fuck...

so i was driving along I-5 in southern california and got hit by a couch. the car in front of me swerved and nicked the couch. it forced the couch to tumble, making it airbourne. i swerved as well, but the couch was coming head on, so i didn't get out of the way fast enough.

it hit my passenger side causing cracks, scratches, nicks along the front bumper, the lighting housing to shatter (hid/high beams still work, but signal blinker's busted), and dented the fender.

i still can't believe a freakin couch was on the freeway... in the middle lane!!

anyways... does anyone know what i should do? i mean i called my insurance company and they told me to get an estimate. if the damage is more than the deductible, i should file a claim and if not, get it fixed myself.

i got a bodyshop number from the dealer i go to... should i go to them? they said they would use factory parts... (creekside collision in valencia - referred by valencia acura).

any recommendations for a bodyshop in san fernando valley?

will my insurance premium go up?

aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh... freakin couch...

 

There's a first for everything I guess. Sorry to hear about this rather strange misfortune.

I hope you did'nt have to swerve around the coffe tables and Big screen TV that were in the other lanes.

If you do go through insurance, your premium's might go up because they'll argue you were following to close or driving to fast. They may say anything IN FRONT of you can and should have been avoided.

 

the insurance co. asked if it was stationary or moving... and i told them it was airbourne (moving). i'm not sure if this has anything to do w/ it... but if its moving, i can't predict where its going to roll (like a football). so does this mean, my premium won't go up?

 

im guessin u tellin them that it was moving..there going to assume it wasent your fault..

I mean did u tell the insurance the full story

 

sorry to hear, one of those 'wrong place at the wrong time' scenarios...

i've seen furniture on I-5 before, its those damn small pickup trucks overloaded with crap. bound to see a couple on I-5 if you drive all the way up-down from SF to SD and vice versa. seen matresses, small cube fridges, chairs, etc

 

do exactly what your insurance company told you to do. your rates wont go up as this would be considered a comprehensive claim. if the couch was stationary and you hit it that would be collision claim. in a way this is a gray area because it comes into question of you hit the couch or it hit you. either way its going to be listed as a no fault claim your rates should be fine.

 

so i told them the story and they said it would be covered under comprehensive. i didn't know that means that it won't inflate my premium, but its good to know. thanks.

so... any bodyshops you guys know of that can vouch for their work? otherwise, i guess i'll just go to the bodyshop my dealer recommended (but i would assume its going to be more expensive).

 

I recall sometime last year AAA published a list of their recommended Southern California body shops in their Westways magazine. If you don't subscribe you might be able to find it in your local library (or maybe on-line). When my wife backed her Civic into a tree we visited a Honda body shop and one of AAA's recommended shops and, if I recall correctly, the AAA body shop estimated around 20% less for the same work.

 

On a related note, I-205 in Portland on Friday was backed up in one spot due to an aluminum 6ft. ladder in the fast lane.

 

ooh man.. sorry to hear, but this cracked me up. this is a major what-the-fuck moment... lol what are the odds of someone hitting a flying couch on a freeway? go buy a lottery ticket.

 

Hmmm... isn't this from "Life, the Universe, and Everything" by Douglas Adams?

-Matt.

finally arrived:
SSM/Ebony/6MT/Navi

 

comprehensice claims fall under the category called "sudden and unforseen"
this means it couldnt be avoided.
examples are hailstorm's, broken windshield due to a stone, theft of a car, fire, flood, or in this case objects falling on the car.

there is a fine line though if the couch was sitting in the roadway and you hit it thats your fault and it's called collision.

i dont live in Ca so i dont know any body shops but im sure your ins company will reccommend one

 

Funny you mention that..

I almost ran into a truck camper top (I know-- don't ask me how it got there) on Highway 26 just west of the tunnels into downtown.

Actually, it was on the day I moved to Hillsboro from CA. Luckily, it didn't set the tone for my stay there

 

I was driving behind a truck, and out of nowhere, sheets of ice from the truck's roof just started flying at me! Holy crap, I managed to avoid them cause this was a local road but that was scary.

 

No shit...lol...

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but I would think that this would qualify as a "not-at-fault" type of claim and shouldn't drive up your insurance rates (at least not signifigantly).

By the same token, just be glad that there's only damage to your car...it could've been a lot worse!!! I can only imagine what would have happened if you HAD hit it head on...ouch!

Best of luck with your claim!

 

Wow, that's crazy!

Last summer, I had a couch actually fly over my head on Rt287 in NJ! I was driving in the fast lane with the top down on my Boxster, and as I began to pass a pickup truck loaded with furniture, a couch lifted out of the back... flipped over into my lane, narrowly missing my head (and car) to land squarely in the fast lane behind me!

The truck never stopped, either.

Beware of living room furniture on the highway!

 

Like gomez_regina said.... first things first -- Glad you're OK!

And what I think you should do is have a party celebrating that you got hit by a flying couch and all that happened was your car got screwed up.

 

Sorry to hear of your misfortunes.

Four years ago, I was driving on I-76 in PA behind a pickup truck carrying loosely tied chair/couch. The truck hit a bump at high speed (75+ MPH) and you guessed it. . .the chair shot up into the air like a cannonball, up over my car (thank god), and landed infront of the car behind me. I drove home in utter shock but did notice that the offending truck didn't even attempt to slow down nor stop.

Since enforcing "no-littering" laws on highways is nearly impossible (can't catch them until they litter the highway, which would be too late), they should instead enforce laws to prevent things like this from happening (like stricter tie-down rules).

 

My friend hit a satellite dish that was sitting on the highway. Not the same as a couch...but still...

 

Thats one for the grandchildren....Glad to hear you're OK.

A couple summers ago I was in the middle lane on Hwy 2 here in Calgary and as I was passing a 18 wheeler, out of the corner of my eye I noticed something and looked through the passenger side windows and noticed that a wheel/tire on this truck was shimmying very badly (don't know how this could happen?), anyways I decided to speed up and pass and as I passed I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw that the wheel/tire had broke loose and bounced down the highway, I'm sure it would of hit me if I hadn't noticed in time, thankfully it appeared to miss all other traffic from what I could tell.

On a side not I saw an X-mas tree with the garland still on in the middle of a highway about a week ago

 

wow, a co-worker came in this morning will a similiar story only that we are on the other side of the atlantic and his couch flew off a Morrocan workers old van narrowly missed his Porsche Boxster and hit the car behind.

After the accident the guy even denied the couch was his !!!

Ernie

 

thanks for all the replies and your concerns. i'm okay... but thanks!!

so i called the insurance co. and they said its not going to raise my premium. whoo hoo!! and my insurance co. is great... they only refer you to a bodyshop that uses OEM parts. 21st century rocks!!

 

Sorry to hear about the flying couch! Ouch! It could have been worse, such as it flying into your windscreen and causing you bodily harm.

In addition to getting recommendations, I would suggest visiting at least three body shops to get estimates. While you're getting your estimate, you can ask questions about their facilities, how they match paint, what their warranties are, etc. (Some hole-in-the-wall body shops in my area, put their painted cars out on the dusty dirty street to dry!!!!)

Also, be sure to ask each body shop exactly where they park your car overnight. (My former car was broken into while having body work done. The body shop didn't tell me, but I found out later.) Some body shops have a real security problem.

I would be leary of any body shop that's going to do the kind of work that you need to have done that gets it done in less than a day. Paint doesn't cure in hours.

Look at the other kinds of cars already in the body shop for repair. Are they a run-of-the-mill motley mix, or do dealers of expensive cars send their cars there for body repairs for their high quality work? Ask for references. Is the shop clean and well organized, or does it look like a demolition derby had run its course through it?

If you do go through your insurance coverage, consider the warranty implications. Some insurance companies warrant the repairs for the life of the car (or as long as you have a policy for that car) if you go to one of their preferred body shops. That's IMPORTANT!

Otherwise, without an insurance company's added warranty, you might be limited to a 90 day-1 year warranty from the body shop. What happens a few years when the orange peel paint deteriorates? You would be on your own.

Some insurance companies do NOT raise rates for each incident. Other insurance companies will raise rates at the blink of an eye. Some companies will raise rates even if you just talk to them about coverage. It's a mixed bag.

 

THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!

If the couch was airborn when you hit it....it is coverered under your comprehensive/liability side of your policy. If the couch was on the ground, it becomes collision and could impact your rates.

Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, comprehensive coverage applies to stuff hitting YOU, not you hitting stuff. If you hit a tree because you lost control of your car on a curve, that's a collision claim. If a tree falls over and hits you (either while parked or driving), it's a comprehensive claim.

But speaking of couches, I nearly hit a loveseat in the right lane of the San Pedro bridge in LA. The loveseat was just over the crest of the bridge so you couldn't see it from further than 50 yards out. Fortunately, the left lane was clear so I was able to swerve out of the way, but I feared for the rest of traffic behind me who wouldn't be so lucky (2 18-wheelers coming up over the bridge and lots of other cars in the left lane).

It sucks when the freeway has objects other than motor vehicles on it.

 

no pics?

 

HEY!!!! That wasn't the freeway...that was my living room...and..I would really like to get my couch back.

 

Damn this shit always happen on either highway 5 or 405. Freaking ghetto as people.