I got home from Chicago yesterday just in time to go out to our favorite Indian restaurant to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and get hit by a teenage girl in a Rav 4 on our way home. I swear I'm a magnet for giant SUV's to sideswipe me. It seemed it should be pretty straight forward, I was going straight through an intersection and the girl turned left right into me. But some crazy woman who claimed to be a witness yet told me she wasn't sure what she saw stood around in the cold for 1/2 an hour so she could tell the cops I had run a red light. Well, I hadn't run a red light and the teenage girl's story backed up mine so the cop didn't give me a ticket but still, how aggravating to be the victim then be victimized again by some stranger who had nothing to do with it and even admitted she didn't know what she saw. The teenager got the ticket and the cop insisted I didn't need to collect her insurance info. I asked him twice about it because that didn't seem right but he said my insurance company would deal with their insurance company. Unfortunately this turned out to be untrue and I spent the morning tracking down the insurance info. from the police department. Now I get to hope that her insurance company doesn't try to screw me over. At least no one was seriously hurt. I'm banged up a little and I'm having trouble bending my knee and it's sore to the touch on the bone but I'm hoping with ice and a little time it'll be o.k. I'm hoping to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor because my back and neck are a bit tweaked but I need to get the insurance stuff sorted out first.
Poor car, I just paid it off in May, I'm hoping they fix it. I doubt we'll get a loan for a new car based on Jonny's salary alone. Not sure what I'm going to do about the trial this weekend, was hoping to crate in the car but I don't think Strum's crate will fit in the Subaru sedan and I can't crate him unattended in the arena because he'll go off his head. I'm hoping I can talk the insurance company into renting me a larger vehicle but I'm not holding my breath. Maybe I don't work 6 classes like I usually do and work with him being quiet in his crate instead but that sounds like an exhausting weekend for both of us. Ah well, I'll work something out, even if it means he sits in the car in his seat belt harness all weekend. I suppose I won't soon forget our 20th wedding anniversary.
OMG! I'm so glad to hear you are OK, if a little banged up. It could have been much worse. How VERY frustrating to have the very clear accident story get confused by people who don't know what they saw.
ReplyDeleteHappy 20th indeed!
ReplyDeleteGlad that the guilty party fessed up. I'm amazed about the cop saying you didn't need the insurance info; that's the first thing that everyone here tells you to get, no matter what kind of accident it is.
Good luck with figuring out vehicles and all for this weekend. Not fun. And I hope your knee is OK, too! I hope you mentioned it to the cop in the accident report; definitely mention it to the insurance company if you didn't. So much paperwork!
The guilty party didn't exactly 'fess up, she just didn't understand that a flashing yellow arrow did not mean she had right of way to turn. The cop knew that if she had a flashing yellow arrow that my light could not possibly have been red so he didn't give me a ticket for running a red despite what the witness said. The witness likely made the same mistake, assumed that since the girl had a flashing yellow arrow that she had right of way and told the cop I ran a red. The witness could not see my light.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the girl's father is now claiming I ran a red and her insurance company refuses to pay until they get a police report and can sort it out. Which could take 3-5 weeks. So I had to file a claim with my insurance and hope that they can win the fight with the other insurance company. I'm hoping that when they all see the police report and realize that the cop never gave me a ticket that they'll rule in my favor but somehow it seems like the lying sleazebags always win out in these things.
Well, I would wish you a Happy Anniversary but it doesnt sound like it was very happy at all. What a big mess now. So sorry. Diana
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that the cop wrote it down.
ReplyDeleteYep, the cop wrote it down, I have a copy of the unofficial police report. In fact the girl claimed the regular lights were green when she entered the intersection so there's no way my light could have been red by the time she hit me or even by the time I entered the intersection so in theory that should help my case as well but it seems like once insurance companies and self-righteous parents get involved the truth gets twisted all around.
ReplyDeleteWell, that just sucks. At least no one got hurt. Hope things get sorted out properly.
ReplyDeleteSome states have not yet adopted the flashing yellow arrow.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, these states show a flashing yellow arrow when the signals are on night flashing to give right-of-way.
The characters in the posting word verification are not showing the first time. And I can not have quicktime on my computer.
Here's a link to the flashing yellow arrow law in Boulder:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=308&Itemid=1198
Sorry, I don't know how to make it 'linky' in the comments. It says very plainly 'Flashing yellow arrow = Left turns allowed, but must yield to oncoming traffic'. And I was oncoming traffic, in that intersection legally and with right of way. Also this was not late at night, this was at 7 pm and there was plenty of traffic on the road going both ways.
The flashing yellow arrow is an FHWA, ie Federal, Standard, I'm not sure why any state would use it to mean something else. I'm not saying that I don't believe you that it happens but it's not a good thing obviously and it doesn't change the meaning of the law here in Boulder.
No sure how to help you with the word verification. I don't like it either but whenever I remove the requirement I end up with a ton of spam in the comments.