There is a quote in a Heinlein book that I love that involves when keeping a budget always budget for a luxury. Having a luxury you provide for yourself is , IMHO, an important part of being a happy person. For me, that is my car. My nice Cadillac CTS V-sport. Gunmetal gray metallic exterior, Kona brown leather interior. My car is my happy space. When I'm having a bad day, I'll find an excuse to just go drive for a bit. Feel my car hugging me, and the world is a slightly more tolerable shithole for a while.
Today I got rear-ended. I was on the freeway, the usual "people hitting brakes" occurs. I stop in plenty of space and just as my car comes to a complete stop... BAM. Day ruined. I pull to the side, get out of my car. She still hasn't gotten out of hers, and it's dead. I don't want to leave some woman, even one who just smashed into my car, in the middle of a freeway so I actually give her car enough of a push to help it coast to the side of the road behind mine. I check to make sure she's OK.
I get out the usual DL and Insurance card for exchange..... She opens with that she doesn't have her DL on her, or ANY ID.... And the only insurance card she can find in the car expired in April... She goes back and sits in her car, I call my insurance agent. They tell me what I was already thinking. Get pictures of EVERYTHING, wait for the cops.
I get back out and she doesn't seem happy that I'm taking pics of not only my car, but hers, including the license plate. Then she tells me her boyfriend took a picture of their insurance card and sent it to her. So she texts me the picture. Good news : same insurance company. Bad news, she's not listed as a driver on the insurance. At least the car is listed on it.
She scribbles her name and phone number on a post it note , matches the number she texted me the photo from. Says I should go ahead and leave now, since she's called a tow truck. I politely tell her that I would never leave a woman stranded on the side of a road without knowing help had arrived. She's not happy about that and goes back to her car.
3 minutes later roadside assistance (which is a state agency kinda thing in Dallas for the freeways, thanks Texpress lanes!) shows up. I walk back to the guy in the truck and he asks "have the police been notified" and I say "I haven't called them yet". He say's he'll call it in for me. Then like clockwork before he can pick up the radio the Popo arrive (two cars).
One cop cars pulls up besides our cars to block an additional lane, one behind her. Cop gets out and gets my info while the other car is handling her. He then walks back and coordinates as she wasn't cooperating with the other cops. Eventually comes back with a piece of paper with her name, DOB, and address on it. Of course the address doesn't match her boyfriends address on the insurance. He also gives me a report number. Assures me this was her fault, that will be in the report, her insurance will be paying for things, that I can head out as long as my car is OK.
My insurance agent tries multiple times to contact her's. Both at the same company (state farm, probably looking hideous.. wearing khakis). And her agent isn't' answering the phone at all. Finally they just bypass the other agent and file the claim for me. Send me the claim number. Now in the back of my head I'm already hearing "Well, she wasn't on his insurance, so they won't cover it, even though "they" and "we" are the same company, unless you want to file this on your own insurance..." If so, there will be an object exercise/demonstration in how "if you have someone's license plate number and/or address you can destroy their lives" happening just after.....
So now I have to deal with the insurance adjusters and that nonsense. I'm taking it to the dealer to get a repair quote tomorrow and have it in my pocket on the assumption that the insurance company is going to try to short sell me.
