"Not reporting property damage >$1000" issued by fremont county sheriff after a one vehicle collision(rolled off forest service road at night). The night of the loss, driver and passenger had no cell reception at location, recieved a ride to nearest town. After consulting the insurance company whether to contact anyone else, the agent advised not unless medical attention was required. With the phone transcription in court could the $220 fine for not reporting property damage be dismissed?
Hi,My name is XXXXX XXXXX X'd be happy to answer your questions today. I'm sorry to hear that this happened.We have recently implemented a new payment and feedback system. Please be aware that you are rating my courtesy and service as a professional, and not whether the answer supports your legal position. If you have any questions at all, or there is anything I can clarify for you, please bypass the rating system and click “Continue the Conversation” or "Reply". Choosing either of the lowest two options reflects poorly on me (and not the law), so please reply to me if there is anything I can do to help before choosing those options. I appreciate your patience while we work out the kinks.Unfortunately, ignorance of the law is not a defense to a ticket. Receiving bad advice from an insurance agent also isn't a defense. This is a strict liability statute, so the only thing that's relevant is whether there was more than $1,000 worth of property damage, and whether it was reported. The driver could defend on the basis of not having any cell phone reception, if he called and reported the accident as soon as he could after the fact (that's because inability to file a report is a defense).What Wyoming Statutes, Section 31-5-1106 says is that "The driver of a vehicle which is involved in an accident resulting in bodily injury to or death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or more shall, within ten (10) days after the accident, forward a written report of the accident to the highway department." So, one defense might be that it did not appear to the driver that the vehicle had more than $1,000 worth of damage (I don't know how bad the damage was). If it was dark or you couldn't really see the full extent of the damage, that would help a little - but you have ten days, so you'd have to be able to explain why it wasn't reported after the first estimate was received. If, in the phone conversation with the agent, the driver stated that the damage didn't appear to be that bad, or he didn't think it would be over $1,000, that might help more. If, anywhere in the conversation, the driver said something like, "It's really bad," or "There's a lot of damage," the conversation would probably hurt more than help. So, listen to it, and read the transcript to see what it says.Also, the insurance company may be interested in knowing that one of their agents is giving out information that is resulting in their customers getting ticketed. That's something to convey to a supervisor to see if they are willing to help in any way, since you relied upon that statement in not calling the police. Had the agent not said, "Don't report it," this wouldn't have happened - and you wouldn't have to pay the fine. So, talk to them. If you have any questions at all about what I've written, please click "continue conversation" or reply so that I may address them. It's important to me that you are 100% satisfied with the service I have provided you. Thank you.