Hi, my name is Matt Eason, and in this video, I’m going to address a very vague question that we get a lot, and that is, “do I have to pay if someone hits my car?” I’ve been practicing law for 25 years, and inevitably I get that question a lot. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as that. The real question is, pay what and to who?
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Generally speaking, under California law, if someone hits your vehicle, you would not be liable for their injuries or the damage to their car. However, there are obviously exceptions to that. If you were driving in the wrong direction on the road and they hit your car, you are probably at fault. Under the general guidelines of the law, vehicles are required to follow at a safe speed, and vehicles are not supposed to turn unless it is safe to do so. So if someone turns into you or someone rear-ends you, you are not responsible for them. They are responsible for your injuries as a general rule.
The more specific question actually is, “do you have to pay for the repairs to your vehicle if someone else is at fault?” The simple answer is maybe. The other side is obligated to pay for the repairs to your vehicle. Unfortunately, so many California drivers do not have insurance, and as a result, you would find yourself having to pay to get your car repaired. If you don’t and you want to go after them in court first, you may take months or years to get money back from them if at all and in which case you are driving around in a damaged vehicle. So if you have concerns about collecting from the other side, generally speaking, you would want to go ahead and pay for those repairs and then hope to seek reimbursement.
Another question is, “do you have to pay for your own medical expenses if someone hits your car?” When it applies to personal injury, California law is different from other states with a strict liability system or possibly in the workers’ compensation system. In strict liability systems, such as workers’ compensation, usually the insurance company for the other side pays your bills as you go. Unfortunately, in the California system of personal injury, they don’t pay for your bills as they go. Instead, you have to pay those bills and then seek reimbursement. While that’s unfortunate that you have to pay first and then seek reimbursement, it is actually a better system in the long run. In the strict liability system, you usually don’t recover for pain and suffering, which can be a big component of your case. So while it’s unfortunate that you have to pay as you go, the trade-off for that is the ability to continue to seek pain and suffering is well worth that trade-off.
Hopefully, this video answered some of your questions about whether or not you have to pay if someone hits your car. If you have been involved in a car accident and would like a free consultation with a Sacramento car accident lawyer, I hope you will consider calling our office. My name is Matt Eason. I’m with the law firm of Eason & Tambornini. We are located at 1234 H Street, Sacramento, California, 95814.
