Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

:mad: Let me tell you, this kid is the luckiest kid on the planet. He was driving a Grand Am (a nice one) and pulled out of Calvin College on the East Beltline... right into my lane, the left lane of a 4 lane divided bullouvard! I swerved to the left up onto the concrete median but he still hit me just behind the door on the passenger side. A split second slower and I would have t-boned him with me nearly 7000# Ram 4x4. As it is I basically drove over the front left corner of his car... fender, bumper cover, headlight assembly, hood, all toast. Here is a pic of the damage to my Ram. Merry f-in Christmas to me. :mad:

'Foul

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Thank god the sticker didnt get damaged!!!!

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Glad all are OK

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

I thought you mounted a gunsight on the hood of that thing. You shoulda knocked that little gerbil into next week.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Count your blessings Mike---it could have been a whole lot worse! Sorry about your truck, but glad you're okay. :)

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Glad you're okay...Gottahaveits! Ram was hit the other night and has alot more damage than your truck. I am sure he wil post pics and the story :mad:

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Dude, I can't be without my truck, and I seriously would have hurt or killed him had I not reacted so quickly.

Now here's the worst part. TODAY, yes, just today, I changed my insurance policy, lowered my deductables and paid for 6 months. This reaks of a fraud case against me. Change your policy, make a claim, all on the same day. Neighbor is a body guy, said he could fix most of it at his house, and then have a body shop paint it. Probably less hassel, and in the long run, cheaper for me to do it that way. I did all the changes and payments over the phone, so they never inspected the vehicle. I still have a $1000 deductable on collision (couple of tickets that will fall off soon still keep me at high risk, thus the high deductable)... neighbor and I are betting we can do it cheaper than my deductable. I've seen some of his work, and he does decent work.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Yeah KAMA, it could have been a LOT worse, especially for that student. Truck still drives straight. There is a chip on the rear wheel rim, right at the bead... I'm going to have that checked tomorrow... balance, check the bead, etc...

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Dude this was his fault. You do not have a deductable, the rental is from his insurance and they have to pay to have your truck fixed by who ever your choose (at leaste in MA). Fill out the accident report ASAP and if you are sure you are not at fault then get a rental.

Jon

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Mike, if you DID t-bone him then YES he may have gotten hurt real bad, but then so would you! Think about it.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Yeah, I know Jon... airbag or not I would have been in a lot worse shape, and wouldn't have driven away from it.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Sorry to hear about your truck. At least you are ok. The truck is less important.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Michigan is No-Fault. Pay your own deductable. Pay your own rental. I believe the most I can recover from his insurance company is like $500-700 or so.

And I really can't aford a claim right now... I'm sooo close to being standard insurance again.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

He's sure as sh*t lucky it wasn't me... I would have hit the gas. I learned my lesson already, its gonna hurt either way, but if it aint totaled, the no-lube anal pounding from the insurance companies is gonna be a lot worse. Even when it is their fault and they "have to pay" its still a royal screwing from 2 insurance companies including your own.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

:D :D :D :D

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

JTMiller, kinda why I'm leaning towards just fixing it myself.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Could somebody explain that "no fault" stuff to me. Makes no sense if Foul described it properly. Why the hell would anybody carry ANY liability insurance if the other guy's covered the damage you caused?

Or is it just the deductible and rental part that is all weird?

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

I had a fat lady in a powder blue Chevette pull out in front of my 78 Blazer. I knew there were cars to my left and no room to stop. The b!tch pulled out from the right and then stopped dead sideways in my lane. There was a phone pole and a traffic light box behind her so there was no place to try to sweve behind her...

I had a gearcase to a 79 Black Max in the passenger seat, and the howling attempt to stop knocked it into the floorboard where it crushed the sandwiches in my brown bag lunch. Hadn't scrubbed too much speed when I nailed her. The car to my left gave me enough leeway to keep from pegging her dead center into the cigarette smoking face that stared at me with big fat eyeballs. So I hit her in the front end, just ahead of the front axle centerline. She spun three or four complete revolutions, according to the witnesses. Her head blew out her side window, but was otherwise okay, except for the smoldering remains of the cigarette that was now hanging in her bouffant hairdo..

My damage was moderate, but the Blazer was entirely driveable. The Chevette was not. She filed on MY insurance, and told them I ran a redlight. I disputed it, and filed my claim on my underinsured motorist coverage. Took 18 months, but I got my deductible back from the settlement my ins had with her and hers.

Best of luck with yours.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

:D
I'm glad you are okay. The kid I hope he gets it where the doesn't shine.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

"Fowl" glad you weren't hurt. Driving down here right now is just ludicrous. I've been stuck in traffic jams because of accidents three days in a row. In a span of three weeks traffic has increased five fold.

And most of the "bluehairs" are so medicated it's worse than the drunk drivers.

I agree with not giving your insurance company ANY reason to stick it to you.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

i dissagree with comments about gunning it and hitting the kid. if you hurt or kill someone in a accident even though it's there fault , you will always remember it. you did your best to avoid the accident. that's what counts , for every action there is a reaction- sheetmetal can always be repaired. sometimes bodies cannot.

i have avoided sooo many potentially very bad accidents due to morons on the road. i'm usually hoarse for a day or 2 from screaming. but it's better than reading the obituaries.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

I would like to understand this too. Doesn't make a damn bit of sense to me.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

NJ is also no-fault. When I got hit, last three times, I filed my claim through their ins company, not mine, with no deductible. When you call them tell them you may visit a Dr in the afternoon for back and neck pain, you'll have your check fed-ex by tomorrow morning. Just make sure you have a copy of the police report that you'll be willing to fax them.

Don't back down, when my wife's Lexus got hit they were trying to settle for $800 less then what MY choice in shops wanted to fix the damage. She pushed them and got it fully covered, including replacing parts that the ins company said cold be fixed.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Glad your ok Mike. I believe the ''power of the sticker'' saved you from an even worse fate.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Sorry to hear about this Mike. I was just in an accident a few weeks ago. Still not sure of the outcome. I had some idiot slam on the brakes at a yellow light; when he said he saw me coming behind him and knew I did not have enough room to stop. I ended up sliding into another lane and hit someone totally uninvolved. I am sure the jackass in front of me was trying to get hit.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

That sucks

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

That sucks 'foul!! I actually hate driving anymore with all ofthe a-holes out on the streets!! :mad:

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Thats a tough spot. You can buy the replacement for these lowers because they rust so fast. I don't think you can pull it. I would fix it myself too and still sue the kid. Now this is a not at fault accident, your ins co. may not ding you and with a police report dated after the policy they can't say anything, unles you and the officer were working together and he/she would never risk a job for a fender bender. I think you should at least try the ins.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Who are you kidding Tommy, you always have an angry mob ready to go.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Good thing you have quick reflexes.

A guy at work had his wifes BMW hit almost head on buy a 17 year old kid in a 2002 Jeep Cherokee. The kid ran though a red light, swerved around two other cars before hitting my friends car carrying his wife and daughter on their way to church. The kid hit so hard that he drove over part of the hood, flipped end over end twice, then slid on his roof for 30+ yards. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Surprising, isn't it.
Funny thing is, the kid didn't carry enough insurance to cover the repair of the BMW.
How could a person diving a vehicle that new have so little insurance?

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Just got 3 estimates. They range from 2550 down to 2160. Not a real big range. I'll probably go with the guy right around the corner... I see his work every day as I have to pass by to go to and from work. He's also been in business for 33 years in the same place. He was also the cheapest. Goes in next Wednesday.

I'm going to pay for the repair and deal with all the "other issues" on the side I guess. The truck will get fixed much quicker this way... and chances are I'll get most if not all my money back anyway. My father works for a fairly large insurance company, and has more insurance knowledge and business contacts than just about anyone in the state (he's also on several state insurance panals and boards). I'm going with my fathers advice. Like they say, Father Knows Best.... right???

'Foul

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Glad to hear you are OK! :mad:

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

He was driving a Grand Am (a nice one)

Oximoron :drink:

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

LOL!!!! :stupid:

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

Geeeez Mike, we didn't know your Father was an Insurance guru..what are ya asking us for :D He will know best, thats for sure. :cool:

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

:d

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

You did get a police report right? Ususally, they will assign fault right there at the scene. That makes it pretty cut and dried for the insurance companies. Trust me when I say that a accident that you were not at fault for doesn't affect your insurance rate. It'll show up, but there is an X in the points assessed column.

Re: Had a kid pull out in front of me tonight
 

hey foul next time your in GR pm me and we'll have a soda. i'm on the ne side.