Additional Information:
The car in front of me stopped abruptly at a cross walk and though I was a good distance behind them, my brakes completely gave out on me. Upon further inspection I realized the calipers weren’t correctly mounted on the brakes, which is why they failed. I don’t have insurance, I had just bought the bike and the only reason I was riding it was to get it home. I was cited for riding without insurance. The person I crashed into said that there was no damage to her car, but is now trying to get me to pay $800 for some work. How do I deal with this?
ATTORNEY ANSWER:
You have a couple of options. You can do nothing and wait to see if the other driver takes the initiative by filing a lawsuit over the damage. In that action, you would be able to present your evidence that the accident caused no damage to her car, such as photographs taken at the time of the accident, the accident report filed by the police officer who cited you and the one filed by the other driver, if she filed one, and the testimony of the police officer who was at the scene. Your other option would be to negotiate a settlement with the driver or to have an attorney negotiate one for you. You should start with a request for a copy of the repair bill or damage appraisal. In any event, you should not pay the driver anything without getting a signed release from her so that she cannot come back for any further damages.
The Grafton Motorcycle Accident Attorneys at our firm handle personal injury claims in Grafton Massachusetts and throughout Worcester County including the communities of Holden, West Boylston, Shrewsbury, Marlborough, Westborough, Millbury, Auburn, Leicester, and North Brookfield and Worcester.
