Reply to Of Cars, a Nanosecond and the Ensuing Nightmare
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Well, it finally happened. After 16 years of driving with a perfect record I had my first car accident last Wednesday the 8th. Thank you, thank you, please hold your applause.
There I was, going eastbound on Highway 401 just past Toronto's airport, stuck in gridlock and merrily minding my own business, when *BAM*, I got rear-ended. Scared? If you've ever had an accident you know how scary and confusing those first few moments after the impact are. Was that a hit? Was I just hit? Oh my God, I just had a car accident. I managed to make it onto the shoulder of the highway though I was shaking so much and my heart was pounding so hard I'm a little fuzzy as to how I accomplished this. I exchanged info with the other driver, a teenager on his way to college in his father's car, then fumbled my way to work.
Damage was pretty minimal. God bless my 2003 Honda Civic Sedan. The bolts from his license plate punctured my bumper and there's some other impact damage, but it could have been a lot worse.
This past week, however, has been a nightmare. Pardon my naiveté, but having never had an accident before, I had no idea what was involved - constant calls to my insurance company, taking my car to the dealership to get a repair estimate, filing a report with the police, having pictures taken, constant calls from several different claims adjusters and seeing a doctor who diagnosed me as having some soft tissue damage to my neck and shoulders (I couldn't move my head there for a few days).
Anyway, here is where I would appreciate some advice from my fellow Dinkers. The father of the teen that hit me has been begging me not to go through insurance because if I do his premiums will go up so much that his son won't be able to drive to college anymore, and they live over 100 kms away from Toronto. I certainly don't want that, but the father has been handling the situation, well, most unwisely. He first accused me of causing the accident (as the police explained to me, if you're rear-ended it is always the fault of the person who rear-ended you), and is now dictating where I should take my car to be repaired. I want to give the teen a break but if I don't go through insurance I could be setting myself up to be taken advantage of, but if I do go through insurance I'm always going to feel bad that I cut the teen off from the use of his father's car. And now my claims adjuster is saying that with a soft tissue injury, I could feel fine now but have problems a few months down the road so I should make a claim. Seems that no matter what I choose to do I'm going to be unhappy. Arrgh!
I know a number of the members here are teenagers. I'd like to ask them this - if you had just started driving and had an accident that was your fault, would you genuinely appreciate someone giving you a second chance by not making an insurance claim? Or would you just think "suck-er"?
Thanks to anyone who replies.
There I was, going eastbound on Highway 401 just past Toronto's airport, stuck in gridlock and merrily minding my own business, when *BAM*, I got rear-ended. Scared? If you've ever had an accident you know how scary and confusing those first few moments after the impact are. Was that a hit? Was I just hit? Oh my God, I just had a car accident. I managed to make it onto the shoulder of the highway though I was shaking so much and my heart was pounding so hard I'm a little fuzzy as to how I accomplished this. I exchanged info with the other driver, a teenager on his way to college in his father's car, then fumbled my way to work.
Damage was pretty minimal. God bless my 2003 Honda Civic Sedan. The bolts from his license plate punctured my bumper and there's some other impact damage, but it could have been a lot worse.
This past week, however, has been a nightmare. Pardon my naiveté, but having never had an accident before, I had no idea what was involved - constant calls to my insurance company, taking my car to the dealership to get a repair estimate, filing a report with the police, having pictures taken, constant calls from several different claims adjusters and seeing a doctor who diagnosed me as having some soft tissue damage to my neck and shoulders (I couldn't move my head there for a few days).
Anyway, here is where I would appreciate some advice from my fellow Dinkers. The father of the teen that hit me has been begging me not to go through insurance because if I do his premiums will go up so much that his son won't be able to drive to college anymore, and they live over 100 kms away from Toronto. I certainly don't want that, but the father has been handling the situation, well, most unwisely. He first accused me of causing the accident (as the police explained to me, if you're rear-ended it is always the fault of the person who rear-ended you), and is now dictating where I should take my car to be repaired. I want to give the teen a break but if I don't go through insurance I could be setting myself up to be taken advantage of, but if I do go through insurance I'm always going to feel bad that I cut the teen off from the use of his father's car. And now my claims adjuster is saying that with a soft tissue injury, I could feel fine now but have problems a few months down the road so I should make a claim. Seems that no matter what I choose to do I'm going to be unhappy. Arrgh!
I know a number of the members here are teenagers. I'd like to ask them this - if you had just started driving and had an accident that was your fault, would you genuinely appreciate someone giving you a second chance by not making an insurance claim? Or would you just think "suck-er"?
Thanks to anyone who replies.
