My Car Accident

I do apologize, but this will be a long one.

Saturday I picked up a friend of mine for a day of shopping to be followed by a little birthday celebration for me (it was suppose to be a season ticket opening party with another two people, but that was postponed as the tickets have yet to arrive).

We were driving down Bayview on our way to the new Walmart Superstore when we had the idea to go for a coffee. There is a Second Cup at the corner of Bayview and York Mills so we turned into the plaza. Seconds after the turn we heard a loud noise and the car jerked a bit. At first we both thought (as I found out later) that I had run over the curb, which was possible since everything is covered with snow and I might have misjudged things. But, I looked back to see if that was the case and I saw a black Mercedes pulling back into a parking space and that was when I realized my baby was hit.

Of course I started to panic a little - I mean, I had never had this happen to me before and I was really unsure of what to do. I knew I had to get out of the car and talk to the driver that hit me and get all his information. But first thing I did was call my husband - he helped me figure out the rest of the steps. Anyway, back to the driver. He didn't have his insurance on him and he didn't even speak english very well - his friend was doing all the talking. The friend was talking down to me and trying to get me to agree to not go through insurance because he has a Mercedes and is already paying so much a month and another accident...at which point I stopped listening to what he had to say. I told him that I would talk to my husband and we would let him know (the entire time knowing I would be going through the insurance). My friend was still listening to him though and at one point he even said that the accident was both our faults. Let me ask you, can you think of a case where you are driving straight and you are hit in the side of your car and it is your fault?? The only possible way for that to happen would be if I were to go through a red light. When I found out he said that there was NO WAY I was entertaining the idea of doing things on the side.

Anyway, we did get our coffees and went on our way to the Collision Reporting Centre. That was an ordeal. We really didn't have to wait long in line, but you walk in and grab a number. Then you wait until a 'teller' on the left hand side calls you. You give them all the details and then they send you to the right hand side where you talk to an officer. There wasn't really a wait there though. The officer takes down the SAME details you just told the first person and then walks out to the car to see the damage. Then you have to fill in a form and go back to the officer. Once he looks over the form you are told to go back to the left hand side to get a copy of the report. Just when you think you are finished, you need to see one more person who goes out to the car with you to take pictures of it. Finally, an hour later, we were on our way shopping.

But of course, things don't stop there. The insurance office was closed when we got back to my place, but I had to give them a call on Monday to get a claim number and find out where to take the car. Luckily they told me that my coverage includes a rental car. I don't use the car that much, but I like the flexability of it.

Then Tuesday we take the car in to the shop. The mechanic says the procedure with the insurance company we have is that if the mechanic deems the car unsafe to drive they immediately put us in a rental. So, because of the way the car was hit, the back door was open a bit at the top and he couldn't tell if any of the mechanics that keep the door closed were damaged, we were put in a rental. Once we filled in all the forms at the shop, a representative from the rental place picked us up and drove us to the rental place where we had even more forms to fill in. This whole procedure took yet another hour of my time. But finally I was back on the road in a rental. Unfortunately I hate the car - a Yaris - and it doesn't really fit in my garage at the moment (I need to try and get rid of the small hill of snow behind my car) so I don't hit the antenna of the rental when I go in and out.

Now I just sit and wait until first they tell me how long the car will be in the shop and then I wait until it is ready for me to have my baby back again. The only positive thing I can take from this is that I now have experience renting a car.