Car Wreck

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Knifemaker
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Oct 19, 2005
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On Sunday while out taking Hannah to Build-A-Bear a driver ran a red light and hit us. He was coming from the opposite direction going straight, and I was turning left. I saw him at the last second, hit the brakes and turned the wheel toward him. This presented my front bumper, rather than my passengerside quarterpanel to his car. It caused a glancing blow to us rather than a massive blow to the PASSENGER side of the truck. Leah (6 mos preg) and Hannah (so brave), little unborn Emily and I are OK. The other driver didn't fare as well as we did. He was driving an Impala and he hit my Titan going ~60. His car was severely damaged (think stain on the road here). His airbags deployed and saved his face, but his arms were cut up, which is common with air bag deployments. (Don't I know it.)

He was an upstanding guy. Got out and claimed fault. Though, several firemen had been standing nearby and saw the whole thing. But no matter, he was honest. And that is appreciated. Additionally he is a citizen of our nation, speaks plain English, and had full coverage.
 
Andy thank goodness you and yours are O:K: . Anything you need ?

Good evasive driving B:T:W: Some people clamp down on the brakes like its a transporter drive .
 
So glad you and yours are OK. Scary as hell. Watch carefully for soft-tissue injury showing up in the next couple of weeks - often it takes a while before stuff like whiplash becomes apparent.

Prayers for the other guy.
 
Scary story, Andy. Glad you and your family are OK.

(I am sending you a related PM.)

Eric
 
Another one, Andy! Sorry to hear.

People drive like maniacs in Atlanta (in my humble opinion/experience: sorry! and I lived in Miami!). Glad you and family are OK.

At least the other guy was a good American, if not a good driver. :foot:

I almost got run off the road by a patriotic idiot once. Lots of flag stickers on his car, not much ability to drive inside.


Mike
 
That's some good defensive driving Andy, glad, extremely glad, you and yours weren't harmed. Prayers of thanks going out.

Sarge
 
I am glad to here that everyone is ok. Best of luck getting it all back together again.

n2s
 
First, I am very glad you and yours were not seriously injured! Quick thinking and quick acting. :thumbup:

I surely hope that you called the cops and made a report. Always do this no matter what the other guy says.

I have been on the wrong end of this once. Good looking woman hit me. Her fault. Well-dressed. She told me that her insurance would be cancelled if I made a police report and begged me not to. Told me her husband was rich and he would fix my car and pay me extra not to report her.:D

If she had been single and I had been single, she might have offered more ...<VBSEG>..:D

Got her driver's license and business card. :D

No response to fixing my car. :grumpy:

Called her. She handed the phone to her husband who said, "Accident? What accident? She did not hit you or anyone else." :confused:

I got hot and said some things and he reponded. The bottom line was that if there was no police report, there was no easy way to handle this. I called the police 'way after the accident, and they gave me a hard time about NOT reporting the accident within 24 hours! :mad: :mad:

So I hustled down to the Magistrate's Court of Fulton County and had the Marshals deliver him a lawsuit. Nothing like a guy in a Mountie Hat to get your attention. :eek: :D

Bottom line is that my car got fixed just fine. I only wish I had called Atlanta's Finest and had them make a report.
 
Bummer, Andy. Thank God you and your troop are doing OK. Just-in-case smoke up;)
I concur about Atlanta's drivers. I've been through there twice, nearly wrecked into...twice. My father, an experienced biker, had a lady cut him off and then slam on her brakes in a rain storm on his way back from Daytona Bike Week. Nothing like a 60mph leather-lined ride on your backside down the freeway;):grumpy: He was fine...she never stopped. The bike? well it was fine other than some cosmetic stuff. However, I don't have to tell anyone how quickly those little chromed replacement accessory parts add up.

Jake
 
Thank goodness you had the presence of mind to do what you did. Glad to hear that everyone is OK!!
 
Ad Astra said:
People drive like maniacs in Atlanta (in my humble opinion/experience: sorry! and I lived in Miami!).

Mike
Click to expand...


Grrrrr! :mad:

Oh, that was you Mike! Sorry about that. Did you see my bumper sticker?

"The Voices in My Head Don't Like You."

and

"Have You Ever Seen an UZI fired from a car window?"


For some reason a lot of people do yell the name of my van when I am driving.

"Hey Astro!"

"Learn to drive, Astro!" Come on, how can a van learn to drive?

"(something) Sun on the Beach, Astro!"

"Astro corksoaker." My personal favorite!

Somehow people also know I have an Astro van when I drive my Eldorado. They yell similar Astro things, but I am usually going so fast that I don't hear them very well. Maybe I need new hearing aid batteries? Maybe new glasses? :D :D
 
Thanks Guys. Should have posted yesterday. Dang busy season at work. I certainly filed a report immediately. It was too bad a wreck to ignore, so that was never an option. His insurance is handling everything except that they are only wanting to replace one tire. I'd always heard you had to replace two at a time. They're offering settlements, but I haven't responded to that yet. No idea how to negotiate such a thing.
 
aproy1101 said:
Thanks Guys. Should have posted yesterday. Dang busy season at work. I certainly filed a report immediately. It was too bad a wreck to ignore, so that was never an option. His insurance is handling everything except that they are only wanting to replace one tire. I'd always heard you had to replace two at a time. They're offering settlements, but I haven't responded to that yet. No idea how to negotiate such a thing.
Click to expand...

There are insurance "adjusters" who do negotiate for you, at least in Real Estate loss claims. But often in cars, it is very cut and dried. If you need, email me and I will dig up a few names.

make sure they rent you a car like you drive anyway while yours is being fixed.

It seems like there should be some way to claim extra money, because it is hard to get the paint to match and being in a severe accident will be noted on your car's history and services like Carfax will be able to pass it on to prospective buyers.

Perhaps you should insist that a dealer repair your Titan?

I have heard of replacing two tires at a time, but never really knew why, or if it is at all necessary. I do know that you need the same size and kind of tires.

I would certainly take yourself and your family to a good doctor and be checked out from stem to stern and make sure there are no "injuries" before signing a release.

If you have ANY injuries that could be problems later - your doctor will tell you - I would get a lawyer, pronto!

Litigious Bill
 
Upon rereading my initial post it sounds as if I am taking too much credit for the driving move. This wreck happened so fast that there was none of that 'life in slow motion' feeling I got during the first wreck. During that first wreck I had time to think about what I should do, I even looked over at my father, and worried about him. This one was all instinct. Or more acurately, like I was guided. This may sound silly, but I don't feel I deserve the credit. After the wreck I could stand back and evaluate the physics, and it surely worked out in our favor. I'm not good with scripture, but somehow this comes to mind, "There but by the grace of God."


AD, I agree, the drivers in Atlanta are challenged to say the least. Miami drivers, IMO, aren't any better though. I've lived in both spots.

Bill, PM coming. I have no idea whether I need an attourney, nor, how to select one.
 
At least here in Cali, you ALWAYS want to lawyer up after an accident like that. Solid citizen claiming fault in front of witnesses or no. Whew. Glad you and yours are Okay. MD's stamp of approval on that is also a good thing. Document & photo everything. Sounds like having your head up may have saved your family.:)
 
Bill Marsh said:
Grrrrr! :mad:
For some reason a lot of people do yell the name of my van when I am driving.

"Hey Astro!"

"Learn to drive, Astro!" Come on, how can a van learn to drive?

"(something) Sun on the Beach, Astro!"

"Astro corksoaker." My personal favorite!

Somehow people also know I have an Astro van when I drive my Eldorado. They yell similar Astro things, but I am usually going so fast that I don't hear them very well. Maybe I need new hearing aid batteries? Maybe new glasses? :D :D
Click to expand...
ROFL :D

Andy, good heads-up play on your part; even if it was just instinct, it was good instinct. Glad you and your ladies are OK. As others have said, get thoroughly checked out before you sign anything from his insurance company. The moment you sign off, you're done. You can wait to sign to ensure that nothing develops over the next few weeks. Your insurance company should help you negotiate. Don't get a lawyer until you need one; once you sick the shartks on them, things can get unnecessarily complicated. It's fine to solicit a legal opinion for advice, but keep it as advice unless you have no other choice. As long as you don't sign the final settlement until you are satisfied that everything's OK, you should be fine.

Good luck,

Mark
 
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