Car Accidents

Up until this morning, I'd only been in two car accidents. When I was in high school, I ran a red light and totalled a girl's Mustang. When I was in my 20's, I swerved to avoid a pack of dogs and hit a utility pole instead.

This morning, a dipshit moron blew through a stop sign and smashed my truck.





I was on a US highway headed north towards work, and only about 5 miles from home, when she shot straight through an intersection without stopping or even slowing. She had a two-year old in the car with her, and THANK GOD none of us were injured. The EMT's that checked me out at the scene told me I'd be pretty stiff tomorrow, though, and I'm already sore in my neck, shoulders, and hands.

I was planning on driving to Florida this weekend to see my father, so hopefully the insurance companies can cut through the red tape and put me in a rental car today.

 

HER insurance company should cut through the red tape warrrreagl. Assuming she had it, that should be paid by them. She was at fault, and they need to make you very, very happy so that you don't try to sue for the policy limits.

More importantly, I'm glad you're ok.

 

Glad everyone was ok.

 

Soak in some bath salts, it will be worse tomorrow. Stupid cow nearly did the same to me on monday. Even near misses shake you up dont they. Your vehicle can be replaced, your cant, thats the most important thing.

 

Yikes...glad you're okay.

 

30+ vehicle pile up on I75. At least 3 dead. 16 EMT units on the scene

Glad you are relatively unscathed, warrrreagl.

 

the_jazz, we won't be able to pick up copies of the police report until tomorrow. Since I was only able to talk to her long enough to ask if she was okay, we didn't exchange any insurance information. My carrier will handle everything for me until they can get her carrier's info, and then take it from there. In the meantime, my carrier confirmed a rental car reservation for me anytime after noon today. The insurance company allowed me $40 per day up to 10 days, and the cheapest rental car offered on their website is $50 per day, so I'll be out-of-pocket for awhile a little bit - unless you know something I should be saying or doing to get/recoup the whole amount...

Also, how does one "tag" someone's member name in a post? Until then, this is me "tagging" the_jazz

 

Just add the "@" symbol and then the user name, so I will get the_jazz back in here for you.

 

Glad you're ok!

 

You're not "out of pocket" until you actually have to pay the bill. Her insurance company should be picking that up for you, so just make sure they do.

 

Glad to hear you are okay.

I am astounded that some people are even allowed behind the wheel.

 

cynthetiq - Yes, the steering wheel airbag deployed. Grancey recently showed me horror stories about people being "de-gloved" by the steering wheel airbag, but nothing like that happened to me. The only thing I received from the airbag was a big strawberry on the side of my right hand below my thumb. This was my first-ever airbag incident, and I was not expecting the propellant gases to stink so badly. I couldn't wait to get home and wash that smell off of me.

Here's an interesting thing that I just thought about while typing this reply - OnStar did not "deploy." We have paying faithfully for OnStar service in that truck for 3 years, but when I finally stopped spinning around in the road, I climbed out of the truck and called 9-1-1 myself on my cellphone. OnStar never called me in the truck to indicate that they had received any kind of signal of a deployed airbag or collision. I am definitely going to call those folks tomorrow to find out what the hell happened.

the_jazz - I am driving the holy hell out of my rental now. They put me in a pickup truck, and I am loving the crap out of it. Thanks for your soothing descriptions of what to expect.

 

Shit, really glad everyone is OK but damn this certainly sucks. Hope it all works out.

Hope you get to see you dad this weekend.

 

I had an interesting conversation with OnStar this morning. Please understand - I am not an ungrateful wretch who doesn't realize how lucky he was yesterday. I am very thankful to be unhurt, and I appreciate my ridiculously good fortune. However, I've been paying OnStar for three years to have a little peace of mind, and I didn't get what I paid for.

First, I verified that my account was up-to-date. Then, I told them about the wreck and asked why OnStar didn't contact me or any emergency agencies. I was put on hold for a long time, and the next person I talked to had a lot of questions for me. Did the airbag deploy? Did the engine lose power? Was I in a rural or urban area? Did I press the red "emergency" button? Yes, the airbag deployed. No, the engine didn't "lose" power, but I shut if off when the police arrived and asked me to do so. I was in a rural area, which (she explained) might have resulted in a poor cellular signal. I quickly debunked this garbage by saying that I called 9-1-1 from my cellphone within seconds of the accident, so the "cell tower theory" was a useless dodge. Lastly, I did not press the red "emergency" button, because I did not think to do so. I used my own phone to call for help, but I still didn't understand why OnStar didn't contact me (either through the vehicle's radio orthrough my cellphone) to determine my condition.

She concluded by reminding me that every accident is different, and that there might have been some damage to the OnStar unit in the collision, or damage to the OnStar antenna in the collision, or damage to the vehicle's power source, or bad cell tower reception, or blah blah blah. She also said that if I'd only pressed the red "emergency" button or the blue "OnStar" button, then things would have been different.

I don't pay for OnStar telephone service. I don't pay for OnStar turn-by-turn directions. I have the barest minimum account, but the one thing I do have (or am supposed to have) is peace of mind that if I'm in an accident and need help, OnStar will be there. They are supposed to lovingly talk me through my pain and reassure me that help is on the way and that I'm not alone, as they do in ALL their advertisements. All that woman did was list every reason why OnStar CANNOT be counted on in an accident, which is pretty much a laundry list of everything that's ever happened in every car accident everywhere. I guess if I had coasted downhill and gently tapped a grocery cart, then the OnStar system would have remained in perfect working order, and would have called for help. But since I had the nerve to get into a car wreck where there was actual damage to the vehicle, then all bets are off.

No, not all bets. Just all payments to OnStar. At the conclusion of the call, she asked me I understood everything, and I replied, "Oh yes. I learned everything I need to know about OnStar today, and you may cancel my account as of yesterday at 6AM."

 

glad to hear you are ok.