Thank Og for seatbelts!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So the other day, Mrs D. decided to take 3 of our 4 children out to visit a friend of hers (The 4th was spending the day at grandma’s house). I had the day to myself and wasn’t feeling all that good anyways, so I appreciated the quiet time. (FYI, the kids she had with her were 9, 5, and 2.5 years old)

That afternoon about 1PM I get a call from her saying, “The van is totalled and nobody got hurt.” She tells me where she is at and to call her friend to let her know she won’t be arriving there. I immediately get dressed and head out to her. It takes me about 25 min to get out to where she is. At this point I have no idea how the accident happened or to what extent the van was damaged. I was thinking it had to do with the road conditions becuase they had a freezing rain advisory that morning. It wasn’t until I got out there that I found it what happened.

When I get there, I find out that she had stopped at a traffic light. When the light turned green for her, she started through the intersection when a guy ran their red light. He hit the passenger side of the van and **flipped it over :eek: ** onto it’s roof.

Fortunately, everyone was wearing their seatbelts and child safety seats and nobody got hurt at all. They were all hanging upside down and very scared. Mrs. D was able to crawl out through her broken window. By the time she got out there was quite a few people there helping the kids out. My 5 yr old had managed to unbuckle his own seatbelt, but my 9 yr old needed help. Mrs. D. was helping him out when somone else pulled out my 2.5 yr old out, seat and all.

Of course all the kids were crying and Mrs. D. was quite rattled, but nobody was hurt. She took the kids to the Dairy Queen that was at this intersection to get them calmed down and also so she could call me.

By the time I got out there, the van had been towed away. The kids had calmed down but burst into tears when they see me (except for my 2.5 yr old who described the incident as, “Daddy, the car fell down.”.). My wife’s friend, who I had called before I left, had shown up to help out and just be there in general. I spoke with the officer who was there and found out that not only did this guy run into our van, but afterwards, he parked his car at a nearby church and fled the scene on foot.

So thank Og for seatbelts and the ability of my family to use them properly.

A huge “Thank you” to everyone who arrived at the scene to help out and make sure my family was safe. Also, thank you to the manager at the Dairy Queen for giving my kids free ice cream to help calm them down and all his assitance to my wife. People like you restore my faith in humanity.

And to the guy who hit my family and fled the scene, I hope they nail your A**!!! I don’t care about my van, but you put my family in danger because of your stupidity.

2

Wow. Hell of a story. Glad to hear everyone’s okay. Hope they catch the guy.

3

Thank Og indeed! Good to hear no one but the van was hurt.

This is also a good reminder that just because the light is green doesn’t mean one shouldn’t be cautious before preceeding into an intersection.

I’m hope they’ll have no trouble nabbing this guy from his car/license.

4

“Daddy the car fell down”–that is so cute!

That is one scarey accident. I am glad everyone is ok. And thank Og you all are smart enough to wear seatbelts!

He must have hit you hard–to flip a practically stationary van? :eek:

5

Good to hear that everyone’s okay. I hope they catch the guy soon, and I hope he has good insurance.

6

That was my thought. Just how fast was this guy going to tip over a minivan? According to Mrs D., she saw the guy coming and did try to speed up to avoid a collision, but it didn’t work. I wonder if she had not sped up, if the van would not have flipped at all? Hard to say. You can always speculate on what would have happend if, I guess.

7

Glad to hear nobody got hurt.

IMHO the designers of the van deserve some credit too. Do you mind telling us the make and model? I’ve often wondered about the survivability of my minivan in such situations.

8

Ditto. Glad everyone’s okay.

[insurance guy hat on]
Michigan is a no fault state, so it’s not really necessary for him to have “good insurance”. He just has to be insured. AFAIK, repairs and injuries to the Dragwyr vehicle and fambly will be taken care of by their own insurer, if the no-fault rules are similar to the ones here in Ontario.

Inigo Montoya would probably be a better authority on this one though. He’s the claims guy.
[/insurance guy hat off]

9

We have… er had a '98 Pontiac Transport-Montana. I hated that van as it had many mechanical problems throughout it’s life, but I will give props to the GM engineers who designed the safety belt system for this minivan, as well as those who designed the cab and frame.

Dante:
Yes, our own insurance will be covering us for this. It was funny… Mrs D. was on the phone with them and they were asking what parts of the vehicle were damaged, “Is the front bumper damaged? Is the driver’s side door damaged?” etc. She finally said, “Look, it would be easier if I told you what parts of the car were NOT damaged?”

We are still waiting on getting a copy of the official police report, but we do know the guy who was driving the car was NOT the owner of the car. The owner was at the scene shortly after it happened and he knew who had the car, so it is just a matter of time before the actual driver is caught.

10

Wow - scary. Glad to hear that everyone is just fine, and kudos to Mrs. Dragwyr for having everyone wear seatbelts. That’s a Good Thing To Do (speaking as someone who has personally had her life saved [literally] by wearing a seatbelt).

11

Ah, I’m glad they know who was driving it. Based on the facts that he was obviously driving extremely recklessly and ran away but left the car, I was wondering if it was stolen.

12

Just thought I’d add my two cents here…

A friend of mine from school bought his first car, second hand but only a year old. He was always a very careful driver, because although he was insured, he obviously didn’t want anything to happen to him or his car. But unfortunately, a similar sort of thing happened to him, he as at an intersection and was hit side on by a drunk driver that had sped through a red light. His car flipped onto the roof and over onto its wheels again. He was wearing a seatbelt, but unfortunately it snapped so he went through the windscreen. Long story short, the previous owner of the car had replaced the original seatbelt with another that was not Australian Standard, and decided not to tell anyone, but admitted it after the accident was under investigation. My friend was pretty badly hurt but is ok now and recieved quite a hefty pay out.

Your wife and kids are very lucky to have been in a safe car and utilising the safety devices.

13

Just found out from the insurance company that they will be towing the van to Ann Arbor where their home office is. They will also be paying off the balance we have on the loan and sending us a check for the rest of the value of the van in the next week.

We will be going to the police station in the next few days and getting a copy of the police report.

Do you think it’s ok to contact the loser who caused this? Personally I’d like to know what this guy was thinking and see if he really is an a***ole, but I am not sure it is really the right thing to do.

14

IANAL, but I think this would be a bad idea. I know I’d be ready to rip this guy a new one if he had done this to my family. Let the legal types handle it.

15

I’d like to let him know that his actions have consequences that affect real people and seeing him in person would make that message stronger. I’ve had people advise me about how to legally proceed against him (Sue him and similar such advise) but I would really like to see a written apology, or better yet, an apology to my wife and kids in person. But I can see why it might be a bad idea to meet him in person.

16

No, that isn’t a good idea at all. Have your insurance company (or private lawyer perhaps) do the any contacting if it’s needful. Maybe you’ll get to hear what his excuse is at his trial, with luck? IANAL, so take my words as common sense advice.

17

Strike that, you probably won’t get to actually hear his excuse, but maybe you can read it in court transcripts? (Going by the idea that you probably won’t be allowed to sit in on his trial. Or maybe you can, but your wire can’t?) If you want a written apology from him, take him to civil court, sue him for a token amount “and a written apology”. Or, see if you can get an editorial advertisement printed in the paper, as long as you are very careful to stick to the facts, your opinion and not threaten or wish him ill?

18

Adding, I wouldn’t do anything right now though, with a possible suit pending against him to recover damages in any case. Maybe you’ll get to read the court transcripts someday if you really want to know.

19

There may not actually be a trial in which he gives an excuse. My husband and I both went to local traffic courts (separate reasons) last year, and saw a lot of cases that involved car accidents with injuries or at least ambulances transporting. If the person pled guilty, that’s all that happened - judge called the person up, gave the charge, asked if there was anyone there who’d claimed/questioned injury at the scene. If no, the person was dismissed. If yes, the judge then asked the person how they pled. A guilty plea meant nothing further from anyone, besides perhaps a few questions from the judge - any other tickets recently, etc. - then a “your fine is $X, pay the clerk, next!” If the plea was not guilty, they went back to their seats for a trial later, but I didn’t see any of those. I assume that those who were in the car-not-at-fault would get to say something at such a trial.

20

If he’s smart (and he hasn’t shown that yet), he’ll get a lawyer who’ll tell him to clam up. I wouldn’t wait for an apology. That would be admitting guilt (even though you know he’s guilty). I have always been told that, in the event of an accident, say nothing to the other party and talk only to the police. And then your lawyer. I was in an accident about 11 years ago wherein an 18-wheeler nearly killed me and my future wife. The driver not only didn’t say anything, he didn’t even look in my direction.

He may be remorseful or he may be scum and not give a shit.

Just get your family through this and try to put it behind you.