Here I am dead asleep at 3AM and get woken up by a loud crashing sound. I look out my window and my car is sitting at a 90 degree angle from how I parked it last night. I parked on the street and my car was 3/4's in my yard. It's pouring rain too.

I go out to look at it and it's screwed up on the whole drivers side. So I go back in to call the police and see flashing lights go by in the front window. Apparently the guy who hit lives about 150 yards up the street from me. He also hit two other cars my street before he hit mine. Ironically, my next door neighbor owns a bar and was just getting dropped off at home. Luckily for her my car is where it was because if it had not been, she might have been hit. She saw him hit the car before mine and saw him hit mine...twice. She called the police before I did.

The guy was sitting on his front porch when the police got to his house. One of the cops (no disrespect intended because that's what I have called them since I was little) drove back down to me. He didn't ask for anything except my phone number. I guess he got he rest of the information from my tag. Then a different one came down to talk to me and look at the car. My first comment to him, "let me guess, the guy is drunk". The cop laughs and said "yeah he's a wee bit hammered". The officer could tell I wasn't angry. I was in a why does this crap always happen to me mood where all I could do was really laugh about it. He told me that the guy left his front plate where he hit the first car.

About 15 minutes later one of the officers who was looking at the other cars drove up. He gave me a piece of paper with the case number, his name, what I assume was his badge number and phone number.

I see the guy go buy in the back of a squad car. So I am guessing they have a ton of charges on this guy. One of the officers gave me neighbor an insurance company name where the guy who said he has insurance. They called but the company didn't have any record of the guy. I am not going to stress out over that part yet, but all they had was a name and company. (State Farm)

I went to go look for my old digital camera and couldn't find it. I figure I should go get some pictures. I have had it for about 7 years and paid $400 for a 3 megapixel. Going to get up to Best Buy and buy a new one since I figure it might save me money in the long run now. When I get back and if I can find a good site to host them, I will post some pictures.

They are probably going to get this guy on so many charges. DUI, 3 hit and runs, plus others. So if you are considering driving after drinking, please don't do it.

I'm really sorry to hear this Destructis. I know that "why does stuff always happen to me" feeling. In the end, I think it's better than getting mad. Definitely take some pictures and maybe get some pictures of any skid marks, the other cars, etc - just in case you find it necessary that your lawyer (should it come to that) has to do some reconstruction of his own.

Best of luck in getting all of this resolved.

That sux, sorry to hear.

I would also call your own insurance company if you haven't already. I assume you have collision coverage on your car?

So because it was in your private driveway, does your house or your car insurance cover the damage?

Car insurance covers car, house covers house and never the twain shall meet.

Hopefully this works. I will post more in a bit. I found out they are holding the guy on 250k bond.

Now let's see if he can be kept where he belongs. I have nothing but contempt for such irresponsability.

Hope it works out for you, Destructus. More importantly, I'm glad no one was hurt.

Wow. And yours was the third car hit? That guy must have been steaming.

Just from what I see in the pic, you're probably looking at 8 to 10 K of damage.

Oh, and one more thing. Do your best to see if this guy really does have auto insurance. Timing is important if he does. The reason is that he probably has minimum limits (if there's any at all) and it's a first come first serve deal. The insurance company will try and settle all claims within limits if they can, but the claimant that files claim first has the upper hand.

Let's say he has 10K in property damage limits. You want first dibs on that. So file your claim and settle out if you can. The other folks will wish they had, but hey.

Damn shame -- the car is really nice looking.

FWIW...

With that kind of force against the face of the rear wheel/tire, make sure they check the differential, rear axle, and suspension. It could have jammed parts.

Depending on the balance owed, don't fix the car. Take it and the check to a local dealer and work as a trade in. The dealer would rather have the car as is and the check that to get it in a fixed condition. Then you won't have to pay the deductible. I'd never trust the car again.

Here is a picture of his car.

Damn, that is a really nice looking car. I really hope they get it back into shape.

This is what I know so far.

I called my insurance company to report it at 4AM. They took the information. My insurance person called me back at 8:30 this morning. She told me she will request a police report but it might take a couple of weeks and that I should try on Tuesday or Weds. I could probably get one faster than she could. I am not covered on my policy unless it's an uninsured motorist. She said she will contact his insurance company for me once she has a copy of the report and will help me get this through as quickly as possible. I am going to let her do it on her end, but I am going to keep on top of them on my end also.

I talked to the guys wife who was working the overnight shift last night when it all happened. They are insured. She felt so bad and kept apologizing. I told her it wasn't her fault and that I wasn't mad. People do stupid #%&*$# sometimes and he did something stupid. There is no point in my getting mad about it.

I bought the car 3 years ago for 3k. It's a 97 T-Bird and still has less than 100k miles on it. Engine runs perfect and I just put new brakes and tires on it about a month ago. My fear is that they will total it and just send me a check for less than 1k. I have enjoyed having a reliable car with no car payments. If I get screwed in this deal, I will get mad then and take it out on the insurance company. It's a wait and see thing for me now. Luckily I live three miles from work, so getting back and forth will be inconvenient, but not a real hardship. I feel as though I am taking it pretty well at this point. My poor baby though.

They are holding the dumbass for 250k in bond and his wife said he doesn't remember any of it. She talked to him for a couple of minutes on the phone this morning. He is supposed to go in front of a magistrate this morning. (I think that is what she called it). She said she doesn't have the 25k to get him out so he won't be getting out any time soon. They just bought thier house and moved in, in November.

This is the first weekend in a while that I didn't have to do anything and I was planning on it being a relaxing gaming weekend. Guess that went out the window.

My son is pissed though. He got his learners permit on Thursday and wanted to learn to drive in my car and not his mom's SUV wannabe.

I guess that's it for now and all I can think of.

Couple of quick hitters (sorry)

First, your insurance company is dead wrong about uninsured motorist. That is for bodily injuries sustained in a car accident when the other responsible party has no liability coverage. This is a property damage accident, collision. Period. If you have collision coverage under your policy you're covered. Period. Subject to deductible.

Second, ouch. I hate to say it, but that car is totalled. I said 8 to 10 K in damage, it might be less, but more than 3K for sure. The way it works is they do an appraisal of the vehicle, probably a combination of book price and local dealer surveys. Average it out, add taxes and there's your offer. Typically there's salvage (value of what's left of the car) to consider. They'll either take the car and pay you the appraisal, or offer you the appraisal less the salvage and you can keep the car. I don't think you want it though.

Third, rental car. You said you talked with the wife and that they had insurance. That's good! Do you have a insurance company, agent, policy number? If not, call her back. Hell with this 3 miles to work deal. You had a working auto, and now you don't. That scumbag, and hence, his insurance company, owes you for a rental car.

I don't think, in the end, you're going to be pleased with the offer you get on the car, whether it's from his (unknown) insurance company or yours. It's tough to replace something like that. I wasn't real pleased when our Infinity got totalled a couple years ago, but I did my homework, and the insurance company was fair in dealing with me.

You have to take some of the emotionalism out and just deal facts and figures.

Good luck, questions just ask.

All the best with it.

From my own experience, when my Dad's Ford Econoline suffered an ignition fire and and was totaled, the insurance company offered just 1K as payoff. When he questioned, it was because the title was listed as a cargo van. While it was a cargo van from the factory, it was actually a luxury custom conversion when it reached market.

He had to argue pretty hard, even send photos of the interior (which didn't burn, just the underhood) as proof it wasn't a cargo shell.

Most likely. All they're liable to do is return the car to the same "financial condition" as it was before the wreck, which generally means they total it and give you the BB value. It sucks, I had something similar happen with a CHERRY '85 Chevy truck (spent all its life in Texas till I took it to New England in 99.)

As I understand it (and 20mm you're the expert here on such matters) the insurance company needs to compensate you for the book value of the car (usually based on www.kbb.com ) less your deductible. I looked up the vehicle based on a Baltimore, MD zip code and the purchase value is around $3000.

Not frigging fair.

I'm not one for litigation but maybe an attorney will chime in and offer two-cents on the possibility of some P&S suit. No clue if there is a leg to stand on but might be worth checking in.



I have a real sore spot with this topic. Had a friend who was the perfect family guy, kids, hard worker. Until the day a drunk woman t-boned his car and he is now and will always be a vegetable.

It is disturbing, how much a foolish choice can impact somebody else's life.

Not to beat this horse, but if it helps, and I hope it does:

You can get your own appraisal of the vehicle value. Do a book survey, via internet. Call several dealers in your area and tell them you're looking for a vehicle like this, with this many miles in this condition, with these upgrades. Get a number and ask the salesmen's name. Average the numbers out and add tax. Give you something to square with what you're being offered.

Hopefully, all things being equal which they never are, you should be able to take the insurance check and go buy a like kind/quality vehicle.

And, for what's it's worth, don't waste your time on an attorney. No injuries involved, they will not be interested unless you pay them something or are a close friend. Handel it yourself, you can do it.

You'll be lucky to get the "dealer auction" value of the car. The price of the car when sold at dealer auctions. That's usually the dollar value you get from insurance companies on older cars.

Any insurance company that did that, IMO, would be on the shady side of business and should be looked at by the state insurance department. IOW, that's crap.

The deal is "LQK" meaning like kind and quality. A policy holder is not required to attend various auctions until they achieve the deal the insurance company deems fair.

It's based on book value, and there are book values for older cars, as well as dealer quotes in the area. It's all about a fair amount of money. They can't, nobody can, replace something that's damaged beyond repair. Nit by nit, fix by fix, tire by tire, got the oil replaced last week, and so on.

Best they can do is the best. And I'm not by any means an apologist for insurance companies.

Hopefully your check will be close to replacement, Kijiji might have your next car?

http://baltimore.kijiji.com/c-Cars-vehicles-Cars-under-5K-2002-FORD-TAURUS-SES-W0QQAdIdZ115965562

or if feeling a little sporty.

http://baltimore.kijiji.com/c-Cars-vehic...QAdIdZ116200094

OK, ok, it's fun to dream.
http://baltimore.kijiji.com/c-Cars-vehicles-Classic-cars-1967-Cobra-replica-W0QQAdIdZ74230601

'48 Harley!
http://baltimore.kijiji.com/c-Cars-vehicles-Motorcycles-scooters-1948-HARLEY-W0QQAdIdZ108479256


Another T-Bird!
http://baltimore.kijiji.com/c-Cars-vehic...QQAdIdZ69257780

Wow, that Mustang has the same OZ Racing wheels my car has. That 'stang looks nice.

Looking at his Expedition, "Built Ford Tough" comes to mind.

Not disagreeing with you Bill, but it's pretty typical for the initiating vehicle to exhibit very little signs of collision, while the receivers get the brunt of it. There are studies to explain this, but I've forgotten the complicated reasons.

Mass + speed = more energy, than say a stationary vehicle, couple that with a true frame in the Ford versus a unibodied car, well the results are what you'd expect.

Just an update if anyone is interested. The guy is out of jail now. He called me at work today and said he would like to just "make it right". He wants to pay for the repairs himself. I told him there was no way that was going to happen. Then he went through his spiel telling me that his insurance company dropped him today and they wouldn't cover it. I asked him if he had the cash right now to repair my car. He said no that he would have to get a loan from his mother. I told him again that I want the insurance information, even if the refused the claim. He said he would have to get the information from his wife and would call me back. (Like I actually believed that one)

I left work early and came home because I was going to go over to his house. As soon as I got home, his wife came over to plead her case. I told her the same thing I told him, that I wanted the information for the insurance company. After breaking down in tears and pleading her case some more, she finally said she would go get it and bring it back. (I didn't believe her either)

I decided I would call my insurance agent to ask her advice. I told her what was going on and she said I was right to keep asking for the insurance information. She also said that if he got dropped today that he was covered on the 28th and his insurance should still cover it. If by chance he got dropped before the 28th, that my insurance would cover it under the uninsured motorist part of my policy. I would have to pay the required by MD law $250 deductible though. They would go after that along with the repair costs in trying to get reimbursed by the guy if he is uninsured. She then asked me if I have his tag number and I said I could get it since he lives 100 yards down the street. She is running a trace on the tag and will be able to give me the name of the insurance company and policy number for me to contact them.

I know what I am doing sounds cold and heartless, but I have to approach it to protect *my* best interests. What happens if the guy backs out on paying for my car or his mother backs out on giving him the loan. If it goes unreported, then I could just get stuck with everything. Also if I were to have the car towed to get an estimate and he can't get the money for a bit, I would be stuck with storage fees too.

If you guys want more updates, then let me know, if not, just let the thread fall off the front page.

I'm very interested how this works out.

I hate to see innocent people screwed over, and have no legal recourse.

Not in my book.
He made the choice to drive under the influence not you.
Good luck with getting this all straightened out.

Wheelsup


(Post # 78)

You go to his arraignment (initial appearance), or if he's already appeared before the judge, you go to his next scheduled hearing. I assume he's got some kind of charge from the police?

The judge will hear your side as a victim of the case and cause mandatory payment on the defendant if found guilty for damages. He will no doubt as you are completely innocent. The court puts a "judgment suspension" on his license and until that is reimbursed to the victim, he remains suspended.

There's usually a time frame given by the judge for this to be paid in full to the victim. If he doesn't pay it in full by the time, he can look at more jail.

There may be a different term in your state, sometimes called a security suspension, but every court has this power in a case like yours.

I stopped a guy for dui and asked him if he could pass a psychomotor test...his face lit up and he said "Sure, I have a motorcycle."

20MM,

It's always refreshing to read posts where the writer knows what he is talking about.
Are you still active in the Insurance claims business?

I also spent many years in the Insurance claims end of it but mostly in the aviation end, with some TP liability, property, injury and a little auto.

Destructis, remember that the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

I have seen some claims paid that were out and out fraudulent but the claimant wouldn't give up and the Company finally gave and up and paid. These were small claims.

gbarclay, thanks. No, I'm kinda retired right now but I may get back into it.

I spent a lot of years working claims, everything from property to liability, auto, inland marine, marine, fidelity. I don't expect people who don't have that background to know the difference between uninsured motorist and collision, but it does bother me when an insurance professional doesn't know or when an insurance company uses its power to buffalo and BS and stall.

I always figured if you owe it, pay it. If you don't owe it politely say so, but be quick about it.

20mm, I did check my policy and I have two listings under my uninsured motorist. One for bodily and one for property and each one has their own amount listed.

Hmmm, well, maybe this old dog has a trick or two to learn. And maybe MD's policies are different. But I've never heard of uninsured motorist covering property damage.

Do you have collision and comprehensive cover? Collision would cover damage to your car resulting from a collision (duh), whether it was your fault or someone else's fault. How does that jive with uninsured motorist property damage? Seems like a double hit, pardon the pun. What I mean by that is the insurance company could end up with a double payment on the same claim. OK, I have a collision claim, pay me for that. And oh, by the way, the guy was uninsured, so pay me under that too.

Also, uninsured motorist is typically sold in tandem with underinsured motorist. Underinsured motorist is where you get hit by someone with inadequate limits to pay your damages. Let's say in the case at hand, your car is worth $20K and the at fault driver only has $10K in insurance. He's got insurance alight, he just doesn't have enough limits. So the "uninsured motorist" never comes into play because he had insurance, so therefore it's falls on the underinsured motorist?

See how confusing this gets? Much better just to say it's a collision claim. Cause it is.

Never talk claims with old claims guys! And best of luck.

If an insurance company didn't cover property damage from uninsured motorists, find another company.

You can be insured for just about anything, and you can wheel and deal on just about anything. If you got money to spend, someone will be there to offer insurance.

I definitely agree. He did something that could easily have killed people, no mercy for him. When he didn´t plan for somebody else to drive him back before his binge he just lost all claims to sympathy. And, yes, a drunk driver killed my grandmother and was convicted for it, so do NOT feel bad about anything concerning him.

@ 20mm - FYI, I'm looking at one of my renewal statements from State Farm (we have 2 cars) and we have uninsured coverage for both bodily injury & property damage. The bodily injury shows the coverage limits while the property damage doesn't ("normal" property damage does show the limits, though).

We also have "normal" collision & comprehensive. We don't have "underinsured" - I don't know if that's available as I hadn't heard of that one.

So, it does sound like different states have different coverage options.

I got a copy of the police report yesterday. It has some lines blacked out and I am assuming it has to do with his blood alchol levels. It did have his insurance information on it though. So I called my insurance agent last night and gave the information to her. She just called me a few minutes ago and said that State Farm can't find anything on the policy number or the name on the policy. She said we should go on the assumption right now that the officer wrote the policy number wrong. She asked me if I had the phone numbers of the guy who hit me and I gave them to her. She said she was going to try to call them to get the information and that maybe since she was calling from the insurance company, that they might give the information to her. After she calls them, she said she will call me back.

She said if they don't give her the information, that she will have to wait until the trace completes and if it comes back uninsured, that they will get my car fixed. I would have to pay the $250 deductible to the repair shop once the work is complete and when they go after the person who hit my car, that they would try to get that back for me too. She said that when they go after someone for the repairs, that it usually takes a long time, so not to expect the money back any time soon.

My perceptions on this is that she believes they are uninsured at this point, but still has to go through the steps and can't come out and say that. She has rules she has to follow and can only give me her offical options at this point. She has been very helpful and I am very impressed with my insurance company through all of this. It's going slow, but they are doing what they have to do. If anyone is interested, my policy is through Nationwide. At this point, I feel very comfortable in recommending them.

Now to sit and wait for the call back. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy decided to come down here after she calls them to start crap with me because he said he would pay for it. If he does, I will ask him once to leave and then call the police. I am just not going to deal with it.

You sound as though the car is repairable. Is it? That assumes you have a repair estimate or two and that the repairs are less than the value of the car. If the value of the car is $5K and the repairs are $6K, it's totalled.

So if you don't have repair estimates, I'd get a couple. Then I'd do what I suggested earlier and get a book value and a dealer value. Couple of those. You can get a book value online through Kelly or NADA.

Maybe your insurance company will send out an appraiser. That would help speed things up a little.

kadir,
If the "property damage" limits under uninsured motorist is blank, it probably means it doesn't apply. The dec sheet or renewal sheet may print out that way when in truth it's non sequitar. Collision is what I said it was. Your car gets hit or you hit something, that's collision. Period. Comprehensive is for things like fire or flood, glass breakage and so on. As for underinsured motorist, that's usually sold in tandem, but maybe not in CA, or maybe your agent missed it.

Odd that this comes up.

As a lot of you know, I teach high school in Texas. Just this last week, the high school where I teach put on a program called Shattered Dreams. This is a program that was created by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (think the booze police) and it is one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had as a teacher.

Since 1996, the high school where I teach has lost 19 kids to alcohol-related vehicle accidents. That probably doesn't seem like much, but our student population is never over about 400 kids, and that' freshman-senior classes. We lost one this school year already, and she nearly killed her two friends in the car with her.

What Shattered Dreams does is it brings local EMS and law enforcement together and they stage a full-on fatality crash right in front of your school, complete with blood and gore. They brought in fire department and emergency services from three towns, plus state troopers for ours. They look for volunteers among the student body to be crash victims. During the day, though, every fifteen minutes a very tall, imposing person dressed as the Grim Reaper comes to random classrooms and they drag a student kicking and screaming (don't worry, they're volunteers and acting a part) out of the classroom to signify the true statistic that every fifteen minutes, there's a death due to alcohol-related accidents.

Finally, we had the crash scene outside. They have two cars, the victims, the drunk driver, everything. EMS and fire rolls up on the scene and they start using saws and the Jaws of Life to extricate the kids from the crash. You got kids screaming, blood all over the cars, it's rough. Anyway, they even brought in an ambulance helo to take out a victim. I understand the EMS and police involved actually like doing these things because it's good practice for when the real thing happens.

The whole time, the Grim Reaper is standing on the hood of the car, waiting to claim his next victim. They get the two fatalities out of the car, the parents of the kids are there to even ID the bodies and they zip those kids into human remains pouches right in front of the kids and load them into the back of the county coroner's truck.

The next day, they even have a 'memorial service' for the 'victims'. And for ours, they brought in this kid:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/...w.4e77e288.html

His is a really powerful message. I'm kinda tearing up remembering it.

Anyhow, if you're in Texas and this is a concern in your community, check this site out.

http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/educa/shatdreams.htm

Even if you're not, check your state alcoholic beverage committee and see if they have something similar. It really hit our kids pretty hard.

pfunk

I've got State Farm. They're really cautious, really thorough, but they've done right by me every time.

pfunk

I wasn't knocking State Farm at all. I apologize if it came across that way. I didn't even mean to put the name in and was just typing out the facts as much as I could. I should have left it as "the insurance company".

20mm, at this point, I am going on the assumption that my car can be repaired. While it may not be realistic in your opinion, I feel that being level headed and crossing bridges when I get to them is the way to go right now. I paid 3k for the car about 3 years ago. If the blue book on it now is still 3k, based on guod's link, then I will end up taking that and going out seeing what I can find for that. I live 3 miles from work and am putting about 4k miles a year on it. I refuse to get a car payment. I make decent money and probably could afford it if I cut back on some entertainment expenses, but I am not willing to do that. I just want something reliable for the most part.

I am very happy with my car because it's served me well. It's just "comfortable" like that old pair of shoes. If it can't be repaired, it's out of my control. I refuse to take the poor me route and be upset over stuff that hasn't been decided yet. I will just keep dealing with it as it comes. Work has been very good about it and allowing me to work a flexible schedule. I can get a ride to work at 6:30 and working until about 4:00. My normal schedule is 8-5. They have also offered me the use of the shuttle. We are a school in the Maritime industry and we have 3 vans that are available for the students to be picked up and taken to BWI Airport. All I have to do is call them and they will send someone over to pick me up and take me home. I don't want to take advantage of that unless I need to.

No call back from my agent, so I am assuming they didn't answer their phone when she called. I know they are home because I saw them out front about an hour ago. One thing that does piss me off is that their car is drivable again because it wasn't in the driveway when I got home from work last night and is back there now.

Nah, I was trying to maybe help ease some anxiety. Yeah, they've paid slow once or twice, but they were always thorough, they even got me a lawyer when it looked like a guy was gonna try to sue me even though the accident was his fault.

pfunk

You really need to go to his court hearing Destructis. At least once. The judge would like to hear your damages.

Destructis,
Good lucky buddy. If I came across as a know it all and lecturing, I'm sorry. Not my intention at all. It's just I did this game for most of my adult life. Take it as it comes, it sounds like you've got a great attitude. Some people would be so pissed they'd be looking for blood.

You just want your car back. That's refreshing.

Take care

Where would I get that information? There isn't anything on the police report about it all. This isn't something I am used to dealing with at all. As slow as the courts work, it will be a while anyway.

Don't stop giving your input. It does help because it gives me landmines to watch out for. While I may not always agree with what you say, your experience is valuable to me. For the insurance company, it's just business and I understand that and keep it in mind. They are doing what's best for *them*. That's not something I can afford to forget. You are helping to me in balance with your posts, so keep them coming.

There are pitfalls to this whole thing. Your posts keep me from becoming complacent so that I can't just sit back and wait for everyone else to do stuff for me. It was one of the reasons I got off my butt and got a copy of the police report.

Here I go again (shut UP Tom!)

I would call the county prosector's office and ask who the attorney is assigned to the case. Tell them you're a victim and would like to have your rights protected.

Actually, they should send you a victim resitution agreement that outlines everything. You just sign it and mail it back. If you have repeair estimates you attach those and outline the amount of money you believe you are owed.

Good idea to attend the hearing, but most of it is about the criminal citation, not the civil money owed.

Get that form in and they are supposed to watch over your interests. Doesn't mean the guy will pay the bill, and they may say "OK, $25 a month for a gazillion months", but it's something.

Ditto what 20mm said. Call up the county judge's office and find out who to talk to, or if the officer gave you a business card (I haven't met one yet who didn't), call him. Either one should know what's going on.

pfunk

@20mm - sorry, I wasn't trying to say you were wrong. You had said that you hadn't seen "uninsured property" so I was throwing out what I had on my statement to see if you had a comment (which you did - much appreciated ).

I am getting more frustrated at this point. I talked to my insurance agent and she is still waiting on the results of the trace. I emailed her a copy of the police report today also. Everything is just going so slowly. My car is still sitting in front of my house with a trash bag taped to where my drivers side window used to be. It's been 10 days and I don't feel as though I am any closer to getting my car fixed.

I am getting angrier with the guy who hit my car as each day goes by. I still think he is uninsured and the bad part is that he is still driving. I saw him pulling his car out yesterday. I thought they pulled someones license for DUI right away and at the minimum suspended it. I could be wrong though.

For a while, I felt bad for the guy because that could have been me 25 years ago. We all did stupid things in our youth. I don't feel bad for him any longer because he won't man up to what he did or what is going on. If he is driving on a suspended license or uninsured, I hope he gets pulled over again.

My frustration level is really going up with this whole mess.

I am no expert, but the people I know who have gotten DUIs have kept their license until their trial. Luckily none of them hit anything or anyone and I only know of one guy who has more than one. I would assume that it would vary by state though since each state has their own laws regarding driving, and the punishment varies based on numerous offenses. I think I remember you saying this isn't his first DUI although I didn't see it when I just scanned back over the begining of the thread. Another thing is that people do drive without licenses, if you find out that his is already gone and you see him driving around call the cops on him.

QFT.

I always loved when an applicant for the Army would say they only had one police offense - driving with a suspended license.



One thing I can honestly say is I have never driven after drinking. It has always been one of my "red lines" of personal behavior.

In my neighborhood our local repeat DUI guy has wrecked into the cable and telephone boxes so often that we now have a system so patched that it routinely just dies.

The guy finally got a year in jail for his upteenth DUI, and his family moved away.

Oh, and, um, you might be a redneck if...

I have a friend who was pulled over for DUI right before Christmas and she only lost her license because she refused a breathalyzer (she said she wasn't drunk, I said why would you refuse a breathalyzer if not drunk?) Her arraignment was a few weeks ago, the trial is in Sept. I think she loses her license at least till then, and that the administrative suspension for refusal to submit is completely separate from any criminal suspension she might get at the trial (she's in MA.)

Put your car out of commission for 10 days and the only thing you did wrong was park it and go to bed. Then come back and tell me how humorous this comment is.

Destructis,
This is typical. Frustration setting in. With some people, they have an accident on Friday afternoon and their car isn't fixed by Monday morning they go off like pop bottle rockets. You have a lot more tolerance, but at some point, and I guess you're there, you just want it over with. Do you have rental coverage on your policy? If so, I'd use it, at least you get some wheels.

And speaking of which, based on the photo you posted, it looks like the problem with being able to drive your car is the left rear wheel. Maybe you can get a mechanic to check it out. If the damage isn't too bad, get that fixed. You still have a crunched car, but at least it drives. If you go that route, be sure and tell your agent first.

Is she there local? I'd go down and sit across the desk from her and try to get some definate answers. Like when are you guys going to move on this?

Good luck.

The drivers side door won't close securely. I even had to put a little piece of cardboard over the button to turn off the interior light. Plus there is some fluid, (not sure what type) under my car right now.

I do have rental coverage, but again, it won't take effect until we confirm that they are uninsured. If they are uninsured and came out and said it when I asked for the insurance information, my insurance would have already started on my car. I talked to the agent yesterday afternoon and she was still waiting on the trace. I am going to give her until tomorrow morning before I call back again.

Here, this link may help:

http://www.carinsurance.com/CoverageDefinitions.aspx

If you notice, uninsured/underinsured applies to bodily injury, except to a limited extent when you don't carry collision coverage, or if you do, it may cover part of the deductible.

So I guess my question is, do you have collision coverage?

Think of it this way. If your wife (not you of course!) had an at fault accident where she hit another car, one that was insured, how would you get your car fixed? Not covered under uninsured motorist since the other driver had insurance. Not going to be paid from the other insurance company because it wasn't their driver's fault. So you're SOL? What if you had a lien on the car, like the bank or credit union? Those folks like to know their investment is secure even if something bad happens. No different than the insurance on your house. The mortgagee likes to be protected. In fact, you can't get a loan on a house or a car without proof of first party coverage. Meaning in the case of auto, collision and comprehensive.

OFF

The same thing happened to me in 2007... I was out having dinner with my family, and a drunk guy left the bar across the street, got into a cherry Orange '73 Ford Torino (totally sweet with a big block Ford Marine motor)... He then pulled a massive, loud, smoke filled hole-shot right from where he was parked, then promptly accelerated into a Jeep Grand Cherokee not 100' away and did massive damage, then ricocheted into another car parked about 120' behind me, bounced off, continued to accelerate and then hit my truck (about 2 months old at the time), and absolutely smashed the crap out of it, then hit a Nissan Altima parked 30' in front of me, and then onto the curb and into a tree which finally stopped him.

My truck was smashed against the curb so hard he broke both right side rims and tore those tires to bits, picked the car up, turned it 140 degrees and dropped it on the lawn of a neighboring house. I was right there when it happened, walking out to my truck. I was delayed by someone who asked for a light and I politely said I did not have one, because I don't smoke, and then VRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!! A few seconds earlier, or with no lighter delay, and the guy would have hit me, my daughter, and my wife. I ran to his car to see if he was ok, and the guy was pi$$ drunk! I ordered him out of the vehicle, told him to produce a valid license, reggie, and insurance, or face my considerable anger... He laughed and started giving me lip... I then punched through his side glass, grabbed him by the head and shoulders, and pulled him through the bloody window... I then poked him in the chest, hard enough to get his attention, and told him that he was f'ing with the wrong hombre... He threw a punch at me (the guy was easily my size, maybe a bit larger, but young), I ducked and I dropped him like a hot potato and then smashed both my knees down into his shoulder joints and beat his face for a few seconds... Someone , a friend of his, ripped me off of him (he's very lucky that happened), and the guy took off. I was PI$$ED!!!

The cops got him by the next day and asked me to come down and ID him and press charges, which I did. The guy actually attempted to press charges on me, and the cop frankly told him... "You DWI hit his new truck, almost killed him and his family, cursed at him and then tried to hit him, and you thought he was NOT going to kick your a$$??? You are lucky this guy did not kill you!!! Besides, those injuries look like they were sustained in one of the many collisions you had last night. Don't push your luck." I was smiling... His face was purple and swollen all over. I was just a little miffed I did not get any teeth. As the cop was passing me he says... "Damn, that guy is BIG, I would not have messed with him..." To which I replied... "He's the lucky one..."

End of a long story... My best friend that owns several body shops, fixed my truck expertly... Actually came out better than it was before... $23,000 in damages later.


-Skater

I think it is refusing the breathalyzer. I know in VA if you refuse it you lose your license for 6 months no matter what. If you take it and fail they have you for DUI and you will lose your license anyway eventually, and obviously you are going to jail that night so you won't be able to drive again until you are sober anyway. I could be wrong but I think that is how it works here.

edit: I was just thinking about this and I actually don't think they always take your license for a DUI. I think for first offenses sometimes it just gets restricted so you can drive to and from work and or school, but you have to keep a copy of your schedule with you in case you get pulled over. I am amazed by all the big red Rs on licenses when I card people in our bar.

Sorry to hear that Destructis... Hope hius insurance will cover the damages... and they will pay considering it was a DUI, overhere they can, and will, refuse to pay if any violation of laws has been comitted

Staffan

Ontario DUI

An individual stopped by the police whose blood alcohol concentration exceeds 50 mg/100mL will lose his or her licence for 12 hours.

http://www.lawyers.ca/international/sectiondetail.asp?ID=9&state=Ontario

Administrative Driver's License Suspension, Automatic 90 Day Suspension when Charged with Over 80 or Refusal

http://www.lawyers.ca/international/sectiondetail.asp?ID=15&state=Ontario

Of interest to Americans

If a US citizen or other non-Canadian citizen is convicted of a DUI offence in the USA or a dui offence in any country other than Canada, the DUI offender will be inadmissible to Canada on grounds of criminality, unless rehabilitated, because the DUI offence is deemed to be a Canadian DUI offence and all Canadian DUI offences are deemed indictable (similar to a US felony - see above) unless the Crown has elected to proceed with the DUI offence by summary conviction (which will never have happened because the DUI offense occurred outside Canada. The situation will be different if the DUI offence occurs in Ontario or elsewhere in Canada and the Crown elects to proceed by summary conviction which they normally do.

Those penalties seem to me to be pretty light IMHO.

20mm: No I don't have collision

Semi good news though. My insurance agent called me at 3:30 and said the trace finally came back. The car is uninsured, so my insurance company is going to cover it. They also authorized a rental car now that they know what is going on. My car is getting towed tomorrow to a repair place for the estimate. What they do is call around to local dealerships and get three prices for a like model car in about the same condition. (mileage etc) and if which ever is less, they will give me. If it would cost less to repair the car, then they will fix it. They don't go by blue book and will go by retail price.

I don't know how this will work out, but I am hoping for the best at this point. Once they find out all the costs involved, they are going to turn it over to their recovery department to go after the guy who hit me.

At least something is in the works now.

Did you read the links?

http://www.lawyers.ca/international/sectiondetail.asp?ID=7&state=Ontario
http://www.lawyers.ca/international/sectiondetail.asp?ID=9&state=Ontario

Sorry if I offended - I know how it can be when someone wrecks one's car and it's out of commission with the innocent driver holding the bag.

Wife's Mustang got whacked in a parking lot (hit and run) and we wound up going out of pocket for repairs. Just like yours, it was basically undriveable.

Two years ago an uninsured driver t-boned her Jeep, but we were lucky the insurance company (Allstate) did their part and even left our rates the same.

It's fine. I apologize for my reaction. Your joke was just bad timing.

Gah I just got the call. They totalled it and gave me $3400.

Now I have to go out and buy another car. What a pain in the ass. At least I have a resolution to this part.

Didn't you say you only paid 3 grand for your car though? So you made $400 profit. Things certainly could be worse.

Oh good, now my car has been deleted by ForSquirrels.

Yes, I made a slight profit and drove it for about 3 years. It could be much worse and I am staying to stay even keeled about the whole thing. It's just a pain because I have to go car shopping again and I refuse to do the car payment thing. I just have to find something as reliable as that one was that I can pay cash for. It's a huge headache for doing nothing worse than parking my car.

Well, in any case you've pretty well got a resolution. Good luck on the car hunting.

Glad the resolution is as good as it is, and also... it's finally done!

Almost but not quite. Got a subpoena in the mail yesterday for June 8th. It's his trial. Oddly enough, it only lists one charge which is the DUI. Can one of the legal types here help me out on this one? Did they drop all the other charges?

Didn't he drive home after hitting your car? Isn't that leaving the scene of an accident?

The police report has it listed as 3 hit and runs. The subpoena only lists the DUI though. I really hope they didn't drop the other charges. It will make it harder for my insurance company to go after him for the money.

I was finally hoping to post a final resolution to this whole situation because there were some people interested in it. I went to court on June 8th and he asked for a postponement to get a lawyer. The judge gave him one and the new court date was today. So I went to court both times. Today he filed a motion saying he was in Annapolis in circut court because of an assault case on his daughter who is 14. He filed his motion this morning and the judge read it out loud when they called his name. The judge then asked for the DA's position. The DA said she had two officers here and one civilian witness (me, because the other 3 didn't show) and that she was requesting a bench warrant because we all took time out of our day to come to court. The judge said that he knew in advance of his daughters court date and waited to file his motion today. He was not excused from court and issued a bench warrant. So I will have to go back to court again. I will go as many times as necessary. I am not going to be like the others and just not show up.

I asked one of the officers here in a PM if I could get in trouble for posting a link to the Maryland online records which are public and posted his name and was told probably not if the records are public. I decided against that but will tell you that the guys record is 2 pages long and has 36 items. 14 of them are from this situation. Here are his others...The first numbers are the date.

12/07 Driving on a revoked license 3 total charges
12/04 Driving on a revoked license 4 total charges
05/05 Driving on a revoked license 5 total charges
07/06 Driving on a revoked license 3 total charges
07/07 Driving on a revoked license 5 total charges
There are two other charges where the complaint was dismissed.

Currently he is charged with ....

1 x Driving under the influence
1 x Driving while impaired by alcohol
1 x Driving on a revoked license
2 x Driving on a suspended license (each is worded a bit differently)
1 x Driving without required license
6 x Failure to stop after hitting an unattended vehicle
1 x Reckless Driving
1 x Negligent Driving

I know he is currently out on $5,000 bail. I am assuming since they issued a bench warrant, that he just lost that money.

As for me, I was without a car for a month which really sucked. I did end up buying a 97 Sebring JXI Convertible that is in great shape. I will post pics later. I had to add $500 to the insurance money I got, but at least I am still without a car payment.

I was hoping to post a resolution to everything today after going to court twice, but it seems like it is going to keep carrying on for a bit. If people are interested, I can post the final resolution once I find out what finally happens if anyone is still interested. It's been 5 months now and it just keeps on going.

Please do post the final resolution. I hope they arrest the scumbag shortly.

What is it with some people that they manage to leave a trail of destruction wherever they go. Lack of responsibility?

good luck with this, Deceptis! Hope you can claim at least the 500 that you had to pay yourself earlier... and that society will be guarded against him.

Necro bump.

I finally got another summons to go to court over this one. It's for 4/26/10. Over a year later and I am still dealing with the idiot drunk driver who hit my parked car. Last time I went to court, they gave him a failure to appear. I know some of you were interested at the time, so I thought I would keep it updated.

Thanks for keeping this updated - it sounds like a mess, but I'm interested in how it turns out in the end.

GATA...

Get After Their Ass...

pfunk

Have your ducks in a row D. Police report copies, estimate copies, photograph copies, rental bills, whatever you had to pay out of pocket. Including time off work if that is applicable. Document everything and have more than one copy set. One for the court, one for the jackass, and one for you at a minimum. Good luck buddy.

Thanks for the advice. I have everything scanned in already, I just need go through and print it out. I also have emails from my insurance company too. I should take them too, whether or not they are needed.

I can't believe you are still mired in that. Holy crap I thought that was long gone now. Sorry you are *still* having to go through this.

It's finally all done. He came in again this morning asking for another postponement. The judge said no.

I did find out that he was on probation currently for a previous DUI. The judge gave him 14 days in jail. 4 days of time served and 10 days to be served on weekends. He also got one year supervised probation.

My feelings on this are really mixed. This guy has been to court a ton of times on previous violations. Part of me wanted him to go to jail for a year. I felt like he got a minor slap on the wrist based on his history. Another part of me really didn't want to see the guy fry. He has three kids and a wife. If he had to go to jail for a year, he would have lost everything. I still have some anger towards him, but I am not heartless. Then again, he could killed someone that night or if the punishment isn't enough to get him to change his ways, he might kill someone in the future.

He also has to pay me the deductible that they took out of the insurance when they totalled my car which was $250.00. That will have to be paid through probation and he has until 07/01/10 to pay it. I don't really care about that. The lawyer asked me if there was a deductible last time I went and they still had it in my record. He did come over and shake my hand after it was done and apologized. I shook his hand back and told him good luck and mouthed good luck to his wife as I passed her going out of the courtroom.

After he pleaded guilty, the just asked me if I wanted to make a statement and I declined. I was only there as a witness. I got the summons in the mail and followed it.

About a year and a month and now it's finally behind me.

Additional note, since they live down the street from us, his wife came over before the court started and asked me not to tell my son about what happened. I promised her that I wouldn't. Her son is 16 and my son is 18. She didn't want her son to be ridiculed for what his father did. I agreed with her that her son shouldn't pay for what his father did. I will keep my promise but I will tell my son how badly you can screw up your life by drinking and driving.

Good this is finally over.

Most importantly I think is, has he learned from this? The jailtime is for what has happened in the past, but do you think that he bettered his life - i.e. no DUI (or better, not getting drunk at all anymore)?

Glad this is pretty much over. But I wouldn't lose too much sleep if he doesn't pay you the deductible.

Sounds like you were a gentleman though, shaking his hand and working with his wife. Hope they appreciate it.

I am not worrying about the deductible. If it comes, then it's just a bonus at this point. It's all been paid for now. If it doesn't, I have no plans to follow up on it. I didn't get any satisfaction over the court thing either. I thought maybe it would make me feel better about everything, but it didn't. Now I just want to put it behind me and keep my word to his wife.

Actually I feel kind of numb to the whole mess now. I need to go back and reread this thread from the beginning when I get home from work. I am curious as to how my tone has changed over the last year.

I'm glad to hear that things are wrapping up, but I can seen the lack of satisfaction, and a definite concern about his future actions. I just hope he doesn't do this again, with a possibly worse outcome.