Guy swerved into my lane and now won't respond to my texts — what do I do?

Ugh, I went through almost exactly this. The other driver was super friendly at the scene and then basically ghosted me afterward. What I ended up doing was calling his insurance company directly — I had his info from the scene — and opening a third-party claim. You don't need a police report to do that. It was annoying and slow but it worked. The adjuster tried to lowball me at first but eventually they accepted liability.

Be really careful here. The moment you contact his insurer, they're going to record your statement and look for any angle to reduce his fault percentage or deny the claim entirely. Don't give them a recorded statement without understanding what you're getting into. They are not on your side — their job is to pay out as little as possible. Your photos are your best asset right now, protect that evidence.

I used to work claims and honestly a third-party claim without a police report is totally doable. What carriers actually look at is physical evidence — damage locations, photos, any witness info — and your written account. The fact that you wrote everything down the same day is huge, that kind of contemporaneous note carries real weight internally. His new story about "not remembering it that way" is going to be hard to sell when your photos show contact on the exact panels you described.

A few practical things worth knowing: most states allow you to file a collision report yourself even after the fact if police weren't called — sometimes called a driver's exchange report or self-report form. Check your state DMV website. It won't carry the same weight as an officer's report but it creates an official record. Also, most liability policies require the insured to cooperate with their own insurer, so if he's clearly at fault, his carrier may accept the claim even if he's being difficult with you personally.

I know you're focused on the car damage right now, but please make sure you're paying attention to your body too. Adrenaline masks a lot in the hours right after a crash. If you've got any stiffness, headaches, or neck soreness that's lingered at all, go get checked out. Documenting any physical symptoms early matters a lot — for your health first, but also just in case things escalate.

Stop texting him. He's clearly building a narrative. Call his insurance company today, give them your claim, send them your photos, and let them do their job. If they drag their feet or deny it, then you think about next steps. But sitting and waiting for him to do the right thing isn't a strategy.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this on top of just recovering from the stress of the accident itself. The fact that he said "we'll work it out" and is now rewriting history is really disheartening. You did everything right by taking photos. Don't let him make you feel like you're misremembering — trust your documentation.

Quick question — did you get a photo of his actual insurance card at the scene, or just his name and number? That makes a big difference in how easily you can open a third-party claim. Also, are there any dashcam angles from your car or nearby traffic cameras that might have caught the lane change?