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Post by
Tyristrasz
So here's the story.
January 28, 2009 at 3:45 PM
. I'd just gotten out of my new command's indoctrination program for the day. I leave the base, and get on the on-ramp leading to the interstate. Once
on
the interstate, you're automatically in the far right lane. I signal to get into the center lane and then merge. I wait for a few seconds, and then signal to get into the left lane.
As I begin to merge, someone in a Ford F-250 speeds up behind me and is instantly all up in my business. He honks his horn, and flashes his brights at me. As I've already successfully gotten into the lane, I stay where I'm at. F-250 decides he doesn't like that, so he quickly jumps from the very far left lane to the very far
right
lane.
We enter a mini-tunnel. The weather is pretty warm outside, so I've got both my windows down. The guy revvs his engine for one reason or another, and the next instant, cuts across the center lane, and then smashes into the rear right panel of my car.
But it doesn't end there.
He keeps going, and has me pinned against the left wall.
When we come out the other side of the tunnel, there is a total of three vehicles disabled because of his impatience. I'm going to chalk it up to his desire to get into the HOV lane before 4:00 PM when it closes to all but two-passenger vehicles, but in the end, it could just be road rage from a supreme $%^&*!.
Either way, my vehicle is totaled (he essentially made my front right tire look like the DeLorean you see in the Back to the Future Movies, where they fold up to let the car fly), and his and the other involved suffer minor cosmetic damage, as well as a total of one deployed airbag between the two.
I'm issued a ticket.
The cause: improper/unsafe lane change, leading to the other driver's loss of control of his vehicle, as told to him by "external witnesses".
The issuing officer hadn't arrived on scene for an entire half hour after the event, and there were no external witnesses not involved with the accident itself. The "external witnesses" were the other two drivers.
My insurance company deemed my car a total loss, and paid the lienholder $19,750.00. I owed $27,000.00. I
now
still owe roughly eight grand on a car I no longer drive.
Months later, I have my court date. The judge decides that I was in the right, and that he couldn't imagine why someone in a sportscar would purposefully tangle with a truck. What's more, the other driver had pre-paid his fine the same day, thereby accepting the guilt for the accident.
I still owe the eight grand on the RX-8, and Geico will not re-open the case and go after the other guy for damages done.
...Does anyone else think that this whole thing is completely retarded?
Post by
DethByAirplnPnut
Yes
Post by
128491
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Fizzles
You could sue him for dangerous driving or something, that's just wrong.
Post by
Tyristrasz
The insurance company isn't charging me eight grand for it, they just didn't pay off the entire sum that was owed on the loan for the car. This would typically be achieved, I would assume, by having the insurance company of the driver at fault (the F-250) paying whatever is required to have my vehicle fixed (apparently impossible) or replaced... apparently,
also
impossible.
They rationalized this by saying that it was
my
responsibility to purchase GAP insurance so that if the vehicle were totalled, any amount not covered by insurance would be absorbed by the lienholder. I didn't purchase said coverage because of course, I never assumed I'd be in a position to need it.
Truth is, though, GAP insurance should only be necessary if your car is totalled and you're at fault, or a tree falls on it, or some other act of nature.
Edit:
My car
before
the accident.
Where he started...
Where he continued...
The end result.
Post by
DethByAirplnPnut
That is just plain stupid....what was the point of crashing into you?
Post by
Fizzles
So you're saying that someone drove up against your car, totally crashing it, paying the fine, and then the insurance company charges you eight grand for that car? Yes, indeed, that
is
retarded,
Actually, he said 27 grand, not 8.
Post by
128491
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Tyristrasz
That is just plain stupid....what was the point of crashing into you?
I'm chalking it up to a rush to get to the HOV lane before 4:00 PM as well as a good amount of road rage. Because if he wasn't furious
before
the accident, he sure as hell was
after
. When he came to a stop, he was screaming all sorts of obscenities, smashing his steering wheel, and so on.
...At least
one
amusing thing came of the whole ordeal. Whereas I wasn't in a hurry at all to get to the HOV and he most likely was, the accident ended up taking nearly an hour and a half to clean up. We were all free to go and on the road again by 5:30: nearly two hours later.
Post by
135207
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Tyristrasz
I do appreciate all the insight from everyone, and it's given me all the motivation I need to go to Navy legal and talk to them about it. Everyone else I've talked to has told me how this whole thing reaks of stupidity, so I guess it's about time I take some action before it's too late.
The problem is that as far as insurers are concerned within the "great" commonwealth of Virginia, even if you're proven innocent in the court system, you're still held a certain percentage at fault. So I'll have that to contend with as well.
Post by
TheMediator
Well, the logic for being at fault if you didn't do anything wrong is if you didn't try to not get in an accident, then you're partially at fault. If they're going to insure your vehicle they want to know that you're going to try to prevent it from damage, not just not damage it.
Post by
Tyristrasz
Right. Problem is, obeying normal traffic laws made it difficult to do anything on my part to avoid the accident. There was someone to the front and rear of me, and short of slamming on my brakes and causing a rear-end collision with the individual behind me, or speeding up and rear-ending the person in front of me, there was nothing I could do.
But that would've only work had I known the accident was coming. And if I had, it wouldn't have been an accident, it would've been a... purpose?
Post by
135207
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Tyristrasz
True enough.
My only concern there is that he didn't look like anything more than a typical hillbilly, and given from the way his home looks on Google Maps, I doubt he really has much to sue for. Still, worth looking into. And come Monday, I shall do just that.
Post by
149424
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Tyristrasz
If I'd bought the Hummer, I'd owe prolly a good twenty or so more grand than I would've with the RX-8. To be totally safe within a reasonable economic margin, I would've had to get a Nissan Titan or a Toyota Tundra. As far as Ford, I hate them. Ever since my first run-in with an F-150 in my Subaru, and even more so now that my RX-8 was completely demolished by an F-250.
If Ford went belly up and it was the talk of all the news companies for the next year, I would celebrate each and every day.
Post by
101776
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Tyristrasz
No, no, no. I don't owe the insurance company any money, I just still owe the remaining balance on my car loan. That is, BB&T, the bank I had the loan through, still requires that I finish paying off what's left of the original $27,000.00 balance. So it's not in dispute that the money is still owed. I'm still making the payments, but as I didn't cause the accident, I don't believe I should be required to pay it off, as some hillbilly *!@#$%nozzle decided to destroy my vehicle out of some seriously serious craptastic rage.
Post by
85162
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
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