Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 11:40:58 -0600
Reply-To: Rob MacLeod <macleod@CVRTI.UTAH.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Rob MacLeod <macleod@CVRTI.UTAH.EDU>
Subject: Bus crash
Folks,
A few months back I joined this list and the first question I submitted was
how safe a VW bus would be in a crash. Since then I found a beautiful '87
Westfalia, the car of our dreams, and was busy enjoying it and fixing up
the little things to make it just right.
Well, this morning we had a first hand opportunity to evaluate the
crashworthiness of our bus. My wife was alone in the bus, heading straight
through a green light on a collector road here in Salt Lake (2100 S at 1700
E, westbound, for those on the list who know or care). She was doing 25-30
MPH and coming toward her were two cars going in the opposite direction.
The first one suddenly turned left in front of her and she was able to
brake enough to avoid hitting it, but then the second one did the same
thing and there was a collision.
Turns out the two cars were driven but a husband and wife team and when the
wife (first in line) went through the intersection, the husband (second in
line) dutifully followed. There may be a message here, but I won't touch
that one. Both admitted they did not see a thing, and they were driving
into the morning sun so visibility was bad. Conditions that might make
someone sensible consider being a little extra careful, but not our
intrepid husband and wife team. After all, they had to drive two cars to
get to the start of a run they wanted to do.
So the Jetta (car #2) got spun around and was pretty much a wreck, major
bashed-in front end. The damage to the bus was local to the front driver's
side, but also looks pretty bad, if a lot less so than the Jetta. Front
light, door, bumper all pushed in (front door would not open), and the
wrecker was pretty pessimistic about whether it would be salvageable,
whatever that mean.
So, now my questions. First one is how not to feel so damn angry. We
considered ourselves really really fortunate to have found this bus, it was
in mint condition, only 65k miles, and almost never used for camping. You
could not find a cleaner '87. I guess I'll just have to go ride my bike
for a while and take my anger out on the pedals.
More important second question: How do I tell and who do I trust to tell me
whether the bus can be fixed or is history? I cannot do anything with the
insurance company or police report until Monday, but do I trust the
adjuster the insurance company sends out, or have a local VW person check
it out? What are the things that really need to be checked to determine
whether the vehicle is fixible to a state similar to original?
I should add that in 25 years of driving, my wife has never had a single
accident and my last (and only) one was when I was 19, so we have great
records, but no experience in dealing with insurance companies in cases
like this.
Which leads to question 3: how do we make sure we get a decent settlement
from the other drivers? They admitted to not seeing the bus, and my wife
clearly had the right of way (there were two witnesses to support that
statement) so do I have to worry about any question of fault? And once
blame is assessed, how do we make sure we get all our expenses covered and
either fully fix (I guess that part is easier) or get a decent financial
settlement so that we can go out and start searching again for another
Westy?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Rob
Sad owner of a once beatiful, now pretty sick, '87 Westfalia
--
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Rob MacLeod, Ph.D.
Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute (CVRTI)
Building 500, University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 ____ __o
Internet: macleod@cvrti.utah.edu ____ -\<,
Phonemail: (801)581-8183 ....0/ 0
Fax: (801)581-3128
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