Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 21:50:26 -0700
Reply-To: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject: Re: Parking lot encounter
In-Reply-To: <20020415.103107.-329219.7.wilden1@juno.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
I've said it one, I will say it many more times... EVERYONE should carry
the following items in their glove box:
- 24 shot disposable camera with flash
- Note pad
- Pencil / Pen
Put all of this in a zip lock bag with some silicon beads in there to keep
it all dry. Why carry this. In EVERY accident there will be some
exaggeration on everyone's behalf. Here in BC the police will NOT come
unless someone is drinking or hurt. Where ever the accident is, STOP STOP
STOP, to hell with the rest of the traffic. Take pictures of your vehicle,
their vehicle, the road up and down traffic, markers on the road that will
show EXACTLY where it took place, the sky to show what the weather was,
marks on the road, ANYTHING that will help YOUR case with the insurance
company. Then use the notepad to copy down a statement from the other
vehicle's owner and have THEM SIGN IT. It is very funny how stories change
after people have time to think about it. Just before Christmas I got rear
ended in my Golf by a Camaro that felt it was unfair that a VW merged in
front of him. 200m after I merged and after 200m of him tailgating me with
less than 1m of clearance I had to put my brakes on and he collided with me.
I was doing about 45 to 50km/h when he hit me. At the time of the accident,
I felt OK, more adrenalin in my system that I care for but OK, we stopped at
the side of the road and he started yelling and swearing at me. The police
station was 1km away so I suggested that we go there to tell our stories to
the police there as I was not in the mood to deal with the verbal abuse.
Well, I told my side, he told his side. In the next hour my back was in
massive pain and I spent most of the night in the hospital with my left side
paralysed from a swollen nerve. The next four weeks I had numbness in my
arm and hand over this accident. Now I am perfectly fine and am suffering
no ill physical effects from the accident. I am STILL battling it out with
the insurance company and the police over what happened. They are placing
50% of the blame on me as HIS side of the story is VERY different from mine.
Supposedly DARKNESS is a weather condition, supposedly I just pulled in
front of him and he had 'no choice but to hit me' square in the back of my
Golf, according to him the accident took place AT the merge location and not
200m past it. Hmmmm he's in the wrong, he's going to stretch the truth.
The fact that I was injured and the fact that I went to the physiotherapist
twice a week for six weeks has the insurance company looking for ANY excuse
not to pay out on any of this. Now that I know better, I would have stopped
right there, took pictures of everything and I would have had a strong
'picture worth 1000 words' evidence of what ACTUALLY happened. At this
point, I want my damaged exhaust system fixed - period. If the insurance
company keeps on screwing me around (I'm at my limit now), I am going to
visit www.sleazylawyer.com and sue the crap out of them.
Moral of the story - DON'T get into an accident... plain and simple.
PS Any good injury lawyers out there???
David Marshall
Fast Forward Automotive Inc.
4356 Quesnel Hixon Road
Quesnel BC Canada V2J 6Z3
http://www.fastforward.ca mailto:sales@fastforward.ca
Phone: (250) 992 7775 FAX: (250) 992 1160
- Vanagon Accessories and Engine Conversions
- Vanagon, Transporter and Iltis Sales and Importation
- European Lighting for most Volkswagen models
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Stan Wilder
Sent: April 15, 2002 8:31 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Parking lot encounter
This past Saturday I was at a grocery store and had a slight encounter
with a Hispanic lady in a Nissan Sentra.
When I was backing out she tried to bullet past me and she caught my
drivers side bumper and end cap with her bumper.
We stopped up traffic real good while I penciled in all of my information
and showed her my insurance card and drivers license so she could compare
them to the information I had given her.
She then refused to give me any information at all on her insurance,
drivers license etc.
The damages were very minor to my Westy and her vehicle showed no signs
of bumper damage, although it had totally crushed the internal Styrofoam
or plastic structure below the urethane bumper covering. (I checked by
pressing the bumper in, while she wasn't looking, and it depressed in and
popped out looking OK).
I insisted that she give me her insurance information and I became so
insistent that she called for the police.
The officer was mucho put out that he had been called to such a minor
event.
He took all of her information down on a tipple accident form and handed
the whole set of originals and copies to me. He gave her a good scolding
for refusing to provide the information that is required by law in Texas.
Since she has three vehicles on her insurance policy this little accident
will (if she reports it) cost her an extra $500.00 per year in premiums
for three years.
As for me, I'm going to hammer out my bumper and install a new end cap.
No big deal.
However If she reports it and claims any bodily injury (Flames A Coming)
as most Hispanics do I can develop the same bodily injury symptoms myself
in less than twenty four hours. In addition I'll be getting a new $500.00
bumper and $260.00 labor to have it installed.
Who was at fault?
Both of us.
Me for not watching better and her for trying to bullet past a car
backing up.
Stan Wilder
1983 Westfalia Air Cooled
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