Car OOOps

Between keeping an eye on the construction going on at home and getting to my patients I had a busy day on Thursday. I was off running errands when I had a little fender bender. Waiting at a stop to make a left turn., waited and waited for the other car to go first. I finally decide to go but then so does the other car. I stop just at the beginning of my turn, when I realize she is coming, but the other car does not stop. Nor does it try to avoid me.  Its like the Titanic hitting the ice  burg. Everything in slow motion. neither of us going more than 5 miles an hour. I had stopped by the time she hit me. No air bags deployed.

My jeep has a hitch and pulley on its bumper reinforcing the bumper. All I get is a few scrapes and punctures and a broken light cover. Her impala is creamed on the corner and scraped all the way back to the back seat door.

 She gets out of her car once she stops. She apologizes and says her foot got stuck on the gas. She is in flip flops. She begins to cry and tell me she has no license or insurance. She is on disability. She is in her husband's car without permission and is scared about what she is going to tell him.

I don't have collision on my car anymore. Tom canceled it less than a month ago. I know I am not getting my car repaired.It is not that bad anyway.  I give her my phone number and name and with a little nudging and asking several times, she gives me her name and address. She has  no phone number.

I don't think anything about calling the police. There was no altercation. She was asking me if she was going to get arrested.  I am not one to call the police over a small fender bender as far as I am concerned. I am thinking they may not file with insurance as she will get in trouble. I know I am going to repair my damage myself.

Later in the afternoon I get a call from the woman asking me to come to her home to speak to her husband. He does want to file with insurance even though it will get her wife in trouble. I ask Trev to go with me just to have someone with me. The address is not in the best part of town.

The husband speaks little English. He is not happy. I give him my insurance card and ask him for his. he refuses. He doesn't want to give me any information. I look at his wife and she tells me it probably would be a good idea to call the police. So I do. I dial 911 and explain that we had a fender bender and the other party does not want to give me their insurance information.

Trev and I hang out sitting on the hood of my car, in front of their house,  until an officer swings by. The husband cooperates and gives up his insurance information for the officer. The officer asks me why didn't the man want to share his insurance. I told him I had no idea. I figure the man might not know how insurance works. Perhaps he thought he could file with mine and not report the accident to his insurance or the fact his wife was driving his car without a legal drivers license. Insurance doesn't work that way. Each party files with his own company and then the companies duke it out. I am not even stressed as my car isn't getting expensive  repairs. I have already decided to put the incident behind me.

I don't want to hear from everyone that I should have called the police in the first place. I just thought that the police have better things to do then handle a small fender bender. Next ding I will call the police. I just hated getting that woman in trouble more than she already was. I didn't want to see her cuffed and hauled away. She was already a basket case over what to tell her husband about his car. I totally got that concept. If I had done damage to Tom's car, well, I would be panicked also.

Riley walked round my car  to see the accident wounds. He didn't even see the damage at first. I had to point it out. It is close to the area he dented himself, backing out of the garage, and his dent is worse. Just scrapes and the broken light cover for mine. He even poo pooed the scratches once he saw them as nothing.

.I  stopped at the car store and ordered a new head light unit. I have to get the whole unit, I am told. They don't just sell the covers. $32 and a little sweat and my car will be fine again.    .

I head home and get on the computer to file my report. I need to alert my insurance that they may be contacted. Turns out that since I was the one making the left I am the most at fault, 60/40 even though she may not have been competent to drive. I would have been 100% if she had a license. I told the agent I thought maybe 50/50 since she said she was on disability and I think she might not have been competent to drive. And she told me her foot got stuck with her flip flops.  He said we may not even hear from the other company if she was a disqualified driver. We would know in a month or less. If we haven't heard in a month then it is over without issue. otherwise my insurance will pay a portion of their repairs and I still move on.

He said my premiums may go up, but then maybe not. I have renamed my Jeep ' Tank". Tank was good to me.Tom always complains we are over insured but I am a big advocate for insurance. I happen to use mine occasionally, so it is well worth every penny.

tom told me yesterday he wants me to think about what I want for my next car. He says it is getting time to replace my cars. At the moment I feel good about driving my old beater cars. When a ding happens there is no stress. If we get cars that I have to worry about every scratch, well that is just not me. I also don't want to freak out if my boys are driving my cars and make mistakes from inexperience.

If Tank didn't get such bad mileage I would continue driving him all the time. The 1997 Taurus, though, has begun to have health issues, and needs some loving expenses, which we don't really want to spend the money on. So looks like Santa might be giving me a new car. I will take advice on what I should go look at. Just remember Tom is the engineer. I could care less about all the hoops and whistles. good mileage and four doors will do it for me. Tank will still take us on the family trips. He has the most room and capacity with a bike hitch and a roof box. and all wheel drive for those snow vacations. He has payed for himself, by keeping us safe several times  .

As soon as Tank gets a new head light I am taking him to a car wash for a treat and pampering..