Car wreck

Well, I wasn't hurt and things have worked out.

I have been driving back and forth between Yorktown and Washington at least once a week for the past year. I guess the law of averages finally caught up with me.

The first week of August I was coming over the bridge three miles from home at 1:30am when fatigue, anticipation, no cruise control combined to have me stopped and ticketed for 63mph in a 45 zone. (Last and only ticket I ever had was in 1991 back in Maine.) So, now I am hypersensitive to my speed, and driving home last Wednesday at 5:30pm when the light turned yellow while still short of the solid painted lane line I clamped on my brakes. I am just NOT in the mood to run any lights while waiting for court.

The only new car I have ever owned was hit from behind as I stopped at an intersection five miles from home after driving a load of my household goods for three and a half hours 158 miles back from D.C. The guy who hit me was driving a black 2007 Chevy four-door flat-bed wrecker with a load on back. With temporary Tennessee tags! I could see nothing but his grill in my rearview suddenly veer left out of sight, where I guess he pinged off a teenage girl driving a Hyundai before deciding to come back into my lane instead. Tore off my left rear corner then skipped around to the front and tore off that corner, the headlight and bumper. Still enough force to drive me across the intersection with my foot on the brake.

Goddammit, I just filled the gas tank ten minutes before. Estimator at the collision shop pointed out six inches to the right and I would still be in the hospital. Or still on fire.

As it is, some lessons perhaps ...

GEICO is my insurer and when I called in the claim they said I could either ask them to pursue the claim, or I could ask the other insurer (State Farm) to handle it. If I ask GEICO to do it, I write a check for my $1000 deductible while they make repairs then go after State Farm for reimbursement. And have a claim against my coverage on my record.

When I called State Farm they immediately accepted responsibility. They authorized a rental car over the phone for the duration of "reasonable repairs." They told me I could use any auto body shop I wanted to. When I told them where the Troopers had it towed (convenient) the claims guy said he could not get an adjuster out there until next week. And I could not take anything out of the car until then. BUT ... if I went to a collision shop on State Farm's list, I could take everything out as soon as they got it because there was no need to send a separate adjuster.

I asked for their list and picked one. Get this: State Farm paid for a wrecker to go get my car and paid off the original wrecker that towed me from the scene of the accident. So I went and emptied it yesterday, getting all my things out of the trunk and interior back to Wolf Creek. Not only that, but after only having my car overnight One Stop Collision Shop on Geo. Washington Hwy US 17 in Grafton, Virginia already had a five page detailed estimate of repairs ready.

$6700.00 Plus or minus. About.

Now, if this was a 2004 Pontiac it would have been totalled, but a Honda Civic retains a lot more value. Damages would have had to come out to more than the KBB value of $11,200.00 to write it off.

In addition, Mike at One Stop showed me in person every single item on the estimate, pointing out what would be replaced, and what would need to be checked for replacement. Including such details as "Window might break in removal" while at the same time explaining that if it did then State Farm would also pay to replace the broken one. Bad news: because my ruined tires weren't new I have to pay $25 allowance for the wear on the ones they replace. (*JOKE*)

You better bet when I picked up the rental car I made sure to pay the $14.95 per day for the optional total loss collision damage insurance - I still have a few more round-trips to D.C. to make - and, I'll be damned, when State Farm called me this morning to check on how things were going and discuss the detailed estimate with me, I mentioned that to the woman and she said, "Oh, we'll take care of that too. I will call them right now and take that off."

Jeebus! Now I know why insurance is so expensive.

I just mowed the lawn, the sun is setting, and there are two bunnies hopping around my front yard in the cooling evening air. I guess things will be alright.