HELP! Got in an accident, car's a write off :(

[Leonardo]

Originally Posted by sechs

I'll be looking at closer to $350 I think ... which sucks cause I just got my own policy and had a squeaky clean record D': .... but apparently they don't care what I drive, it's pretty much staying up like that.

OUCH! $350 Damn!

[Jond63]

On your next car ask about GAP insurance too -- it is really cheap and would have helped you in this situation to get replacement value for your car. But besides all that, just glad you are still alive!! That looks like one wicked almost head-on crash!

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Jond63

On your next car ask about GAP insurance too -- it is really cheap and would have helped you in this situation to get replacement value for your car.

No it wouldn't. She said she bought the car outright. GAP insurance wouldn't even be available to her. You only buy GAP insurance when you finance a car, and it only pays the difference between what you owe on the car and the car's market value if you're upside down on the loan.

GAP insurance doesn't buy you a new car if you smash the old one. It just protects you against a situation where you're having to pay your lender for a car you no longer have.

[jvincent]

In Canada, depending on your carrier you can get what's called "replacement value" insurance for the first 2 or 3 years you own the car.

If you total the car in that time they give you the full new purchase price. It's a little extra, but well worth it.

I bought my car outright and have this on my policy.

[CAMBAM_6]

"If I had to guess, he was going 90+"


Honestly if he was going that fast you would probably be in the hospital for serious injuries or worse. 90 in a 35 is highly unlikely. Everybody speeds up about 10-20 mph to make that light going from yellow to red I do it all the time, it's normally called "point of no return" and i'd rather not brake hard to stop. That's why when im the one yielding I try and wait til the light turns red then turn if theres traffic coming at me, or atleast wait for them to be obviously slowing to a stop.

[sechs]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

If you could see the guy coming from a long way off, why did you turn in front of him?

When I saw him he was a long way off and the light was yellow and went red, he had room to stop so I didn't even consider that he wasn't going to :/ my bad for assuming people stop at reds.

[sechs]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

I'm glad she didn't kill the other driver.

I'm glad too. The other guy was fine, didn't go to the hospital. He was driving an old Buick, a solid hunk of steel made to plow through other cars.

[lionbacker54]

Originally Posted by sechs

When I saw him he was a long way off and the light was yellow and went red, he had room to stop so I didn't even consider that he wasn't going to :/ my bad for assuming people stop at reds.

true. looks like the officer only looked at the fact that you were turning and he was going straight. he totally could have just run a red light, and the accident pattern would have looked the same.

that said, my advice would been to spare yourself the $350, and just move on. it is very hard to win in the traffic court, especially when the officer has gone against you. i think that the other driver was at fault, but the paperwork trail is against you.

[sechs]

Originally Posted by CAMBAM_6

"If I had to guess, he was going 90+"


Honestly if he was going that fast you would probably be in the hospital for serious injuries or worse. 90 in a 35 is highly unlikely. Everybody speeds up about 10-20 mph to make that light going from yellow to red I do it all the time, it's normally called "point of no return" and i'd rather not brake hard to stop. That's why when im the one yielding I try and wait til the light turns red then turn if theres traffic coming at me, or atleast wait for them to be obviously slowing to a stop.

90km/h I'm in Canada.

[CAMBAM_6]

Originally Posted by sechs

90km/h I'm in Canada.

Ohhh my bad....I take that back

[sechs]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Well you retained your sense of humour better than I would under the circumstances!
I was almost in tears when I got a stone dent the size of a dime in my fender after owning the car only a week.

I'm mortified and want to cry every time something reminds me of my car, but I don't have that anymore ... still have my sense of humor! :'D .....

[sechs]

Originally Posted by jvincent

In Canada, depending on your carrier you can get what's called "replacement value" insurance for the first 2 or 3 years you own the car.

If you total the car in that time they give you the full new purchase price. It's a little extra, but well worth it.

I bought my car outright and have this on my policy.

Oh, had I known this a week ago ...

[Jond63]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

No it wouldn't. She said she bought the car outright. GAP insurance wouldn't even be available to her. You only buy GAP insurance when you finance a car, and it only pays the difference between what you owe on the car and the car's market value if you're upside down on the loan.

GAP insurance doesn't buy you a new car if you smash the old one. It just protects you against a situation where you're having to pay your lender for a car you no longer have.

My mistake -- I thought she had financed it.

[G-awesome]

I totally feel your pain completely. I lost my BRZ around May with the exact same left turn accident... A new car gone less than a week is mortifying. Mine lasted a year and it bummed me out the entire summer as well as seeing other FRS's and BRZ's on the road.

Seeing that damage reminds me of mine which wasn't as bad as yours but still as bad with the front pretty much smashed in. Glad to see you're ok with no major injuries. I was luckily enough to come out without a scratch...I was ticketed as well being the left turner by the cops. I learned alot from that incident. Fighting it in court would be insanely difficult and expensive unless you can 100% prove that the car was speeding and/or blasted through a red light. Pinning 100% fault on the other driver would be near impossible so at most it would be 50-50 but it would still take a hit on your insurance. I'm guessing early in the morning, you couldn't get witnesses to corroborate with your story?