QuestionIt was snowing and i slid into a telephone pole. There was no damage to the pole, but there was quite a bit to my jeep. I havn't notified anyone yet because i didn't know what to do. I don't have collision insurance. How long do i have to report this to my insurance company. Do i have to report it to the police also?
Phyllis
AnswerHello,
Technically, you left the scene of an accident, which is something no one should do. I will tell you a little story from my experience of such an event.
I notified the Sheriffs office in Northern Wisconsin that I hit one of their guardrails after avoiding a collision with what appeared to be a drunk driver. They were upset that I had not notified them immediately (so they could try to bust me for something) and knowing their response time was over an hour, I was not going to wait. The sheriff's department was fuming and they went out and inspected the guardrail that had been hit numerous times and they could not determine the damage I may have caused. (I could, but was not about to tell them) being that I had three claims in one crash.
I got the lecture as to how it was hit and run, blah blah, blah.
Its a toss up and if you feel they may be looking for you, it would be better now than later to report it. Everyone has a cell phone and the possibility that someone saw you and reported you exists. Call me paranoid, but I would at least report it. That is just my personal opinion. There is really nothing they can do to you. If it was snowing and you were not in the city, you could freeze to death waiting for a cop. If you would have reported it at the time, I am sure they would cite you for driving to fast for conditions, but they can't do that now.
Personally, I do not look at law enforcement as being friendly and unless I feel the need for them like a crash involving other people or vehicles, I find them useless especially in northern Wisconsin where our county had 3 deputies to cover 90 square miles.
I had a roll over crash because of ice in another incident. I had to inform police although no other property was damaged. The cop responded within a quick hour literally from a donut shop 50 miles away!
His first thing was a field sobriety test. I told him to look at the disabled plates on my other car. We WERE NOT doing the field sobriety test!
He then placed me in the squad car and gave me a breathalyzer test. It wouldn't show a reading so he began beating on it without even considering I had not been drinking! He then stated he was going to charge me with driving to fast for conditions. The next moment was priceless! The tow truck driver walking on the road went flying from the ice on the road!!! I then asked: "what are you charging me with next? Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance?"
It didn't matter if it was -2 below! This cop was angry and very hot!! My next question was "Are you charging me with anything?" I was very loud about it and he gave a timid "no."
This has been my experience with the worthless mopes in Townsend, Wisconsin that call themselves Sheriff deputies.
In my opinion, I would tell you to contact the law enforcement agency that would be responsible for the guard rail you hit, let them look at it and determine if you should turn it in to the insurance company, and as I said only because you don't know if anyone made a cell call about you striking the gaurd rail. That way, you don't have to worry about anything in the future haunting you in the past.
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