Tuesday, April 8, 2008

not such a routine drive home

So...I got rear ended on the way home from work tonight. I'm just chillin' at a red light and BAM!!! It freaked my ace out! I've never been hit from behind before and it is LOUD! So, naturally I pulled to the side and turned my hazards on. I hurried out to see the damage to my car and...couldn't through all the dirt. So using my hands I dusted off my bumper to find some scratches (not nearly as bad as I would have thought from the sound and whiplash) but marks nonetheless. So, old man comes over and immediately gets defensive. Um...excuse me sir...when one is stopped at a red light and bashed from behind it is CLEARLY not their fault....meaning,it's yours!
So Old Man says to me, "As long as you okay we can go."
Me, "Um, no. Those marks are no longer dirt (showing my now filthy hands), it's scratches.
Old Man, "But, you're okay and I'm okay (and he seriously said this next part) and MY cars okay so, we can just go."
Me, "See that rectangle on my bumper that matches your license plate? No sir. I'm not leaving this spot without at least a name and phone number."
Old Man, "I don't have paper."
Me, "Here's a napkin."
And so he wrote his name and number down grudgingly. As we drove off I wrote his license plate number on the napkin too. I felt I needed something more. As my drive home goes on I see old man passing me on the freeway on my left. IN THE CARPOOL LANE. For those of you who don't know, I HATE people who drive around single and use the carpool lane. Not the rules. It's such a cheep copout. It takes true integrity to sit in traffic by yourself. Anyway, now I really hate the guy and I'm waiting for Jared's verdict on if we bother getting the guy to fix my scratches or not.

Would you???

7 comments:

Mr & Mrs Hilton said...

I would! I am sorry that you got hit, I am glad that you are okay! Silly old man!

Unknown said...

YES!!! Don't let him get away with it! That is the funniest story I've ever heard....well not really, but the way you told it....lol. I would definitely make him pay though...it was CLEARLY his fault :)

Shan @ Design Gal said...

Oh McCall, McCall, McCall....you should ALWAYS call the cops when you get in any kind of accident! That way, he gets a ticket for failing to yield, AND you are 100% covered by his insurance. If he doesn't have insurance, he gets a bigger ticket. I had to learn this the hard way- got rear ended and the person ended up not having to pay. His insurance fought my insurance and since there were no witnesses, I was stuck fixing my scratched & cracked bumper.

I would still call and make him take care of it, but hearing about his reaction, he's probably not going to say, "Oh, yes I'll just pay my deductable for your scratched bumper to be fixed." I'd call your insurance ASAP and let them know- then call the guy and inform him that you need his insurance info.

I would have the guy fix it- especially if he was a jack ass about the whole thing!

Good luck!

Shan @ Design Gal said...

P.S. I'm really sorry that schmuck ran into you! Let me know if I can help! It's so hard dealing with those situtations when people are rude about it!

The Josh's said...

What at arse! But really, tell him to buy you a Black Sharpie! LOL

Mr & Mrs Hilton said...

Hey I was not planning on going to girl's night on the 18th because I did not think I would know anyone very well! If you are going I will go for sure and I will sit by you! Sounds fun!

See Sherm Blog said...

Ok... I don't know if it's too late to help you out on this. But I was an auto liability claims adjuster for years before I was laid off and started doing photog full time. But YES, you need to report this to your insurance. Likely the idiot is not insured b/c he was so weird at the scene... AND likely is phone number is not correct. But LUCKILY you got his license plate. Report it to your insurance and they can run his plate. They can contact him through the mail (if his ph# is not correct) and report him to the DMV for leaving the scene with out giving insurance info. He could even have his license suspended if he doesn't cooperate with the DMV. As a claims adjuster, that was sweet revenge for people who slammed into my insured's car and left with out giving their insurance info. One of my favorite things to do was hire a somebody to show up on this guy's doorstep and demand his insurance info. :-) You would be surprised the lengths your insurance will go to to find this guy.

Plus... if he is uninsured, most policies have an "uninsured deductible waiver." Its optional, but a lot of people have it and don't know it. So its worth looking into it. :-)

I hope it all works out!!! I've heard 1 too many stories about guys like this who think its not THEIR FAULT. Its frustrating.