Thread: neighbor almost crashed into my house!

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I was just about to plug in my glue gun when I heard a crash and loud revving sound just outside. My cat was at full attention at the window so I knew it wasnt my fiance's game in the next room.

I went to look out the door and I had tail lights in my face. I didnt see a driver and feared it was some druggy/drunk person and ran after the crash, or someone trying to steal a car and bolted.

I ran to get my fiance and quickly went out to look around for the culprit. Thankfully, the open car door slammed into my decorative lightpost in my yard or it would have hit the house.

It did damage to the rear bumper on my fiances car though. If it wasnt for the parked car the vehicle might have broken gone through our living room window.While taking down the porch columns. ><

The neghbors dad came over scowling and said it was his sons car but he didnt know where his son was.

A moment later his son came walking up and said he thought the emergency brake was on. Nope!

Well, the fuzz came out and didnt give a ticket because he said it was damage done on private property, he seemed pleased about that. I wanted a ticket for negligence on the missing driver but I guess if you damage someones car on their land they get no tickets at all?

Seems weird. He left the vehicle unattended while it was on, thats negligence. And the mother is the owner of the vehicle but her son might not be registered to operate it but the officer didnt look into that. That could have been another issue there.

If any police officers or anyone familiar with this type of situation can weigh in, id appreciate it. But it seemed weird to only have the officer there to help us exchange phone numbers and insurance.

It seems that even though the neighbor was listed first in the exchange of info paper nowhere does it indicate they were at fault. The officer said merely putting them first indicates they were at fault but nothing is marked as such.

The officer said the insurance company's have to sort it out. Just didnt feel right to me but then again, Ive never been in a situation as this.

It depends on the jurisdiction. If the car was parked in a driveway left unattended then drove into your yard it is considered a private property type accident and again depending on the jurisdiction no tickets would be issued. We would do a private property accident report with them at fault and the insurance would have to take care of the damages. If he was not registered to operate it, as long as he has a driver's license, it wouldnt matter. Even so, if it was considered private property the license issue probably wouldnt matter either. Basically what you need to do is contact their insurance company fairly soon to see if they filed with them. If they dont you will have to take it up in civil court. Now, if the car was parked in the street and left running that would be a whole different matter.

And if the officer was pleased, it probably was because that was one less piece of paperwork he had to do. I dont know how your jurisdiction works but again we would have done a report. You might want to call on Monday to find out if a report was done and if not, why not. It might just be their policy with that type of accident.

Not a cop, but you should have no problems with their insurance covering every last bit of damage.

Unless your yard, house and parked car somehow jumped out in front of the guy's car (and that almost never happens ) it's 100% obvious that they are completely responsible.

I would be freaked out and kind of mad, but hopefully the neighbors are quick to get this taken care of. Glad no one was hurt and hope your damages are not too bad and easy to fix.

ouch. i think i would be very mad and yet wondering WTH? But no one was hurt and just be sure it get taken care of!

EEk... thank goodness it didn't actually crash through your house! Glad no one was hurt.

Originally Posted by Johnson724

Now, if the car was parked in the street and left running that would be a whole different matter.

Thats exactly what he did, left it running in the street, it backed down into our yard and into our parked car.

If it wasnt for our house light pole thingy (not the Big street lights) a personal lamp post thing, it would have hit the house too. His car door was left open as he went back into his house for something. So when it went backwards it hit our car and it turned it just enough for the open car door to catch onto our pole. If not for the pole it would have hit the house by the front door.

If it didnt hit the car it would have gone to the living room window.

Originally Posted by kittyvibe

Thats exactly what he did, left it running in the street, it backed down into our yard and into our parked car.

If it wasnt for our house light pole thingy (not the Big street lights) a personal lamp post thing, it would have hit the house too. His car door was left open as he went back into his house for something. So when it went backwards it hit our car and it turned it just enough for the open car door to catch onto our pole. If not for the pole it would have hit the house by the front door.

If it didnt hit the car it would have gone to the living room window.

Now for us, the fact that it was in the street changes things. As long as the street is a county or city maintained road and not a private street like in an apartment complex or town home type neighborhood. Since it started in the street and ended up in your yard it would have called for a regular accident report and a citation MAY be issued at the discretion of the officer.

With our department if there is no dispute over the cause of the accident or who was at fault and the damage is under $500 we dont have to write a citation. Severe damage or injuries we would. But that is how we do things. Not all agencies are the same.

I got to the point that I wrote citations at all accidents. Not because I am a hardnose (was going to same something different) but because it insured that the person at fault went to court and the judge made sure that the damages were taken care of.

For instance if you hit a deer our agency will do a full accident report. In the county that I actually live in they tell you to go to their website and fill out a form without an officer ever actually coming to you unless you are injured or stranded on the side of the road.

Glad no one was hurt and I hope the people involved take care of the damages.

Again, contact their insurance agency, I would wait till tomorrow, and make sure that they have initiated a claim.

thanks for the info, my fiance should call the insurance company today. It surely does burn my biscuits that the mother (not the son at fault) gave a meek apology at the end of the whole thing. It would have been the first thing I said, and since we dont know them, introduced ourselves.

Lacking that basic common courtesy tells us alot about them. On top of negligence with the vehicle. :/

Thanks again, I feel a bit better just venting a bit and feel better prepared thanks to everyones advice

With all read id say you handled it better then I would have. Im one of those guys that more a cut neck for a scratch so to speak. Real hot headed. Soon as the kid showed up a report would be filed on me.

Kudos to you and hope it gets straightened out.

Sorry, kittyvibe. Hope the issue gets worked out to your satisfaction. Like jokers, I give you credit for handling it so calmly (the kid's lucky he is still breathing)