Moron RAN A STOPSIGN and hit me...ARRRGH
 

Last week my girlfriend an I hopped into my car parked in the French Quarter on Dauphine St.

We got 3 blocks down Dauphine and were approaching the corner of Dauphine and Iberville(side entrance to the Ritz Carlton) when I saw some clown in a Silver Buick Rendevous IGNORING his stop sign and coming into the intersection towards the front passenger quarter panel of my car. Mind you I am only a few feet away at this point.

Clown does NOT stop despite me blaring my horn at the last second and me braking as hard as possible. I try to squeeze around the 2 ft of space I have before the curb and the large metal light post and metal trashcan on the corner. But of course the clown in the Buick SUV plows into the side of me sending me towards said trashcan and metal post. So I nail the curb, send metal trashcan toppling over, and then crack directly into the large pole, whereupon the pole broke off at the base as designed and went flying onto the sidewalk where pedestrians travel trying to walk to Bourbon St(one block away).

Amazingly nobody out of the 20 or so people within 50 ft of the accident got taken out by either my car, the SUV, or the flying pole.

We had only been in the car for maybe 30 seconds when this took place and my girlfriend was NOT wearing her seatbelt, so she banged her knee up pretty badly on the dash. But nothing serious, thank God.

I check and make sure she is not injured, and luckily she was pretty much A-Ok. Nothing at all happened to me.

I shut the engine off and look out of my car to see his front bumper in the middle of Dauphine and a large pole and trashcan knocked over, my car sitting on the sidewalk. I didn't know the Ritz had such great curbside service. Cause man did I get served!

At this point I don't want to get out and see the extent of the damage to the car. But, I got out, people were running up all over the place to see if we were ok, etc...

I walk around and was not happy with what I saw. Every panel on the passenger side needs to be replaced and the front of the car took the hit from the pole. Amazingly the only broken glass was from the sideview mirror of mine that the SUV took care of. No fluids on the ground either. Phew.

I see the gentleman pull his car onto the opposite sidewalk and get out of the car. Older guy, probably 70. And two 90 y/o passengers. Nobody in their car suffered injury.

He approaches me and asks if I am ok and I said something like, "Jesus Christ I am ok but fcuk you just ran the **** out of that stopsign and forced my car to eat a pole and this is not what I envisioned happening tonight "

I dial 911 and report the accident, police show up 10 minutes later to take care of the situation. The guy that hit me was very nice but never once said he was sorry and really didn't seem to concerned about the whole thing at all. It was very odd.

Also odd was the fact that so many people saw it and only one women with her small child offered to stay until the police came. She was wonderful was on the corner when the accident happened and she told the officers that the gentleman had run the stopsign without making any attempt to slow down.

I wrote my statement, gave all my info to the cops, and they ticketed him for failure to yield at a stopsign. They might have given him reckless driving as well, but I won't know until I get the police report 10 days from now.

Incredibly I backed my car off of the curb and noticed no fluids at that time either. I was able to force the passenger door open(then closed) and my girlfriend and I drove 5 blocks back to my place in the French Quarter and parked the injured car.

So much for meeting up with my cousins that night for dinner


Anyways, that is enough griping for now. This could have been MUCH worse if I had not been paying attention. I could have not braked and flipped the car into a group of the many people around the accident at the time. Girlfriend wasn't wearing seatbelt which would have been horrible. So all in all it had the potential to really do a number on us.

I just got off the first phone call with Progressive and amazingly had my claim number emailed to me before I could hang up the phone. So it seems they are on top of things.

But I do want this car to be fixed by the best and I refuse to settle for any BS from the other guy's insurance. And I also expect my rental car to be one that is comparable to my car and not an econobox. Not sure if the car is eligible for a diminished value claim, but I'll look into it.

Interestingly enough the other guy's insurance people called me 3 days ago and had me state what happened in a recorded conversation over the phone. He asked me all sorts of questions in an attempt to find any holes in what happened that could somehow get their client out of liability, to no avail. It is all in the police report and the fact that the police ticketed him and not me is enough proof to get this to proceed smoothly(I hope).

The haggling is going to come in the following:

1. I expect to be put into a rental car that is comparable to my vehicle. Any thoughts on how to approach this?

2. I am going to go after receiving compensation for the inherent loss of value to the vehicle due to the accident. The fact that the car has accident history means that I can't sell it for as much as a pristine vehicle would go for. Not only that, I bet that the other guy's insurance company is going to try to get the body shop to use generic parts instead of OEM parts for the repair job. So that leave two issues:

I. Apparently insurance companies are very difficult in terms of paying any diminished value claims. I have to prove somehow that the vehicle is now worth less than it was before the accident history. This will likely require something in writing from some 'authority' on car sales. Any advice on this front would be greatly appreciated.

II. I want OEM parts and not some generic parts to be placed on the car. I don't think they are required by law to use OEM, so I am unsure as to how I should get this car fixed the way I want it to be fixed.

3. Less than 5 minutes after my recorded conversation with the other guy's insurance they called my girlfriend. They didn't ask her any specifics about the circumstances surrounding the cause of the accident. Instead they focused on what her injuries were. She told them that she hit her left knee on the dash snd that it had two abrasions on it as well as bruising, but that her knee felt pretty much ok. She also related to them that over the next couple of days she was experiencing some back pain. Again, nothing major, but it was there.
In response they told her they were going to send her a check for $100 to visit a doctor or to purchase OTC pain relief. She told them that she might not go see a doctor and they said she should still take the $$$. Clearly they want her to take the money so that they can then claim it was a settlement and wash their hands of the matter. Obviously she is NOT going to cash the check.
Today I spoke with her and she was experiencing a lot of backpain and couldn't sit still for very long. She has taken some pain medication and I will speak with her later on to make sure she is feeling better. I told her that if her pain is not better by this weekend we are going to go see a physician for a professional opinion ASAP.


So that is where it stands as of now. I will be the first one to tell you that I am completely against gratuitously taking advantage of a situation like this. If I got the attack dogs on them I am sure I could take this insurance comany to the cleaners(to a certain extent, of course), but that is NOT my intention. We all pay high enough premiums already and I will not be the person who bilks the system at the expense of everyone else.

I simply want to make sure that everything is taken care of in a timely, professional, and courteous manner. All comments on this are definitely welcome(esp on DIMINISHED VALUE)!

Also, I have yet to see the estimate, anyone wanna ballpark it just for fun?
Needs new hood, bumper, every panel on the passenger side, 2 wheels refinished, and possible internal damage yet to be seen until car is taken apart.

Now for some crappy camera phone pics that don't quite do the damage justice:

ohhh man... that totally sucks!!! i hope all is well though. there has been WAY too many G accidents on this forum recently.

ouch..that dosent look good

:eek: :eek: holy sh!t dude, hope u r ok... very sorry to see that. i dont understand these elderly people driving around indifferent to their surroundings. and in ur case even to the accident. WTF?? u should have fallen on the ground yelling "oh my neck! my back! OMG!!!" but yea, even though u don't feel any pain now, go to a hospital and get checked out. u might feel pain after a couple days, especially after looking at those pics..:( hoping everything goes well and g/l with everything man :(

twilihgt blue.. :( I got hit too..

okay so if u want to get a rental from them, a nice one... simply tell them you use your vehicle for work and use it to transport clients and you require a nicer luxury vehicle for work as yours is now unusable.

secondly if there is any frame damage at all, demand a new car... and make sure u dont pay a cent... if they try to give u "fair market value" and its not enough to cover what you owe, or for the down payment on a new G35, make sure they compensate you... just let them know you know ur stuff and you just want your car back the way it was, and you'll go to any lengths to ensure that, and believe me the last thing they want is a lawsuit over something that is obviously their clients fault.

i also would urge that u want a shop of ur choice to repair your car, or call ur insurance agency (progessive uses only certified shops) and have them refer someone to you. I actually had a friend have his insurance company take care of everything for him, and then they went after the other guys insurance company he didnt have to deal with anything at all.

i know u dont want to bilk the situation, but even if u wanted u could have ur gf go see a physican about her pains, if the doctor recommends she go to a specialist about her pains, then that as well is coming out of the pocket of the other guys insurance company....

as far as ur car goes... if u have full coverage... u pay progressive to insure your car... they've taken pictures of the vehicle and know its in good working order and again the pictures they have on file will prove the car was fine... if their insurance company doesnt want to pay out, have progessive take care of you and they'll take care of the rest... i have progessive as well... and when my dad got into an accident they took care of everything...

just make sure this is clear to them, you are not going to step away from this situation until ur car is in the exact same condition it was before the accident and you'll go thro any means necessary

wow its a miracle that you guys didnt get hurt.....glad you guys came out fine....i knew someone that got hit from someone running a stop sign and he came out torn and bloody....almost didnt make it but its good you guys were ok.....sorry for your car though.....cant believe that was still driveable

Be sure that Louisiana law allows you to collect for dimished value. Here in NM, the courts have ruled that auto insurers are not required to pay for dimished value unless it is expressly covered in the insurance policy.

Dude I went through all of this with a not-at-fault accident with Progressive last year that I am still dealing with. I got plowed from behind by some stupid drunk 19-year old girl fighting on the phone with her boyfriend. I had my belt on, but did not see it coming. My girlfriend, in the passenger seat did, and braced herself. Girl behind hit us going probably at least 30, and I was stopped with my foot on the brake. She totalled her car, and mine should have been. I was in a 2000 Stratus at the time, worth maybe 4K. I had progressive, she had state farm.

If you want the rental car immediately, go with your insurance. They will handle everything swiftly, and put you in a rental car through enterprise in my case. Where I messed up was following their recommendation for the repair shop. Choose your own, and do not settle for any used or "refurbished" parts. These companies will try to prevent at all costs from your car being totalled, which you want. I didn't know that you as the victim have the right to demand new parts until it was too late. My frame had to be pulled, and when I got the car back, the damn trunk leaked, soaking everything when we got a heavy rain, and the thinnk bounced around like a bumper car on the highway when it was finished. The dealer only gave me 1500 for the car b/c of the accident when I traded it in for the G. I goty them to give me a quote showing that they would have given me 2500 had it not been in the accident, which I gave to my lawyer. So many things were wrong with it after the accident, like the fact that the a/c went wouldn't stay positioned correctly and all kinds of interior noise. It sounds like you got pretty banged up and you DO NOT want that car back. You want your MONEY BACK.

More importantly are your injuries. My g/f and me both had BAD whiplash the next day, and went to the emergency room. They gave us flexiril and some x-rays and that was about it. The next day I went to see a lawyer. Whiplash lasts a few days, so it takes a while to figure out if you have any serious injuries. The lawyer sent me to a chiropractor, I went to a couple weeks worth of appointments before they sent me to an MRI specialist. I knew something was wrong with my neck, but the chiropractor was going to cash in before referring me. The MRI revealed a bulging disc in my lower neck. Real quick, All-State spit out the $10,000 PIP limit. The only other money I could collect was the 10K from Progressive for unisured/underinsured motorist coverage. And that has been a real pain in the arse. I had to go see a neurologist and get a spinal epidural, which actually has helped me, before they would raise their initial offer from 1K. My lawyer got them up to 8K, and I am waiting for their check now.

Unfortunately for my g/f, who felt fine after the whiplash, is that she never got the kinds of tests done that I did. And now, almost a year and a half later, she swears her back is messed up, and if the doctors can find anything, she will most likely not be able to do anything about it in terms of compensation.

Bottom line, back/neck injuries are serious, not immediately obvious, and often permanent. This is why you have insurance, and why lawyers exist. Do yourselves a favor and go talk to one, it is the safest way to make sure you don't get screwed as bad as you will if you don't. Insurance companies are not in the business of paying out, and from what I ahve learned about Progressive, they are very good at keeping their money.

I learned a lot about this through the ordeal I have been through, if you want to ask me any questions, pm me.

wow.... sorry to hear this man.... i hope your gf is okay. I was rear ended in the rain by a ford explorer this year and its all because of his stupidity. Thinking that he can stop as fast as me? He was following me pretty fast in the rain. I stopped in time for the sudden stop but he just plowed right into me. what a dumba$$.

for repairs I always take it to the same shop.... high priced...great customer service... works on a lot of show cars and exotics in my area. They also use only oem parts. So everything about them is super expensive. the car came out looking great.

At this point please talk to a lawyer...You shouldn't handle this alone. Insurance companies have the best traffic lawyers to help them why shouldn't you...It's better if its not your fault so your lawyer will have a better case...Thank Goodness your okay...GL on your fight...

+1

Quit talking to the other insurance company in recorded conversations too. You have a right to decline. Get your story straight with your insurance co and your attorney before you commit to any statements.

Wait for GeoBau to get back on the boards (he is on a trip) and he will tell you how you can proceed with the OEM parts. I think you can demand that they use only OEM parts and they have to. GeoBau runs 2 body shops and deals with this everyday and he knows what he is talking about. You can also try to PM him.

Sorry to hear about that man...Glad youre ok.Good luck to you.!!

I got T-boned at the end of October and am still G-less :(.