dB Outlaw

1997 Ford Escort — Totaled

On September 11, 2003 I decelerated to a stop for a red light at the intersection of J. Clyde Morris Blvd. and Diligence Dr. As I normally do, I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw a gray car travelling at fairly high speeds towards me. I thought to myself, "Damn, I don't think she's going to stop" and before I could finish my thought, BAM, a flash of white light accompanied by a jerking about from all sides motion. My eyes focused seconds later to see my vehicle's deflated air bags. Smoke was fuming everywhere and I thought there was an electrical fire so I immediately went to turn off my radio. I discovered my head unit was lying on the passenger's seat. In disbelief, I exited my vehicle to see that I had be struck in the rear by a early 90s Volkswagon Jetta piloted by a young, black woman in her early teens. Looking forward, I see the force of the impact pushed my car into the Jeep Grand Cherokee stopped in front of me. The SUV's damage was negligible, the other two cars involved however were totaled. Luckily we all walked away without major injuries. Furthermore, a witness that was stopped in front of the SUV heard the accident and stayed to help by calling 911 on her cell phone. Newport News Police arrived several minutes later.

There's tons of things you say to yourself after the accident. The things I found myself saying were, "and to think I was going to take off today" and "you know, I was going to change lanes before I came to a stop at the intersection". Luckily, I wasn't injured aside from tenderness and minor bruising.

T he insurance saga was very trying. The at-fault company was Farmer's Insurance. The driver misidentified her insurance status on the police report. Technically, she was not an authorized driver on her step-dad's policy and there was a period of about an hour where the Farmer's insurance agent said they may not be liable to pay for the damage. Luckily the insurance company was obligated to pay. Three months later, I have a check for my totaled car and parts of the system that were damaged (very little). None of my custom labor was refunded or my high output alternator. Furthermore, to the date of this commentary, I still do not have any money for the medical expenses incurred. I mailed the authorization form on 12/23/03 which Farmer's claims they never received. I faxed a copy of said form the first week in January. Still nothing.

I 've learned a lot from this whole insurance ordeal and if there is a next time, I will not settle for three months wait before receiving a settlement.