anonymous1404
New Member
Here's my situation. I was at a golf course using the driving range and hooked one of my balls. As it is going through the air a car comes around a blind corner on a driveway adjacent to the driving range that runs directly along side it no more than 20 feet from rightmost stall of the driving range. I hear a sound which sounded like it hit it but didn't see it myself and neither did my friend. We were the only two using the driving range and I think the only two who were using the golf course at the time. After I hear the sound of impact the car stops and I can see the driver looking over at us. She stays parked for about thirty seconds to a minute and then backs up a bit. I can see the driver staring at us and eventually the driver takes off further down the driveway. Then about two minutes later she comes back down the driveway towards us and the golf course and I see her talking to an employee there. She then comes over and starts telling my friend whom she recognizes I guess from high school that he hit her car. He denies it and I say I was the one who swung at the time not saying that I saw it hit her car as I didn't, I just heard the sound. She says she wants my car insurance information and I said I would like to see what damage was done to her car and if indeed it wasn't there already. I also said I don't know why you want my car insurance as I wasn't in a vehicle. The dent on her car is a somewhat golf ball sized so I say it looks like it was caused by a golf ball. We exchange car insurance information. I get a call a message a week later from her insurance saying they want me to pay for her car to get fixed. I don't have a job or homeowners or rental insurance as I don't own or rent property currently so paying this is a bit of an issue for me right now. I spoke to the lady who's car I hit asking how much it would cost to fix and she said the body shop she went through would charge around 760 dollars which I think is exorbitant. I asked how much her premium was which was 500 and if it came down to me paying, if it was feasible that I could pay that instead. She said that would be fine but that she wanted me to see what her insurance company said about that. I haven't yet contacted her insurance company as I don't want to give them a statement without some sort of legal advice as to what actions I should take. I feel this isn't my responsibility to pay for this accident as she lives next to a golf course knowing that such an incident has a high risk of occurring from living there. I also feel the golf course is mostly responsible since they have no netting or even a tree barrier to protect the cars going down the driveway(which is literally right next to the driving rang running directly alongside the balls flight path) or the houses which are adjacent to the range. It's a bit ridiculous to me that I should be shouldering the whole blame for this incidence when I was hitting golf balls in a place where golf balls should be hit. It's not like I was in a city park where it would be dangerous or intentionally trying to damage property. The golf course does have a sign which I did not see until afterwards that the golfer is responsible for their actions on the golf course. Even so does having a sign not make a party responsible? If I have a sign that says "If you come on my property and my dog bites you its your fault" does that make it not my responsibility? If I could get any legal advice on this issue I would very much appreciate it. Thank you very much.
