A Car Wreck in America

A few years ago, I was involved in a car crash in the USA in which I crashed a rental car and was found to be responsible by the police and charged. The conduct of the policeman involved is the most extraordinary part of the whole story, and something that still causes me disbelief in heart and head as I write this several after the event. This is the story of that accident.

I was driving down to a pool hall to play pool with a buddy of mine when I was involved in the crash. I was working for a US company at the time, so at least I had a corporate car insurance policy to support me, as well as the insurance that I had taken out with the Rent A Car Company. I usually took out the expensive but comprehensive 'no worries' all inclusive car insurance programme but had not done so on this occasion since my employer had told me that this was a waste of money.

I was driving along a multi-lane highway at peak time in the afternoon and the road was busy. I heard a car honk its horn further up the road and then all the cars in front of me started to break. I did the same, but could not stop in time before hitting the back of the car in front of me, which then hit the car in front too. I was in the right hand exit lane at the time and had slid the car along the side panel of concrete since I could not get the car to slow down. Nobody was injured in the crash- the traffic was heavy and I was not travelling at a great pace, but nonetheless, my car was quite badly damaged along the side and the back of the car in front lost at least a bumper. There was some various debris on the road which I was able to clear quite quickly and safely before the police arrived.

I stood by the side of the road waiting for police assistance with the two other people involved in the crash- a young women on her way to a nursery to collect her child who it turned out worked every close to my employer's office and a young man who was short and muscular. Neither them nor I was injured at all from the relatively minor crash and we were all talking and moving freely.

After ten minutes or more, a police car arrived and an officer stepped out and did the usual, asking if we were OK and what had happened. I explained that I could not get the car to stop and had slid it along the side bar on the road to slow it down. The officer was unaccompanied and wore a large badge saying 'TRAINEE' which I guessed was his status rather than his name. After the questions he then went back and sat in his car for a few more minutes before coming back out and saying that he had found me to be at fault for the accident and that he was charging me as such. It is routine for the person who drives into the back of the vehicle in front to be found responsible.

But what was surprising was the manner of the officer- I was the only non-American and he asked the young man involved if he had been injured in the crash and he said No he hadn't. The police officer then prompted him again as to whether he should mark him down on the accident report as injured to which I mildly protested. The police officer then replied to me words very similar to these: 'Trust me young man, when this American wakes up in the morning, he will be feeling injured.' The young man then agreed to say he was injured. The women in the immediate car in front of me had some whiplash and was also marked down as being hurt. I just did not like the way that this police officer had appeared to favour the Americans and also to actively prompt the young man who was clearly totally uninjured to say that he was a victim. Of course in America, lawsuits abound for this sort of thing so I was far more worried than I would have been in an equivalent situation in the UK.

The police office gave me a 'Uniform Traffic Citation, Summons, Accusation/ Warning' form that said that I had committed an offence contrary to the law. I still have a photocopy of the 'Violator's Copy' for 'Following Too Close'. I could either go to the Recorder's Court just over two weeks later to answer the charge, or I could admit guilt and pay a sum of $75 to the Recorders Court. Because I would not have been in the country at that time, and to move the matter forward, I took the later option and sent off a check.

Since I had questioned whether there was a vehicular failure, I was not allowed to drive my rental car away so I was given a lift to a supermarket just up the road in the back of the police car from where I took a taxi back to my hotel.

That evening I had a nervous conversation with a colleague of mine at the hotel and the next day at the office I spoke to the person who was in the personnel department and in charge of the insurance matters. She was very helpful and very relaxed about the whole matter- much more so than me! I was told that any lawsuits filed would have to be filed within two years after the accident. She arranged for a claim to be filed on their insurance and later that day I had a telephone interview with someone from the insurance company about the accident during which I went over what happened.

I soon received a letter from the company that administered claims for the Rent a Car company, saying the following:

'Dear Mr. Buckingham:

We have completed our investigation of your recent accident and your concerns regarding the vehicle you rented.

The vehicle was thoroughly checked for any evidence of a defect and was found to be operating properly and as designed. It has been determined that driver error was the cause of the accident, not the brake system failing.

Please be advised that you have 21 business days from the date of this letter to conduct your own inspection. We will continue to keep this vehicle on hold until such time has expired. If you do not wish to inspect the unit within that time frame, we will release the vehicle for disposition.'

I soon received another letter from the rent a car company saying that they had calculated the mount of their Loss as being $2508.48 based on the amount of revenues lost whilst the car was being repaired and other factors. They claimed this back from the insurance company who paid the claim apart from about $500 which I ended up paying myself- a year later I was surprised to receive a refund for the amount paid from the car rental company, who must have been paid by the insurers too at some point.

I never heard from the authorities again or from the other people involved in the accident and the paperwork was worked through and the matter settled. Of course the accident caused me great stress and worry and I am amused to find that I have copies of every piece of paper involved. Several years have now elapsed, so I won't get sued, but I assume that I have some kind of local criminal record somewhere in the US. This has never affected my car rentals, entry to the US, applications for federal and state tax and company registrations etc. though.

The police offer involved could probably be forgiven for this attitude- I was a foreign visitor to his state, the others were Americans and I was at fault. But the active prompting by the trainee officer travelling on his own to say the other people involved were hurt was unnecessary and excessive.



Author: Simon Buckingham

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