Input needed...Guy is trying to sue my friend

[One]

It's mid-summer, 2007. My friend and I are driving down a 2 lane arterial, speed limit is 30 (but everyone does 35). Traffic in front of us slows down as a car turn left, and my friend brakes, but was looking elsewhere and does not stop in time.

My friend's Honda Accord (90-93) hits the back of an older Ford Thunderbird, according to bodystyle 83-88. The Honda's bumper slides under the Ford's fender, bending it up. Meanwhile, the Honda's radiator has been damaged, lights, grill, and there is enough damage that I think he had to replace the front clip.

My friend just called to inform me that despite his insurance company paying the guy he hit 4 grand, which is way more than the T-Bird was even worth, not to mention just to have a fender banged out, nearly 2 years later, the guy is suing him for back ingury, saying he needs surgery.

The accident happened right in front of a house party, and all 3 of us involved must have been asked if we were okay 20 times, if we needed an ambulance, etc. Immediately after the crash the guy we hit got out and checked his car, etc. He was walking fine, and didn't make any gesture or mention of back pain.

I was asked to write up a report, basically, like that above, of what happened in my friend's defense.

I think his claim is bullsh1t....do you guys think he has a case? Sorry for being long winded, just wanted to be as descriptive as possible.

 

[mtn_extreme]

I think we have become a nation of greed where everyone one wants to sue about everything. Unfortunatly your friend is going to have to fight and that means finding all the witnesses he can along with any other evidence. Hire a PI to fallow the dude now and take pictures of his ailing back

 

[modsledr]

It is still an insurance issue, even 2 years later. If the "injured" signed a release when cashing the previous checks, your friend may be covered.

At the very least, he should pay for an hour of attorney time and make sure his a$$ is covered.

 

[Blu Du]

i know first hand that you don't feel any pain the first day from a slight rearending. it's amazing how the next day every mucsle in your body hurts. it sound like a scam though and won't hold up in court. i think insurance would still be liable

 

[JohnnyQuestUtah]

His Insurance Company should provide leagal rep. for him if he asks them too.

peace-

johnny

 

[95RXL]

He needs to get an attorney (which his insurance company should be doing anyway). The guy sueing will have to provide all his medical records before and after the accident. Find a record of him ever going to a chiropractor for anything prior to this accident and he has nothing to stand on. They'll call it an exacerbation of a pre-existing condition. If he had no problems before.....he might have a case. Sometimes things don't show up for a few days after an accident. It sucks! It's a sue crazy world. Chances are that he won't win much. Jury's are losing sympathy for chit like this.

 

[previous member]

A couple thoughts. Your friend is without a doubt at fault for the accident. Anytime a person hits another vehicle from behind it is their fault.

Personally I feel the guy after two years is just trying to make a buck. He needs to lean on his insurance company to handle this BS.............That is why he has insurance........

Hope it goes OK for him.............

 

[One]

Thanks for the responses guys...I understand how a back problem could appear a few days or months after the incident, but after 2 years? I'm with you Snowman, sounds like he's trying to stuff his pockets.

 

[maddog21]

back injury after 2 years? i dont think the guy in honda hit the ford's back can cause his back injury... are you kidding me?
ok did he saw he was wearing seat buckle on? saw him walking around out fine? but i dont know.. hope your friend goes well in court

 

[MPS]

I get frivolous lawsuits filed against me all the time in my profession....you need a no BS tough lawyer or be one tough b@stard yourself. Show the plantiffs you aren't gonna back down and hopefully it won't go before a jury....you never know the outcome with a jury....especially in a civil trial. They can make a decision off lies and no evidence. Good luck! I lost one about a year ago...the b*tch lied her a$$ off and the jury believed her. I was the mean cop and she was a poor little bi-polar victim. She could have said anything and that damn jury would have believed her. It was all over a car accident in a parking lot.

Try your best to not let it go to trial! Civil juries SUCK A$$!!!! I am going through one right now....because I "violated the rights" of a wanted felon fugitive I had chased for 5 months...whatever...and I never laid a finger on the dude except for cuffing him. I violated his rights because I won the psychological game and he felt intimidated....poor little felon that has been involved in a murder and numerous other violent crimes. Scum want more of a free hand out then they already get from the government. These people are on full government assistance and they need more. I won't doubt that I will lose this one too.....most of the general public seems to like to hang cops out to dry after protecting them from felons of this nature. It is ironic that the juries find in favor of the plantiffs in these cases...they are making taxpayers pay....including themselves! Ridiculous!

 

[rocketron]

I`m gonna quote someone.

``Shoot, shovel, and shut up``

 

[snow_knight]

One.. I agree with everybody else.. get a lawyer.. might cost a little up front.. but could end up saving huge in the long run..



MPS.. thats a chitty deal.. a buddy of mine is on the hp and swat here.. goes through the same stuff with the indians around here.. always trying to sue every cop that says the wrong word or looks at them wrong.. ..

 

[MPS]

One.. I agree with everybody else.. get a lawyer.. might cost a little up front.. but could end up saving huge in the long run..



MPS.. thats a chitty deal.. a buddy of mine is on the hp and swat here.. goes through the same stuff with the indians around here.. always trying to sue every cop that says the wrong word or looks at them wrong.. ..

I hear ya bro...I have to go on the reservation here all the time....they flip racial slurs left and right at me. They threaten me left and right....but I am the bad guy because I simply do my job.

 

[Jizzo]

Unfortunately your friend will probably lose. I was in a similar mishap with an older lady when I was in high school. I backed into the passenger side rear bumper as she was stepping into the drivers side and she was thrown out so to speak. She went to the hospital with a dislocated thumb and almost 3 years later(right before the statute of limitations was up) i got served papers saying i was being sued for long term hip problems! Long story short she got 90 G's out of my insurance company which now makes insurance ridiculously high for me... Good luck.

 

[winter brew]

Your insurance Co. will offer him some $$ to go away. He'll get a nice little check so the ins co doesn't have to waste time and $$ going to court. Then they will raise all our rates to pay for the greedy bastards that do this every day.

 

[Fosgate]

Have your friend contact his insurance companies "Legal Department". He had liability coverage that defends him from suit. The guy already accepted settlement. And if it is in fact past the "Discovery Period" (2yrs from the INCIDENT date) the "Limit of Liability" has expired and the guy doesn't have a leg to stand on. There are laws written to protect insureds and insurance companies from situations like this. It's a BS case primarily if it is past 2yrs from the date of the INCIDENT. If it is not then he could potentially get more from the insurance company but not your friend (unless award is over the limit of his liability policy at the time.) IE: if he carries a total of $50k in liability and the court awards $75k the he is on the hook for $25k wich they will issue judgement immediatly. Also depends on what his policy may have for exclusion. Some policies may have the Liability covers suits for property damage and a limit for medical payment towards others at a significantly lower amount. Like I said have him call his Insurance Company.

 

[zach477]

I would hire a PI or have him do some investigating himself if it comes to that matter, it wouldn’t take much evidence to prove if he really had back issues or not. I broke my back racing sno-x I still grit through the pain doing a lot of the things I love to do, but it doesn’t take a lot of time observing me that I have some back issues. There are too many pricks in this world, a guy from my home town (small town of about 600) sued a retail store after he tried to pull a push mower off a 7ft shelf and it fell on his dumb a*s head. Unfortunately for the retail store the sign that said do not attempt to remove anything from shelves was missing when a forklift hit it earlier in the week.

He complained of neck problems and the retailer settled for 6 figure claim (and this was over 10 years ago). He then bought a new house on the lake complete with new speed boat, ect, ect, ect. My best friend’s dad was buddies with him, one day we got to tag along on his boat one day. I was in 9th or 10th grade at the time so I didn’t really get into other people’s business but I thought that he had to be doing pretty good for having such a bad neck injury when he was water skiing and decided to put the handle in his mouth and see how long he could hold on and ski with his teeth. He got on the boat and said “may that hurt my teeth”…..never mentioned anything bout his neck.

The prick hired me to do his mowing/landscaping because I had my own little mowing/landscaping business in high school. While in the middle of a project after I left for the day he decided to borrow my wheelbarrow full of rock, where did he dumb the rock, right in the middle of knee high grass. 2-3 weeks after the landscaping was done he asked if I could mow the high grass in the lot next to his (with all his settlement money he bought two lots just in case) well wouldn’t you know it, as I was mowing the tall grass and he was in his truck reading his mail my mower caught one of the rocks he decided to dump out and sent it through his window. He proceeded to pull me off my mower, scream in my face, fire me on the spot, and refuse to pay for the landscaping until I paid for his window.

Well I paid him for his window, but still no money came for my services….after a long drawn out process he paid me just enough to cover the materials, not wanting to deal with the a*s I cut my losses and moved on. About a month later is when things got interesting; he tried to sue me for emotional distress, saying that the rock coming through my window brought on flash backs of when he was car jacked while in college. After spending over $1000 in lawyer fees my lawyer basically told him to f*ck off and that he should take a real good look in the mirror.

2 weeks after that try he was at it again suing me this time for slander, again after more lawyer fees my lawyer said that telling my friends truths about our interactions is not slander but the truth, he stated that me telling my friends about what happened ruined his image in our small community and that he would have to move. Needless to say I was 17 and a senior in high school at the time, there was no point to countersue because we found out he was broke and spent all his money and was in the process of filing for bankruptcy.

I worked my a*s off all summer long doing landscaping to save $ for college, my parents help out with some of the lawyer fees but when it was all said and done I had less money at the end of the summer than what I had when I started out. Sorry for the long post but there is a bright side to this story, after finical struggles for a number of years he committed suicide about 2 years ago……now only if all people with his mentality would do that this country would be a better place.
take

 

[One]

^^ Unbelieveable.... I can't even think of a worthy insult for that dipsh1t.

 

[summitone]

It is still an insurance issue, even 2 years later. If the "injured" signed a release when cashing the previous checks, your friend may be covered.

And if your insurace company didn't get a signed release worse case you need to find a new insurace company. Should be on your dime.

I'm willing to be your insurance company has that signed release.

 

[Dunatic]

2 years is total bull, he just wants money....

I used to think the same way as you guys, but after some idiot caused an accident on the freeway at 70mph, it totaled my car. I now have 2 bulging disks and have to live with pain every day, and it pisses me off. I am now in the process of getting a needle jabbed into my spine to try and fix me, if that doesn't work, surgery... that will suck!!

I did not feel anything when the accident happened, but later that night I could hardly walk, I think if the guy suing your buddy had problems he would have known within the first couple weeks.