The SVX got hit this morning

[sperry]

By some idiot that really should learn the basic rules of the road before he's out driving a commercial vehicle.

I'm on my way to work, a bit late (9:30am), driving down Arrowcreek Parkway. I'm comming up on the Zolezzi Lane intersection, going about the 35 mph speed limit. Guy in a small panel truck is coming the other direction. We both have green lights of course. However, this genius decides to make an illegal u-turn into oncoming traffic (me). He whips the truck around just as I'm entering the intersection. So I'm full on the brakes, and the horn (eat SuperTones dirtbag) and I know I'm still going to hit him, so I angle the car right and put it up on the curb.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to avoid the accident entirely. Dick-hole's truck takes off my driver's side mirror. To be honest I'm really lucky the car didn't just get totaled. If the ass end of the truck had hit the side of the car and taken out a window or something... the repair bill probably would have been more than the car's worth.



Anyway. I'm honking like a crazy person w/ my 118db horns and this guy just drives away! So I floor it, and chase his ass down to the gas station on the corner of Arrowcreek and S. Virginia. He pulles in there, and I follow him. He's still ignoring my honking, and doesn't stop the truck until we're well into the back parking lot of the businesses there. Finally he stops and I'm out of the car in super-fly-TNT pissed off mode... which is no wonder why he doesn't want to get out of the truck and cracks the window.

Me: "HEY! YOU JUST HIT ME BACK THERE!"
Him: "What? Where?"
Me: "You just hit me when you made that illegal u-turn at Zolezzi!"
Him: "Really, I didn't see anybody."
Me: "Well you took off my damn mirror!"

After that I calmed down and we exchanged info. He called his boss and was told to give my all the insurance info, but to tell me they'd rather replace the mirror out of pocket rather than to involve the insurance companies. Of course that's understandable... but they're going to be a little upset, as I'll bet a mirror for the SVX will run in the $250-$300 range, plus painting and installation... probably around $800. Plus I need to get the wheel and suspension checked out after driving it up on the curb... at least I was on the stock 16" wheels... the Enkies would have been demolished.

So, I need to bring it to a body shop for an estimate and fax it over to these guys. Plus I'm contacting my insurance as well to see what they want to do, and to see if I should file a police report so I have record of the incident.

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone's dumbass driving got me. I have to say, I actually feel pretty lucky... just an instant longer reaction time from me would have meant putting the motor of the SVX right under that truck's bumper... and that would have been that for the SVX.

[MPREZIV]

Holy shit dude! That could have been MUCH worse! Glad you're alright!

[ArthurS]

I still hate people that play dumb. I mean, he had to have heard/saw/noticed something was wrong.

Sorry Scott. Always sucks to get hit by someone.

Just remember, if they pay out of pocket to fix the damages to you car and you later find out more was wrong, then they won't be held liable anymore. So make sure when you get the estimate they check EVERYTHING so if they do pay out of pocket you are sure that you will be correctly compensated for the loss.

Or we can just file the claim.

[Double Phister]

I got rearended at a light once and still had to chase down the other party. WTF???

Glad you're alright.

[sybir]

Mother....That sucks, dude. Make sure you go over it with a fine-toothed comb before taking a cash settlement.

[ShawnS]

Originally Posted by sperry

Me: "You just hit me when you made that illegal u-turn at Zolezzi!"
Him: "Really, I didn't see anybody."

How the hell do you not see a big bright red car coming at you? Well at least it wasn't worse.

That whole area of town early in the AM can be just full of retards.

[dknv]

Originally Posted by ArthurS

I still hate people that play dumb. I mean, he had to have heard/saw/noticed something was wrong.

Swear to God! You KNOW he had to have felt it even if he didn't hear it (if he had his music turned up too loud or something).

Scott, glad to hear you're ok, and that it wasn't worse (but, it's still bad enough). One thing I had read about with another person's accident from a long time ago, when they steered away to avoid a collision -- they ended up not getting hit, but still damaging their own car by going in a ditch -- and the other driver never got caught, never ended up being liable, and the innocent victim who steered away was dinged for their evasive actions. So, in a way, I'm glad you don't have to go through that because there is damage.

Yeah, I'd definately have the suspension checked out.

[tysonK]

weak. At the least you and the SVX will soldier on. Sucks that you have to go through all the bullshit.

[M3n2c3]

That's nuts.

I like the animation

[sperry]

Originally Posted by dknv

Swear to God! You KNOW he had to have felt it even if he didn't hear it (if he had his music turned up too loud or something).

Scott, glad to hear you're ok, and that it wasn't worse (but, it's still bad enough). One thing I had read about with another person's accident from a long time ago, when they steered away to avoid a collision -- they ended up not getting hit, but still damaging their own car by going in a ditch -- and the other driver never got caught, never ended up being liable, and the innocent victim who steered away was dinged for their evasive actions. So, in a way, I'm glad you don't have to go through that because there is damage.

Yeah, I'd definately have the suspension checked out.

You're very right Debbie. If I had been able to totally avoided the incident, then there would have been a fight if there ended up being suspension issues. After all, if there's no contact, is there an accident? But that's not the case... my mirror was taken off, so it's repair time.

I just got the estimate after lunch over at Shaber Ave Auto Body for the mirror plus an alignment: $579.27. But we didn't get under the car and inspect the RF suspension. However, looking at the (lack) of damage to the wheel, I'm pretty sure I lucked out and nothing was broken in the suspension. The car seems to drive well, with just some slight vibration in the steering. There's certainly some curbing on the wheel, but the tire took the brunt of the hit, and I was probably only going 10 or 15 mph at that point, so it's not like I went flying into the curb.

What I'm going to do is write up a little contract and fax it to the company that owns the truck that hit me. It will outline that I'm going to get the mirror repaired, the car aligned, and fix any other resulting damage that is discovered during the alignment. They will be responsible for the cost in full for all repairs. If they're not interested in agreeing with my request, I'll just file the claim with my insurance and they can deal with it on the back-end via AllState's evil collections minions.

Here's the damaged mirror:


I tried to get the scratches on the door:


Here's the curbed wheel:


And here's my estimate:

[ScottyS]

Him: "What? Where?"

[khail19]

I'd make them pay for the wheel too, either refinish it or get a new one.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by khail19

I'd make them pay for the wheel too, either refinish it or get a new one.

It actually looks worse that it is... plus those are my winter rims, they're not all that pretty. If my RPF1's were on the car, they'd be buying me a new one.

[WRX06TR]

Wow that sucks. Glad you're okay. I hate ignorant drivers that can't take responsability for their own actions. At least you caught the guy, when I was in a hit and run, I got out of my car to see the damage/talk to the driver the person took off .

[Emboyoyo]

That hella sucks!!

[Dean]

Damn... I'd claim the evasive maneuver and curb hit broke your center dif..

Glad you are OK.

[doubleurx]

Man that SUX

No seriosly, I'm glad your OK.

[sperry]

Here's the letter I just faxed over to the business that owns the truck that hit me:

Dear Mr. ****,

I am contacting you in regards to the accident between your driver **** **** and me at 9:30 am the morning of Wednesday, January 31, 2007. Your driver made an improper u-turn into oncoming traffic westbound on Arrowcreek Parkway at Zolezzi Lane. I was eastbound on Arrowcreek, and was forced to drive off the road over the curb to avoid your truck.

While I was able to avoid significant impact, your truck did hit my driver’s side rearview mirror destroying it. In addition, my right front wheel and tire was damaged by the curb I was forced to drive over to prevent totaling my car.

The most disturbing aspect of the incident is that not only did your driver make a poor decision to make an illegal u-turn and fail to see a bright red oncoming car; he attempted to leave the scene of the accident after impacting my car and forcing me off the road. If he truly didn’t see me to begin with, he certainly should have seen me and heard me during and after the accident, as I was honking my 118db horns (approximately seven times louder than a normal car horn) to get his attention. After the accident, your driver drove away and forced me to catch up to him and follow him into a parking lot down the street before finally pulling over to exchange information. If he truly was unaware of the incident, I would certainly question his ability to operate any sort of commercial vehicle. If he was aware of the incident, he was willfully attempting to avoid responsibility for his actions. He is lucky I was able to catch him or he would be facing hit and run charges with many witnesses, including a work crew that was on site at the intersection.

I have obtained an estimate for repairs (attached) which includes replacing and painting the damaged mirror, as well as a front-end alignment to correct alignment issues resulting from the impact with the curb. The total for the estimate is $579.27. As per your request over the phone at the scene, I am willing to allow you to pay for these repairs without involving our insurance companies. However, if during the repair there is additional damage discovered (for example: bent suspension components, wheel damage, or additional labor for paint repair, etc) I will expect that you will foot the cost of these repairs as well. If this agreement is not satisfactory, I will have my car repaired through my insurance company who does cover any additional damage discovered. I do not expect there to be more cost required than currently estimated, but I am not willing to consider this settled until the car is completely restored to pre-incident condition. Finally, I would appreciate a $50 consideration due to the time and effort required for me to handle the appraisal, repair, and downtime of my vehicle for an incident that should have been wholly avoided by your driver.

Please let me know if my conditions are acceptable. I would like to get your response as soon as possible, as it will take time to order the parts and I would like to repair the car quickly. Thank you in advance for working with me on this situation.

Sincerely,


Scott Perry

[tysonK]

Make sure you send him the animation.

But make a little explosion on impact and the amount $579.00 pop out of it.

Like an old school batman "POW"!.

[MattR]

Your "Legal Speak" is getting quite refined sperry....I hope I never fuck up anything of yours

[sperry]

Originally Posted by MattR

Your "Legal Speak" is getting quite refined sperry....I hope I never fuck up anything of yours

You should see the contract I've drafted for playing Wii in front of the DLP at my house.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by tysonK

Make sure you send him the animation.

But make a little explosion on impact and the amount $579.00 pop out of it.

Like an old school batman "POW"!.

I'm fucking dying here...



In all seriousness at least you're okay, dude. It sucks camel nuts the car's banged up but at least you didn't jump the curb down into a 50 ft ditch or something really bad like that.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

I'm fucking dying here...



In all seriousness at least you're okay, dude. It sucks camel nuts the car's banged up but at least you didn't jump the curb down into a 50 ft ditch or something really bad like that.

Yeah, I was a little freaked out... it was one of those slo-mo situations... In the space of like 1 second my mind was like

"is that guy turning left there?"
"that's not a good idea!"
"maybe he's going to turn into the left lane and not block mine"
"nope, that ass is going to totally cut me off!"
"there isn't enough room for me to stop in time"
"I'm going to have to ditch over the curb and off the street"
"I better not yank the car hard right or I risk hitting the light pole over there!"
"Hey look, somehow I avoided plowing right under this guy!?!"
<CRUNCH>
"Dammit, that ass just took off my mirror!"
"Great now I'm going to have to deal with repairs..."
"Wait, WTF he's just going to drive away!?!!"
"Fuck that! I'm after this idiot!"

I very well could have been busy scratching my balls or something which would have been just enough less reaction time that I would have just plowed into the guy. Then we wouldn't be talking about just a mirror, but a totaled SVX, a fucked up truck, a hit-and-run investigation, and possible medical issues. Hopefully the company responsible realizes this as well and works with me to get things fixed up quickly. If they're not on board by the end of the week, they'll just have to deal w/ AllState.

[dknv]

$50 for what's going to be at least 4 hours of your time? You're a cheap date (and I mean that with the utmost respect). I would've asked for at least $500 for my time & trouble. Maybe they would counter back with a lower figure, but I mean really, you are going to lose some of your life's time and energy (you already have) dealing with what should not have been an incident. (Art: am I out of line here?)

[ScottyS]

Originally Posted by dknv

$50 for what's going to be at least 4 hours of your time? You're a cheap date (and I mean that with the utmost respect). I would've asked for at least $500 for my time & trouble. Maybe they would counter back with a lower figure, but I mean really, you are going to lose some of your life's time and energy (you already have) dealing with what should not have been an incident. (Art: am I out of line here?)

I've often wondered about that factor, as I've gone out of my way to make things easier for those at fault too (like the guy whose kids essentially killed my 1990 Legacy). Unless you really take a liking to the other party (scary), you are doing them a favor by keeping it off the record that they should recognize. They should be prepared to pay FULL RETAIL mechanic/part costs for repair, and pay in cash once provided with an estimate. You then have the option of when and how to repair, which can allow you to "compensate yourself" for the difference if you go the wrecking yard part self install method. If you are able to get them to provide additional compensation for your time (the fair thing to do on your part), then good deal. But if not (and you decide to go through with the private transaction anyways), then you can console yourself that part of life is dealing with mistakes and accidents, and so eating some time is a small price to pay vs. zero compensation. Of course, that's my view only when I'm in a generous mood......

I should add that if the circumstances are such that you know that the hypothetical clueless-SUV-driving-cell-phone-twice-divorced-soccer-mom-on-meds needs to have the accident on her record just to help the next poor victim, go out of the way to do it by the book......heheh.