StandingWater Creations

Again?

Yes. On Sunday March 2, 2008 at (about) 8 p.m. my '91 Honda Accord EX was totalled. No, I was not in the car. No, no one was in the car or driving. And yes, the car was totaled.

What happened?

Well, one of the people that live along Canyon Road (though below the new light instead of above (we are above)) was driving at approximately 53MPH and swerved into the backend of my car. This action pushed my car approximately 66 feet down the road. The result was the trunk of my car ended up where the backseat was meant to be; there was glass and debris all over the street; and the other driver was okay.

At the time, Erin, her brother, and I were downstairs watching Alias. Erin has all of the seasons and we decided (after both of us went and found a couple of DVD's we wanted to watch) decided that was the one we were going to have playing in the background. Her brother came over to eat, hang out, and play a game on his computer. When he'd arrived, he'd initially parked in front of my car, but decided that he was more comfortable parking in the driveway.

The neighbors upstairs came and got us when they heard a loud crashing sound. They said, "Your cars been totaled." I didn't believe them. So, I raced outside expecting to see my car having been hit, but not moved. When I got halfway up the driveway, I noticed that I couldn't see the car and as I looked to the right, I could see the front end, pointing into the street, and a green car sitting parallel to the neighbors house on the street.

So, I went back into the house, put on shoes, grabbed my jacket and phone, and ran back outside. And, sure enough, the car was absolutely and unceremoniously totaled.

The outcome is that, for the time being, Erin and I are down to one car. The positive side to the one car is that she has a relatively new car that does not have a car payment attached to it. On the negative side, we have to be more careful about our schedules and when we need to be different places. This week, I am driving her to work on Mondays, Wednesday's and Fridays then going home and doing what needs to be done before going back to her office, parking the car, and hiking to school (she works relatively close). On Tuesday's and Thursday's she is dropping me off (as my work schedule starts before hers) and on all five days (unless we make other arrangements) she picks me up on campus.

What are we going to do?

Well, we are planning on buying another car. As Erin is pregnant, and as my car needed to be replaced, and as we were planning on buying another car this year, this only expedites the process of finding a suitable four-door vehicle with standard transmission that will fit our needs. You know, A/C, CD player, and etc. We've talked about a top-end price that we are willing to pay for the car and how we are going to manage the payments. Since Erin is working full-time, and I will be done with the undergrad-thing come December, we think we should be good.

What about the other driver?

Yeah. The other driver. He was driving too fast. The airbags went off in his car. He refused help from the paramedics. And, apparently, he didn't own the car and couldn't find insurance information for the car. What this potentially means is that the car is not insured and we might be out the value of the car. That sucks, pretty bad; but, you know, people swerving into your car at significantly higher than posted speed limits isn't exactly a walk in the park.

As for the driver, he had three dogs in the car and had no recollection of why or how he hit my car. According to the police this was not uncommon, mostly because of the airbag. According to the insurance adjuster three things cause this problem: drinking, drugs, and epileptic seizure. I, personally, think that fatigue or driving tired might have contributed, but no one knows for certain what happened. The dogs seemed fine, though the only one that was really responsive was the one who was sitting in the front seat and had the passenger airbag soften the impact.

What is my car worth?

Well, I did some looking online thinking about what I had spent on the car compared to what I thought I could get for it if I were to try and sell it and was surprised. The car, in mechanically and body condition, is worth between $1800.00 and $2200.00. That is a pleasant surprise. I mean, I like the car, it ran really well and, though there were some things I would've liked to see work differently, really didn't give me any issues.

The reason knowing the value of the car (local, by-the-by) is important is because that is what an insurance adjuster has to go by when assessing the payout for a totaled vehicle. Doing this research, now, helps if (or when) another insurance company comes into the picture. However, if they don't, we are out of luck and I will be adding uninsured motorist coverage to my policy (which should've been there anyway and I thought the State of Utah required it) for future happenstances. Unfortunately, I currently don't have it. So... if we get anything, its a plus, otherwise, we are only a little worse off than when we started

Do we have any timeframes

Uhm, right now, no. Sure, we'd like to have another car in the very near future; however, since we are looking to purchase something that is significantly newer than what I normally buy, our timeframe is being pushed out for the time being. Especially since we need insurance companies to determine what they are going to do and to find out if we can recoup any costs associated with the accident. Fortunately, tomorrow I should be able to find out additional information my insurance company needs to proceed as well as the other parties insurance information (if any), which is a good thing.

Until then, though, we are holding out little hope especially since a) the driver didn't own the car, b) the owner is not in the country for a couple more weeks, and c) no insurance information was available at the time of the accident. However, you never know and (fingers crossed) the car may be insured.

What kind(s) of car(s) are we looking for?

We are looking for a Honda, a Toyota, a VW, or a Subaru. I am pretty sold on the Asian car manufacturers and loved driving the Volkswagens I used to drive. However, we have not, as a couple, sat down and discussed what we are going to buy. At the low-end of the price range the majority of cars available are VW Jetta's. I like the car, but would like a better selection along the lines of Honda, Toyota and Subaru. When I added $2000.00 more Honda's showed up. When you go to our top end, then you start to really see the Toyota's and Subaru's.

I did some market research for the majority of years that showed up and discovered that horsepower to RPM ratio's, engine sizes, and fuel economy actually leaned, significantly, to the Subaru. Plus, Subaru's are allwheel drive vehicles. Which means, we may start looking in that direction.

However, we are not decided, yet, on what we will be looking for and plan to spend some time looking for a car that fits our needs, is comfortable, and will allow us to feel good about putting a baby-slash-baby seat inside.

Is there anything else?

Not really. We are okay. As far as I know the other driver is okay (still). The dogs were okay. The police made no arrests and I don't know whether or not they issued any citations. More information is forthcoming based off of availability, however, I don't know when it will become available.

The situation is not optimal, but at the same time (at least in my experience) we don't get to choose when things change, significantly, and can only learn to roll with the punches rather than try to take control of the swings. Beyond that, I think we are good.

John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West

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