Hi Guys
This is a non-toyota issue. I hope it's fine if I ask this question in the toyota general section.
My father had an accident two weeks ago. As he was driving (35mph speed zone), he noticed that there was a street sign laying in the middle of the road; however, it was already too late to react! He went over it and it damaged the transmission and pushed the engine and other components upwards. The hood could not be open at the time of the accident. This happened at 1am in a narrow and very dark road.
Police arrived and removed the street sign that was stuck underneath the car. They had a hard time removing it but were successful. Then a report was files which states "vehicle hit street sign laying in the middle of the road". My dad didn't get any ticket or fine.
Allstate adjuster said it was a total loss and gave us the money minus the deductible ($500). They also said that they are not going to go against the city to get our deductible back. We have to do that on our own... Write to the city and explain what happened and ask for the money my dad has lost.
Is anyone familiar with these kind of incidents? This never happened before and I have no clue how to proceed... When I write to the city, what should I mention besides the accident details in order to get the $500 deductible.
Thanks for your advice!
I dunno, but in NSW the persons involved in an accident must remove debris. I assume that sign was on the road as the result of another accident.........if the authorities were not notified of the sign on the road, sorry, your dad has really no leg to stand on........but if you can find out that the authorities eg. local council were notified and did not clear it, you can probably file action on grounds of duty of care.
The city is required to maintain the road in good working conditon or post warnings that that a road hazard is present. Therefore the city should cover your deductible.
My guess is the reason why your insurance company would not pursue the city for the deductible is because they know from experience that dealing with such a bureaucracy is usually a dead-end. It would consume their resources of time and manpower, and only yield a comparatively insignificant sum, which is your responsibility to pay anyway. Therefore, it's more cost-effective for them to tell you to take that particular chore on yourself. Personally, I'd forget it, unless $500 buys a really big chunk of your time! Of course, if you personally know a local councilman or other politician who can grease the skids for you, then go for it!
The city would need to be proven negligent.
If someone hit or vandalized the sign and the city wasn't yet aware of the damage, there would be no liability on their part.
Thanks for your points of view... I'm still researching for information about similar cases.
Thanks again!
