Car hit my bocat

[ducaticorse]

I was approaching my trailer to maneuver it into a more convenient position on the street the other day and all of a sudden this car load of broads is to my immediate left and honking their horn. I look at them about to cuss them out and they stop the car and get out. Apparently I just smashed their front end with my bucket. There is obvious damage. My guess about 2K worth. I didnt feel a thing. Im a little pissed off because they had no business trying to maneuver around my machine in the manner they did. I had an extra large bucket on and Im thinking they were paying attention to my cab and not the bucket when they tried to pass me (without as much as a honk or any other notification). I gave them my car insurance info even though they have nothing to do with my bobcat. Im not about to bounce this off my liability policy either, as I see it as they are the ones at fault, and I have two employees that saw the entire thing go down. I see this one going to court in a hurry....

 

[imagineero]

I don't know how the law is in the states, but here in aus unless your bobcat is road registered and insured, your screwed.... and the damage to the other car usually ends up being about 5 x what you thought it was. Even if you have insurance policies, they generally won't cover you for driving a bobcat/skidder/tractor or whatever on the road unless that vehicle is actually registered. Sounds like you're about to take a pounding.

I've driven rented bobcats on the road, but they were road registered and insured to be driven on the road. I also went to the extra step of setting out signage and cones to let people know what that something is going on.

Shaun

 

[ducaticorse]

I don't know how the law is in the states, but here in aus unless your bobcat is road registered and insured, your screwed.... and the damage to the other car usually ends up being about 5 x what you thought it was. Even if you have insurance policies, they generally won't cover you for driving a bobcat/skidder/tractor or whatever on the road unless that vehicle is actually registered. Sounds like you're about to take a pounding.

I've driven rented bobcats on the road, but they were road registered and insured to be driven on the road. I also went to the extra step of setting out signage and cones to let people know what that something is going on.

Shaun

The only road registered bobcats I have ever seen here in this state belong to a municipality. There are countless contractors all over this city operating bobcats on a regular basis on the road ways without registration. I'm not saying that you are wrong in what you have written, but I do believe that this will come down to a small claims suit brought upon me by the woman or her insurance agency.

 

[imagineero]

Maybe the law is different over there in regards to what sort of vehicles need to be registered to be on the road. I imagine it varies by state. Over here, all vehicles used on the road must be registered, otherwise you're driving illegally and uninsured. There's a type of conditional insurance available for things like tractors, farm equipment, bobcats etc to be driven locally on roads. It isn't expensive. The vehicles have to pass a roadworthy inspection and generally need to be fitted with headlights, indicators and flashing lights.

I guess some other members will chime in with some advice that's more appropriate for your area.

Shaun

 

[ducaticorse]

Maybe the law is different over there in regards to what sort of vehicles need to be registered to be on the road. I imagine it varies by state. Over here, all vehicles used on the road must be registered, otherwise you're driving illegally and uninsured. There's a type of conditional insurance available for things like tractors, farm equipment, bobcats etc to be driven locally on roads. It isn't expensive. The vehicles have to pass a roadworthy inspection and generally need to be fitted with headlights, indicators and flashing lights.

I guess some other members will chime in with some advice that's more appropriate for your area.

Shaun

Well, after the week I've had, I wouldnt be at all surprised if you're right. Her car in of itself wasnt worth more than a few grand, so I'm assuming the damage isnt over a cpl thousand. Drivers side quarter panel dented and pinch up against the door to her car making it difficult to open.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Did you have signage out? Most likely you will have to flip the bill because you should be aware of you surroundings while operating equipment. Total bs. Welcome to the great country we call america........

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Around here you can drive slow equipment/tractors down the road as long as it's got flashing lights or an orange triangle on it and you let traffic by if you are able to. (Illegal to hold back more than 5 vehicles)

As for registration, they don't care. Heck I don't even have most of my vehicles registered. They do have plates, but they are expired. My dumptruck was last registered in 1993. :msp_biggrin:

What the hell was a car doing so close to your Bobcat? The driver needed to yield and wait until the operator saw them and motioned for them to pass by.

I was fixing a private road a few weeks ago, backing up to level the gravel and a car decided to pull up right behind me instead of going off to the side. I didn't see them till I was about to run them over. What's going to win, a plastic Saturn or a 9000lb steel Bobcat. Hmmm..

 

[old_soul]

Shouldnt have anything to do with registration. skid loaders are construction equipment last time i checked .

if you had a work zone set up with cones, etc they might find her at fault for being inside the zone

if you were just tracking up and down the road alongside traffic , you will likely be paying for that vehicle to be repaired

 

[dakotalawdog]

Where they moving in the same direction as you, overtaking you, were they stopped when you hit them? I would need to know more details, and I don't know how it works in Mass., but registration will likely have nothing to do with with who is found to be at fault in the collision. I investigate crashes frequently between equipment and MVs, and the fact they are not a registered vehicle matters nothing on my end. What will matter more is who had the right of way, if you were operating your equipment safely, if it was visible. Many states have "move over" laws which require operators of other motor vehicles to move over or yield to construction equipment, emergency vehicles or vehicles with their hazards on operating on the side of the roadway.

In most states as well, if damage done to any one vehicle is more than a certain amount (usually between $1,000 - $2,500) it is required to file a police report. Honestly, probably not a big deal, but if she did something wrong, she may have been cited. It would be far less likely that a police officer would cite you in such a case, even if it was your fault - giving you some leeway because you were operating equipment and because frankly it's probably a lot harder to fill out a traffic ticket on a Bobcat than a Honda.

 

[ropensaddle]

Ok I think it becomes a slow moving vehicle deal and what is funny to me is; I can wait patiently for someone to load a backhoe , dozer,bobcat and really not even get angry but here what ticks me off to no end is bicycles on our scenic highways. I would have been beat to death if my dad caught me in the middle of a highway now it seems its a ####ing right. I came over a hill and one of them was stopped in the middle of the road working on his schwinn and I had to shut down at 55 mph in less than 100 feet almost hit the dumb #### and I hollered get out of the damn road idiot out the window. These cyclist are morons believe since it is their right to obstruct traffic they do so without even looking:monkey: I hope your deal comes out good tell them it is your right to work

 

[ducaticorse]

Where they moving in the same direction as you, overtaking you, were they stopped when you hit them? I would need to know more details, and I don't know how it works in Mass., but registration will likely have nothing to do with with who is found to be at fault in the collision. I investigate crashes frequently between equipment and MVs, and the fact they are not a registered vehicle matters nothing on my end. What will matter more is who had the right of way, if you were operating your equipment safely, if it was visible. Many states have "move over" laws which require operators of other motor vehicles to move over or yield to construction equipment, emergency vehicles or vehicles with their hazards on operating on the side of the roadway.

In most states as well, if damage done to any one vehicle is more than a certain amount (usually between $1,000 - $2,500) it is required to file a police report. Honestly, probably not a big deal, but if she did something wrong, she may have been cited. It would be far less likely that a police officer would cite you in such a case, even if it was your fault - giving you some leeway because you were operating equipment and because frankly it's probably a lot harder to fill out a traffic ticket on a Bobcat than a Honda.

I was in the right hand lane going with "traffic" even though it was on a side street, and she was the only car. I had a large bucket that hung out 2 feet on either side of the machine. I feel as though she was paying attention to the cad and not the bucket when she tried to overtake, and ran her drivers front quarter into the edge of the bucket by accident. There was clearly not enough room to attempt a maneuver such as this, let alone have any chance of being successful. She was clearly impatient, and wasn't paying attention.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

She is at fault, she hit your machine!

 

[KenJax Tree]

Not sure how its gonna end without a police report. I know here in Michigan they're tough on equipment ops and commercial vehicles involved in accidents especially if they didn't make a report.

 

[ducaticorse]

Not sure how its gonna end without a police report. I know here in Michigan they're tough on equipment ops and commercial vehicles involved in accidents especially if they didn't make a report.

She called the police. All they did was facilitate an information transaction. They said they didnt need to and were not going to file a report because no one was hurt. I know in MA witnesses cannot be in the vehicle at the time of the accident besides the operator so the girls that were with here are useless to her. I had two guys on the street watching, so basically it's 3 persons word against one. I know this is going to end up in court, but I dont think I'll be found at fault if it goes that far.

 

[ropensaddle]

She called the police. All they did was facilitate an information transaction. They said they didnt need to and were not going to file a report because no one was hurt. I know in MA witnesses cannot be in the vehicle at the time of the accident besides the operator so the girls that were with here are useless to her. I had two guys on the street watching, so basically it's 3 persons word against one. I know this is going to end up in court, but I dont think I'll be found at fault if it goes that far.

Well lets hope your court has some commonsense to me its no different than hitting a parked vehicle if u hit it it should be your fault.
I bet money she was going too fast I know here 30 mph zones are abused horrendous

 

[formationrx]

...

sounds like this chick just wants money or a new car...

 

[Grouchy old man]

Just say she was texting.

 

[ducaticorse]

And it's begun. She doesn't speak a lick of English so I just got a call from her son requesting my liability insurance information. He wasnt there at the scene by the way. He claims the police told his mother that it was my fault even though none of them were bi-lingual, and there was no interpreter there, plus no police report was filed. I told him that his mother hit my machine, I intend to submit an affidavit reflecting that and that her insurance company should contact me directly. He told me her ins co told him to get the info, and that he didnt know who I was so why should he have her ins co contact me. I told him "excuse me, but you weren't even at the scene, and you're asking me for my business information in a case that has zero to do with you. I will contact my insurance and follow their guidance regarding this issue". He didnt appreciate that too much. Looking forward to how this pans out..

 

[Pelorus]

I hope it pans out OK for you.
From my limited undestanding of how the insurance industry bloodsuckers work, is that they like to assign a percentge of blame to both parties; eg. party"A" is 75% responsible for the accident vs 25% for party B. = both parties are "at fault", and then the blood$uckers can jack up the premiums for both parties.

I had a young hothead driving his girlfriends car hit me as I was turning into a parking spot at a grocery store years ago. Turn signal was on, and I was basically at a dead crawl. The rear bumper on my ole Dodge Dakota pretty much peeled her car open like a can opener.
Had a golden witness (a stranger getting into her car) who started screaming at the kid that he was driving like a maniac. Cops never showed up. I had to fight, and fight, and fight with the damn blood$uckers that there was absolutely nothing I could have done to have avoided getting whacked. Cop who took the report I filed at the station told me about the insurance percentages thing.

 

[ducaticorse]

I hope it pans out OK for you.
From my limited undestanding of how the insurance industry bloodsuckers work, is that they like to assign a percentge of blame to both parties; eg. party"A" is 75% responsible for the accident vs 25% for party B. = both parties are "at fault", and then the blood$uckers can jack up the premiums for both parties.

I had a young hothead driving his girlfriends car hit me as I was turning into a parking spot at a grocery store years ago. Turn signal was on, and I was basically at a dead crawl. The rear bumper on my ole Dodge Dakota pretty much peeled her car open like a can opener.
Had a golden witness (a stranger getting into her car) who started screaming at the kid that he was driving like a maniac. Cops never showed up. I had to fight, and fight, and fight with the damn blood$uckers that there was absolutely nothing I could have done to have avoided getting whacked. Cop who took the report I filed at the station told me about the insurance percentages thing.

Youre right about the percentages thing... I'm just thinking her ins company is posturing to deny her claim all together and her ass will in turn come against me in small claims.