Friday, December 03, 2010

My First Car Accident in YEARS!!!!!!

Dang it I knew I should have waited till after supper then venture out - like I normally do!!!  No I had to go after work and it was getting dark and traffic steady AND a panhandler distracted me enough to miss the brake lights ahead.  Thank goodness traffic was heavy and slow as I was barely doing 20-30 km/hr when I tried to brake but not soon enough or time enough to even switch to neutral to disengage the drive momentum.  And it was on the incline just past Osborne St so I basically hit their bottom bumper.

Naturally it was a BRAND NEW van and I followed it around the corner to exchange info.  The woman driving said this was the second time this week for her and when we both bent to check her vehicle basically there were rub marks on her rubbery bumper and well my car all the damage I had was missing one of the rubber strips off one of my sticking out parts.  Then the guy comes around and he says well what about this too and I looked at the dent above and said that was too high for my vehicle but he promptly said it is so as their vehicle was just out of the shop this week and you did it - well I backed off and said OK let's exchange info and you'll have to go get it checked out - I just wanted out of there before he got angry (he'd already told the woman that maybe she shouldn't be driving anymore).  Needless to say I was slightly upset but definitely no injuries at that speed, thank goodness!

Then my mechanic did say I should phone in my report and if anything comes from them I will be contacted.  So that's what I did and I mentioned the panhandler who distracted me along with the question as to whether my car did that other damage the guy pointed out.  If I did so be it, if not I don't want it on my record.  Even the agent said my record was clean so not much will probably happen and depending on their claim amount I could even buy back the amount and then have no marks on my license at all - whatever that means.  So now I sit and wait to hear back from MPIC, at least he gave me a claim number and my agent's name and phone number. 

6 comments:

Carol Schockling Lawecki said...

OH my, so sorry to read about your accident. I'm glad you were not hurt or anyone else. Too bad for your car though :(

Hope your agent gets it all straightened out though. You shouldn't have to pay for damage to their car that you didn't do.

Take Care...

Carol

Linda Mullen said...

Oh dear, sorry to hear that. When they examine the other car then yours, they will ascertain the things and if it is your fault. About 4 or 5 years ago, I was following someone on Warde Avenue and he stopped in the middle of the road right where there is a median divider, so I stopped too, the guy comes out of his car and says I cracked his bumper. My car was always at least 5 car lengths away from his so I thought he was nuts, he had a menacing tone to his voice. I got out of there but he followed me and I got stuck in the bank for 3 hours until the police came (I was concerned he would follow me hope) so I filed a police report and scheduled an appointment with MPI which was later cancelled by them because they saw his car and they said that no car came in contact with his and I also had that on my police report that my car did not come in contact with his, the cars were dirty and had my car touched his, the dirt would have been gone to expose either paint or paint gone and a ding. Anyhow, that was fun. not. After that little incident, I suffered from PTS (Post Traumatic Stress) for about 5 weeks.

Ridgewoman said...

Whoa! What an experience! I had an elderly, hot-headed curmudgeon come after me with a wrench in his hand (he apparently thought I had done something to him, not his car; but, I think he was under the impression that I'd cut him off, which I had not). Anyway here comes this angry red-neck with a wrench and fortunately I had room to pull out and away from him and go home. I got on the phone to my DH as I was driving (I know, but this was an emergency) so he'd know if the guy followed me. I was quite shaken as you can imagine and I avoided that area for a month or two. There are a lot of 'crazies' out there with short fuses.
I'm glad you are ok and sounds like you did all of the right things. I hate it when men try to intimidate and overpower!
Best wishes for Happy Tatting and safe travels, bj

Raleigh Crowl said...

It was very decent of you to back off and just go with what the van’s owners were saying regarding the car damage. It’s also a very good thing that none of you were seriously injured. Were there any claims that were actually made and settled?

Rose Anne B said...

Sorry Raleigh but there is no email that I could reply directly so I'll do so here.

Yes there was a claim and basically I was responsible but luckily we have auto coverage and my penalty is higher premiums for two years and loss of demerit points.

I'll get them back as I've better tires on this vehicle and am more cautious as it's newer!

Javier Hoppes said...

It’s a good thing you had auto coverage. I hope you get back everything you lost due to the penalty. It’s great to see people acknowledging that they were at fault in an accident. I know lots of people get defensive about stuff like this. It definitely takes a bigger person to acknowledge when they were wrong about something, especially on car accidents since there’s a lot at stake.