goetylsd

He did do an accident report for the accident. I have a form here that he filled out with my information and her information. She has the same thing. He just didn't indicate that it was her fault. He didn't assign blame, and he didn't write her a ticket for the accident. He said as far as the accident goes, he's going to say that she moved over into my lane without looking, but she was following his instructions, and you are supposed to yield to emergency vehicles. However, he was not moving over behind her, he was still stoppedon the left side of the road as she was moving over. He said it will be up to the insurance companies to determine a percentage. He said he figured she would be mostly at fault, and that I might be a minimal percentage. He said it's almost always a percentage situation with insurance companies. He said she's probably 80-90% at fault as far he's thinking. I could live with that. I guess we'll see how it plays out. As long as it's not 50/50, because I would really disagree with that. She should have looked before moving over, even if the cop was telling her to, he obviously wanted her to do it safely.

Thank you! I will keep all that you said in mind when I contact my insurance company. I have American Family Insurance. They've always been good to me. I'm thinking they will investigate completely. The investigation will show that it was her fault basically, and if that's the case, her insurance should pay the bill. Since it's the other party's fault, American Family will push to get the other insurance company to foot the bill. I'm sure American Family won't want to pay for it if they don't have to. At least, that's what it seems to me. It might not necessarily be that black-and-white. She has Farmer's insurance, I don't know what people's opinions are on Farmer's insurance.

HillsdaleHHR

That sucks but at least you didn't get hurt and like you said it could have been alot worse.

foolmoon_design

Glad all three of you are OK!

The minute the officer places the blame on one of you, he leaves himself open to having the blame put back on him. Everytime I have seen someting like this taking place in the median, the officer usually holds traffic and helps the vehicle to the shoulder, Sound like he tried to be safe by having her go to the other side of the road, and in his defense.... They really shouldn't paint cars in a complimentary color to the road. I can''t tell you how many times I have almost pulled out in front of cars that were closely colored to the road, this is espically problamatic at dawn and dusk. Officer 1551 whats your take on this?

Greybeard999

Glad you are okay, man....... The cop didn't write an accident report/assign blame because part of the blame is his. (much of it actually, and he knows it.)

The car will fix up fine, get several estimates and spec GM parts..... Your insurance company will want to go on the cheap, don't let them.

SS fan

Goestlysd, So glad to hear your ok hope all goes well getting your car back to 100%

foolmoon_design

Ya know, I bet you and the girl could get together and fault the officer, by both filing a complaint, or just be a nice guy and let it wash away. Weird cops are usually really saftey conscious on the interstate. Heck everytime you see a close call on the news its usually dash-cam footage. You could always request the footage (through a lawsuit) if your that concerned about insurance, or have them request the footage on your behalf, if you raise enough stink.

JoeSchmoe

That really sucks. People need to learn to drive.

Who pulls onto the left shoulder for a cop??? And who merges into traffic at 10mph??? And what kinda cop gives you advice that you should have been driving on the shoulder??? Idiots. Good idea about the dashcam...

Glad everyone was OK.

Krash Kadillak

What the officer filled out was not an 'accident' report', only an incident report /exchange of information'. He didn't want to fill out a complete T/A report because he knew it would show him partially at fault for not 'shadowing' the other vehicle to the right shoulder.

I don't have much experience with American Family claims (been in auto ins claims for 30 years). But I know Farmers has a BIG staff and is very aggressive in claims investigation.

This might not be a good time to be passive about letting the insurance co. do their work. Maybe get your own statement from the officer ('who/what/where/when/why/details/weather/etc..) ...and ask about dashcam footage.

HHR_style

"...should I just pull out into oncoming traffic without looking officer? Yes, that is correct ma'am. Have a nice day."What a bunch of B.S. I hope this never happens to me!

goetylsd

Well, I got my car into a local shop today. They are a nice, reputable auto body shop that I've heard good things about before. My insurance company works with them on a regular basis. The guy estimated the damage to be around $2000 just by visibly looking at it. I am guess by the time he does a more thorough check, it will be about $3000. My car was only barely drivable. Mechanically, it doesn't seem that anything is wrong. But the front bumper had been pushed back into the wheel well, which was pushing on the tire as you drive. He said the fact that the wheel well was rubbing on the tire constituted it as "non-drivable." They are very booked, but since it is non-drivable, it will get in sooner. If it was considered drivable, the wait time would have been about 2 weeks. They are booked solid. For now, I have a Loaner car from them. It's not a car that I would go out and buy tomorrow, but it's not that bad. At least I was able to get a loaner. It's smaller than my HHR, but it does everything I need it to. It's free for me to use while my car is getting fixed and I only have to pay for gas (which shouldn't be too much). At least with the loaner car I am able to continue on with my day without too much disruption. It's nice that they offer loaners. The place is not a dealership, just a local auto body place.