Just got nailed by a drunk driver..

[geecee]

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Well, got an x-ray done today, so we'll see how that turns out. The doctor seems to think that I'm ok, just some back pain. He said i was very lucky all things considered.

Yeah, a car is just a car, I'm not too worried about it. I'll be upset if I get my car back and the "new car smell" is gone though. I worked very hard to keep the new car smell for the last 9 months.

Glad to hear you're OK. I hope the drunk gets what's coming to him. On the plus side for you, they do sell car air fresheners that are scented "New Car Smell". 😀

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Just be glad that you are fine. A car is just a car.

Cars are replacable. Life and limbs are not.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Indolent

Originally posted by: IGBT

Originally posted by: Koing

Originally posted by: MrsBugi
What bad luck! I'm sorry to hear about what happened, but am glad you are okay. Drunk drivers are the worst. :|🙁

..I'll never understand why repeat DUI's keep getting their DL returned. I know somebody who's wrecked every vehicle they've owned thru DUI's and still has a DL. How bout a 3 strikes law on DUI's?? 3 strikes and loose the DL for life. 😕

If you take a drunk's license away a majority of them still drive. Death is what's really needed for repeat offenders.

Fixed.

 

[CellarDoor]

Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Edit: Legal question..
I just looked over the police report and it appears that the vehicle the guy was driving was his employers vehicle. So I guess I can take action against the employer for not insuring the car or anybody know?

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Are you going to sue him?

 

[otispunkmeyer]

glad you are ok, and damn you are unlucky....two nice cars in a short space of time 🙁

 

[CellarDoor]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Are you going to sue him?

Wasn't planning on it. Just found out that the car he was driving was his employer's car. So maybe there is some legal action I can take since the employer's car wasn't insured.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: mribnik1

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Are you going to sue him?

Wasn't planning on it. Just found out that the car he was driving was his employer's car. So maybe there is some legal action I can take since the employer's car wasn't insured.

How can his employer's car not be insured? Was it a company car? See if he has insurance on his car.

 

[SampSon]

Sue him and his employer.

 

[CellarDoor]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: mribnik1

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Are you going to sue him?

Wasn't planning on it. Just found out that the car he was driving was his employer's car. So maybe there is some legal action I can take since the employer's car wasn't insured.

How can his employer's car not be insured? Was it a company car? See if he has insurance on his car.

Well, I have to investigate further. It's not like his employer was a fortune 500 company or anything, he was driving a 1992 ford explorer. Also, I have to find out whether it is indeed the case that it was his employers car, because that's just what the drunk guy said in his statement. I do have the owner of the car on the police report though. However, under insurance it doesn't have anything.

 

[Fraggable]

drunk driving should = immediate, minimum 10 year loss of license.

Sorry about that man, that sucks. I hope you feel better. I assume you've seen a doctor about your back? If it caused damage that is going to incur medical bills make sure to get that on him.

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Edit: Legal question..
I just looked over the police report and it appears that the vehicle the guy was driving was his employers vehicle. So I guess I can take action against the employer for not insuring the car or anybody know?

What time was this? Was he "on the job" or just going home or something? If it was during the employer's time and he was "working"..though I doubt seeing as how he was drunk, then it's definitely the employer's responsibility.

Otherwise though, some insurance policies cover the car and not necessarily the driver at the time I believe. My mom is always telling me to never let anyone drive my car (we have AAA) because we'd be liable if they're in an accident..

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Edit: Legal question..
I just looked over the police report and it appears that the vehicle the guy was driving was his employers vehicle. So I guess I can take action against the employer for not insuring the car or anybody know?

maybe you can file a claim with his company then?

then they would either take it out of his pay, pension what ever and or porbably fire him

 

[CellarDoor]

Originally posted by: Fraggable
drunk driving should = immediate, minimum 10 year loss of license.

Sorry about that man, that sucks. I hope you feel better. I assume you've seen a doctor about your back? If it caused damage that is going to incur medical bills make sure to get that on him.

Just a doctor's checkup and an xray. Everything on the xray was fine, but I had back pain for 2 weeks and it gets sore after playing sports.

 

[CellarDoor]

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Edit: Legal question..
I just looked over the police report and it appears that the vehicle the guy was driving was his employers vehicle. So I guess I can take action against the employer for not insuring the car or anybody know?

What time was this? Was he "on the job" or just going home or something? If it was during the employer's time and he was "working"..though I doubt seeing as how he was drunk, then it's definitely the employer's responsibility.

Otherwise though, some insurance policies cover the car and not necessarily the driver at the time I believe. My mom is always telling me to never let anyone drive my car (we have AAA) because we'd be liable if they're in an accident..

It was at 8:05pm so I doubt he was on the job.

 

[Patt]

That sucks ... hope you're still felling OK, and that you come out of this without losing any $$$.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Don't worry that fvcking idiot will be back on the road in no time. Furthermore he'll be sure that his last accident was just a fluke, he's fine D&Ding this time around...

 

[CellarDoor]

Update 2: pic! All I had was my camera phone of course, and since it was at night, everything is hard to see, but here is a picture of the front of my car.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/mribnik/pic51.jpg

This one is hard to see too, but you can see how the hood is bent upwards forming a triangle. There are a bunch of car parts on the ground that are hard to see, as well as the fluids leaking from my car. It looks better in the picture than it was, since it was at night.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/mribnik/pic49.jpg

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: mribnik1

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: mribnik1

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: 5/15
It's been a while so I thought I'd give an update. My car ended up with $9300 in damage. I should probably have it back in a few weeks or so (it's already been two weeks). Since the car was practically new, the $9300 wasn't a high enough percentage to total the car unfortunately. Also, the drunk guy didn't have inusrance (as expected) so worst case scenario is we are out the deductable. My back is feeling better, but it gets sore after activity.

Oh, and I was also subpoenaed for tomorrow. I've never had to testify before so that should be interesting.

Are you going to sue him?

Wasn't planning on it. Just found out that the car he was driving was his employer's car. So maybe there is some legal action I can take since the employer's car wasn't insured.

How can his employer's car not be insured? Was it a company car? See if he has insurance on his car.

Well, I have to investigate further. It's not like his employer was a fortune 500 company or anything, he was driving a 1992 ford explorer. Also, I have to find out whether it is indeed the case that it was his employers car, because that's just what the drunk guy said in his statement. I do have the owner of the car on the police report though. However, under insurance it doesn't have anything.

I suggest passing this info along to your insurance company and their lawyers, if you have not done so already.

 

[Kung Lau]

Make sure to visit the doctor every time your back hurts. Backs injuries are extremely complex and can affect other portions of the spine. I was in a car accident in 91 and even though I was brought into an emergency room because the hospital was only 200 yards away, I had only suffered a minor whiplash. I had some soreness but nothing breathtaking for a couple days, so I took some motrin and forgot about it until I settled with the other guy's insurance company for a measly 4k. At the time, that seemed like a lot for a simple and whimpy injury but now, looking back, I was on the sucker side of that deal. What ever you do, just document, and document well. If you decide to get a lawyer, get one with a no fee policy unless you collect and you'll have representation with no cost.

And as someone mentioned, it doesn't matter if they had no insurance. You can still sue or file a claim for any damages you incurred. I'm no advocate of sueing off the cuff but back injuries can come back and kick your ass later in life, often much later, so make sure to work out something with the other party (employer maybe, or your own insurance company) to make sure you're covered for future ailments related to this accident.

Good luck

 

[CellarDoor]

Update: Apparently the shop found more damage to the electrical systems and they now estimate that the total damage is around $12k. Unfortunately, had they originally seen these damages, I'm guessing insurance probably would've totaled my car.

On the good news front, apparently my insurance covers accidents against uninsured drivers, so we don't have to pay anything.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update: Apparently the shop found more damage to the electrical systems and they now estimate that the total damage is around $12k. Unfortunately, had they originally seen these damages, I'm guessing insurance probably would've totaled my car.

On the good news front, apparently my insurance covers accidents against uninsured drivers, so we don't have to pay anything.

:thumbsup:

 

[CellarDoor]

Update 7/9
I got my car back this week and it looks great. It actually looks sportier than before because the front grill is a little different. I used to have an all black grill but now the front grill has silver on the top which looks like an extension of the hood. I'll try to take some more pictures tomorrow. I'm really satisfied with the work they did and glad they offer a lifetime warranty on all their work. Total damage came out to $12,493.

Edit: Oh, and it still smells like a new car! :thumbsup:

 

[Crimzon]

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update 7/9
I got my car back this week and it looks great. It actually looks sportier than before because the front grill is a little different. I used to have an all black grill but now the front grill has silver on the top which looks like an extension of the hood. I'll try to take some more pictures tomorrow. I'm really satisfied with the work they did and glad they offer a lifetime warranty on all their work. Total damage came out to $12,493.

Edit: Oh, and it still smells like a new car! :thumbsup:

I'm sorry all this stuff happened to you, but if the total damage to a Mazda 3 cost $12k... and the max the car could possible cost retail is $19K, you should've gotten a new car from your Insurance company. Unless you find a real sucker, you'll never be able to resell your car for KBB.

 

[CellarDoor]

Originally posted by: Crimzon

Originally posted by: mribnik1
Update 7/9
I got my car back this week and it looks great. It actually looks sportier than before because the front grill is a little different. I used to have an all black grill but now the front grill has silver on the top which looks like an extension of the hood. I'll try to take some more pictures tomorrow. I'm really satisfied with the work they did and glad they offer a lifetime warranty on all their work. Total damage came out to $12,493.

Edit: Oh, and it still smells like a new car! :thumbsup:

I'm sorry all this stuff happened to you, but if the total damage to a Mazda 3 cost $12k... and the max the car could possible cost retail is $19K, you should've gotten a new car from your Insurance company. Unless you find a real sucker, you'll never be able to resell your car for KBB.

Yeah I know. Insurance did kinda screw us. They said that the damage had to be 85% of the value in order to total it. However, when they calculate the value they don't take into account loss of value from being in an accident. Also, about $3k of extra damage was found after already working on the car.

As far as losing value on the car, that's unfortunate. However, ****** happens, and otherwise my life is going well otherwise. I'm just happy I have my car back.