Accident advice needed

[Scruit]

My friend's daughter was in an accident the other day...

She was sitting at a red light in the right lane. She had been stopped for 10 seconds when one of her rear passengers said; "This guy is not looking forward and is gonna hit you!" A car approaching from the rear, in the left lane, drifted partially into the right lane (his wheels were across the line) and struck her vehicle on the rear corner. He gets out all apologetic and stuff and she callers her mom for advice. She is told to not move the vehicles and to call the police.

Officer #1 arrives and sees the FRP of the cars, the rearward vehicle still with it's wheels over the line, demands that the vehicles be moved (hi-traffic area). Officer #2 arrives. Officer #1 leaves. Officer #2 speaks with the other driver who suddenly claims that she started to swerve into his lane and that's why he struck her.

Officer #1 saw the final resting positions of the car, but left almost immediately.

Officer #2 never saw the final resting positions of the cars and did not get the girl's side of the story. After speaking with the driver that rear-ended her he approached once - to give her a ticket for unsafe lane change.

The only advice I could give my friend was to try to find out who officer #1 was and hope he remembers the final resting position of the cars. And to fight the ticket tooth and nail. Her insurance company is already saying that the ticket is not a death blow, but I'm not convinced.


So, this poor girl is sitting there at a red light, gets hit in the back by another vehicle and not only is she gonna have to pay for her own damage but she's got a ticket and will probably be blamed for the accident...

As an LEO, what advice could you give her? Is it likely that Officer #1 will remember the FRP (Columbus City Police, OH) of the cars if he is contacted for a statement a week after the accident? Did officer #2 err by not asking the girl's side of the story before making a determination of fault? What defense strategies could she consider to the ticket?


EDIT: Also, if officer #1 remembers the FRP of the cars and is like; "That guy OBVIOUSLY drifted outof his lane!" can he cite the guy a week later?

[hwpd]

id say she should make a complaint about both officers.
#1. Why did he f ed out from the scene? He should have stayed till ofc 2 arrives. Since it was ofc 2 who was investigating the crash, ofc 1 should have made no decision to do anything concerning the wreck since he wasnt' even staying.
#2. He should have gotten yourside of the story IMO. Make a complaint about unprofessional matter handling. Thats why he gets paid our tax money. It was his job to throughly investigate what happened and not just get there and get done ASAP.

IMO from your words scruit both officers handled this matter unprofessionally.

[Scruit]

*wOOt!*

I went back to the scene of the accident with a diagram of the girl's version of the story, and with the guy's version. He said he skidded to a halt.

There is a large black skidmark that clearly crosses from the left lane into the right lane, right over the white line. there is no other visible skidmark! When plotted onto a diagram of both accounts of the accident, the skidmark lines up perfectly with her story.

I have photographs that I will give to my friend so she can take it to court to help defend her unfair ticket, but also to give to her insurance to help recover damages from him.

[Solly]

Just my .02.
As far as moving the vehicles off the roadway - my department says move them off for public safety ASAP. I'd rather try to figure out who did what later then be doing another accident report(s), possibily with injuries. Many years ago my first two accidents cause others - I learned quickly.
The pictures you took may be good, but how will you prove that that exact skidmark was laid down at that accident scene - after hours or days? I can see the other side claiming it was before the accident or after (just playing devil's advocate here).
As for one officer telling her to move and then leaving, I thought I read that the second officer arrived before the first left (?). In my department, I'll swing by an accident (if by chance I'm closer) then hand it off to the officer who is working that zone. I'd also tell the drivers to move out of traffic if possible (this does not include fatals or other special events that require me taking pictures or other investigation). I'd try to get a good mental picture of the final resting places, skidmarks and anything else that may be important. And of course pass it on at the scene or later to the investigating officer.
I'd tell your friend to talk to the investigating officer first. If she gets no satisfaction there, then talk to a supervisor and find out who the first officer there was. And why the investigating officer did not talk to her. The supervisor should then check out what happen (I try to always try to talk to drivers, passengers and witnesses before i decide fault and/or citations).
There may be special circumstances for the officer doing what he did but I can't think of a reason he didn't at least get your side.

[Toeknee112]

What the hell's an FRP?

[coucousis]

That is why I rarely hand over a citation on an accident scene...... Unless there is a clear negligence from one of the parties....
Ok if one admit running trough a red light or other stuff like that .... In doubt... I let the insurance companies fight over the causes.....

I 'm more comfortable with infraction that are committed in front of me and that I can myself testify on!!!!

[Toeknee112]

Same here...if there are no injuries then we just have both parties fill out an info exchange and let the insurance companies work it out. If there is an obvious infraction then a cite would be issued. Still wondering about the FRP...

[dragonspider]

Toeknee112, I'm with you..... I tried putting the pieces together, but still can't figure out what FRP is.... Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic doesn't work in this context!!

[Toeknee112]

Must be an East Coast thing...It DOES however sound kinda like the noise I make after a nice chile verde burrito!

[Scruit]

Final Resting Position of the vehicles.

I carry a disposable camera in my car - and I have advised my friend to do the same from now on. It would take her just a second or two to snap a pics of the scene before moving the cars.

[Toeknee112]

I'll be damned! There's an acronym for everything! (or TAFE) :D

[Scruit]

There's so many three-letter-abbreviations in the IT industry that we just us TLA for short...

The SQL can't resolve DNS names. Are you blocking ICMP? I thought DNS was TCP/53. No, TCP/53 is for the DNS ZT, you mean UDP/7? Yeah, you're right...UDP/7 for DNS. Hmm, did you check your DHCP settings? AARRRGHHH!!

[mcsap]

Get officer 1 to talk to officer 2. Worst case scenario, supboena officer 1 to court to testify on behalf of the defense.

[Seand442]

It sounds to me like ofc 1 created quite a cluster&%$#. was she the first car in line at the red light? At most intersections, there isn't a whole lot of room to be swerving into lanes especially at very low speed when the light is red. what sort of damage did your vehicle sustain? Every so often I will clear a wreck out of the road for another agency. Common courtesy says that you hang out until another officer shows up and tell him what you saw, what was told to you, etc. As far as the ticket, if what the friends daughter said happened is what really happened, go to court. Bring the passenger and try to get ofc 1 subpoenaed. it is the officers respnsibility to prove the violation occured. Good luck

[Scruit]

This is her plan of attack:

1) Photographs the skidmark to try to support her side of the story. Both agree that he skidded to a halt, yet the only skidmark visible is the one crossing into het lane. Not 100%, but hopefully enough.

2) File a complaint against the officer that cited her / wrote the report. With the hope that is will help her identify officer #1 and get his input. Can the report be amended? She hopes so. The complaint is not aimed at trying to hurt the officer or 'get back at him', just to try and make right what was done wrong, and to get her written statement added to the report.

3) Her insurance has been kept up to speed and had said that they will not pay anything out until these qurestions are resolved.

4) She is going to take the car to a Mitsubishi on slim chance that the airbag system Event Data Recorder recorded a "Near-Deployment Event" The dealer said that they can read the data if it is present. It is hoped that this data will show that the car was at not moving in the 5 seconds leading up to the accident.


Thanks all for your input. I'll tell you how it goes when I hear more.