[whatgorilla]

This morning, I was heading to an IDPA gun match when a young guy, driving on a suspended license, with no insurance or tag, ran a stoplight going 50-60mph. I didn't see him until the last second and basically PLOWED into him doing 50mph myself--I didn't have enough time to brake or turn at all hardly. The entire front end of my car is smashed, bumper gone, radiator pushed back to where it's touching the air-intake tube. Air-bag saved my face/body very well--I don't think my seat-belt was on, as I'd just pulled out of a store and (I think) I was putting it on when it happened). The dashboard is so low beneath the steering wheel that I did suffer bad leg cuts/bruises. People/paramedics all thought both legs/shins were broken--turns out one has a hairline fracture, the other, nothing; though one shin was swollen bigger than a tangerine under the skin. I also have some neck-pain, but that's to be expected in a 50mph head-on crash I'd think. Overall, my X really pulled through well--it crushed in a bit, but was still running when I fell out onto the pavement and began limping to the side of the road--the other driver was trying to crank his vehicle and leave the scene, but couldn't get it cranked (when people approached him, he locked his doors and kept trying to crank his car!!).

All I can do now is pray that on Monday Mike Shad Nissan of Orange Park Florida will tell me it's NOT totalled. IF IT IS, then I have no GAP insurance and owe 20K and will only receive 16K for a two-week old X with 1400 miled on it. If it's NOT totalled, I'll only owe all my deductibles ($500+) and 20% of medical bills. Meanwhile, the kid walked scott-free (well, with three tickets).

Question: IF it's not totalled, and I want to get a shrock-works bumper put on it (as that's probably the same price as a Nissan bumper/grill/fog-lamp assembly/etc), what should I tell the Nissan people and/or USAA? What parts do I tell them to leave off in their repair and will USAA pay for a cheaper-but-stronger aftermarket bumper...(even if it's more, I'll throw in a few hundred dollars)?

 

[willgr1]

if you want to go aftermarket, it might have been a good idea to send the X to a body shop instead of the dealer, they are usually much easier to work with when it comes to parts....also, i'm suprised your insurance wouldn't cover the cost of the entire vehicle given it's two weeks old, if that ends up being the case you may want to consider going after the guy who caused the accident for the remainder of the vehicle value and the medical bills.

well, truck aside, atleast you walked away with only a fracture, it could have been much worse.

 

[S_e_X-Terra]

Holy crap.... that really sucks... Im glad i wasnt there, because if i was and saw that kid trying to crank his car he would probably have alot more bruises than the wreck caused....

That little fu(#er should be in jail!!!!!


I hope everything works out (i dont know much about insurance stuff)

 

[usmc xterra]

Glad you are ok, You can sue him. (For the Gap & deductible.) Your insurance should pay, and go after him. As for a Bumper, The waiting list is way way too long to even think about getting a Shrockworks on in time. Bets bet is buy a used one cheap from someone who did the bumper saver mod, use that and order a shrockworks with the money saved and sell it again when you get a Shrockworks. (Months) But meantime, hack the top of the center off yours, (Where the grille fits in) about the top center 3 feet, a 2" slice of it. And keep it. MC

 

[whatgorilla]

Well, whenever I mentioned to the cops that I might have to take him to court to get the money GAP insurance would have paid, they said it would be like trying to "squeeze blood out of a turnip." If he has no money, then I'm just screwed--though perhaps his parents were letting him drive their car with a suspended license and no insurance--dunno if they might be able to help me pay. I just can't believe someone on a suspended license with no insurance or tag can drive, cause a wreck and not go to jail!?!

Also, when I saw him trying to get away, I was limping over there to break his window and yank him out of the car by his corn-rows when several well-meaning guys tackled me, dragged me to the curb and told me not to move (my legs were bleeding a lot); the witnesses all mentioned him locking his doors and trying to crank his car, but when I told them to get his tag number, they replied, "He doesn't have a tag!" That's when I first suspected he might not have insurance either. If his car had cranked, I would have had to decide whether to let him go, or shoot out his tires which were only 10ft away from me--as I said, I was on my way to a pistol match (and had my glock 23 on my belt--Note: I do have a concealed weapon permit).

If I were in a smaller car, I'd be hurtin' real bad right now at a hospital or worse. No seat-belt was stupid, but the X kept me in the gene-pool, so I won't make that mistake again.

 

[robnfl]

Glad to hear you're ok...good luck with the truck.

Rob

 

[Magic Rat]

Well that really sucks, but the important thing is you walked (limped?) away with only minor injuries.
I would think the insurance company would pay the full amount, seeing as it was only 2 weeks old.
Keep us updated

 

[Lonesome Crow]

I'm glad you are ok. That is the important thing. Let the insurance and the law take care of the situation for a little while and make sure you are ok. Then think about squeezing the turnip for all its worth.

 

[RiNkY]

Even if he has no money you still sue. Then he will have a court judgement against him and won't be able to buy a house until he pays you off. We ran into that problem when we were buying our first house as my wife had a judegement against her and her ex husband after they skipped out on a lease.

If he has a house already - You put a lein on it and he's fucked if he wants to sell or refi.

 

[PaulXyZ]

You came out really lucky having made the decision to play russian roulette with the seat belt. You ough to have gone through the windshield losing most of face. Air bags can also kill as they crush the ribs explosively - that's why they gave you the seat belts too.

(sorry to be so honest but I've seen WAY too many killed for not putting on their seat belts)

 

[RogueClimber]

I need to avoid this forum. All these wrecks are making me nervous...

I'm glad you came out ok. And it's too bad that our laws won't hold the responsible party responsible. He should have to make it right even if it takes the rest of his life.

 

[oldmanterra]

I have some sense of your anger. I was hit by a guy in a pickup who ran a red and struck the BMW I was driving. He fled, but I got his plate and the police cited him at his house. As I was not seriously injured, it was not a felony on his part and he only paid a fine.

In any case, you can consult an attorney, and follow the law.

Hope your temptation to use your firearm was just that or you were just verbally blowing off steam. You would have been the one in trouble and possibly going to jail if you had started discharging your firearem (shooting at his vehicle). Unless you are defending your life or that of another or are in fear of serious bodily harm, discharging your firearm is not a wise thing to do.
As it stands, by you using good judgment and not yielding to temptation, whether the bad guy was able to flee or not, he is the only one in trouble.
Having a concealed permit gives you the right to carry concealed in certain situations, but I doubt that it gives you the right to discharge your firearm at a vehicle(driving away from you) if it is not a threat to you or another person.
Hopefully, when you can use your firearm was covered in training you received when you were going through the process to receive your permit. In the firearm(people interested in concealed carry permit) classes we teach in Wyoming(what some people still see as the Wild West) as NRA instructors, we have a prosecutor/attorney come in and go over, in detail, when you are justified in drawing and firing your handgun.
Knowing when to use your instrument of deadly force can be just as important as knowing how to use it.

 

[whatgorilla]

Yeah, it was just anger, adrenaline and temptation--laying a few feet from a guy who had injured me and was so obviously trying to escape. ALSO, I was a bit confused having just been hit in the face with a no-seat-belt mike tyson air-bag punch, as well as hitting something else (windshield?/steering wheel?) with my head and chest.

It's weird, I probably shouldn't have moved or gotten out of my vehicle, but my instincts were to get out and limp/crawl to the grass on the side of the road. I'm not sure why the side of the road seemed like the place to be, but I just wanted more than anything to lay in the grass.

 

[lifeinthesouth]

Unless you are defending your life or that of another or are in fear of serious bodily harm, discharging your firearm is not a wise thing to do.

Having a concealed permit gives you the right to carry concealed in certain situations, but I doubt that it gives you the right to discharge your firearm at a vehicle(driving away from you) if it is not a threat to you or another person.

The way I see it by shooting him you would have been stopping a threat to other people... Of course you might have had to get a REALLY good lawyer to pull that one off

whatgorilla wrote:

Yeah, it was just anger, adrenaline and temptation--laying a few feet from a guy who had injured me and was so obviously trying to escape. ALSO, I was a bit confused having just been hit in the face with a no-seat-belt mike tyson air-bag punch, as well as hitting something else (windshield?/steering wheel?) with my head and chest.

I know the feeling too... hit head-on by a drunk lady, i slowed enough to minimize my impact but she was sprawled across her hood and I was jumping out of my car swingin, ready to beat her face the rest of the way in as people were pulling me back.

 

[whatgorilla]

Yeah, there must be some kind of weird adrenaline=aggression response going on right after accidents.

 

[Glucola]

Well I was witness to one very bad accident this morning. I just stopped at a truck stop to go to the bathroom and get something to eat on the go. I got to the door and then I hear tires locking up and then the crash. A guy in a Ford Explorer pulled out in front of a Dodge Ram 1500. The guy in the pickup hit them at 40-45 mph. None of them in the SUV were even wearing their seatbelts. I ended up seeing the girl get ejected out of the back window. Luckily she was able to get up off of the road and to the other side of the suv to safety. The SUV went into the other lane and into oncoming traffic. The oncoming traffic had to slam on their brakes so that they wouldn't run over the girl that was ejected from the suv.

I ran over and checked on the guy in the pickup since he was the only person there. I was doing some fast triaging. After that I ran over to the SUV and was checking on the four of them. I called 911 and got the ambulance to get there. I checked the girl real quick since she was the worst injured one. It looked like she might have broken her arm and had a bunch of deep cuts on her face and was bleeding pretty bad from the but the face tends to bleed a lot since it has a lot of blood supply. They were all taken to the hospital.

I'm just glad that I stopped when I did because if I was about another two minutes later in parking I probably would have hit the girl after she was thrown from the truck. Luckily the last big rig just went by before the accident and the others that were coming was able to stop. Pretty messed up morning. I hope that they will all recover quickly and that they weren't to badly hurt.

 

[DBAX]

Glad you're OK. You're lucky in a sense, the punk who smashed into my X and totalled it, got out and ran on foot. I pursued for maybe 60 yds, before realizing my 3 month pregnant wife was still in the busted vehicle in the middle of a busy intersection.

DON'T EVEN MOVE THE TRUCK W/O YOUR BELTS ON PEOPLE.

 

[Mark]

Its always the assholes with no insurance who smash us up.

 

[oldmanterra]

lifeinthesouth,
All seriousness aside, if you believe you and your lawyer can successfully articulate that the 'other person(people)' is/are in 'imminent danger' of death or serious bodily harm, shoot the fleeing turd!.

So, what ever happened to the drunk 'lady'(you are forgiving!)?

I also was hit by a drunk woman driver years ago and my cousin was killed by a drunk driver. It seems drunks usually walk away unharmed from their acts of negligence, get a slap on the wrist and are free to repeat their behavior because they convince the judge: they need to drive to work, take the kids to school, they've had a rough life, the slick road contributed to the accident, if the victims hadn't been on the road they wouldn't have been hurt, the drunk driver is really a nice person when they aren't driving, the drunk driver is a loving mother/father/son/daughter, etc.. Meanwhile, their victims are maimed or killed, lose their ability to work and suffer major financial loss.

 

[lifeinthesouth]

heh, yeah, not likely that one could be pulled off... maybe O.J.'s lawyer; what was that guys name? hehe!

don't know what ever happened to the lady that hit me... I'm sure she was soon back out endangering others... I don't even drink so you can only imagine how much I despise drunk drivers
i only had a couple scratches that didn't warrant hospitalization and insurance paid me more than i paid for the car.