Legal Question in Traffic Law in North Carolina

my nephew rear ended a truck. the driver of the truck did not want to call the police. he said there was no damage to his vehicle. three weeks later he calls and says that my nephew owes him $1300 for damage to his truck, he needs a rental car, and he might have whiplash. what do we do?


Asked on 1/02/14, 5:19 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Mueni Muli Wanjohi & Muli Law Firm PLLC

Seek competent legal advice. He can either file suit in court or contact your insurance company to file a claim. You should not attempt to negotiate with him- if he was not honest the first time, it's unlikely he will be the next time.

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Answered on 1/02/14, 7:56 pm

I agree! You should do nothing at this point. Odds are he didn't want the police called because something wasn't in order. Possibly he wasn't licensed, had no insurance or some other defect. So it would be to your advantage to simply call his bluff and see if he has the stones to sue you. If he does file suit and it appears everything was in order and he has a decent chance of being successful - you can negotiate a settlement at that point. However, I would be willing to bet he won't sue you because something will come out showing he shouldn't have been on the road in the first place. Even thought the accident was clearly your nephews fault, there's no reason to pay someone for damages if they shouldn't have been on the road in the first place. In other words, there is simply no motivation for you to negotiate with him now.

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Answered on 1/03/14, 1:24 am


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