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