I met the ClaimsGuy the Friday after my accident. He took a look at my car, took pictures and gave me an update on where everything is. That being that I essentially surprised the lady that hit me by reporting the accident to my insurance, who then started a claim with her insurance on my behalf [had them contact me to start things off]. ClaimsGuy tells me he spoke with the lady that hit me. He didn’t have to get far in the detailing of his talk with her before I knew exactly where her story was going.
‘Let me guess..she claims I stopped suddenly, right?’
He didn’t really have to answer. And right at that moment, I knew this was going to get the sort of interesting it doesn’t need to get. The lady that hit me says I stopped suddenly for no reason- I don’t think her sunglasses were that dark that she’d miss the silver car that was oncoming, but apparently they were cause she claims there was no oncoming. Iono, but a silver car on a day that was sunny skies whose headlights and body style are like an older Ford Taurus….it wasn’t hard for me to spot and yield to it. She also says that yes she was saying things like ‘why is she stopping’ and claims that that’s what I saw and that I purposely stopped so she would hit me when I saw it. I’ll go into why this is absurd in a moment, I’m sure most of you already know why. It’s one thing to have an accident. Shit happens. But for someone to not take responsibility for their role in it, well how can that be respected? I have a complete stranger calling me an opportunistic liar and an idiot. I am somewhat surprised her side of the story turns this on me to cover what was her not paying attention combined with assuming I’d drive the way she thought I would. Somewhat, but not completely. Which is sad to say.
ClaimsGuy tells me in one breath she’s saying she doesn’t believe that a claim’s been made for something so small. Then she leaves a voicemail for ClaimsGuy saying her daughter’s back is hurting her, she’s taking her to a doctor. To paraphrase, he said she’s just digging herself into a hole. He also said basically this was going to come down to a I said/she said thing as the witnesses drove by to get around us and that the police weren’t called immediately to the scene. However she says there was a guy on a motorcycle that lives just down the road that could be one for her. The thing’s moot since the police weren’t called [I didn’t even think about it until I got to the doctor’s office which would actually be in her favor since she said she didn’t have proof of insurance on her..that’s an instant citation in SC].
So how is it that I know the initial near miss was attributed to her not paying attention? Because when I saw something coming on me fast in my rear-view mirror via peripheral vision, then subsequently looked in my rear view mirror; I saw the upper part of her hood and her windshield. You know how close an SUV has to be to you so that you don’t see the beginning of the hood, let alone its front bumper? She had to stop suddenly, because she wasn’t paying attention and probably assumed I was going to make my turn in front of the oncoming car [which doesn’t exist in her version.] I say assumed because she was yelling at me for not doing what she wanted me to do and I know I’ve said things of the like of ‘oh c’MON!’ to a person in front of me. But I’m not them, so I can yell all I want, I’m not driving the car in front of me. Same thing applies.
I pay this kind of thing no mind when someone’s trying to dictate to me how they want me to drive. My driving philosophy has always been if I don’t think I can or hesitate, then I don’t. This is where this debacle should have ended. Her getting ticked because I yielded to oncoming having judged I had no time to make the turn -safely- and almost hitting me in the process for not braking sooner [and prolly exceeding the speed limit, though speed limits are kinda treated like a ‘suggestion’ much like marks on roads are in Europe]. Me making my turn, with her possibly riding my bumper as some show of vengeance or whathaveyou and then speedily passing me once on the interstate should have marked this as another day driving in Charleston. But it didn’t.
So now the lady that hit me is saying a few things. 1) that I made it so she would hit me on purpose. 2) it’s not her fault anymore, it’s mine [because I stopped suddenly for no reason and 3) her daughter’s back is hurt. I get a call from her insurance again to give my account, -again- of the accident. This time they record it. So I give ClaimsGal my account of the accident, answer her questions [learn in the process that I’m not obligated to tell them what meds I’m on..so a lesson learned for ya there], and have an appointment set up to see their adjuster. She tells me that the lady that hit me is disputing this, so she also has to talk with her and take her account. ClaimsGal says she’s waiting for a returned call. So at this point part of me wants to hit my head against something because this has spiraled into the interesting it didn’t need to get. At the same time my mantra that People are Stupid has been reaffirmed on a huge scale because I know this is boiling down to the lady that hit me made a mistake and she doesn’t want to pay for it [via an increase in insurance should they have to pay out on my claim]. I don’t begrudge her that, because I wouldn’t want my insurance going up if I was tagged at fault for an accident. As I said before in regards to accidents..shit happens. It’s just sad to turn it like this to try and not be held accountable.
Be that as it may, lets get into why the absurdity is absurd. 1)Her daughter’s back hurting? She has to have been hit from behind for that injury to occur. 2) The laws of physics are not with her on it being my fault. She hit me transitioning from a stopped position, or a starting velocity of 0. To even cause bodily injury [which did not occur] while in my vehicle and hers, she needed to have more momentum and for that, much more velocity because the weight of her vehicle is constant as is mine. I’ve been rear-ended by an SUV going at least 45 mph, possibly more. I got whiplash, and my bumper got roughed up a bit [paint scratches, molding jacked], but nothing like the SUV’s grill- it caved in. It’s mostly the physics behind the accident compared against her claim that makes her version absurd. And the claim I did this on purpose? I’ve had to talk to my insurance and her insurance, repeated the same thing 4 times. Had to take a long lunch to see ClaimsGuy then another long lunch later to see their adjuster to document the damage..while I’m prepping for my 3-4 month job in Florida these weeks since I got back from there. I don’t have time to be taking time out of day for this or time off. I have to have my car in the shop for repairs that were estimated to be about $600 as long as they don’t run into anything else while repairing my bumper. Point is..this is a lot of hassle that I would not put on myself on purpose.
There is an upshot to all this. When I called to make sure where I needed to be to meet their adjuster, I was updated that the insurance of the lady that hit me was paying the claim. That includes the rental car I’m driving right now until my car is done. Not only that, but my car was put in the shop the same day [last Thursday] and before I left the adjuster, I had a rental car. I was updated later that night as to when to expect my car and they were thinking by Friday evening. However with it being Sunday, that didn’t pan out. So perhaps I’ll have my baby back Monday. I hope so. I miss dictating what tunes I’m listening to because the rock stations in the lowcounty? Suck.
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