Walk It Through: The Fender Bender at the Store
A dent in an empty car, a driver in another with a sore neck, and the report due at $1,000.
Backing out at the grocery store, a driver bumps a parked car with no one in it.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
Two crashes in a parking lot with no serious injury. A crash with a death, a disputed fault, and the insurance claims that follow are not walked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Class A misdemeanorThe most serious class of misdemeanor, up to one year in the county jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
- Person crimeA crime the code labels person rather than nonperson; burglary of a dwelling is a person felony, while burglary of another building is a nonperson felony.
- Severity levelThe rank of a felony on the sentencing grid, whose other axis is criminal history; each box gives a range in months of imprisonment.