Traffic accident in taipei, being sued now after 5 months

Hello, im new in this forum, so ill just type all the situation for you guys to know the background.

So on february 2nd i was driving my scooter to workin the morning.

It was raining lightly, everything was wet, i was with my full headlights on, and when i was around hongshulin, a grandma was crossing the crosswalk completely careless on a red light for her and green light for me.

I saw her and i thought she would stop in the middle land of the lane. But she didnt stop, i reduced my speed, and tried to brake or contour, but there was a car stopped at the road on the side, so i couldnt make any move.
As the road was wet, when i tried to break, eventually i lost control and fell, hitting her with my mirror side. The speed limit there was 50. I didnt really see my speed at the time, but i was around 50-60km/h.
After i hit her, we had broken her collar bone, and had a small cut on her forehead. I was also injured on the knee, so the police came to assist, and there was a couple who saw the accident, which happened to be driving on the backside at the time.

So i went by ambulance with the grandma to the hospital, and later on the day went to the police to write the report.

After that i tried to contact her son, and he said that we would talk when his mother got better.

After a few months he said he didnt need any money or compensation, because she has her own insurance, and that in the later days we could meet at the police station to sign the agreement that we were good and no one was going to be sued.

At the time when we met at the police station, i said sorry, and everything, but the situation turned around, and it started to happen that she wanted money for personal compensation. Even tho her insurance already paid back her bills.

So i told them i only had my insurance to help, and that im still a student with no income. I asked how much they wanted, and they didn’t say, asking me to come with a price. When i said 5000nt, she laughed at me and said what a jerk.

Since that time, 5 months later after no agreement, and apparently my insurance not being able to pay her bills, sonce she already paid by her own insurance, they decided to sue me.

So now im left in the blank, with no money, since im in kind of bad financial situation now, due to some family problems. and i dont know how to proceed, or what to do. Ill be very glad if you guys have any suggestions, directions to point me or anything.

The police called me today to come over to the station and provide them my documents for the judge, to proceed with the sue process i guess.

Ill be thankfull for any help, or about what can happen next.

If she gets greedy they probably let you off cheaply, heard stories about people getting greedy in court and get almost nothing. Depending on the judge. And how you conduct yourself.

Get a lawyer if possible.

Probably a good advice for others is to record anything that’s being said from the start.

I see.
How cheaply you mean? And the bad thing is that i havent recorded anything, but will do from now on.
Thank you!

Record everything and lawyer up. I hate to generalize but I’ve never seen it end well for foreigners in traffic related court incidents here. At least three different ones come to mind.

The top being a friend hit head on by a woman with no license, no helmet, no lights at night, and she was 3 lanes over in the wrong lane facing oncoming traffic and was very likely intoxicated. Initially it was “her fault” according to the police and judge.

She then sued for around 300,000. By the third “hearing” her boyfriend/manservant was testifying as an eye witness when he wasn’t even there. While the four of us who were there weren’t allowed to testify. Protect yourself.

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taiwanese are so friendly though?

did he lose?

the driving ‘laws’ here are so messed up to begin with. no helmet, and drunk? should have been over with then and there.

as for the OP, could you not see anything or what? thats pretty crazy to hit an old lady. you should have slowed down when you saw her on the road. the general rule here is to never stop and rarely slow down. many accidents are waiting to happen when people don’t want to stop for anyone.

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Asking for 1-2 million and getting only a couple of hundred thousand.

Woww, definitely not cheap! Hahah

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I saw her, not from far tho, as i said it was rainy at that time, and i tried to brake, but eventually i fell with the wet road…

The passing of 5 months won’t extinguish her claim, but if the claim is based on medical bills that are already fully paid by her insurance, she’s not on the firmest of ground.

Of course, nothing posted here should be considered legal advice. I suggest contacting the Legal Aid Foundation: http://www.laf.org.tw

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Her son said they needed to pay for nursing 24/7. But still i think u can get a receipt for it to claim to the insurance… what is the legal aid foundation?
Thank you

They provide free brief consultations (appointment required but no proof of income/assets required). They can also appoint a lawyer to represent you in court (application and proof of income/assets required).

When are you leaving taiwan ? If you don’t have plans to stick around very long you can just ignore it.

I would presume that if you lost but refused to pay they would need a second court judgment for enforcement, e.g bailiff coming to take your tv

You might not want to bring more money than needed to your tw bank accounts as well

Isn’t there a rule against leaving before a criminal case is resolved? (I assume the police involvement means it’s a criminal case to begin with, the civil part being ancillary.)

You just tell it howNit is, youve no money and are a student and made a no fault offer before.

It is unclear to me from OPs post if there is a criminal case, or if this is merely a civil matter.

Anyway, you sure he is barred from leaving as long as there is a criminal case pending ? I know Taiwanese can leave while criminal cases are pending unless explicitly barred from leaving by the courts

According to a source they/she can claim 2,200 NT$/day for care for as long as she had trouble taking care of herself. It will not reimbursed by the NHI, but ask your insurance company if they will pay, some insurance companies pay up to 200,000 NT$ I was told (it should be in your contract).

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I think if it’s not a hit and run it’s a civil case only.

Don’t get fooled because I know that the caregiver can be anyone from the family or friends. They just learned about this and will use it to get your money. You need to ask for prove of the time the care was really needed. If it’s a collarbone 24 hour care is a bit far fetched, care yes. She probably couldn’t cook for herself, or shower, need some help getting dressed. Collarbone is what 3-6 weeks rest?

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They said theres a criminal case too, since we both got hurt…

Yes! Exactly one of my fears. Can the police or the court demand her to show proof?