Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/dakeyras/CarAccident
The story:
The other driver and I were both in the same lane, I was behind him, in a quasi-traffic jam (one of the mini-ones, just the little accordions). A space opened up in the lane to the right; I looked back, saw the space was there, and changed lanes. The guy apparently looked about the same time, then looked forward and changed lanes about a second later. Since I was already in the lane at that point, my front left bumper came into contact with the midsection of his car, right between the passenger side doors. The damage to my car was rather minor (as you can see in the photos), and I later drove the car home without any problems (I assume, from the visible damage, that he did the same). Neither one of us was injured, as we couldn’t have been going more than 15-20mph, and probably less than that.
Anyways, we exchanged info, and he was nice about it, but he kept saying that it was my fault. I didn’t agree or disagree verbally, since I figured it wasn’t worth getting into a fight on the side of the highway. I just called the insurance company, and then I called the state troopers.
The officer arrived and asked us what happened. The other driver told the officer that I hit him and that it was my fault. I described it as I described it here, although abridged, something along the lines of: “We were both in the lane and tried to get over about the same time”, type of thing. I really didn’t want to get anyone in trouble, I just wanted to have everything over with. The whole story-telling segment of the thing lasted about 15 seconds (I don’t think the officer was much interested in the story).
The officer inspected the damage, got our info, and went back to his car. He came back 20 minutes later and said that, based on the damage and the story, that the other guy was at fault, since I had to have been in the lane before him for the damage to happen in that way (i.e. I didn’t hit the back of his car). He told the story to me as I told it here, and asked if it sounded accurate (I said yes), and then asked if that was what I was thinking all along (I said yes). He gave me a copy of the accident report with the other driver’s information and told me I was free to go. He also explained that he would be citing the other driver for the accident. I told him I felt bad, since the guy was really nice about everything (except the insistence that it was my fault), but the officer said that he needed to give the citation. I drove away then while he was still talking to the other guy.
I do feel bad for the guy (a vendor heading in to Microsoft, no less). He was extremely nice and polite (I think we both were), and we talked a bit about our work at Microsoft while we were waiting. I would have been quite content to just file the claim with my insurance company without seeking relief from his, except that he insisted that I write out and sign a paper that said it was my fault, which I didn’t feel was accurate or appropriate. Poor guy now has a citation on his record and his insurance company will most likely have to pay my deductible after the claims department at Geico does their whole legal thang.
So, I’m entirely uninjured, although quite shaken up by the whole ordeal. This was my first car accident, my first talking to a state trooper, my first new car (and first new car damaged :( ), my first call to 911, and my first dealing with a car insurance company. Luckily, everything went as well as could be hoped: we (drivers) were nice to each other and not angry at all (perturbed would be the best word for it), the damage was minimal, the trooper was nice and arrived relatively quickly, the 911 operators were kind, and Geico has been incredibly wonderful so far.