for them to fire you for that reason, or for no reason
at all, if you are an "at will" employee with no contract of continued
employment for a specific period of time.
If you had done the smart thing and called your employer right from
the scene, odds are (you're in Vegas, right, so betting is OK) he
would not have batted an eyelash about it, and would have told you NOT
to make any statements with regard to fault and NOT to make any
offers. You may in fact have made it MORE difficult for your employer
to sensibly deal with this situation now, by the inept promises you
made.
> Today I called an Auto Body Shop with questions about estimates, cost
> etc. The owner got curious and asked more questions which led me to
> telling him of my situation. To my surprise he was honest and
> concerned and told me I shouldn't have Ms. Right Turn's car fixed. He
> told me I should file a police report, tell my employer, and forget I
> ever offered to have the car fixed.
The guy did you a huge favor to make you start thinking about this,
but I can't vouch for the soundness of all the advice he gave you.
YES you should file a police report.
YES you should tell your employer -- tell them EVERYTHING, including
your (stupid but wussy-kindhearted) offer to pay for the damage, since
a clever lawyer for Ms. Right Turn could make that out to be a binding
promise that YOUR EMPLOYER could be responsible for (even if it turns
out the wreck was NOT your fault).
NO you should not "forget" you ever made such an offer, if by that he
means, lie about it when someone asks. If you've read this far, you
should know by now that hiding the facts from, much less lying about
them, is All Time Very Bad Idea #1. Adding more lies to the mistakes
you have already made, would only make it worse. If there IS a way
out of the situation that doesn't wind up costing your employer (or
its insurer) needless money and/or wind up costing you your job, the
only way to find out from now on is to be scrupulously honest with the
people who are on your side.
Keep in mind that, at least as far as proving fault in the crash goes,
your employer IS on your side. If you are found at fault, the
employer is legally responsible for the damages the lady incurred,
since you were driving on-the-job as their employee. Your employer
has insurance to pay for that, IF they are found to be at fault, but
both your employer and his insurer would like to have things turn out
that you would NOT be found at fault for the wreck, if that is
consistent with the facts.
> He told me that I would be accepting liability for the damage by
> having it fixed. Which could lead to further lawsuits if they were so
> inclined (and he thinks they are, because of who I work for.) they
> could make medical claims later, and even file lawsuit against the
> company I work for.
All of that could well be true.
> Thus defeating the purpose at my attempt for keeping my job.
However, continuing to hide the facts from your employer is NOT going
to make things any better, and could well make them a lot worse.
> Is he right? and if not what should I do?
Don't you want to know what you should do if he IS right? You didn't
ask that. Or maybe you've already made up your mind what to do in
that case, so I won't offer any suggestions.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck,
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a
private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
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