# Uninsured MVC



## Mountain Res-Q (Jul 7, 2009)

So, I am starting this barely EMS thread mainly to vent...  I am not in a good mood right now.  And I know that this, as a MVC without injuries, may not qualify as a EMS thread, which is why it is being placed in the Break Room section...

On July 4th at 1800 hours, I was paged out to respond to a broken leg (complete with a human attatched) out in the woods, about 3-5 miles from the nearest road.  I got my gear together and started driving to the Cache to pick you the trucks and gear.  Now, before we all get into a roar about responding to calls and the manner in which we drive to calls, let it be clear that I was not responding to the call, mearly driving to the Station in a POV, same as if I was driving to work everyday.  I was not driving fast or aggressively, in fact I was 5 miles per hour under the speed limit when the incident happened, and (based on experience) was certain Fire would poach our call and we would be cancelled.  I as driving on the road that I live on, a road where people drive way too fast on and kill deer every day; I hate that and always drive resposibily on my roadway.

I was about 1/8 of a mile down the road when a car (driving by an 18 y/o girl who had never driven this area) ran a stop sign an entered my lane virtually head on.  I swearved dramaticlly to avoid a dirrect inpact.  For the record, my vehcile is reenforced like a tank for rock crawling on old jeep trails.  The other car... a 1990 toyota carolla...  Who do you think would have won?  In hind sight in fact... a dirrect impact would have casued a pin-in for her and might have killed her.  My swearving resulted in me virtually driving over her hood, but avoiding the passenger compartment.  Her car was undrivable (won't even start), while my SUV sustained major damage to the axel, shocks, and 4WD.  While the Highway Patrol on scene said that she was 100% at fault... duh... the official report has yet to be completed.  I have no vehcile unless I barrow one from family... I live remote and can't even get to the store without a car, much less to a SAR call or to a job.  Expenses to repair my car?  Undetermined.  Estimates: 2k to 3k.  Because my car is older (but in great shape) and I am a great driver, all I have is liability as far as insurance.  So I am going after her insurance company to pay for repairs, towing, and the rental I will need to be getting... only to find out today that she may have lapsed in her insurance, therefore the insurance will probably not be covering the damages, and I may be SOL when it comes to geting my car fixed any time soon.

I AM NOT IN A GOOD MOOD TODAY... can you see why?  What so ya think?


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## JPINFV (Jul 7, 2009)

and this is why I maintain full coverage.


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## reaper (Jul 7, 2009)

Unisured motorist coverage?


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## bmennig (Jul 7, 2009)

What do you have as far as a vehicular? Sounds pretty bad a$$. If she was uninsured and crashed she will be much more SOL than you are, granted it sucks for you, but she won't be driving for a a very long time and judging by the sounds of it, is a good thing.


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## Sasha (Jul 7, 2009)

> I have no vehcile unless I barrow one from family... I live remote and can't even get to the store without a car,



Welcome to my week.


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## Sasha (Jul 7, 2009)

bmennig said:


> What do you have as far as a vehicular? Sounds pretty bad a$$. If she was uninsured and crashed she will be much more SOL than you are, granted it sucks for you, but she won't be driving for a a very long time and judging by the sounds of it, is a good thing.



accidents happen. Doesn't make her a bad driver.


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## JPINFV (Jul 7, 2009)

Have you tried Budget? Avis? Enterprise?


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## bmennig (Jul 7, 2009)

Sasha said:


> accidents happen. Doesn't make her a bad driver.




True, however, with she being at fault for obvious reasons and driving on the wrong side of the road let alone a road that she wasn't familiar with, as well as running the stop sign, tells me she doesn't have the cleanest of driving records. Just my opinion...


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## Pudge40 (Jul 7, 2009)

bmennig said:


> What do you have as far as a vehicular? Sounds pretty bad a$$. If she was uninsured and crashed she will be much more SOL than you are, granted it sucks for you, but she won't be driving for a a very long time and judging by the sounds of it, is a good thing.



Nothing says that she wont drive without a license. If she drove with out insurance she will probably drive without a license.


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## scottmcleod (Jul 7, 2009)

Pudge40 said:


> Nothing says that she wont drive without a license. If she drove with out insurance she will probably drive without a license.



Quoted for truth. 

... as they say, "You can't fix stupid."


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## Shishkabob (Jul 8, 2009)

Sasha said:


> accidents happen. Doesn't make her a bad driver.



No, but driving through a stop sign does.


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## Sasha (Jul 8, 2009)

So I assume you've never gotten distracted for a second and not noticed a stop sign in an area you are unfamiliar with?


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## akflightmedic (Jul 8, 2009)

Sasha said:


> So I assume you've never gotten distracted for a second and not noticed a stop sign in an area you are unfamiliar with?




Sorry Sasha...being unfamiliar is even more of a reason to notice a stop sign.

Stop signs usually are not just arbitrarily placed, there are reasons for them. Your first clue would be approaching an intersection, decreasing speed limits or even the lay of the land indicate you may be approaching a stop sign.

Getting distracted for a second does not make one miss a stop sign. Being distracted for 30 seconds or longer does...which also leads to fatalities or near fatalities. She definitely is a bad driver.


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## Sasha (Jul 8, 2009)

akflightmedic said:


> Sorry Sasha...being unfamiliar is even more of a reason to notice a stop sign.
> 
> Stop signs usually are not just arbitrarily placed, there are reasons for them. Your first clue would be approaching an intersection, decreasing speed limits or even the lay of the land indicate you may be approaching a stop sign.
> 
> Getting distracted for a second does not make one miss a stop sign. Being distracted for 30 seconds or longer does...which also leads to fatalities or near fatalities. She definitely is a bad driver.



You don't know if that stop sign was conspicuously placed. Mountain lives in a kind of country area. I know from driving around Christmas, Eustis, Osteen or Brooksville (all rural country areas) it is very possible to miss a stop sign because it's dark or of an overgrown tree, shrub, or bush has blocked it, or it's under so much grafitti you can't tell what sign it is. (when they are placed for seemingly no reason). I'm just saying, don't paint people with a bad brush if you weren't there. Accidents do in fact happen and that doesn't mean that those involved in the accident are a bad driver. 

Getting distracted for a second can make you miss a stop sign if you don't have time to brake for it.


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## Hockey (Jul 8, 2009)

Attorney up, thats the best thing I can tell you


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## Sail195 (Jul 8, 2009)

scottmcleod said:


> Quoted for truth.
> 
> ... as they say, "You can't fix stupid."



amen to that lol but stupid is job security for us lol


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## bstone (Jul 8, 2009)

Sorry, thus sux.

Which is why I have liability, comprehensive, collission and rental coverage by State Farm.

Recently I was the victim of a hit and run. I wasn't even in the car- it was parked. State Farm covered all the repairs. They even send the insurance inspector to my home! Amazing.


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## scottmcleod (Jul 8, 2009)

Sail195 said:


> amen to that lol but stupid is job security for us lol



Never said I *wanted* it fixed, just that you can't fix it!

It's kind like permenant job security for us


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## akflightmedic (Jul 8, 2009)

Sasha said:


> You don't know if that stop sign was conspicuously placed. Mountain lives in a kind of country area. I know from driving around Christmas, Eustis, Osteen or Brooksville (all rural country areas) it is very possible to miss a stop sign because it's dark or of an overgrown tree, shrub, or bush has blocked it, or it's under so much grafitti you can't tell what sign it is. (when they are placed for seemingly no reason). I'm just saying, don't paint people with a bad brush if you weren't there. Accidents do in fact happen and that doesn't mean that those involved in the accident are a bad driver.
> 
> Getting distracted for a second can make you miss a stop sign if you don't have time to brake for it.



I still contend being distracted for a second does not make one miss a stop sign at this rate of speed. Being distracted longer does...hence this accident with near fatal consequences and her poor driving skills or lack of situational awareness in unfamiliar areas.

Save the girl power... 

I live near Xmas and Bithlo...


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## Sasha (Jul 8, 2009)

What girl power??

You live near Christmas?? Oh god... You poor boy! Do the banjos lull you to sleep at night?


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## Sasha (Jul 8, 2009)

Wait a minute.. I thought you lived in Winter Springs?


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## scottmcleod (Jul 9, 2009)

Sasha said:


> Wait a minute.. I thought you lived in Winter Springs?



Sounds nice. Is that anywhere near Summer Falls? 

h34r:

*poof*


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## akflightmedic (Jul 9, 2009)

Sasha said:


> Wait a minute.. I thought you lived in Winter Springs?



I used to live in Winter Springs...got a new home this past September...I love our close and frequent communication.


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## Sasha (Jul 9, 2009)

akflightmedic said:


> I used to live in Winter Springs...got a new home this past September...I love our close and frequent communication.



Who's fault is that? You keep snubbing me when you are in. Florida!!

Why would you move out there? So you are close to where they hide bodies?


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## Mountain Res-Q (Jul 9, 2009)

Haven't been around for a few days.  Trying to fix this mess and decided to take a break yesterday and help teach a girls camp rappelling techniques...  Answers...

Yes, unisured moteorist might be covering this if it turns out she is not covered.

She was driving a compact 90's toyota 2wd piece of _____ car.  My (very nice) Jeep is lifted and has majer roll bars, bumpers, and guards because of where I live.  (It is also outfitted in ways that are difficult to reproduce in a rental or in a new car.)  My car won and had I not swearved would likely have resulted in her death with no more damage to me than I have now.  Here's a toast to EVOC.... eh?

Sasha... ignorance of the law is no excuse.  Is she a bad person?  No, not that I know.  A bad driver?  Accodring to the investigation.  She was tailing someone else and ran the sign that the person in front of her was stopped at.  She then lied to the Officers and changed her story several times in the course of 30 minutes.  What does that tell you?

Yes, this sucks...  I did nothing wrong except donate my holiday weekend to help others... and this is what I get...  Right now I am leaving it in the hands of the Officers and the Insurance Companies... until them hash it out, I have to barrow a car from family for work, calls, training, etc...


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## Mountain Res-Q (Jul 23, 2009)

Sooo.... my *****in' Jeep is all better... mechanically at least.  Minor cosmetic damage has yet to be repaired.  Offiicial CHP report came our:  100% her fault, not mine... and yet her insurance is fighting it.  Total costs to repair my car?  $2,6XX.  What they are willing to pay to fix my $5,500 (without my $3,000 SAR imporovements)?  $1,2XX.  So looks like my fight ain;t over yet... but I just got my vehicle back, washed her, threw my SAR gear back into her lock boxes, and took her for a trive through the mountains with her top off...

ahhh... I feel better...  B)


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## WuLabsWuTecH (Jul 24, 2009)

Glad things are kinda working out for ya!  Yeah fighting the insurance company is going to be hard on this one.  That's why your insurance company has lawyers!  Don't be afraid to use them--this is what you pay every month for!


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## exodus (Jul 24, 2009)

Mountain Res-Q said:


> Sooo.... my *****in' Jeep is all better... mechanically at least.  Minor cosmetic damage has yet to be repaired.  Offiicial CHP report came our:  100% her fault, not mine... and yet her insurance is fighting it.  Total costs to repair my car?  $2,6XX.  What they are willing to pay to fix my $5,500 (without my $3,000 SAR imporovements)?  $1,2XX.  So looks like my fight ain;t over yet... but I just got my vehicle back, washed her, threw my SAR gear back into her lock boxes, and took her for a trive through the mountains with her top off...
> 
> ahhh... I feel better...  B)



picsorban

(of the sexy jeep)


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## minneola24 (Jul 24, 2009)

Good luck with the jeep, teenage drivers are horrible (I know because I am one)


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## WuLabsWuTecH (Jul 24, 2009)

Hey man, some of us were really good teenage drivers.  I was better than most of the other guys at my first EMS job!


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## NomadicMedic (Jul 24, 2009)

This was an interesting read for me. I'm a member of a SAR unit in Washington State, and while I'm not active at the moment (life gets in the way) I do know that all of our volunteers are covered by the state the moment we call in with our DEM number to let the callout team know that we're responding. 

So, even if we're in our POV driving to the trailhead or to the cache to pick up gear, our vehicle, for all intents and purposes, has become a State Emergency vehicle, and is covered under state insurance.

Might be worth checking into your State or County policies, you were, after all responding to the station to get the SAR rig. 

If your accident happened in Washington, the state would have covered anything that private insurance didn't.


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