My Chevy Cruze was totaled

[Major Nikon]

My daughter was driving and my wife was in the passenger's seat. They were parked at a traffic light in the left turn lane. A guy in the opposite turn lane decided to floor it. My wife said she saw someone trying to get into the passenger side of his truck. He sailed through the intersection, smashed into our car, backed up, jumped the curb and ran through the parking lot of a pharmacy, he trashed some stuff there and finally came to rest in the remains of an air pump station at a convenience store. The police seemed to indicate the guy was drunk, although I suppose it's possible he could have been having some sort of seizure.

All of this happened right behind my home. I saw and heard the emergency vehicles and assumed the worst. Then my phone rang.

The good news is my wife and daughter got bumped up a bit and had some bruising from the seat belts, but nothing worse than that. The guy got airlifted to the hospital. They landed the helo in a vacant lot behind my house. The Cruze appears to be totaled, although it was a 2012 model, so I suppose it might be repairable. I really liked that car, but I'm kinda hoping they total it. I think it only had 5-6,000 miles on it.

[HarveyDarkey]

1. The good news is your wife & daughter are OK

the rest is extraneous bullshit. Irritating, frustrating, time consuming bullshit, but never forget the good news.

[opiate69]

2. Yikes! Glad Mrs. and young Miss Nikon are OK!

[Art_from_Ark]

3. Either the guy was drunk, had a seizure,

or he was auditioning for a Russian car crash video

[In_The_Wind]

4. Damn! That was horrible! Glad the important things (your family) are okay!

[Major Nikon]

5. I hope the other driver listened to his momma and had on clean underwear

All the police would tell us is that he was blood tested at the hospital.

[In_The_Wind]

6. Methinks ... your insurance company will get a better answer.

And the driver needs more than a simple blood test!

[Major Nikon]

26. My insurance company is Amica

I'm pretty glad so far about how they are handling it. We called them and they are going to take care of all the details associated with working with the other guy's insurance company, and they seemed genuinely helpful.

[In_The_Wind]

27. That is what we pay the insurance company to do.

My commercial insurance premiums are easily 3 times the rate I would be paying for non-commercial. The agent goes to bat for me when necessary. Which is a darn good thing since only one insurance company covers individually owned pilot cars.
I feel so special (it drives me crazy sometimes)!

[krispos42]

7. There is a real difference between new cars and older cars

The new ones are a LOT tougher.








This was me about 3 years ago. I was towing a trailer when an asshole in a Volvo (a chronic lane-changer) hit the trailer, jackknifing me halfway across I-95, then proceeded to T-bone me and knock me across the OTHER half of I-95. I was in the right lane when first contact was made.


Both of us walked away. They had some facial damage from the air bag deployment.


I'm glad your family walked away with nothing more than a few bruises and a hell of a story.




Check this out...

1959 Bel Air versus 2009 Malibu

[Paulie]

8. That's an amazing video!

[Helen Reddy]

9. Subaru's are the best!

Glad you were okay.

My Outback is da bomb as well. Over treacherous conditions, she always prevails.

[In_The_Wind]

13. I'm so glad you walked away. Too bad the other driver was so aggressive.

[krispos42]

14. It was a bright, sunny day.

Traffic was tight, but moving well. I was doing 55 in the right lane, the left lane was moving along a bit faster, maybe 60 or 65. There really wasn't room for that kind of maneuvering.

Oh, well.

[In_The_Wind]

15. My business is escorting oversize rigs. Safety is my only concern.

Bad drivers need to be ticketed.
The laws are posted and irresponsible drivers continue to ignore them.

I don't have any patience for the drivers who think they_have_the_right-of_way entering a highway from an on_ramp.

[Major Nikon]

24. Glad everyone was OK

I'm a private pilot and I am extremely safety conscious about it. I keep that mindset when I'm driving and I've impressed that upon my daughter (16 yrs old) who is a very safe driver.

I guess the silver lining here is she got a relatively easy lesson on how dangerous it is out on the road.

[magical thyme]

10. seems to me if it was a seizure he wouldn't have been able to put it in reverse

More likely, he didn't want whoever was trying to get into the passenger side to get in, so floored it. Hope that person is ok, too, and thank goodness Mrs. Nikon and daughter got off with bruises only! Cars can be replaced; body parts not so easily!!!

[Major Nikon]

20. I'm pretty sure he was drunk

The police wouldn't come right out and tell us he was, but you certainly got that sense from them. I'm just open to all possibilities right now because we don't know for sure.

[Helen Reddy]

11. That must have been disconcerting for you.

Happy that your family was not seriously injured!

[Major Nikon]

25. Strangely not that much

Once I found out everyone was OK it's just a matter of replacing the vehicle. I don't really hold hard feelings against the guy that did it. I figure he's going to have a lot of problems from here on out. I just hope he learns from them and doesn't do this or worse to someone else.

[union_maid]

12. Glad your family is OK

Horrible experience for all of you. The car stuff will get sorted out, but what a PITA.

[kcass1954]

16. Glad your wife and daughter are okay. They're way more important than "stuff".

If the car has frame damage, push for the total.

[Major Nikon]

23. I'm pretty sure it has frame damage

The right front tire was twisted out of place and the bumper was pushed back that far.

[NV Whino]

17. Seatbelt injuries can be nasty

Make sure your wife and daughter get some medical attention.

I had a very minor collision (although it totaled my car) and needed eight weeks of chiropractic care, plus initial X-rays, EKG and blood tests. All to see if there was damage to my heart.

Don't take these things lightly.

[Major Nikon]

21. The accident was on my wife's side so she got the worst of it.

I took her to the hospital. They checked her out and verified it was just bruising.

[kiva]

18. Glad your wife and daughter are OK.

Another Chevy safety fan here My new, 6 month old, Chevy Sonic was totaled in January. I got a scratch on my hand, a small bruise on my shoulder, and some bruising on my shin (those leg air bags are awesome).

I wouldn't hold my breath about getting it fixed, though - I didn't think the damage was that bad on mine, but it seems that once the airbags deploy it's pretty rare they pay to fix it. Unfortunately the salvage yard guy said my Sonic would likely be fixed and end up in Mexico because the safety standards are lower and the lack of airbags wouldn't be a problem there

[Major Nikon]

22. Strangely the airbags never deployed

I'm not sure if it's because the car was stopped at the time or what.

[LWolf]

19. The Cruze can take the damage.

You can replace it.

Your wife and daughter are okay. I'm so glad.