I was on a roll with my blog recently. Seemed like something interesting was happening every day for the past couple of weeks. There was so much that I wasn't sharing, it got me excited about blogging again. All the brewing, nights out, biking, parties and meeting new people were really building up and blurring together so, to keep things organized in my own mind and share my experience with my friends (old and new) I pick up trusty TC1100 my
Although, Thursday I didn't feel too much like blogging nor did I have much time to. The day before, I was on my way from Mandolas over to Bo's to watch the newest episode of House. I took Koenig west from Lamar. On the way, I passed a brand new smart car in yellow. I watched it as I passed and glanced at it my rear view mirror (sorry Christine). I saw the green light on Burnet ahead of me but, as I got closer I felt that something was wrong.
I don't remember exactly why but, I reacted by swerving right and slamming on my brakes. The next thing I knew, I was on the other side of Burnet with my car stuck in the fence. I must have been working on instinct since it wasn't clear to me why I had ended up there. I looked across my dash and saw both of airbags had deployed and my drivers side window was busted out.
I opened my door and suddenly it was clear what had happened.The SUV in the oncoming lane had tried to turn left, pulling right in front of me as I was crossing Burnet. The front end of the SUV dug into the side of my GTO and spun 90 degrees pushing me across a traffic island, across a sidewalk and into a fence.
As I walked up to the driver of the Expedition, he was speaking only in spanish. I asked him what happened and after a few more sentances he turned and ran away. One of the helpful witnesses said he went to get his uncle. I didn't know what to think. So, I took a picture of his car, and many pictures of my car with my blackberry. The images are not good (as you can see) but, they will be helpful if any of this leads into a courtroom. I called Cory since he and Bo were not far behind me. We had just eaten dinner together at Mandola's at Lamar and GuadalupeThe ambulance arrived and I called them off (signed some form to say it was OK for them to leave). Then the police arrived and I and three guys explained what happend from our perspectives. When the conversation got to where the other driver was, he showed back up with his uncle. Turns out, he was a Mexican citizen with no drivers license. His uncle allowed him to use the car while he was at work. I knew this would complicate issues.
Once the wreckers came and took both of our cars away, I was left with a handful of paperwork, my personal effects from the car (wrapped up in a shipping blanket) and a sore wrist (my hand was popped off the steering wheel and into the drivers side window when the airbag deployed).
So, the next day, I called up the insurance company and got a claim number. Since the policy owner was not driving the car, they would not commit any dollars to me for a car rental. I don't have a clause on my policy for rental either, so I am currently car-less (if you don't count the busted down Z in my garage). They called me yesterday and said the car was repairable but, when I called them today, it turns out it's a total loss. This works out better for me since the blue book value is 21K and I only owe 11K on it. Unfortunately American Century Claims (ACC) allows people to get minimum coverage for liability, which means (in Texas) that they will only pay up to 15K. So, that means I have to get my insurance involved. Fortunately, Farmers is really helpful when you have full coverage. They will pay out the full amount and go after ACC for the money that they are owed. On the down side, I don't have a rental clause in my policy, so I will have to pay rental out of my pocket until someone can make ACC cough up the dough.
Judging on how things are going, this may well be my best post-accident experience. Most of the time (all of the time) I get shafted and end up spending my own money or get my parents dropped from their insurance policy (sorry Mom).
Fortunately, I won't be needing a car for the weekend since I left for Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon. Betty drove me to the Airport but, hopefully I'll have the rental situation figured out when I get back to the airport on Sunday night.
I need to get a few more things out of the car before I turn it over to the insurance company but, I'll do that next week.
Labels: GTO
3 Comments:
I'm sorry that happened!
But...I'm glad you weren't injured too badly. I hope that everything turns out okay....
Smart Car!!
I'm glad you weren't hurt :)
Dude, I love that you say, "Most of the time I get shafted.....". How many accidents have you been in??
Dude, that sucks big time. I'm glad your ok. What car are you going to get next?
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