Coming home last night...just passed a car and was cresting a hill and a 15 yr old pulled out into the right side of the car. They did a 180 and I kept going in a drift over the hill. Of course the car I passed stopped to say I was speeding. But the other driver slap pulled into me. She's been driving for about 3 months...her parents were in the car. Nice.

So I'm waiting to see how bad it is. I think it may be totalled. Airbags deployed and there is a lot of damage to the front right of the car..all up in the engine and the suspension. And it's mainly my wife's car...

I'd have to rate the crash protection OK. I bounced off the door and that dislocated my left shoulder, but that was it. Pretty wild at night. The airbags didn't hurt like I thought they would.

Just venting...I don't know how to feel about the whole thing. Insurance is gonna kill me.

 

Well, atleast everyone is ok. Look on the bright side, now you can get the NAV that you always wanted.

 

LOL...

Here's a question. I've only had the car for about 2 months and the majority of the price was financed. If the car gets totalled and I get another one, do I just pick up where I left off or do they give me a new car and they keep the old one? I'm just wondering if I am going to get a free car out of this???

 

You won't get a free car. If the car is totaled, they will pay what the car is worth. If you owe more than what they pay, you're respolsible for the difference, unless you have gap insurance.

Glad to see everyone was okay. Good luck.

 

Ive been there pal,its the worst feeling. I know every 1 says,"be happy you're okay"
Which is true,but still doesnt erase the look of a wrecked new car + higher insurance costs.
You just need alot of Patience now until everything is resolved.

 

At least you came out walking. Always remimber, it could have been worse. Hopefully everyone will work out. Good Luck

 

automata's right about the financials. That's why gap ins is required on leases, but it should also be required on financed purchases for just this reason (or in case the car is stolen)

 

Check your insurance policy, or call the company. Many insurance companies will pay for a full replacement if your car is less than 6 (maybe different) months old and it is totalled. They will take the wrecked car, but there would be no cost to you except maybe license plate transfer fees.

 

Interesting that I was *told* I didn't have gap insurance on my lease, but reality is that Honda Financial Services takes care of gap (as it's their automobile).

 

Glad to hear you're OK

 

I might be an idiot, but I don't understand how the accident happened. You had just passed a car, but someone pulled a 180 and you went over the hill? And someone else slap pulled into you (What does that mean?)

Glad you're okay, and sorry about the mess with insurance and your creditor that you're going to need to deal with now.

 

Werd Lore. I did not get it either. However, sorry to read this and happy to know you are okay. Once you get the car out of the dealer lot, in TL's case it gets depreciated atleast $4K and then you were driving it for 2 months. You'll not get a free car. I'd say you'll loose 4-5 grand on this one. Wish you all the best with the insurance company.

What you can do is after they offer you the price, and is lower than expected, you can ask them to buy you a same kind with same kind of miles and they might give you more money if they cannot find it. One of my friend fought with the Insu comp. with this method and got more money.

 

damn teenie boppers again. They get all excited about owning a car and then ruin their chance at driving. Glad everybody is ok physically.

 

My Brother's new Camry was totalled on the way home from delivery by a 17 year old on the cell phone. He had 18 miles on the odo and the insurance company attempted to depreciate more than $3800 off of his sale price. His attorney cleared it up in three days and it only cost her insurance company $500 in legal fees.

Get a lawyer.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. :'(

I hope the finances work out in your favor.

 

Dude, is it me or did your brother just turn into a girl in that paragraph?

 

sorry to hear that bud.

glad everybody is ok.

 

You "might" be an idiot, but I am an idiot, which is why I'm going to try and translate...

He (iyfphoto) passed a car and as he was going over the hill, and then a car on his right hand side, T-boned him as they were trying to pull onto the road that he (iyfphoto) was going on. The car that hit him did a 180 and he drifted. Now, the car that he passed earlier on the road, stopped by the accident and stated that iyfphoto was speeding.

This translation was powered by a lot of deduction and assumption. Like I said, I could be wrong...but either way, glad to hear you are ok iyfphoto.

 

Passing as he crested a hill sounds pretty stupid to me. The fact that the girl had her parents in the car leads me to believe that she was driving smart and simply didn't have time to see the speeder cresting the hill... It does look like it was your fault. Did you get a ticket and is the poor girl and her family OK.

 

Poocha had it right...


OK...some points of clarification.



The other people were uninjured. Nothing. They pulled out from my right, Tboned me, and the impact made their car do a 180 right there and stop.

The road was a 4 lane, two lanes is my direction. I passed the car at the bottom of the hill...not over the crest. The crest of the hill is where I was in the left lane and she pulled out. For some reason they put the entrance to the shopping center where entry and exit is all but blind if conditions are just wrong. Nightime with my lights on in a white car and she still pulled out and hit me.

My point was regardless of my actual speed, I was not going any faster than any other cars do there. I barely passed the other driver. It wasn't like he was going 10mph and I came by at 70mph.

Due to inexperience, she pulled out and hit me...I didn't hit her. And she has been 15 for about 3 months...and her parents let her drive at night. I'll have to check to see what the law is about learners permits and driving at night.

Pictures - Yes I know...I'll get some eventually, but I didn't have my camera with me and I haven't had a chance to visit the car. It's really bad though.

I felt bad for the girl and her family. I made sure to check to see if they were OK...even with a dislocated shoulder. They never asked if I was OK.

I'm just pissed. A bad set of circumstances. Oh and I was not issued a ticket of any kind, so it seems to me that I was not officially speeding and I didn't fail to yield (as I did have the right of way).

Thankfully I put down a few grand and got a good deal on the car so I should be OK. I might lose some, but oh well.

Thanks for the replies...should I really get a lawyer???

 

Glad you were uninjured, but a 15 year old driver?

Damn glad they don't allow them here.

 

First, as others have said, fortunately no one apparently was seriously hurt.

As I understand the law in this circumstance, the OP was in his lane and had the right of way. The other vehicle was crossing his lane. The other car has the obligation to yield. This makes the accident the other person's fault.

If it were me I would get a lawyer for multiple reasons. The other party is going to claim it was your fault. They will point to the "witness" in the passed vehicle who said the OP was speeding. It will probably be determined that there was some level of fault on both parties part, however I believe the teenager will be deemed more at fault since there is ample proof of her failure to yield, i.e. the accident. The speeding aspect is the opinion of another driver who may not be qualified to judge exactly how fast the OP was driving, although if they claim they were driving at the speed limit and you passed them you clearly were speeding. In any event, with the accident being her fault, her insurance will be responsible.

In theory your insurance company should defend you, but some will just take the easy way out and just settle. In this case with your car being totalled, the other car being seriously damaged as well and the prospect of injury lawsuits, I would expect them to fight to insure the other party was at fault ... but you just don't know.

The second reason I would get a lawyer is that there was an injury involved. You may want to consider a medical claim against her insurance. The claims adjuster from her company, if they are any good, will low ball you. Only when they are aware you have legal representation will they take you seriously. Also, you didn't say, but I assume the other party's airbags deployed as well. Often there are injuries associated with that. Since they will try to claim the accident is your fault, they may also try for a medical settlement. If they are successful in making it your fault, depending on your insurance and whether you have sufficient coverage, anything above what your insurance pays could turn into a judgement against you.

You stated you didn't get a ticket, did the girl? If so, then it also becomes a slam dunk on who was responsible, you didn't get a ticket and she did. If it is deemed the other party was responsible they have an obligation to make you whole financially. Further if it is the other party's fault, I don't think your insurance rates would go up. Also I assume you followed the instructions that all insurance companies give their clients, "Do not admit any responsibility". Frankly, that's probably why the other party didn't even ask if you were alright. I think they know it was their fault, but they will still claim it was yours. The best defense being a good offense.

Good luck.

 

Id have to agree with stat guy. Not only will a lawyer help cover your ass but make sure you dont get screwed. Now If she just turned 15 I dont think there are many states left that let you get your permit at 15. So if she doesnt have a permit you have a huge case there. If your a good person and you dont feel your were injured to bad then I wouldnt worry about sueing them. Unless it comes back and after everything is finished your car is totaled and you owe ______ amount of money. I would start pressing the issue for them to take care of it and get a new car out of it.

 

Got more info...

BTW - In Alabama you get your permit at 15.

An adjuster/estimator inspected my car as it sat in the towing lot and told my insurance company that it was fixable. Now I have to take it to a shop and have a real estimate done. He did confirm that the roof was buckled. That, combined with the other damage sounds pretty bad to me. I don't want the car back. It'll never be the same. We'll see.

The other car was totalled. A 1998 chrysler sebring...cracked the tranny case.

I might go ahead and start looking for a lawyer so I'll be prepared if I end up needing one.

So now I wait to see what the real damage was when the real shop gets a look at it.

Not sure if the other girl got a ticket...I just know I didn't get one for speeding.

Maybe I'll have some pics next week.

 

Good luck a buckled roof your going to end up with a totaled TL. That means the frame is twisted and your right that car is going to be a rattle, pulling this way and that nightmare if they try to fix it. Which I highly doubt. Most insurance company's wont want to deal with the repeat visits to have thing fixed if it was hit that hard. Good luck with everything. Im sure you can find a lawyer to keep on retainer especially if you explain the situation and that you were injured. Those guys would sue there mom if they thought they could make a buck.

 

Thanks for the professional reply. Sorry If sounded a bit judgemental in the prior post. The Stat guy bringing up the idea of suing for medical is FLAT OUT WRONG. It's guys like that that really irritate me. They are out for only what they can get out of any situtation. If you weren't injured, you have no need of a medical suit. Sounds like you were going the same speed as others on the highway yet you haven't yet stated here what your speed was relative to the posted speed. Just because you weren't "going any faster than the other cars doesn't mean that you weren't speeding". But at least the police didn't cite you on it so as far as that goes it sounds like you got off pretty lightly on that. If I were you I would not want that car back either so I would fight to have the insurance company (you own from the looks of it) do everything they can to total it out. Good luck either way.

 

Almost all leases include GAP insurance. Many insurance companies have clauses that will pay full reimbursement for the first six months to a year. I have MetLife and they cover full value for a year. A lot of banks also sell GAP insurance on their loans. With loans being 60 months now, it's a good idea to buy it if you can because you'll most likely be upside down for the first three years.

 

Ya. I really just want to get it all over with. I have too much else going on to get bogged down with this BS.

I have no idea how fast I was going. I was watching the road and the car that eventually pulled out and hit me. I watched her inch forwards and stop...then I watched as she pulled into me. It happened very fast...felt like forever.

We'll see what happens.

Thanks for the replies. My shoulded is getting a lot better. It still hurts...but I don't have to take any pills at least.