posted
Yes, I'm fine. Or I wouldn't be posting. Well, I'm fine physically. Emotionally I'm shaky, upset, and angry.
It was a typical rush hour chain reaction accident. One car doesn't see that everybody on the interstate is at a dead stop (because of another accident up ahead) and slams into the car in front of him, which slams into the car in front of him, etc until you get to me. I was the last in line, fortunately, so while a car rear-ended mine, I did not hit the guy in front of me. Like a good girl, when I stopped I left plenty of room between me and the car in front, just like my grandfather taught me when he gave me my first driving lessons all those years ago.
But here's where the upset and angry part come in - the guy who hit me ran off. Got out of his car, asked me if I was okay, and then said "I don't think there's damage to our cars, I think we can just leave." I told him regardless of damage we had to fill out a police report. So he goes to his car, and I expect he's just getting his license and insurance info, but no he drives off.
Before you ask if I got a license plate number the answer is no. That's because he didn't have one. There was only a cardboard dealer's tag, like you see on new cars. When I overcame my shock, I immediately wrote down what I could remember of the car - I did have the make, model, and color as well as the name of the dealership.
Naturally, there WAS damage to my van - the bumper will need replacing. Fortunately, according to my claims adjustor (who was nice enough to come meet me at the hospital as soon as I finished chemo) the brackets are in good shape and we probably just need to have the bumper replaced.
So what does this do for me, as far as paying for the bumper? I know this isn't my fault, but is it the fault of the guy behind me (who was number six in the chain) or is it the fault of the guy who made the first impact and started the chain? Because if it's the guy behind me and they can't find him, I'm going to be stuck with my deductible which is $500.
On the good side, well, I'm okay. And the damage wasn't severe. Some people cars have to be totaled, they were nothing more than crumpled hunks of metal. And, it pays to be a firefighter's wife. I recognized the battalion chief on the scene and told him who I was and was immediately surrounded by four firefighters scrambling to carry out the chief's orders to take care of me. Before you get upset, I was the last person in line and so the last person seen by the paramedics, so all other victims that might have been hurt worse than me had been cared for. The chief knew from Wes that I had cancer so he was insistent that I let the paramedics look me over. (and he was right to do so, a chemo patient can have bleeding problems from even a minor accident due to low platelets) He offered to drive me to the ER to be seen, but I told him that I was headed to the hospital anyway for chemo and that they would check my vitals there and my blood counts.
Fortunately, the rescue unit didn't transport anyone - nobody went to the hospital. I don't see how, honestly, at least two cars were destroyed and one driver couldn't get out of his vehicle until the firefighters cut him out, but he still insisted he was okay. I'm guessing everyone had seatbelts on and airbags.
So, at any rate - a very eventful start to my day to say the least. I was an hour and half late to chemo, but they got me treated anyway.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Yowza! That's a relatively lucky outcome to the accident. I can't imagine how fast the first person must have been going to total two cars and cause a 7 car chain reaction. The more I think about it, the more I'm convince "traffic safety" is a shared delusion.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Glad you're ok. If I remember correctly, the person who hit you is responsible for your particular accident, not the person who initially stopped short. Every driver is responsible for maintaining a safe following distance at all times, which is why if you rear end someone you're almost always at fault.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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If it helps, I have no doubt that the person who drove away did not have insurance, so it would have been a huge headache getting any money from him anyway, even if it were possible.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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kat, that's what Wes keeps telling me. I'm beating myself up for not stopping him from driving off even though I logically know I couldn't have stopped a six foot tall man who was bigger and stronger than me. I said I didn't get his driver's license or even his name, but I knew the cops were coming and figured they'd do all that. Wes reminded me if the guy had something to hide he wouldn't have told me the truth anyway.
Wes figures he either 1) had warrants out 2) didn't have a valid driver's license or 3) didn't have insurance.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
That sucks, Belle. I'd bet that one or more of Wes's guesses is true, and that if you can afford to eat the cost of the bumper it will be a lot less stress than trying to get money out of the guy would have been. I'm glad that he stopped to make sure that you were okay; makes me think that he's probably a decent enough person who has just fallen onto times hard enough to warp him in some unplesant ways. That was my take on the guy who stole my wallet after slamming into me head-on a couple of years ago. In the moments after the accident genuine kindness and concern were visible, but when the initial shock of it was over and he'd realized that he hadn't killed or even hurt anyone conditioning kicked in and he took advantage of the opportunity he saw.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I'm glad you're okay, Belle, and that no one was hurt. I'm sorry you had a demonstration of the ways people suck.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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He could just be a guy who has insurance, but doesn't want points on his license or his rates to go up. He saw that you were OK, decided that there was no damage and convinced himself that it was OK to leave. With the info you have, I would think there's a good chance the police could track him down even without the license plate number.
Whatever happens, it's good that everyone was OK.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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My car has been in the repair shop a dozen times on the last four years, and even for hit and runs, I've only ever had to pay a deductable for repairs once, in an accident that was ruled my fault, even though it really wasn't.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Progressive. I was worried at first, because what happened is that USAA, our previous company, decided to cancel a bunch of Alabama policies. Or rather, they decided not to renew our policy. They did this after I'd already mailed in my premium for the month, which irriated me as it took them weeks to refund it. Anyway, I was without insurance and panicked because I only had two days to get covered so I went online and bought through Progressive. I was afraid, though, that the customer service aspect might be lacking but I'm pleased to say they've been wonderful ever since we called them this morning.
I don't know what our policy says, but I'm pretty sure we will owe the deductible. I purposefully set the deductible higher to save on premiums, because I was pretty sure we could almost always come up with $500 if necessary. And we can, but we're going to feel the pinch because of timing. I just paid my tuition for the summer and my daughter's gymnastics uniform has to be ordered and the twins birthday is in two weeks. Nothing ever happens at a good time, ya know?
At any rate, I'm relieved it wasn't worse that it was. My back is hurting me, but some of that may be attributed to the shot I get at chemo that causes my bones to ache. I took a bath and soaked for a while and took a prescription painkiller, so I'm doing alright.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:So what does this do for me, as far as paying for the bumper? I know this isn't my fault, but is it the fault of the guy behind me (who was number six in the chain) or is it the fault of the guy who made the first impact and started the chain? Because if it's the guy behind me and they can't find him, I'm going to be stuck with my deductible which is $500.
It differs state-to-state. In some states, you can go after only the guy who hit you and they can collect from the guy who hit them (including for your damages) and so on. In others, you can go after the original guy directly.
Your insurance company should be able to fill you in - it's in their interest to collect as well, assuming the damage is more than $500.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Anyway, we were in a fender bender a couple weeks ago, and as my mom was on the phone with the insurance company, our CO alarm went off and we had to call the fire department. It's a pretty crummy feeling, interrupted with bursts of panic. I hate car accidents...
Posts: 464 | Registered: Jul 2004
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We had the same a few months back, except ours was a three car pile-up - like you, we were the first car (ie the one in front, not the one who hit).
The impact was enough to total our car (I suspect more in a "this will cost too much to repair" way rather than a "this can't be repaired" way) so we got the full insurance pay-out.
The impact was *hard*, and that only carried on for two cars. I shudder to imagine how hard it would have been for 7 cars.
I'm glad you're ok. And you couldn't have done anything about the jerk behind you.
posted
A couple months ago, my friend was rear-ended while stopped at a red light. The impact went through all four cars stopped at the light.
My friend's car took the initial hit (it was totaled) and then hit the one in front of her, and so forth. I'm fairly sure she wasn't responsible for the car in front of her, but that was in Georgia, so it may not apply.
I'm glad you're ok. Posts: 2149 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I'm so glad you're all right! Strangely enough, I was thinking of you today (I've been away since this morning.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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When I was in an accident like that, it was definitely considered to all be the fault of the person who was at the back of the line. Another car & mine were sitting at a stop light in the rain; some woman came up behind me too fast & hydroplaned into me, knocking my vehicle into the car in front of me. Her insurance covered both my vehicle & the one I hit.
Posts: 326 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Anyway, I was without insurance and panicked because I only had two days to get covered so I went online and bought through Progressive. I was afraid, though, that the customer service aspect might be lacking but I'm pleased to say they've been wonderful ever since we called them this morning. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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