[Werner1950]

Last week I was driving to a family funeral from Toronto to Thompson, Manitoba. Somewhere north of Schreiber, I stopped behind a schoolbus. It was unloading its kids. I noticed a semi-trailer behind me, pulling to a full stop with its flashers going. Good, I thought. I am safe with that rig behind me.

Then, WHAM! I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that the trucker had driven forward after all and hit me, pushing me into the SUV in front of me.

I hit my head on the door pillar (I had been sitting at an angle, so my head missed the headrest), my wife was okay, felt a little bruised from the seat belt.

Turns out, the truck driver saw the school bus starting to move, forgot I was there, and popped his clutch and hit me, probably only doing 5 - 7 KPH. ( I suspect he was dreaming, probably drove too many hours, lost his focus)

Yes, they had to call EMS to make sure we were all okay, I signed a waiver so as not to go to the hospital. (I would not have made it to the funeral in time otherwise and the cop ruled that my car was driveable).

My back bumper and front bumper need replacing, and my trunk lid also needs repair or replacement. And a rear taillight lense needs replacing.No idea what it will cost, but the insurance will take care of it all. I even get a rental car). Oddly enough, the cops said he would not charge the driver. No one was charged. It's a long weekend in Canada so I have to wait till tomorrow to talk to the adjuster. Frustrated.

So now I tell people that I lost my new car shine in Schreiber.

 

[Rivergoer]

Wow, not a good weekend for sure. Very glad to hear everyone is ok.

Good news is insurance will handle and hopefully have you back in your good-as-new vehicle soon.

Hard to believe no citation issued to the semi-truck driver (failure to stop for a school bus). The officer must’ve felt the trucker would ‘suffer’ enough dealing with his boss and the increased insurance rates.

 

[Tomko]

Wow, that sucks. Did OnStar kick in?

Have driven that route to Winnipeg many, many times. How many hours did it take to make the trip?

 

[Werner1950]

AS far as no citation is concerned, the truck driver DID stop. He saw the bus starting to move, and released his clutch and hit me. Perhaps the cop suspected that the driver might have lost his job if he had laid charges. Or maybe it would have meant too much paper work. The cop did tell me that MOST of their traffic paperwork has to with truckers on that stretch of road. I too had compassion on the truck driver. It was such a stupid preventable error and he felt badly about it. Although his truck had nary a scratch.

How long did it take me? I did it in three days. Left TO on Sunday noon. Made it to SSM first stop. We have a cottage there on Lake Superior, and stayed there the night. The second day (the day of the event) we made it to Winnipeg, took a motel.

Had to get up at 5 AM to make it to Thompson by 1 PM on Tuesday.

Same routine on the route back. Except I made it to Terrace Bay the first night back.

 

[Werner1950]

Next question - the insurance company has their list of recommended body shops for me to check out. They say that I am free to use other body shops, but it I go with their recommended ones, the parts are guaranteed for the life of the car. I don;t suppose there is much harm in going with their recommended shops, seeing as I am only getting new bumpers and a tail light lense? Thoughts? I am with TD Home and Auto.

 

[jblackburn]

Next question - the insurance company has their list of recommended body shops for me to check out. They say that I am free to use other body shops, but it I go with their recommended ones, the parts are guaranteed for the life of the car. I don;t suppose there is much harm in going with their recommended shops, seeing as I am only getting new bumpers and a tail light lense? Thoughts? I am with TD Home and Auto.

Look around for Yelp or Google reviews and pick what seems to consistently do good work.

 

[Rivergoer]

Sounds like the officer considered the circumstances and exercised good judgement.

Absent having a particular body shop in mind, no harm going with ins co recommendation. Like Blackburn said, check out Google and Yelp reviews.

 

[Robby]

Typically, the insurance , those shops usually have the 'recommended' shops have cut a labor ($$$$) deal with the insurance company.
To be profitable they give jobs paid by the host insurance company to the 'newbee's' and they learn the trade......on your car.

Any body shop that is 'recommended' buy a insurance company should be considered one that should be deeply looked into for past complaints......they should be considered automatically suspect.

Good to hear no severe injury's to report.

Rob

 

[Eddy Cruze]

You had "compassion" for the Truck Driver? Are you not expecting the SUV to now sue you? Bad enough you signed a wavier with the EMS. I'm 4 years into a Semi Crash and have been told just to forget it, well it doesn't work that way. Considering you saw this coming and must have tensed up there is a good chance you are not alright? One of the first things I was asked by my Legal team, was I properly seated which you weren't.

 

[Werner1950]

You had "compassion" for the Truck Driver?

YES.

Are you not expecting the SUV to now sue you?
NO

Bad enough you signed a wavier with the EMS.

Why? Do you know what I signed?

I'm 4 years into a Semi Crash and have been told just to forget it, well it doesn't work that way. Considering you saw this coming and must have tensed up there is a good chance you are not alright?

I am fine, thanks. No issues after 9 days.

 

[Snipesy]

The waiver, or AMA, is for the ambulance company. It does not give any protection to the suv or truck driver. You don't have to sign it, but it's much easier if you do.


As for who to roll with, ask your dealer. If they have their own shop roll with them, otherwise ask who they source it out to. They will know the local are much better than you.

And then use that shop. If the insurance company doesn't give in then sue the truck driver, but that shouldn't happen. The truck company's insurance should be pretty good.

 

[anthonysmith93]

Glad you're okay, but no pics?? Of course when we see the word accident we also like to see the damage caused, especially if no one was badly hurt.

 

[anthonysmith93]

Typically, the insurance , those shops usually have the 'recommended' shops have cut a labor ($$$$) deal with the insurance company.
To be profitable they give jobs paid by the host insurance company to the 'newbee's' and they learn the trade......on your car.

Any body shop that is 'recommended' buy a insurance company should be considered one that should be deeply looked into for past complaints......they should be considered automatically suspect.

Good to hear no severe injury's to report.

Rob

I agree completely. I once went to an insurance recommended shop.....never again, and they even had good reviews..

 

[Werner1950]

Glad you're okay, but no pics??

Nah. Two bumpers need replacing. The crash felt more severe than it really was.

 

[anthonysmith93]

Nah. Two bumpers need replacing. The crash felt more severe than it really was.

Ahh okay, well I'm glad it's a simple fix then!

 

[boraz]

The waiver, or AMA, is for the ambulance company. It does not give any protection to the suv or truck driver. You don't have to sign it, but it's much easier if you do.


As for who to roll with, ask your dealer. If they have their own shop roll with them, otherwise ask who they source it out to. They will know the local are much better than you.

And then use that shop. If the insurance company doesn't give in then sue the truck driver, but that shouldn't happen. The truck company's insurance should be pretty good.

trucking companies self insure, insurance costs too much

 

[Werner1950]

OK, time for an update. I brought my car to the body shop 2 week ago. All under the watchful eye of the adjuster. They told me that I would get an estimate of the the extent of repairs and cost (even though the insurance co. is paying the whole shot - no deductible needs to be paid). I have a rented car, also covered by my policy.

SO a couple of days ago I called to find out what the hold up was. They said that it is possible that the car would be written off!! Unbelieveable. Have a look at the pictures. They told me that the body shop still needs to take the damaged parts apart to assess the total damage, but that it is entirley possible that the damege will exceed the cost of the car. The rear qrtr panel was crunched just a little bit, but they said something about possible internal damage that cannot be seenw ithout taking things apart. Of course these pics don't show all the damage. My front and rear bumpers need replacing, as well as one headlight lens and one taillight assembly.

Here are the pics they sent me.
View attachment 244842

View attachment 244850

View attachment 244858

Well, obviously the pics didn't come through, Maybe I haven't posted enough yet to be allowed to post photos.

 

[Taxman]

What generation car is it? If it's first generation there may be aftermarket bumper plastic available at bargain prices.
If it's second generation you're looking at $500 US for a headlight and $250 for both halves of a taillight.
It's unusual to total a car with ten good airbags in it, but it can happen.

Just paint for front and rear bumper covers can run $600 or more, plus an hour or two of labor to install them. And that's assuming there's zero damage underneath. Grilles, bezels and emblems add to the cost. Fixing dents in the quarter panel can be costly, welding new metal in to replace crumpled metal is more expensive.

 

[Snipesy]

You can try imgur for your pictures https://imgur.com/

Also speaking of airbags, what about the seat belts. I think those tend to fire before the air bags.

 

[Werner1950]

Seat belts fire? What are you taking about? Never heard of this.

So I heard from the adjuster today. I get my car back Nov 2. Looks like they are repairing it.