Need help, car accident, VA

[Hamel]

Okay, so I just got into a car accident last week on the 18th of October roughly around 10:25 PM as I was leaving work.

The area of my work (a gas station) has two entrances but only one exit (one is a do not enter for an exit) I was pulling out of the parking lot, and a car went in front of me, as they were passing, I looked both ways to make sure no one was coming, I did not see anyone and pulled out. There are two lanes and one turn lane for turning left at the light. I was almost into the turn lane with this woman came out of no where and hit me on my back door on my drivers side.

She had slammed on her breaks, leaving skid marks (speed limit is 35mph) and the skid marks headed towards the turn lane. My back door on my drivers side is completely smashed in, causing both my drivers door and my back door to be completely useless and they do not open. Her car is a newer looking car, and should have ABS in it, which would not have caused the skid marks and would have made her stop before hitting me (if she were going 35)

The only damage to her vehicle is her left front quarter panel and her headlight is busted. She told the officer she was heading towards work and she was following the first car that I had seen.

Now, I know that if she were following the first car I would have seen her, not only that, I would not have pulled out into incoming traffic, and even if I HAD, she would have hit me in the front of my car and not the back of it.

I had gotten a ticket for failure to yield right of way, when i was already almost into my lane when she hit me. Of course I'm going to try to fight this. This is my problem though. I had no insurance when the accident accrued and was not aware of it till Monday when I called to make a claim. I had looked at my bank statements and it appears as if I did have the money available on the day that the insurance company tried to take out, but the bank charged me overdraft for "funds not available" when they were available, I deposited them in the morning time around 10-11 am.

The insurance company (I did get reinstated) told me that I cannot get covered for the accident. I have overdraft protection on my bank and they had no problem paying the little things, but when it came to my insurance, they charge me a fee but they do not pay the insurance company.

I need help, the court told me I was not allowed a public defender and legal aid said that I was not eligible because they do not help traffic cases.

What should I do? how should I fight this if I can't get an attorney?

Anything will be helpful...

I took pictures of my car and the surrounding areas, unfortunately I did not have a camera in my car during the accident, and the skid marks got washed away from weather and from people driving over them. My manager did see them though and told me she would testify saying that she saw them and at which direction they were heading.

 

[mightymoose]

Honestly, it sounds as if you were at fault.
You looked and did not see the oncoming traffic, but that does not mean the traffic was not there. There presence of skid marks does not mean that the other car was speeding. It was your responsibility to make sure the lanes were clear before entering traffic, and it seems it was not safe to do so. It is hard to fault you if you gave an honest look and did not see, but it is also hard to fault the other driver who had the right of way. The responsibility lies with you in this case.
The only thing you could do to try and fight it is argue that the officer that did the traffic investigation was wrong when he determined you failed to yield the right of way. This will be hard to do.
Your insurance problem is very unfortunate, but is also your responsibility. You can argue that your bank made an error, but in the end, the insurance company was not paid and your policy was canceled. There is no fixing that. Though you had put money in the bank that day, it does frequently take a few hours minimum for that money to become available in your account. The insurance transaction likely occurred before the money was available, which is again your responsibility to make sure the money is there.
Even if you did have an attorney, I am not so sure it would help you much here. Hopefully the other driver is covered for uninsured motorists. Their insurance company could come after you to recover their loss, but if they know you have no money or assets then they might not waste the time. You are pretty much stuck with a damaged vehicle. I can't imagine you will get your insurance company to cover the damage if your policy was not current.

Out of curiosity, how long had your policy been delinquent? You should review your policy and see if you can find any kind of loophole regarding grace periods for late payments... if anything, that might be your only out. I think you are on the hook for this though.