What action should I take for a rearend collision

December 2, 2005 12:43 PM

Driving to work, I was (mildly) rear-ended at a sudden stop in a traffic crawl.

It was very light, didn't feel anything but heard the bump. We got off the freeway to take a look at it and since there wasn't any damage I let him go. Reporting this to his insurance company seemed like a dick move, especially since I almost did the same to the car in front of me. In short, I acted like (I hope) someone would act towards me were I in the same situation. Was this the lawful thing to do? Should I have reported this and prompted him to drive safer?

posted by pantsrobot to Human Relations (19 answers total)

I think that as long as you traded pertinent information in case there is some yet-unseen damage to your car from the incident, you did the right thing. If there was no damage, I wouldn't report it unless the person appeared to be drunk/intoxicated.
posted by aebaxter at 12:53 PM on December 2, 2005

Are you sure there was no damage? I was rear-ended and the damage looked very minor and cosmetic at first, but when I got home I realized that I couldn't open the trunk. It turned out that the body was damaged and it cost $1700 to repair, which he paid out of pocket (luckily we exchanged information before we parted).

I don't see the point of reporting him as a punitive action, but assuming you exchanged information you might want to reserve the right to get your car checked out and change your mind.

In my state (Wisconsin) you don't have to report an accident to the police unless it's over something like $1200. I don't think there's any requirement about reporting to insurance.
posted by handful of rain at 12:54 PM on December 2, 2005

Make sure you make photographs of the damage immediately and have the guy sign a note that states the datetime, registration of the damaged car, and as accurate a description of the damage as you can. And get some identification so you're at least reasonably sure you have their real name. People suck.
posted by fvw at 12:57 PM on December 2, 2005

I had this happen in a rental car. In Ontario there is a law that says you don't HAVE to report it if the total damage to both cars is less than a certain amount.
We didn't report it where it happened (middle of nowhere) but tried to report it back in Toronto. There the cops said it was a hassle, because they'd have to file it in Middle of Nowhere, blablabla, and then the cop had a look at the damage on our (rental) car and said that it was less than the amount for which you needed to file, and to just not file at all would be easier. The rental company was also okay with it (in other words: their insurance paid up) We did take contact info for the othar car for the insurance, but never reported them.
posted by easternblot at 1:02 PM on December 2, 2005

if there's less then $3000 in damage, you're not legaly required to report it in Iowa.
posted by delmoi at 1:02 PM on December 2, 2005

You did good. There are all kinds of things that might go wrong, but they won't.
posted by OmieWise at 1:11 PM on December 2, 2005

THey're called 5MPH bumpers for a reason. You did the right thing - the less some one gets fucked by their insurance company, the better place this little ol' world is.
posted by notsnot at 1:11 PM on December 2, 2005

You're worried that maybe you had a responsibility to report the incident so the other driver would learn a lesson? It doesn't sound like he was driving too unsafely, after all you didn't even feel the accident. My thinking would be that this is what bumpers are for. I probably have done as much to cars when parallel parking.
posted by MarkAnd at 1:19 PM on December 2, 2005

You did the right thing. I did exactly the same with someone who bumped into me -- and about a year later, another fellow returned the favor when I bumped into him. Chalk it up to karma.

For what it's worth, this sort of "no harm, no foul" good deed used to happen more often when cars had fenders rather than cheap, flimsy, easily-chipped bumpers. Ah, back in the day...
posted by cribcage at 1:25 PM on December 2, 2005

Yep, as my driver's ed teacher used to say, "bumpers are made for bumping." I've had someone tap into me at <5 mph a couple of times over the years, and I've come close to doing the same when someone's suddenly stopped short in front of me. It happens, even to the safest drivers. I never reported it -- there was nothing, really, to report.
posted by scody at 2:15 PM on December 2, 2005

Make sure you make photographs of the damage immediately and have the guy sign a note that states the datetime, registration of the damaged car, and as accurate a description of the damage as you can.

RTFQ. There WAS no damage.

I totally think you did the right thing. It wouldn't occur to me to report that and I'd think it was mean and ridiculous if someone did it to me.
posted by crabintheocean at 2:21 PM on December 2, 2005

A very similar thing happened to me, but as there was a third car involved between me and the at-fault driver -- and the two cars that weren't mine were damaged pretty badly -- I didn't really have the option of not involving police or insurance. I barely got scratched and would have been happy to drive away and leave it at that, like the OP did.

FWIW, I got a pretty nice settlement from GEICO (the at-fault's insurer) to repaint my bumper and in case there was any damage below the bumper that the claims adjuster couldn't see at a glance. Probably just CYA on their part, but you never know.

Of course, I pocketed the cash and have had no problems since. My gut says you made the right decision and I probably would have done the same.
posted by SuperNova at 2:52 PM on December 2, 2005

Of course. No damage = no cops; no insurance companies; no big hassle; no paperwork. Relax. Next time leave more room behind you when you stop.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:36 PM on December 2, 2005

Was this the lawful thing to do? Should I have reported this and prompted him to drive safer?

No, you did exactly the right thing. Too many people are caught up with this beaurocratic nonsense. He didn't hurt you or damage your car, why should anything be done other than a quick apology??
posted by knave at 4:23 PM on December 2, 2005

Was this the lawful thing to do?
if there's less then $3000 in damage, you're not legally required to report it in Iowa.

It all depends. Here in Georgia, it's up to where in the state you are. In Athens-Clarke county a few years back, I was involved in a slight case of hit & run accident. In the process, I learned that hitting anything in the county can be considered a hit and run felony in the law books. Period, end of discussion, does't matter how minor the damage is so long as you hit it with your car (at the same time, you can call to report an accident, but also request the cops don't show up to avoid a possible hit and run felony. Don't ask, that's what the cop told me). However, and luckily for my case, this is also dependent on the officer you deal with and can lower the penalty.
Fast forward 2 years, and I was driving my dad's car in Atlanta when some chick hydroplaned and rear-ended me. After what happened in Athens, to hell if I wasn't calling the cops. Cop, shows up, looks at damage, and says, "Kid, no need to report an accident in Atlanta if less than $500 in damage." I explained to him my experience in Athens, and he told me the laws are different in Atlanta.
posted by jmd82 at 8:39 PM on December 2, 2005

Be careful waving somebody off, those plastic bumper covers do a great job hiding damage.

Last time somebody did this to me I took their insurance info, and told them I'd call them after my mechanic took a look at it.

I came up clean, and let them know, without risking financial liability for hidden damage.
posted by I Love Tacos at 9:59 PM on December 2, 2005

I let a kid slide on one of those, probably didn't have insurance. Couple of paint chips, the kind of thing that just happens. I let it go on the theory that maybe he'd be scared enough to get insurance before he needed it.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 8:41 AM on December 3, 2005

I would have gotten the other party's contact information (you didn't say if you did or not) because damage isn't always easily visible, and then would have gotten it checked out just in case. Since it was the bumper, it'll probably be okay though.
posted by apple scruff at 12:26 PM on December 3, 2005

I didn't, which was admittedly dumb, but it just felt about like you bumped a wall while parking or something, just barely moving. There were literally only a couple of paint chips missing, and that bumper would scar like mad if it took a real hit.
I'm a sucker (or going for the karma) and the kid looked like if I asked him for ID, he'd have jumped six feet straight in the air and fallen over dead like a startled hamster. He was so young, I don't know if he was driving on a learner's permit, but there was definitely something wrong. Snap judgement, I just was hoping whatever he was doing that he shouldn't, he might be frightened enough to fix it or quit it. (I get hit often enough I'd know if the pistons had collapsed or any real damage.)
posted by unrepentanthippie at 1:43 PM on December 3, 2005