All you legal nuts, help me out

[Brittney]

Does anyone know what really happens in this situation? I'm really confused because I don't know what charges to press and so on:

I woke up at 5 AM on the 14th to a loud crash. Some kids were drifting down my road and slammed into my Tahoe. The kids are 15, no license or permit, no insurance and stole their father's car that was out of town at the time. My Tahoe is not salvageable, and is in police custody as evidence until the court date which is tomorrow. I have no car and I really hope I get some money out of this because I need a car to get from point A to point B. The police didn't tell me anything really, other than that the kids want to press "injury" charges against us, and it would most likely get dismissed in court, and that my car will have to be at court as a visual. I am so confused and I just want to curl up and cry :cry3: I miss my car. I'm not sure what I should even say in court, it will just be me there, and I'm at a total loss.

 

[Marie5656]

So sorry about your car. Does your auto insurance provide you with coverage for a rental car? Most do. I would speak with your insurance agent, before going to court if you can. Any chance you can hook up with a lawyer or someone from your insurance company to come to court with you, to represent YOUR best interests? Keep us posted.

 

[Lmbswimmer]

Consult a lawyer, every state the laws are different - especially with dealing with Juveniles. The age at which a Juvenile can be tried or summonsed as an adult is different. It even depends on the crime. In maine riding without headgear is a juvenile offense and nets them a special day in court, but if they burn a tire it is an adult crime if they are over the age of 14 and show up in adult court.

A lot will depend on what charges the police issued and to who. Make sure you go to court. You can contact the ADA or the DA for your court and inquire about your case. You might even be able to speak to a victim's advocate.

Other than that make sure you contact your insurance, their lawyers might go after the parents or the kids in court. If they don't feel inclined to pursue it and the district court does not have a satisfactory resolution you can usually get a free consult with lawyer to discuss your options which might include small claims court.

If the police summonsed the kids (which I am assuming they did since they have to appear in court and they confiscated your car) then they will probably request restitution. If you could get a copy of the value of your car prior to court tomorrow that would be in your benefit. That they they have an actual restitution value.

Now, the problem with restitution is you don't get it tomorrow. In most cases where restitution is requested and granted the offender is put on a paymen plan, most people can't whip that type of money up. I have seen payments of $50 a month on a $5000 restitution order. The victim gets the money once all of it has been paid to the court and then a check is cut to the victim. No interest is added, so if it takes 5 years, wll then you still only get $5000.

Good luck!

 

[Brittney]

So sorry about your car. Does your auto insurance provide you with coverage for a rental car? Most do. I would speak with your insurance agent, before going to court if you can. Any chance you can hook up with a lawyer or someone from your insurance company to come to court with you, to represent YOUR best interests? Keep us posted.

I'm not sure. This all happened out of the blue and I'm the only one here for a while. I'm trying to make as many phone calls as possible but it's such short notice for everyone.

 

[AZChins]

I'd go to www.nada.com and get an idea of what your Tahoe is worth and take that with you. I wish that the kid's parents would pay for your car outright....or have their insurance pay for it. Ultimately this is the parents' responsibility...no one else's. It's disgusting that the kids would try to file any type of charge against you. They're lucky that they are alive.

I had a neighbor's dog damage one my cars eight years ago. I have never seen one penny - they owe me $500 for it and they never paid.

I wish I was closer so I could go to court with you. It's so scary to have to go do that on your own!

 

[Rickman]

The kids must be incarcerated for there to be such a short court date - you can't even pay a ticket for 2 wks. in order for the paperwork to catch up!
If your Tahoe is totaled, get a printout from your computer of it's worth, and bring it with you to court! The police and/or D.A. should have pictures!
Going to court is IMPERATIVE - otherwise the courts will think you don't care, and do nothing about reimbersement!
Their parents have insurance, I believe this might be under their homeowners.
Get the case number and call victim services in the county you live - they'll advise you the best way to go!
Sorry for this misfortune -good luck!
While you're in court, if you can figure out who the drivers parents and/or attorney are, you might approach them and mention if your car is replaced and you're reimbused for time and transportation, you'll not press charges! Might move things on a little quicker!

 

[Melissa]

Ok what I am about to say may scare you a bit but I want to prepare you for what may or may not happen. I don't know how your state is but this is ONLY from what I know from personal experience of being sued for something that was completely not my fault.

Your insurance company will have a lawyer to represent you (and themselves). I don't know about Arizona but in the state of Florida they can press charges and sue you for their injuries. (How dare you leave your car in your driveway for those "innocent" children to get hurt!) It may or may not get thrown out of court. Depending on the judge. The kicker? if you own your house and they have a good enough lawyer they can sue your home owners insurance as well. This happened to my parents in a car accident where *I* was the passenger and most injured and it happened in another city. The other passenger in the same car sued against my parents house. The judge allowed it. I nor the house were the cause of the accident. My dad ended up talking to the parents and they ended up dropping charges but it did happen and was allowed to continue if they wanted to.

Again, I don't know how it is in your state but depending on the legal age to press charges as an adult you can sue the parents for the money for a new car. Which is what you want right now because a child is not going to be able to come up with money for a car for you.

I say do some research and look into their assets. A lot if not all is public record. I found in my car accident the mother of the child who caused it had about 8 different properties in several different names.(Funny we didn't go after it) But depending on the age of the children you can force them to go that route and go after their other assets if they have.

Since they did not have car insurance you might have to go through your own car insurance.

Have you called your insurance company? If not they have lawyers for you free of cost. You should NOT have to be alone in this tomorrow. I would call now (most bigger insurance companies are 24 hours) and see if you can get someone out there with you.

Good luck.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Things are different depends on the state but my little brother was driving a dirt bike on the road and he hit a car head on.
My parents had to pay to have the woman's car repaired as well as go to court with my brother because the cops got him for no operators license, no helmet, no insurance, and no registration. Everything that the cops got him for was dismissed, but my parents had to pay the have the woman car repair.

Good Luck! Keep us posted

 

[AZChins]

Oh Arizona is all screwed up and they would probably allow the stupid little jerk kids to sue.

I asked my husband what "drifting" is and, wow, that is the dumbest thing for these kids to ever do. Doing that on that little street is just asking for an accident. It isn't like it's a street that they would get to just by driving by, it's way out of the way. They had no reason to be there!

 

[Brittney]

They live next door. They just moved into the house. They are the worst neighbors.

 

[AZChins]

Oh yeah...I forgot about that. Still, even more reason for them to be careful and not drift. Duh! They knew the street REALLY well if they are right next door.

Do they own or rent? LOL Maybe they will end up getting in trouble enough if they rent for the landlord to evict them.

This is all such a shame because that's such a nice neighborhood in just such a pretty place... Having bad neighbors just ruins everything.

 

[eroomlorac]

I asked my husband what "drifting" is and, wow, that is the dumbest thing for these kids to ever do. Doing that on that little street is just asking for an accident. It isn't like it's a street that they would get to just by driving by, it's way out of the way. They had no reason to be there!

Okay, so what IS drifting?

 

[Spoof]

Okay, so what IS drifting?

What?!? You never watched Dukes of Hazard?? Eeegads!

Good luck Brittney, I hope it works out in your favor.

 

[Brittney]

Youtube it. It's hard to explain. It's basically someone driving really fast, then making their car turn and "drift" sideways. It's a stupid thing that 15 year old kids get the idea from movies like Fast and Furious. Uhg.

 

[AZChins]

It's basically losing control of the car by letting it lose traction around a corner or while making a sharp turn. The problem is that when you do this you run the risk of not regaining control and plowing it into something! It's really easy to do on a dirt or gravel road. I knew what it was but didn't know that it had a name!

Stupid little kids came around a curve and lost control of their car and hit that Tahoe. What if the Tahoe hadn't been there? They could have hit the house! Or run their car into a wall. They really are lucky that they didn't get seriously injured or killed...

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

WHAT?? 15-years old drifting????
where's the world going to? and what the h-word?
You could get punished for injury?

Things like this just make me mad!

Brittney I know what you mean with the worst neighbours

We had a junkie living next to us for a while

 

[eroomlorac]

I had a friend who's dog got killed in the road. Then the driver who killed the dog sued the dog owner (my friend) for repairs to the damage on her car and won. I know you are supposed to keep your dog out of the road, but geeze. And after the driver hit and killed the dog, my friend who's dog just died, comforted the driver who was flipped that she just killed a dog. Then she turns around and sues.................and WINS. :hair:

I once swerved to miss hitting a two cats running across the road. I bent the axle of my car hitting a culvert in the ditch and it cost me my $500 deductible and about two weeks in a rental car (that insurance paid for all but about $60). I never sued the owner of the cats even though I knew who's cats they were.

 

[mercynursie]

I have a horse,mini donkey, and used to have a pygmy goat. We live in the country, but I have always known that if livestock gets loose and damages property in any way, the owner is liable.We've got really good folks in our area, you never know that they are there, but everybody comes out of the woodwork when ya need them. My guys got loose early one am and the whole neighborhood helped corral em(one girl even took her 4wd and went through her uncle's soybean field to turn them back toward home!!Others took their vehicles and blocked traffic till we got them out of the road.After all was said and done, I contacted everyone who helped as well as anyone who's property they were on and offered to pay damages. All refused, most just said "pay it forward"! Frankly, if you can't get restitution for your vehicle, I would at least insist that they do community service!!!

 

[Brittney]

We got 7 grand for my truck. The kids were 10 minutes late and they were about to set another court date. They tried to pull their whole "I got injured" story and the judge dismissed it saying basically it was their own **** fault. I feel so much better.

 

[AZChins]

YAY!!!!! I am so happy to hear that. WOO HOO!!! Stupid little kids, they better actually get punished by their parents for this. Seven grand, not too shabby! You can find a nice car for that.