I got hit. Who is responsible, the actual driver or the car's owner/policy holder?

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Ok, but would her lack of insurance not be indicative of her general character, ie if I'm alleging that she was reckless in causing the accident (by attempting to take the right-of-way when it was not hers), not having insurance would show a pattern of recklessness and disregard for the rules, no?

Also I just received a phone message from an attorney about the accident. Last week I sent her a letter demanding payment & an estimate. Should I even call him back? I'm wondering why she's even having a lawyer call me...especially if it ends up going to small claims court, then she would HAVE to be there and deal with it herself right? She wouldn't speak to me at the scene of the accident, called her lawyer friend who was down the street to come and talk to me. All she said was "There was plenty of room for me to pass in front of him!" (when there wasn't; the accident happened because she tried to cut me off making a turn out of a parking lot onto the road). I kind of want to force here to deal with it herself.

What do they likely want? Should I even call them back, or just proceed with filing my case? I mean if she wanted to make a settlement offer they could have said that in the message. I do not wish to return a call that may become contentious. In other words they should tell me up front what they want to discuss in order for me to call them back. If she just wants to argue about it or delay, I'm not going to engage in that.
 
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Brian777 said:
Ok, but would her lack of insurance not be indicative of her general character, ie if I'm alleging that she was reckless in causing the accident (by attempting to take the right-of-way when it was not hers), not having insurance would show a pattern of recklessness and disregard for the rules, no?
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That's absolutely irrelevant.

Also I just received a phone message from an attorney about the accident. Last week I sent her a letter demanding payment & an estimate. Should I even call him back? I'm wondering why she's even having a lawyer call me...especially if it ends up going to small claims court, then she would HAVE to be there and deal with it herself right? She wouldn't speak to me at the scene of the accident, called her lawyer friend who was down the street to come and talk to me. All she said was "There was plenty of room for me to pass in front of him!" (when there wasn't; the accident happened because she tried to cut me off making a turn out of a parking lot onto the road). I kind of want to force here to deal with it herself.

What do they likely want? Should I even call them back, or just proceed with filing my case? I mean if she wanted to make a settlement offer they could have said that in the message. I do not wish to return a call that may become contentious. In other words they should tell me up front what they want to discuss in order for me to call them back. If she just wants to argue about it or delay, I'm not going to engage in that.
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I don't think any of the folks who post to this forum are the attorney that is attempting to contact you. As such, there's no way any of us could know what they want.
 
Zigner said:
That's absolutely irrelevant.

I don't think any of the folks who post to this forum are the attorney that is attempting to contact you. As such, there's no way any of us could know what they want.
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Really? Wow and all this time I thought you had ESP and would know everything, as opposed to offering sarcasm.
 
Brian777 said:
Really? Wow and all this time I thought you had ESP and would know everything, as opposed to offering sarcasm.
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Please stick to relevant questions. It will make this process much easier. Your jaunts into irrelevancy won't help you here, nor will they help you in court.
 
Brian777 said:
Ok, but would her lack of insurance not be indicative of her general character, ie if I'm alleging that she was reckless in causing the accident (by attempting to take the right-of-way when it was not hers), not having insurance would show a pattern of recklessness and disregard for the rules, no?
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No.

Brian777 said:
Also I just received a phone message from an attorney about the accident. Last week I sent her a letter demanding payment & an estimate. Should I even call him back? I'm wondering why she's even having a lawyer call me...especially if it ends up going to small claims court, then she would HAVE to be there and deal with it herself right? She wouldn't speak to me at the scene of the accident, called her lawyer friend who was down the street to come and talk to me. All she said was "There was plenty of room for me to pass in front of him!" (when there wasn't; the accident happened because she tried to cut me off making a turn out of a parking lot onto the road). I kind of want to force here to deal with it herself.
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Could still be the friend.

Stick to keeping things in writing.
 
Brian777 said:
What do they likely want? Should I even call them back, or just proceed with filing my case?
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I don't know what the attorney wants. It may be that the attorney wants to talk about a settlement. That would be the mostly likely thing that comes to mind. I cannot tell you what is best for you to do. I can tell you that I would call the attorney back and see what the attorney wanted to discuss. It might present an opportunity to settle this now. Or it may at least give you some information about what the other person's position is, which can be valuable later should you go to court. You won't know unless you talk to the attorney.

Brian777 said:
I mean if she wanted to make a settlement offer they could have said that in the message.
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I would not leave a settlement offer on a voice mail. First of all, I don't know who all might have access to that voice mail, and I wouldn't want to leave my clients confidential information on a message that some unknown person might listen to. Second, that's not a very effective way to communicate a settlement offer. The point is, don't assume that settlement is not the purpose just because you would have done it differently if you were calling to offer settlement.

Brian777 said:
I do not wish to return a call that may become contentious. In other words they should tell me up front what they want to discuss in order for me to call them back. If she just wants to argue about it or delay, I'm not going to engage in that.
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You seem to have already made up your mind that you don't want to call back, and of course that's your choice. Do what's comfortable for you. I wouldn't put in any detail what I wanted to discuss in a voice mail. So it doesn't surprise me that this lawyer didn't either. Most lawyers (at least the good ones) aren't going to get into a shouting match with you on the phone, make it highly contentious, etc. That's just not a good way to persuade you to their position, after all. If you call, listen to what the lawyer has to say, ask any relevant questions that come to mind, but be careful not to disclose too much of your own position at this stage. If the conversation becomes too contentious for your liking, you always have the option to end the call. But again, it's up to you whether to call the lawyer back. If it makes you really uncomfortable, then it's likely best to skip calling.
 
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