Washington State Resident Involved in Motor Vehicle Accident
 

Good Evening All,

Over the memorial day weekend I was up in Vancouver visiting friends and family when I was involved in a motor vehicle collision.

While stopped behind a Tiguan which was allowing pedestrians to cross on a two lane (one direction each way ) road, my vehicle was rammed from behind at full speed by a 2015 Honda Civic Sedan.

I had been stopped for approximately 2-3 seconds at the time and was shunted forward into the Tiguan in front.

While exchanging information, the driver of the civic while he produced insurance papers dated for expiration by 06/2016 he refused to produce any photo id or drivers license. He stated by BC Law he is not required to produce a drivers license. Is this true?

Appreciate any assistance or guidance this forum could potentially provide in the matter.

Thanks!

Motor Vehicle Act

Duty of driver at accident
68 (1) The driver or operator or any other person in charge of a vehicle that is, directly or indirectly, involved in an accident on a highway must do all of the following:

(a) remain at or immediately return to the scene of the accident;
(b) render all reasonable assistance;
(c) produce in writing to any other driver involved in the accident and to anyone sustaining loss or injury, and, on request, to a witness
(i) his or her name and address,
(ii) the name and address of the registered owner of the vehicle,
(iii) the licence number of the vehicle, and
(iv) particulars of the motor vehicle liability insurance card or financial responsibility card for that vehicle,
or such of that information as is requested.

I've dealt with dicks who wouldn't show me their drivers license or registration. I took a picture of the driver, their license plate and the VIN and reported to ICBC that the driver was not co-operative.

Lucky for you that we only have 1 insurance company here. My friend was hit by a US driver and she didn't know any better and didn't get the insurance details and ICBC was never able to charge the other drive. She thought getting the DL and plate was enough.

The driver who hit you is required to show you his DL, among other things. His refusal is highly suspiciuous. One could assume maybe the othger driver who was hit when you were rammed might have gotten that info? Maybe you making a call to ICBC, even though you are not insured by them, might get you the information that was not produced. The Police report, the MV6020, will list the information. I assumne you you were given a copy? A call to the Vancouver PD might also be helpful.

When somebody refuses to produce the DL, there is always a good reason...and based on my 28 years of checking them...almost always the reason is because they don't want to be caught. Impaired/prohibited/no DL/ drugs in the car/stoled car/stolen plates or validation sticker/arrest warrant outstanding/ you name it. Vancouver PD will have identified him in a serious crash like this one you described. Your insurance company will need that information. Good luck.

If a driver refuses to provide DL, registration, etc, is that enough grounds to warrant a call to the police? Or does it depend on the seriousness of the accident?

Yes I would immedietly call the police. Otherwise If they refuse to give you personal information then leave, it's a hit and run essentially

Just another thing to look out for............... I had a woman run a stop sign in front of me and nailed the front end of my car. She pulled out a photocopy of car insurance and I started writing down the reg and vin number and all the particulars. That's when I noticed the license plate number and description of the car didn't match. When I asked her about it, she pulled out the right one and said that she accidentally gave me a copy of her husbands car.

Didn't think much of it at the time but later I realized she would have gotten away with it because I didn't have the right vehicle registration numbers. She was also pissed that I took a video of the damage to her vehicle and of her climbing back into her car. Oh well, I had to protect myself.

Everybody has a cell phone camera. Take pictures...specially if the other driver
refuses to identify himself....and also call Police if he does. It is a public place and there is no expectation of privacy, so click away.

It's also possible that the person saw you were from the Washington and wanted to take advantage of you not knowing your rights and possibly getting away with it.

Hello all,

Thank you all so much for your prompt and detailed responses. I've taken this information and forwarded it on to my insurance company (Farmers) out here.

During the incident the police were not called to the scene, as such I only have the information of some witnesses who provided their contact to the individual I was shunted into (VW Tiguan).

Hopefully this matter gets resolved, the other area of concern is I've heard from friends that in BC, for incidents such as this, even if you are shoved into the vehicle in front ICBC would deem you at fault.

Conversely in WA state according to my insurance adjuster, the rules differ in that the vehicle responsible for the initial collision is wholly at fault for all subsequent vehicles hit. Not sure how this will shake out with the cross border insurance claims.

as long as you have a witness, and you were fully stopped, they will be found at 100% fault.

not necessarily. My first accident, i was distracted (not on a phone if you believe that! lol) and i rear ended a vw, who in turn rear ended the car infront of him. I was only found at fault for the car i hit, and he was found at fault for the car he hit, as he was deemed to close to other car. Iuno how it works over there with farmers, as this was here in bc.

This is what i was told by the adjuster, but who knows maybe they were wrong lol

Depends on the case. I was rear ended 2 years ago, guy hit me going like 60 or 70 I was at a dead stop with a car in front of me.

I had plenty of room, but he hit me with so much force that I was pushed into the car in front of me.

ICBC deemed him 100% at fault for both counts.

Probably comes down to how far you are, but my car got pushed probably 15' into the car in front of me.

IF the damage for any involved vehicle is over $1000, the crash must be reported. The other victim insured by ICBC would have reported it and ICBC will have the other driver info. I suggest speaking to ICBC about it...call the reporting line Dial-a-Claim at 1-800-910-4222 and ask them. One of their clients hit you. Can't understand why the other driver didn't call Police over it? ANY damage these days is over $1000??