Jean Quan didn't give insurance proof after wreck, lawyer says

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan addresses the media at City Hall in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, June 9, 2014, a day after she was involved in a traffic collision in West Oakland. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan addresses the media at City Hall in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, June 9, 2014, a day after she was involved in a traffic collision in West Oakland. Photo: Tim Hussin, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Tim Hussin, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Jean Quan didn't give insurance proof after wreck, lawyer says 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan didn't trade insurance documents with another driver after a car crash in West Oakland in June and is dragging her feet in the insurance investigation, the attorney for the other driver said Monday.

Quan wouldn't give Lakisha Renee Lovely, 36, proof of insurance after the collision on June 8 in the intersection of 26th and Market streets and still has not done so, said attorney Charles Kelly. He said the delay has been a hardship for his client, who needs to get her car fixed.

The crash, which remains under investigation by the city Police Department, gained attention because Lovely told officers that Quan was using her cell phone when she ran a red light and slammed her city-leased Lexus SUV into Lovely's Nissan.

Quan has strongly denied that she was using her cell phone while driving and said the police investigation would determine if she had run a red light.

California law requires drivers to carry proof of insurance and share the information after a collision. Quan said Monday that she had not shirked her insurance requirements, noting that her Lexus was insured by the city.

"We're self-insured," she said. "We told them that. I told her at the scene. I made it pretty clear it was a city car."

Quan said that she showed Lovely her driver's license but that Lovely never asked to see proof of insurance.

"I had a hard time getting her information" because she was upset about what had happened, Quan said.

Kelly gave a different account. He said Lovely, who was "a little woozy," had asked Quan to show that she had insurance, and that Quan had said she would have her office send it to her.

Kelly said Quan had, as of Monday, not provided insurance information to Lovely or her insurance company.

"My client was injured in the accident and has been off work by doctor's orders since the accident," Kelly said. "She is a working mother and missing work is a real hardship to her family. She is also incurring medical bills and her car sits in a shop awaiting repairs."

Lovely, a nurses' assistant in San Francisco, does not have comprehensive insurance, Kelly said, and must pay her $500 deductible to have her car repaired before investigators determine who is at fault.

Kelly said he sent a letter to Quan early last week asking for details about her insurance coverage. The mayor said she had received the letter.

"I gave their letter to our lawyer," she said.

The registration of the Lexus had expired in March - which Quan said she was unaware of at the time of the crash. The city's Public Works Agency, which is responsible for ensuring that city vehicles are registered, renewed the registration following the accident.