CP

Hi Folks,

It happened 9:10 this morning. I was south bound on San Tomas and I had the green light. No car stopped for red so I proceeded on the left lane.

A blur of white and we collided. The lady ran her red light from my left. I hit her white Blazer on the passenger side mid-section. She flipped on her side and skided through 4 lanes. We rolled her car on the wheels and helped her out of the car. She suffered chest and wrist injuries, and some deep cuts. I walked away with no injuries (Stanford Trauma Center ran x-rays and CT scans), just soreness around the rib cage and right chest area. Thanks the lord that the M5 is strong. ALL my airbags deployed. Since she came from my left, if I had been 7 feet further into the intersection, she'd T-bone me on the driver's side. She probably was going at 50-60 MPH. It'd be real ugly if she hit me broadside.

I have a few questions on insurance. This is my first experience in these matters. All State (they insure me) told me that they will pay me for my M5 per their pricing data. I don't know if in CA, I can even go after the other driver's insurance directly. But I had a hunch that All State may not cover all my mods, extended warranty, and the excellent conditions of my car. In addition, they did not mention time loss, pain and suffereing, and or waiver considerations not to file future suits.

Should I just deal with All State, or should I take a stab and work with the lady's insurance, assuming she is insured?

Thanks for the education.

Here are 4 Pics.

CP

Fongster

Ouch.....

Hope you are fine..thats the most important thing

993Dave

Geez, CP, I'm glad you're okay. You will be more sore tomorrow, unfortunately, but you survived this, which is the silver lining on this bad day.

I lost my first car in a very similar manner (while making a controlled left, I got T-boned on the passenger side by a red-light runner not far from where you were today).

At a minimum, don't take Allstate's first offer. Be prepared with comps as well as estimates for the mods. I was able to increase the amount I got for my totaled car by a significant percentage just by citing a few listings in the paper.

Good luck, and best wishes for a quick recovery.

mrsullivan

wow, glad to hear you feel ok.

maybe u have done this, but in case u havent...

go to the Dr. and get checked out for good measure... dont just go by what the first-responders at the accident told you... always good to have a dr. give you an all clear... ask he/she if a head ct is in order to be ultra-safe... even if you were belted, sometimes the jarring of the head itself can be traumatic...

for sure, its a REALLY good sign that you walked away from the accident and feel ok....means that you most likely are...

mrsullivan

oops, just saw the Stanford Trauma Center sentance... cant get any better than that! Glad you are ok...

Greg H.

When my car was stolen, Safeco covered 100% of any expenditures I had made recently. I can't remember what the cutoff date was, but in addition to the value of the car, they reimbursed me for the cost of a major service I had had performed. Maybe Allstate has the same policy.

Greg H.

deep_purple

CP,

Glad to hear that you are OK. Take it easy for a few days, and then start thinking about insurance, etc. Ask them for more time if they bug you. You will likely have to negotiate, and it will take some time. But that is how these things work.

Cheers,

OldGuy

Pong glad you are OK! WOW!!

graham_mitchell

Oh no!! Sorry to hear about your accident but very happy to hear that you walked away. It sounds like the M5 served you well.
I wish you a speedy recovery to full health and a quick, painless and fair insurance settlement!

Jim Morton

Pong:

I am sorry to hear of your accident. What an awful situation.

FWIW, I believe that your insurance will go after her's based on your having coverage for your vehicle. The problem will be that the two insurance companies will certainly deal with one another over the alledged value of the M5. I would suggest that you work to quickly establish the value of the car prior to the accident. This may be hard now that it is wrecked. However here is what I think you might be facing...

IMHO, you will likely have to submit a claim on your own to her insurance for the difference in value between what All State gives you and what you can estimate your actual loss to be. I would suggest that you view that "value" of how you have been damaged as you cannot just replace an M5 with another car, like it is a simple commodity Honda or Toyota. Specialty cars are a pain to establish value for...The insurance company will likely use a "book" based valuation and not consider the time or hassle you are put through. FWIW, stay involved with this and keep insisting on what is due !!!!

Again...I am so sorry to hear that this happened...

CP

Kim,

All State will go after her insurance to cover their out-lays. However, if they are putting out first, I see no reason why they'd give me the maximum coverage. If the lady is 100% at fault, I have leaverage over her insurance. I don't know if All State will play that leverage to the fullest.

For instance, my ambulance ride and Stanford physical are now charged to my health insurance. No $$ out of All States's pocket. I don't know if All State cares. I have $1k decuctible. They may try to recover that. If they don't work hard, I will not get that. I will use a few of my sick and vacation days because of this accident, chances are All State don't car about that either.

I'm not greedy, just wondering how the world works in this situation, that's all.

CP

adsc4s

Pong, that is horrible! Glad to hear you only have some bumps and bruises. Your insurance company will go after this person's insurance company and if she isn't insured, they will go after her. I would let your insurance agent know of all the mods and exactly how much you expect to replace your car. Obviously, pull out all the receipts.

Ultimately, since it isn't coming out of their pocket, I believe you will get more than if it was stolen. However, you will get by the depreciation.

Good luck.

Arrwin

Pong,

Sorry to hear about this terrible situation. The good thing is that everyone is OK, since it could of been and looks like a lot worse.

Geneva and I wish you the best.

mborkow

when did stopping at red lights become optional in CA? i live in the bay area as well and i have never seen so many red lights run in all my life.

Joe S.

CP, glad you're ok! That is right down the street from me. The M5 must be a well built car. There was an accident in the news last night, a M5 & a E55 racing both wrecked, M5 rolled several times, E55 split in half with 3 passengers, everyone walked away.