Printing Collision Estimating: Fill & Download for Free

Is the driver in jail for stealing the car? If not the driver had implied permission if not explicit permission. NOTE: that doesn't mean that that driver wasn't excluded on that policy, in which case you'll never collect from the insurance company.Since you removed Collision & Comprehensive, I must assume that your car is older and low value so it doesn't make sense to hire a lawyer and pay him $5,000 or more to get back less than $5,000. So unlike the others I'm recommending that you file in small claims court because you don't need a lawyer. You'll need to have the police report, the turn down letter from the insurance company and comparables for your car and any witnesses if any.Go online to a site like Auto Trader and find 3 nearly identical cars. That means the same Year, Make, Model and Sub-model with similar mileage. Print out the ad for each car. NOTE: judges may not be car experts like adjusters but they aren't stupid or blind either. If they catch you fudging to get more, you might get nothing or a lot less than you were looking for. SO, don't find newer Year cars. Don't find more expensive sub models. Don't use cars with lot fewer miles on them.Lastly every car sale involves sales tax and registration and license plate fees. So call an auto tag agency and find out what the fees and taxes would be on each car that you will present in court.The court clerks will usually help you properly fill out the paperwork but you need your estimates before you fill out the paperwork. Also make sure that you have both the owner's and the driver's addresses.Good luck.

Like any good train wreck, investigation of causes will point to numerous factors which all came together at just the right time in just the right way to produce a disaster.We need some background, here. First of all, the waters of the South China Sea are a damn busy place:Above is a real time map of ships around Malalysia as of this writing (Aug 24, 2017, 10:15 am EDT). And this includes ONLY those vessels equipped to report their locations. (Thank you, Marinetraffic.com).And according to Anthony Fensom’s July, 2016 article in The National Interest:An estimated $5 trillion worth of goods are transported through South China Sea shipping lanes each year, including more than half the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide. ($5 Trillion Meltdown: What If China Shuts Down the South China Sea?) (bolded material mine).The World Wildlife Federation (WWF), concerned with preservation of ocean life, supports the above, with this summary of accidents in these waters:Since 1999 there have been 293 shipping accidents in the South China Sea and east Indies, home of the Coral Triangle and 76 per cent of the world’s coral species, said Dr Simon Walmsley, Marine Manger, WWF International. As recently as April this year we’ve seen a Chinese fishing boat run aground on a protected coral reef in the Philippines that had already been damaged by a US Navy ship in January. (June, 2013 article, here: South China Sea, Mediterranean and North Sea are shipping accidents hotspots)Interesting, perhaps, that this information comes from the WWF, whose founder, Peter Scott, was a navy man during WWII and who was the only issue of Robert Falcon Scott, famed British explorer who died on his return from an expedition to the South Pole.Bottom line, heavily traveled sea lanes are going to have many accidents - just like the Bermuda Triangle.We should also note the “rules of the road,” expressed in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea known as COLREGS, which you may see here: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/navrules/navrules.pdf.Rule 7 says that ships will look out for one another with every means at their disposal.Rule 15 says, “…When two power-driven vessels are crossing… the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way…”But Rule 17 warns, in paraphrase, that even if a vessel has the right of way, it will give way to avoid a collision.We’re talking about 100 pages of fine print, here, folks, much of which involves exceptions to the rules, and exceptions to the exceptions.So you have all this traffic, and all these rules, which may or may not be observed by the captains (in the case of McCain, looks like the “other guy” was at fault) and we have all this at NIGHT.A fine kettle of fish, no?And then on top of all that, you have incipient issues of training, command and systems maintenance which the Navy is currently examining to determine what part they played in the collisions. There are hints that budget restrictions may be involved, but, so far, that is speculation (and finger pointing).But the point is this: Given the volume of traffic and the statistical operation of chaos theory which plays out in human hands and minds, we might reasonably ask why there are not MORE accidents? How come so FEW?Radar, schmadar. Yeah, it might tell you where someone IS, but it won’t tell you what someone will DO. And while only 2 ships are involved in a collision, both are part of a swarm of many hundreds.The Navy, no doubt, will come up with something to reduce the threat. My suspicion is that they will stumble onto the same thing the FAA did many years ago, in which procedures for pilots were amended to create a more collaborative approach to emergency situations. More people on watch, perhaps, some predictive algorithms courtesy of DARPA; that sort of thing. Perhaps this is a good project for IBM’s “Watson” to chew on.But as long as the Asian economies continue to expand and traffic continues to build, we should not be surprised to see more incidents in the future.

Here is one way to beat a ticket that was actually told to me by a lawyer friend over a couple of beers. Although I never tried it, the lawyer swore it would work in almost any court. It goes like this.Every morning the court prints a docket of pending cases and circulates it to the judge, the clerk and the police officers who have cases.Important. Be sure you arrive ahead of time!!!When the court convenes, the judge will call roll from the list. The judge and police officer will check off those present and mark the others absent. The judge will pass his list to the clerk. You’ll be standing outside in the hall, i.e. absent.Once court is in session and the first case has been called, go to the clerk’s office and tell the clerk you are there. Make up some humane excuse for being late. The clerk will inform the judge, who will add your name to his list, usually at the bottom as punishment for being late. The police officer will be none-the-wiser.Then, it’s a waiting game. It may take an hour, or an afternoon. At some point, the officer will think all his/her cases have been called and leave. Rest assured, they don’t like to hang around. Of course, you must remember what your ticketing officer looks like to be sure he/she has left. Then, you’re virtually home free.Wait for the judge to call your case. Stand up, approach the bench as usual, and plead not guilty. When the judge realizes the officer is not present, he/she will have no choice but to dismiss the ticket for lack of evidence, since the officer must personally testify and give you the opportunity to cross-examine him/her.Caveat: In some cases the judge may not call your name at all and reach the end of the docket. It’s imperative at that point that you stand and announce you’re there. Don’t wait until court is adjourned, or he may authorize a bench warrant for your arrest for failure to appear! The good news, by then, it’s late in the afternoon. The judge is tired and dreaming about that cool glass of Scotch waiting for him. He’ll ask how do you plead? He might even suggest “guilty with an explanation, right?” And, you say: “Not Guilty. And, he’ll go, “Are you sure? You say, “Yes, your honor.” What, no officer around? What the hell, case dismissed.Caveat II: This will not work for serious traffic offenses! If you’ve been charged with drunk driving, reckless driving or doing 100 mph in a school zone, the case likely will be continued. Get a lawyer. But it should work for most routine nuisance tickets.Editor’s Note: I added the following to a reader’s comment, but I think it’s worth reading for anyone who reads this answer. See below.I’ve seen a few comments about this “guilty in absentia.” A traffic ticket is no different than any other criminal charge. You are innocent until proven guilty and have the right to plead not guilty and demand a trial. Maybe I didn’t make that clear.Where I live, you receive a notice in the mail announcing your court date at which time you can enter a plea. You plead not guilty and demand a jury trial, which is your right under Sixth Amendment. You can also plead guilty with an explanation or just plead guilty by paying the fine. Here, you can pay right up until the morning of your hearing and not show up.The Sixth Amendment guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a public trial without unnecessary delay, the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury, and the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence against you.Therefore, being found “guilty in absentia” would seem to be unconstitutional. The key is to plead not guilty and ask for a trial, typically before the judge. You also have a right to represent yourself and you can appeal the judge’s decision to the next level if you go through with the trial.That means the police officer better get his shit together and be ready to testify as to the details of your traffic stop.Since the question asked for a loophole, that’s what I answered. While I’ve never tried it personally, I have taken routine traffic tickets to trial and I have a 6–0 record of acquittals. I’m not a total jerk, but I like to keep the system honest. And, believe me, it can be pretty crooked.Obviously going to trial requires pretty in-depth preparation. But it’s simple to do. Traffic laws are easy to find out. But here’s the secret. In every jurisdiction, there’s such a thing called “rules of the road.” That’s the case law that’s been established over the years, by people who have actually appealed lower traffic court rulings, gotten a review and opinion by a higher court.How do you research case law? Easy, just go to Google Scholar and it’s all there for free. I’ll give you two examples.Before I do, full disclosure: I worked as a newspaper reporter at the time, and covered the police and courts. So it became part of my job to test the system, which usually ended up in a story. After all, fair is fair and the law is the law.So case one:I was stopped for speeding on a eight-lane highway where the speed limit “suddenly” dropped from 65 to 55, a typical speed trap. The officer said he was pacing me and said I was doing 70 in a 55 zone. Busted?Not quite. According to case law, the officer was required to pace me for at least a mile. In addition, he had to show up in court with a certificate of calibration to prove his speedometer was accurate. What’s more, the certificate had to show the speedometer was calibrated at the speed at which he pulled me over. It’s also illegal, at least in my state, to set up a speed trap within 1,000 feet of a sign designating a change in speed. This is to give drivers time to safely slow down.The day of the trial the case was called; the officer testified. Then it was my turn for cross-examination. Did you have your speedometer calibrated? Of course, he said. Could I please see the certificate? Ah… I don’t have it with me. Strike one.When precisely did you start pacing me? I’m not sure. Well estimate as best as you can. Well, I came on the highway at such and such an exit and started pacing you right after that. How long after that? I’m not sure. Give me your best estimate. Maybe a minute. And when did you turn on your flashing lights? I’m not sure. Give me your best estimate. I would say around mile-marker 9. Surprise, it was less than a mile. Strike two.Of course, he started pacing me in the 65 mph zone and pulled me over as soon as we crossed into the 55 mph zone because I didn’t slow down. But he was prohibited by law from pacing my car until we were at least 1,000 feet beyond the 55 sign. Strike three—case dismissed.Honestly, I’m as big a supporter of law enforcement as anyone else. Three of my brothers-in-law, are or were, police officers. Every so often, however, the police need to be held accountable, especially at a mundane level like traffic court, where they interact with thousands of people. Otherwise, we’re living in an authoritarian police state.I’ll give you one other example only because it was pretty crazy. I was stopped at a light on a four-lane road with a right turn lane at the intersection of another four lane road. The overhead signage said the left lane was straight or left turn. The middle lane was straight or right turn, and the turn lane was right turn only.I made a left turn from the center lane and was pulled over. I was the only car at the intersection, plus the lane markings were mostly obliterated from wear, and honestly I was probably straddling the left and middle lane a little bit. The officer seemed to understand. He asked for my driver’s license and said he would give me a warning. But when he came back from his motorcycle he handed me a ticket. I can only surmise that he saw from my license that I was from a town 50 miles away and never thought I would protest the ticket. Big mistake.I was planning to base my defense on the fact that the lane markings were obliterated and it was impossible to tell exactly what lane I was in. This is actually a legal defense. Even though there are overhead signs, the state or county is required by law to maintain lane markings that are visible to drivers.So I went down to the local planning office to get an official, certified map of the intersection which would be admissible as evidence. There I learned a very curious thing.The road I was on continued across the four lane road and went past a shopping center. It looked like all one road, but the shopping center developer never deeded that section of the road over to the county. Legally, it was actually a private driveway, even though it was identical in design and construction to the road I was on.Now in my state, again, based on case law, there’s such a thing called “The Boulevard Rule.” It states that a car on a public road has the absolute right-of-way over a car entering or leaving a private driveway.The officer testified that he gave me a ticket because, A: The traffic direction was clearly displayed on the overhead signs, prohibiting a left turn from the center lane, and B: It was unsafe because it could have led to a collision with a car going straight in the left lane.I argued that the two lanes didn’t actually go straight, but continued to the the left onto the four lane road. In effect it was one continuous road. A car in the left lane going straight had to yield to my car because it was entering a private driveway. The judge was astonished, but dismissed the ticket. What’s more she informed the county and the county not only repainted the markings but changed the overhead signs to left turn only, straight or left/right turn, and right turn only.So out of small things, sometimes big things can happen for the public good. Always stand up for your rights.