Dash-cam footage. I don't have any, and that's the problem
Saturday before last, March 5, Milady asked me to stop by the barbecue joint on the way home and pick up a rib plate.
Coming out of the parking lot, I got on a side street going to the main drag. I was following a black Nissan Armada. She stopped at the stop sign and I stopped behind the Nissan. For reasons I can neither understand nor explain, I saw her backup lights come on and she backed into the front of my vehicle.
Crunch! A small fender-bender. She got out of the Nissan, apologetic. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, my Dad is going to kill me."
No big deal, I called it in. In just a few minutes, a local city policeman responded to the scene, got out of his vehicle, and asked me what had happened.
"She backed into me. For reasons I can neither understand nor explain, she put it in reverse and backed into me."
The officer went to talk to the young lady, then asked us to move to a convenient fast-food parking lot to clear the traffic lane.
We did the license, registration, insurance thing, waiting while the officer completed his paperwork. The officer went into the restaurant to see if anyone had witnessed the event. He soon came out, handed me my vehicle papers, and told me I was free to go. So, I asked about the report and he said that it would be ready in five working days. I departed the area, and went home to share a rib plate with my lady.
Discussing it with Milady later, I told her that it looked just exactly like any of hundreds of accidents I'd seen in my career; a simple rear-end collision. I reflected to Milady that if the young lady told the officer that I rear-ended her, it would be totally believable. It looked like a simple rear-end collision.
Yesterday, I went to the police station for a copy of the report. Sure enough, the young lady changed her story between the time she apologized to me and the time that the officer spoke with her. When the officer went in to the restaurant, witnesses told him that I had rear-ended the Nissan. They heard the crash, looked up, and saw the aftermath of a classic rear-end collision. They didn't see the crash, but they thought they knew what had happened.
Except that's not what actually happened. She backed into me, and in the intervening few minutes between crash and police, she changed her story. In the final analysis, the young lady is getting a freebie, It's a trifling matter, no one was hurt, and the damage is fairly easily repaired. Except that I'm being blamed for something that is someone else's fault. It rankles.
So, it appears that a dash-camera is in my immediate future. I've been Googling around and reading reviews. Popular Mechanics is a source I trust. Surprisingly, the one that they rate best is the least expensive.
Do any of you guys use dash-cams? If so, which do you like? It'll probably be a week or so before I order one.
Hm, kinda sounds like a scam to me. Say one thing to a participant and say something else to the guy that writes the report. I wouldn't be surprised if your insurance doesn't get a bill for "neck pain" and "trauma". Better get your story out to your insurance carrier before she sends them a bill.
ReplyDeleteSteve
I have a Garmin Dashcam 2.0 with GPS just for this reason. Get the memory card with it for additional storage.
ReplyDeleteI am using the Garmin Dash Cam 10, after hearing stories like yours from the Kansas City area.
ReplyDeleteA body cam couldn't hurt, either.
ReplyDeleteI have a G1W. It works well, although the suction cup mount didn't hold. I solved that by taping it to the windshield with double sided tape. I'll recommend getting the -C model, which has a capacitor instead of a battery for when the car power is off. In a year, my 3 minutes of recording after the ignition is turned off is down to about 30 seconds. (I have the battery version.) Also, take a black marker and "paint" the chrome lens surround to avoid glare.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of one, but now I'm relooking at it...
ReplyDeleteThank my MART training for this: the cars' computer chips will put the lie to her story, and support yours. Hers will show movement backwards, then the bump and yours will show no movement before the bump. Then you swear out complaints for making a false police report, making a false DMV report and (at least) Attempted insurance fraud. Suggestion: pay an attorney to drop this hammer.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck.
Riverdog, that information is only available for a short period of time. I've learned a digital recorder (smart phone will do) is handy to have. A digital dash cam is going onto my list of things to buy now though.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the cheapy produces decent video too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VVp4Dd-DWA
ReplyDeleteIf you don't need the extra features of the fancy ones I don't see any reason to spend the money on them!
Son's in the Seattle area, and both his a wifes' car have them; so many people tend to ignore signs and traffic he figures it's just a matter of time, and wants proof.
ReplyDelete