Car accident in france

I assume the police were called and responded and filled out a report. What is your relationship to the driver? Does the driver have insurance that is good in France? If you are related to the driver and they have insurance, I hope you have notified your insurance company. I would be asking my insurance company to handle the situation since this could lead to a law suit.

Third-party liability insurance (covering injury to people or damage to property outside the vehicle) is mandatory in France , so if this was a rental car the renter will have coverage for that. Liability for the damage to your rental car will depend on the CDW coverage that the renter purchased. The claims process will depend on whether your CDW is from the rental car company, or from a third party such as Visa or Mastercard. If the coverage is from a third party, be sure to report the accident to them ASAP, because there are strict deadlines & reporting requirements. A third-party insurer will invariably require a police report.

As usual we are being asked to guess at the critical items -- Who was the driver and who owned the car? And if, just passengers, what is your relationship to the car and what is your concern. If, just passengers, you have nothing to worry about.

Well as passengers what do you want to know?
I am glad you were not hurt,, but I assume like most civilized countries the driver of your car will be held responsible ( at least to some degree depending on exact circumstances,, which you have not supplied to us) for the injuries to the poor motorcyclist . I hope driver has good insurance( just like at home one should have good insurance)

Karen, It's nice to hear that you weren't injured, however I hope the passenger on the Motorcycle wasn't too badly hurt. Was the Motorcycle driver injured? Was the car a rental vehicle, and did you rent it? If a rental, what type of CDW or insurance was chosen? I don't have much information on the traffic laws in France, especially related to U-turns. U-turns are tolerated in some jurisdictions, however if an "incident" occurs the person making the U-turn is generally held "at fault". This web link provides a bit of information on the subject: www.frenchlaw.com/road_traffic_accidents.htm Good luck!

There should be a little blue "brochure" in the car called an Accident Report Form. It has pages in French but also in English. If it is missing or the car was towed from you, you can get one from the rental company. Fill it out immediately because it will ask the exact time and the exact location of the accident among other things. Then contact your insurance company or companies. Also the credit card company because they provide insurance coverage as well.

It's called "The European Accident Report" and here is a link to an insurance website in English explaining how to fill it out and what to do. This form is standard in all of Europe. This form is a legal document that the driver must sign. http://www.nbingf.ch/european-accident-report-003-020602-en.htm

If the car wasn't drivable and the motorcyclist was taken to the hospital, my guess is that he hit the car at a fairly good clip and may not be as healthy as he would prefer to be. There's no way to have an accident like that without the police being involved. But as Frank said, there's not enough information here to really help answer your questions. Was it a rental, a French friend's personal car, something else? Who knows? Was the driver ticketed, fined on the spot, or taken to jail? We're all guessing.

Karen? ((sound of empty room)) ... maybe she was hurt more than we think ... ... maybe it was a taxi? Who knows? ... ((more sound of empty room))

Since there is no word forthcoming after that first plea for advice, maybe they are all in the pokey, or it being France, "le pokee".

Sous les verrous!

"Le Pokee" reminds me of a tee shirt I saw just yesterday: "Des Moines...it's French for The Moines"