My Varment's first accident!

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I saw a guy scratching off lottery tickets while in rush hour traffic the other day,saw 1 girl drive into the back of a ca5r that was stopped (texting and driving) totalled both cars,had the same happen to me in my valiant last year and lucky for her all she hurt was my bumper. I had a gf who's sister was texting and driving in her dad's new truck and rearended a parked ambulance....lucky it was empty at the time
 
Well with no fault insurance you can only sue for as much as $1000 in the state of Michigan per the "newer" mini tort laws in civil court. The round about to that though is negligence. As long as the police officer was able to find that the driver who hit me was acting in a negligent manner (texting) then I have a claim in civil court that circumvents the no-fault laws. I havn't gotten my police report though so I do not know what the officer stated yet.If you are going to be at the Woodward Dream Cruise look for the Valiant! I will be cruising it once and then parking her. Come say Hi and maybe I'll have some updates on the condition of the car!Sedanman: I have been at work all day today. My apologies for having to ignore the phone call. I will give you a ring tomorrow afternoon some time if that is ok? Appreciate all the help and support!
 
That's a really sad tale all around. One of the few good things about Cali is they are super anal (depending on where you live) about texting and driving. Insurance laws out here can be weird but they generally cover everything. I've had a few accidents in my life and it has never been an issue of getting repairs paid for in full. I even get my deductible back if the other person is at fault.

Hope you can get your car worked out, that you can get a new bike, and that those idiots have learned their lessons.
 
This is getting all too familiar these days. The issue isn't really with the cell phone though, it's with people doing everything behind the wheel except drive.
I used to do deliveries for a living when I was younger and I've seen a lot of goofy stuff.
Eating a bowl of cereal...yes, a glass bowl with milk and a spoon.
Playing a gameboy ( before the gameboy color lol )
Putting on mascara in the visor mirror with the car moving...
and my favorite, inappropriate use of the slap stick ;) chick sitting on his lap...priceless
It's the person behind the wheel, doesn't matter if they outlaw texting or cereal for that matter, jackasses will still be jackasses.

I had the same thing happen to my Duster a while back, chick was texting. I slowed down for someone in front of me that was slowing to make a turn and she didn't. Mangled my rear bumper and the trunk floor. CRUSHED the front of her civic, folded the radiator support back onto the engine.
The main issue was the insurance adjuster ( complete tool ) started telling me that the car is only worth 3k MAX. I told him he'd better get the definition of "worth" straight before he opened his mouth again or I'd call the local news. That's when he said he'd get back to me......almost a week later said they're ready to cut a check for $1800 and would pay more if the shop found more damage. Well, I'm doing the work so what now, he says that I'm not an authorized repair shop and that I can do whatever I want with the check.
It's all good though, I used the money to install a 360 magnum and did the body work myself, it was in need of a paint job anyway. No bondo happy collision shop work here...Another few weeks and it'll see the light of day once again, but it's been a long time.
 
Just wanted to let you know my wife, MommaCat, has her claws out! She LOVES looking up legal stuff (I keep telling her she needs to be a paralegal) and she has this uncanny ability to find all kinds of legal loopholes that nobody expects to be found. I told her what you said about the "mini-tort" law there in Michigan, and she is going to start digging and see what she can find for you.

As far as suing the other party in civil court, you could do that, but all she has to do is claim bankruptcy after she loses, and she won't have to pay a dime. Good luck with the un/underinsured claim if you go that route. My wife and I filed an uninsured motorist claim with our insurance company after being rear-ended by a guy with no insurance, and who then tried to run. That accident was SIX years ago, and our lawyer is STILL fighting them.

All I have to say is good luck...
 
For as much as I hate California at times, I am often shocked by what other states require, or don't, when it comes to auto insurance. To me it is just logical to have insurance that covers the drivers and their vehicles in case they cause a collision, otherwise the privilege of driving in public shouldn't exist for them. There's always the chance that the other driver wont carry insurance, but here it is required by law at least, so chances are pretty slim.

It does still all come down to the driver. I can't say how many accidents I've almost been in because someone wasn't driving right but I spotted it before hand. I use to also do deliveries for a living once upon a time and can't count how many times I've had to call 911 for someone's inability to drive properly. Its funny how much we drive here in Cali. but still people just don't know how to drive when the whether isn't sunny and perfect. As soon as a water drops onto their windshield they slam on their brakes. They think driving fast in the fast lane during any level of rain should be 40 mph max. Had a crappy day driving today so I'm a little on edge about crappy drivers. Sorry.
 
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