Drivers, as a general rule...

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I got the driver's side of my car smashed in today, while I was driving it, by a lady who ran a red light.

Traffic wasn't busy...when my light turned green, I went, and she just plain didn't stop. *I* slammed on my brakes when I saw her (and my roommate yelped when he noticed her) and was pretty much stopped when she plowed into me, but she was going probably 10-15 still...eh, I dunno, it was enough to knock my door in so I can't open it and have a nice 2-inch gap the air and rain gets through quite well.

My hubcap has a small dent in it but it seems the wheel escaped most of the damage; the body panel around it though is smushed in to meet the door where the door's smooshed in. It's like the car just folded along the seam between the door and that panel. I can still drive okay, but have to get out one of the other doors, and I've got a funny vmmming sound that makes me think the wheel might be rubbing slightly on something or be knocked out of alignment or something like that.

It had been raining today (and is again) but at the time of the accident it wasn't coming down.

So the lady is literally 75 years old (saw her driver's license) and she begged me to just call her and have her pay out of her pocket to fix my car, since her husband will get mad at her when he finds out. I'm not having any of that, as I called my insurance company and gave them all the info not 10 minutes later.

I'm supposed to drive down to Torrance tomorrow to look at a couple apartments; it's at least a 30-minute drive and it's supposed to be as rainy as it was today. The insurance guy gave me the name of a nearby repair place so I'll get in touch with them tomorrow and see if they can start working on it so I can get a rental car; my insurance will cover the rental on days when my car is actively being repaired, but maybe not other days like Sunday. If they can't start on it maybe I'll just ask them to tape up the door or something so water doesn't get through and make sure nothing's rubbing on the wheel so at least I can drive it until they're ready for me.

Mehh...I really like my car. It suits my needs well. This better not be a big problem.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Did I ever tell you about the time I was driving to work one morning through the center of provo, and this man stopped his car at a red light.  In the middle of the intersection?  University and Main, the idiot just stopped in the middle of the intersection and just SAT there.  I and a few other drivers honked our horns. I was close enough to see the guy, and he just kind of looked around  and was like, "Oh hey I guess I"m in the complete middle of the road." and then backed up.

I'm sorry to hear about your car.

[Archon]

Oh, my best experience wins. My brother and I were sitting in the high school parking lot, just waiting for the truck to warm up. The car was in park, and we are just sitting there, with the car running. This kid comes through the spot next to us, opposite the way we are facing, and suddenly the whole truck starts shaking like someone is rocking it back and forth. So it turns out the kid turned too sharply and bent our bumper, shattered our tail light, and I don't remember about the body. We got hit while we were parked in a parking lot. Another good one was when we got a love tap in the drive through at McDonald's.
    Anyway, that sucks about your car Ookla. Not a whole lot you can do when someone decides that the red light was just kidding, and they were really supposed to keep going. One question though, wasn't her car visibly damaged too? I would guess if it did all of that to your car, that it at least took out her headlights. How was she planning on keeping that from her husband?

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Frankly I didn't look at the front of her car (I was still rattled) but my roommate did and it didn't appear to be damaged from what I can remember.

[Archon]

In that case, when they are doing the repairs, have them upgrade your body to have titanium armor. So next time, they have to fix their car too.  

[Oldie Black Witch]

I am REALLY sorry to hear about that, Ookla. Insurance companies are a pain in the rear.

My husband and I just got rear-ended in September by a cement pumping truck. It totalled the car, and it was a royal pain to get the insurance to even get us a rental. Then they said they'd only give us the rental for two weeks (as if they could absolutely determine, with the bureaucratic mess that insurance companies are, that the car was truly totalled and allow us enough time to come up with money from nowhere to replace it).

May the repairs go quickly.

[stacer]

Massachussetts doesn't allow outside insurance companies to do business here. So I had Geico in Chicago, but had to change to a local company when I moved here. But that's actually a good thing, because when my car was totalled, the company covered a full month of rental car for me. I ended up not replacing the car, so I just drove the rental for the month, then moved to an apartment that was nearer public transportation.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Depends on your deductable.

Oh and dont consider me uncharitable, but I hope you called her insurence company immediately.
The my husband will kill me thing should take a back seat to the my car needs to be repaired thing. If she has insurence, thats what its for. everyone makes mistakes.

[42]

Well, if she was 75 years old, then it is possible she could be driving with impaired vision or simular problem and doesn't want anyone to know. This accident could bring such problems to light, thus putting her license in jeapardy. Hence, a reason she doesn't want an insurance company to be contacted. It's likely the insurance company will require her to undergo a physical examination before continuing her coverage.

Actually, that is a good thing. My grandmothers both insist on driving, but have lost their depth perception and are afraid of driving above 15mph. One of my grandmothers had her car mysteriously dissappear from her garage. The family is on the other.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Im not sure its so bad for her to be tested either...

But primarily I was speaking from my own experience as the payee in an accident after my insurence co dropped me without my knowledge... paying was a !@#$!! and I discovered I didnt have 3000 bucks at my disposal. For a 75 year old 300 could be a stretch.

Losing the ability to drive would suck, but if you put others at risk...

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

See, now that same thing *almost* happened to me as well. If it wasn't for me stopping in time, that dumb broad would of hit me. I understand that the light wasn't changing, but thats because the left turn signal was still in effect. Oy.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I didn't call her insurance company. But I did call mine right away. They'll take care of it.

Took the car in yesterday and the guy said he thought it had a suspension problem. The wheel looks a bit tilted vertically.

I screwed up picking the rental car though...no CD player!! Other than that it's nice enough, but now I can't listen to the Patrick O'Brian books on my long drives...unless I check out the tape versions (my car doesn't have a tape player, which is why I got the CD versions from the library).

[cheesegrater]

You should have let the geezer pay so your insurance doesn't go up.

[Mistress of Darkness]

Ookla's insurance company will make the woman's insurance foot the bill, but since that involves a lot of messy negotiations, etc. they take care of him now.

Many insurance companies will increase your insurance premium for being involved in an accident, whether you were at fault or not.

[Nicadymus]

MOD has a point.  Some insurance companies don't care if you were at fault or not, but, imo, it is still better to have them handle everything so that you don't accidentally sign away any rights that you might have as the damaged party.  The insurance companies know your rights in that area of law, as you pay them to represent you, and have an intrest in ensuring that your claim is processed correctly since it will cost them more money if it goes to court.