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| This is not my car, and it's not that bad. |
I'm a good driver. I take driving very seriously. I know it's dangerous, and it kills thousands of people every year. Cars kill animals too. That's why I try to not speed. The faster I'm going, the less time I'll have to avoid hitting an animal or another car. I don't use the phone while driving. I don't eat while driving. I wouldn't load a CD into the car stereo while driving.
Regardless, I was involved in a car accident a week ago. I wasn't speeding. My car was doing about 30 MPH as I was getting ready to stop at a red light. Suddenly, a car attempted to make a left turn right in front of my car. I hit the brakes, but I couldn't stop my car from hitting hers. What she did was completely irresponsible. She must not have looked to see if any cars were coming before attempting that turn, or she would have seen mine. Her excuse was that another driver told her she could make the turn. That is no excuse. Another driver tells you that you can make a turn, so that's your cue to put a blindfold on and do it? The more I think about it, the more angry I become. Her timing was unbelievable. It was almost as though she was trying to cause an accident. She turned right in front of me, and I didn't have time, or distance, to avoid hitting her vehicle.
I hadn't been in an accident since I was a teenager, so I didn't even know exactly what to do. I knew I needed to get her insurance info, but I wanted the police to be involved. Someone, in an apartment across the street, said that she saw the accident. I asked her to call the police. Amazingly, the other driver started yelling about how she wasn''t trying to flee the scene.
I said to her, "I don't know what you're yelling about." I also said, "This is 100% your fault," to her, and she agreed with me.
I flagged a police officer down. He wrote up a report. He had some issue with the other driver, to which she responded, "My lawyer said I was good to go." After a little while, I was allowed to leave, but she had to stay. She was in some kind of trouble with the officer.
I had a weird day this week. I found out that, aside from back pain, a hernia, OCD, and depression, I'm otherwise pretty healthy. In the same day, I found out my car is a total loss. The damage doesn't look that bad. A headlight was smashed. The left front corner of the car was smashed in. I can't get the hood up. I have to squeeze into the car, because the door doesn't open all the way now. But this woman did at least $3700 in damage to my car, which is more than it's worth. I've been dealing with the other driver's insurance company, which hasn't been fun. They just sent me a nasty letter, which pisses me off, because I'm an innocent victim here. I don't need any of this crap. They haven't acknowledged it's her fault yet. Meanwhile, I called my insurance company, and the woman I spoke to immediately said it was obvious it was her fault, because she made a turn when it wasn't safe to do so. So far, this experience has been another example of how life isn't fair.
