Car Accidents Do Happen

Here’s something really important you should know to do, in case you are in a car accident, even a minor one, at fault or as victim.

Last Friday, my friend and I were waiting to leave the parking lot of a fast food restaurant and before we could exit, we had to wait for the vehicle in front of us to exit onto the road.

As an experienced driver with an excellent record, I’ve always kept my distance between me and the car ahead of me for two reasons: (1) in case they broke down, I could move around them and (2) in case I was rear ended, I would most likely not hit the car in front of me from the impact of the car hitting me from behind.

We did not expect the person in front of us to all of a sudden put her vehicle (truck) into reverse! My very first thought is that they were going to adjust their position in doing so well knew that we were behind them…even my headlight were on during the day time…I layed on the horn just in case they didn’t see us behind them…they didn’t stop.

As I braced myself with my left hand gripping the wheel and my right hand laying on the horn non stop, the truck in front of us crashed with force into our front, still not realizing they had hit something and pushed us further.

We all pulled to the side to check out the damages. Nothing to the truck, but our car suffered major damage to the front driver side. It had pushed in our head light, metal, buckled the hood (which cannot open now) damaged the grill and the fog light, and threw the body off kilter.

Point #1: We exchanged info. The driver of the truck, a young woman who as she got out of her truck was on a cell phone, said that she didn’t want to turn it into her insurance and would fix it on the side.

Point #2: Being hurt and two months fresh out of neck surgery, I looked at her and told her that she wouldn’t be able to afford fixing the beemer or cover my medical, so we got her insurance info (thank goodness she had insurance!)

Point #3: We called the insurance claims department right away. We didn’t call the police because in Southern California, unless you are bleeding on the pavement, aren’t too excited to venture out to take a report.

Point #4: I called my surgeon to get his advice and he suggested I relax with medication and see him first opening to make a health evaluation documentation.

Point #5: Now here’s where everything gets tricky. Do not assume because the other party claims liability for causing the accident that their insurance company is going to handle everything as they should. Even when their claims person says that they will take care of everything, you must watch out.

Their claims adjuster said no problem to the rental car but we had to pay for the miles which is not correct, no problem in getting the car fixed, no problem with paying for the medical and physical therapy bills after all was completed. She took my insurance info to make sure by law I had the minimum coverage.

Point #6: I received a call from MY insurance company that the other party’s insurance company was trying to get MY insurance to pay for everything, even though they were at fault and admitted it! How’s that? No, no, no, no, NO!

Point #7: We ended up having to call an attorney to handle this. I want my car fixed. I want a rental car with miles paid for, I want all of my medical paid for up front or as I go, I want compensation! After all, this is why we have insurance, right?

The insurance companies are a business. They don’t want to pay out a claim if they can get out of it easy. So, let the attorney handle the claim. They’ll get paid too, now, by the other party’s insurance.

Enjoy your summer, buckle up and don’t drink and drive!