QuestionMy question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: New York [Queens]
Hello,
My boyfriend and I recently got into a 2 car accident in a shopping center parking lot in Whitestone, NY.
We were driving at 5 mph down the main roadway in the parking lot with the parking aisles to our right. At the 3rd intersection after entering the lot I noticed the front of a car peering out from the intersection - also going at a very slow speed.
Being on the main road and assuming the car will stop since he was merging into oncoming traffic, my boyfriend continued to cruise at slow speed along the roadway searching for parking. When my passenger side window was facing the intersection and I could see the entire front of the other car, the approaching car was still slowly getting closer. However, we had already fully established position in the intersection by that point and I did not think to alarm my boyfriend as it was very apparent [at least to me] that the driver must have noticed a a vehicle directly in front of him.
The next thing I heard was the approaching car's passenger scream and seconds later he collided into the passenger-side rear quarter panel of my boyfriend's car. We also had an eye witness who witnessed the impending collision and also believe the accident was due to negligence from the other driver as it was obvious we were in the intersection for a good amount of time before he hit us.
The problem is, the police are less than helpful being it was private property. The mall security was a joke - they only told me that due to the lack of stop signs they see accidents occur at the lot often and that they are hard to dispute.
To me, it was obvious that the other driver was at fault. But because we have no proper police report [the police came and only reluctantly jotted down a few things] and there were no stop signs CLEARLY indicating traffic flow - I'm afraid the other party's insurance company will not be obliging when he makes his claims.
My boyfriend only has liability and he drives a S2K. The damage is on the passenger side door, rear quarter panel and his rims. The repair cost will be expensive and damaging to the integrity of the car's chassis.
Any idea how these situations usually play out? And if not in our favor what steps do we have to pursue [other than suing the pants off the other party].
AnswerHello Esther,
I am sorry to hear about this situation. Parking lot accidents are probably the most difficult type of claim to handle. You have outlined some of the issues (usually, no police will come to the scene for being private property, private security does not really know how to do a report or how to cite anything, and usually, the rules of the parking lot at not very clear either).
In any event, his insurance company must investigate the accident and try to defend him and try to make them pay (if he has collision coverage).
For information about how insurance companies determine fault, please see:
http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/Fault-for-the-Accident.html
Remember that both insurance companies have a duty to believe their own client, this means that this would probably be a word v. word situation (depending on how reliable the witness is). At any rate, insurance companies often times end up in arbitration. For information about the arbitration process, please see:
http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/arbitration.html
I hope this helps some.
Anne
http://www.quirogalawoffice.com/
