evo1

While waiting for a parking spot this afternoon, a 65+ year old lady decided to back up out of her spot -- WITHOUT FRICKIN LOOKING! I had a car directly in front of me, and I quickly glanced in my rear view while LAYING ON THE HORN, and there was a car right behind me as well (no room to the right either). For at least 5 seconds, while realizing I was sandwiched, I layed on the horn but to no avail ... she CRUNCHED my drivers side door! Luckily she had the sense to stop after she felt the impact.

So she gets out the car and says to me ... oh sonny I just didn't see you .... and I'm like WTF! Then she gets in her car and attempts to leave thinking that nothing happened to my car! So of course, after parking my car real quick ... I put on the jets and run her *** down while pounding on her window. Once again .... she's like .... ohhh I'm sorry son I thought you said I could go-that there is no damage. Eh ya f'in BLIND!

Sooooooooooo making the story short ... I called a cop to fill out a report, he wrote her a citation, and now she's been calling me (every hour it seems) to beg me to settle this without bringing her insurance co (State Farm) in the picture. Apparantly, this is the second time she's done this in the last few months and she's afraid she'll get dropped .... lose her license, etc. She's willing to write me a check on my terms -- up front ... after I show her the estimate from a place i choose. The entire outside driver's door will need to be replaced. And of course there was no damage to her '99 4-door Grand Prix. I feel a little sorry for the old bizzzzatch but man should these people even be on the road? What do you guys think I should do ..... let her insurance co. State Farm handle it, or should I help her out by letting her pay for repairs on my terms?

Erik@MIL.SPEC

iTrader: (94)

I would say give her a break. She was never nasty to you, just ridiculously clueless. If she wants to pay, I don't see any problem with it. Remember that whole karma thing, if you're cool with her...

evo1

Those were my exact thoughts

... but I haven't addressed the rental car thing yet. She can't provide me with one ... she may pay for it though. Man I drive 40 miles to work every day ... my car is going to be down for atleast a few days.

NOVA EVO

If you accept a check from her, take it to HER bank and cash it there...that way you know it's good. Otherwise, ream the *****!

Do you KNOW for sure she has insurance???

evo1

I've got her name, address, phone numbers, and State Farm insurance identification #. I saw her insurance card, and the cop checked it out when he filled out the report ... that as much as i know.

Oh and I would only accept a cashier's check from her ... made out to me of course.

LaNceRiTiZ

iTrader: (10)

make sure its a certified check...........

erioshi

I appreciate the whole karma thing. That said, given this is your new Evo, I'd be hesitant to let her just cut a check based on an estimate and run. If there are any complications you might have trouble collecting on them if all the paperwork isn't normal.

kidnice

iTrader: (1)

Im not sure if she should still be driving on the road. Although this is minor, she can be a potential hazard on the street. I think she needs a lesson to learn from, and this seems a bit too easy on her.

my 2 cents

Score

Karma aside, this is the second time she has done this. She needs to be taken off of the road. If she were to hit someone not as understanding as you, things could get ugly. Go insurance.

N/A

She obviously shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car and the only way she will be kept from driving is if she pays an assload for insurance. Report the accident and let her deal with the results. The elderly are the second highest risk drivers on the road. Report it and get as much out of it as possible.

neilschelly

iTrader: (2)

I hate to say it but I agree to go to insurance. Aside from the fact that it's always a little messy to go with straight out paying unless perhaps you know the other person already, I have two reasons.

The Evo is gonna be a tough car to fix if any of the electrical or mechanical parts are broken - there may be stuff the shop doesn't put in the estimate and your chances of getting a second check from the lady are about nil once the deadline has passed for you to report to insurance. Not to mention, whatever number you give her, she'll think is completely unreasonable - she's not gonna write another check for more. If you've seen the repair figures on the Lancers and Evos so far posted here, you can expect several thousand, if not more, based on what your description here is.

Second, if her insurance drops her for this, then that's probably in hers, theirs, and everyone else's better interests. If it's someone obviously stressed out, going through a nasty divorce just after the death of a close family member or something and while distracted has two accidents in the few months time, then you cut the person a break perhaps. But if it's an elderly sweet old lady who is too clueless to realize she has to look back to see 3 cars parking her in or too clueless to actually look for damage, then a break is not what she needs. Then you have a pattern that will only get worse. Of course, being a sweet old lady makes it a little harder not to cut some slack, but it's still the right thing to do.
-N

N/A

Its kind of sad that the lady said she couldn't see three cars behind her and she tried to leave from the scene of an accident then she shouldn't be driving at all. Actually there should be a way of forcing her to retake a complete driving test so it includes both the written and the raod course. Its too easy for an elderly driver to simply renew a license then to actually get tested even when they get in their 60's and beyond when its proven their ability to drive takes a nose dive. Damn AARP and its lobbying keeps them on the roads.

AvatarOfWar

iTrader: (2)

A few years ago, I found a mint condition '91 Dodge Spirit R/T (DOHC turbo intercooled) for sale in Plano, TX. I drove 1400 miles round trip with my almost 8 month pregnant wife in the car to go buy this sweet machine.

Only DAYS after I got it home, I was driving down US 40 when someone pulled out of a parking lot and attempted to cross the street I was travelling on. They T-boned me while I was travelling at 50mph, I lost control and went into oncomming traffic lanes, and then {fortunately} back down into the median w/o hitting anyone else.

I ran out of the car, and found that the person who hit me was pulling way slowly like nothing had happened. I ran up to his window and banged and banged on it. Finally, he stopped and rolled his window down. He had no idea what had happened, and that's when it became apparent.

When I got his insurance information, that's when I found out the truth. He was NINTY-NINE YEARS OLD.

Don't let the woman off - if anyone had been in my passenger seat, they would have been dead (like my pregnant wife for example). This woman may not be 99, but she is obviously losing her common sense on the road - maybe her next stupid move will be to hit a young couple and "drive away" thinking there was no damage

i_love_spool

iTrader: (1)

If this is the second time she's done it in two months then she deserves to lose her license........

Go through her insurance and you'll get exactly how much it costs for repairs......so your back to square 1 with your car.

Let her pay for it on your own terms and you could probably squeeze more money out of her which means you could spend it on some mods.

Up to you, either way she'd be screwed.

Secret Chimp

iTrader: (2)

Dude. Sorry to hear. But as a rule, you should always go through insurance. Being nice has a habit of biting you in the 4ss.

Your initial estimate from a bodyshop often only ends up covering (at most) 50% of the damage cost. The body shop often has to get addendums added to the insurance payout so that the repairs needed can be covered in their entirity. So in other words, the check you get from the old lady will only cover part of your repair bill. So how will you cover the remaining portion of the bill? Ask her for another check? Then another, if the cost of the repair creeps up again? After she gives you that first check, her liability (in her mind) will be removed....she paid. Then, you the nice guy, will get stuck with the bill in your hands. Is that what you want?

Both times I have dealt with body shops, I had 2 addendums added to my insurance payout for one, and 4 for the other. The initial estimate for one repair was $1600...it ended up being $6500 in the end to fix everything.

Also, in a way, if you do not go through insurance (and you handle it privately), you are enabling this enfeebled woman to continue driving....when she probably shouldn't be driving AT ALL.

You know, if you are her second accident in 3 months, she is going to probably have another. And her next accident may be much more severe than the slow speed bump you experienced. She could well kill herself with that next accident....or worse yet, she could kill someone that is completely innocent.

Do you want to be party to that? I certainly wouldn't!

Go through insurance man. Whether she is dropped, or loses her license is of no consequence to you. That is for the law and her ins company to decide. Let her plead to them.

SC~