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"Umm... Daddy, I have a little problem."

That's what my 17 yr old daughter said. A phone call. Not a text. This could be bad.

"I sort of backed up into this car. A Bentley."

Nice. It was in front of the local frozen yogurt store not far from home. Nothing to get excited about. No one's hurt. And my wife's car is intact.

"Don't worry. Just get his licence and take a picture of the place where you hit him," I said. "Take a few pictures."

"Well, the guy's sort of losing his shit," she said.

I could hear her voice start to crack.

"I'll be right there. Tell him I'm coming and not to move," I said.

I got there in less than 5 minutes. A nice black Continental GT parked behind my wife's car. I look at the owner and it's a guy from my high school. A real jerkoff then. And now.

I look at his car and it's untouched, except for a ding on one side of the grill. Not a scratch amywhere else.

"She backed up into me," he said.

"So, you never wrecked a car or two when you were 17?" I asked. He looked at me, knowing full well I was right there in the back seat when he glanced off two parked cars in his Dad's Oldsmobile. And then took off, like a scared rabbit.

As it turns out my daughter bumped into him. Stopped. Then waited for him to show up so she could tell him what she did. Then he freaked out telling her she should never get in a car again! She was a little shook up.

She a chip off the old block. She drove when she was 13. Got her license on a 5 speed car. Drives my Mustang and my big Escalade. Wants to drive the cat. She's a careful and confident driver. But she made a mistake. Hard to see a low slung car behind you when you're right on him. Anyhow, she learned a lesson.

I, on the other hand, can't figure out how it was even possible for her big fat rear bumper to touch the grill and crack it, without touching any other part of the front. The moulding and bodywork around the grille extend far beyond it.

But she says she felt a bump. So I guess she hit him. But she told me that he broke off a piece of the grille with his hands. I took some pics. And when I looked at them later, there was rust all around the cracked part of the grill. Nowhere else. Hmmmm. Anyhow. No fault insurance.
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Save her photos. Remember the poster from the '80s of a Countache wrapped around a Live-oak tree, with a mini-skirted chickie-poo standing all sad-faced next to it? The wreck was real but the long-legged chickie was staged. Reportedly, the Lambo owner recouped enough to fix the car from poster sales.... and that was mostly before the internet.
David, sorry to hear your daughter is human and made a mistake...LOL. I've gotten those calls but much worse, try rear ending one car that then hits three others. It happens and as you say, I remember when I was 17...OMG...what we did or tried is far worse. But today people see the insurance gravy train and they are instant millionaires.
The jerk in the Bentley will call the insurance company and get his repairs no matter if there is rust or not. Its his word vs. your daughters. Give your daughter a hug and tell her my story.

I had an accident about 10 years ago where I rolled away from a stop light, the guy in front of me driving a Mercedes stops for no reason, I BUMP him after rolling 10-15 feet, couldn't have been going 2-3 miles an hour. No damage to my car other than a scuff and you can see where my bumper scuffed his. He gets out saying "OH MY NECK....look at the dent on the back of my trunk lid!" I told him no way, line up the bumper, my bumper is at this level, the dent is 8-12 inches higher. Clearly there was no contact above his bumper on his trunk from my car because my car can't do wheelies.

Well my insurance company says when they inspected the car, there was rust underneath the back bumper and they suspected it was from a previous accident. I'm pissed because this guy is trying to get something for nothing. I was fine with repainting his bumper if the scuff can't be buffed out, but not $3500 in damage. Now comes the fun part and the AMAZING GALL OF SOME PEOPLE! 6 months later I get a notice to appear in court and I'm being sued for $42,000!!!!!!! I'm not kidding. Turns out the guy I hit was an insurance broker and knew how to work the system. Thank god for insurance and that they hire an GREAT attorneys for you(never thought I'd like an attorney so much)...my attorney ends up being "Trial Attorney of the Year" in California the previous year, so the insurance company isn't messing around. My attorney says the insurance typically pays out $5000-7,500 for these types of accidents and injuries....well the guy I hit went to the doctor for 5-6 months for "supposed therapy" due to the injuries sustained in the accident...$14,000 worth of medical bills x 2 or 3 = the pain and suffering award hence, the $42,000 law suit amount. Oh yeah and the attorney he hired...I knew him for questionable character. He tried to apply for a mortgage at my company about two years prior with one of my loan officers on a city bond program we originate for the city....he badgered my loan officer to do what every he could to make the loan fly (he was trying to get us to do loan fraud by doctoring paperwork). Well I had to get involved since the loan officer was being badgered by an "attorney" and I told the guy we can't do your loan, you don't qualify and there is no paperwork on the planet that legitimately supports your income- GOOD BYE. Three months later I get a call from some other loan company in town who is being threatened with a law suit by the same attorney and they noticed my company had turned him down. So I guess crooks hang with crooks. BACK TO MY ACCIDENT. Next my accident attorney asks for non-binding arbitration hearing for the accident and in the hearing he asks the insurance broker....Mr.Accident Victim, can you tell me why there are multiple medical bills at two different doctors on the same dates and the same times for your physical therapy??? OH THAT MUST BE A MISTAKE he answers. My attorney waits after the arbitration meeting and tells the arbitrator to "offer this guy $5,000 to go away" WHICH THEY GLADLY DID. TOTAL BOGUS GRAVY TRAIN BLOOD SUCKING PIECES OF GARBAGE, I WANT A PIECE OF YOUR PIE TOO AND I'LL SCREW YOU AND YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY TO DO IT (sorry for my rant, this went on for over a year).

David and anyone else reading this....get a $1-2 Million umbrella policy on your autos no matter if you have kids or not. A buddy of mine was sued by a doctor for $250K, same thing, rear end accident, $3500 in damage to the doctors car, but the doctor in the accident made $20k a month and supposedly couldn't work for 4 months. My buddy only had $30/100k limits on his insurance but had $800k equity in his house that he inherited. He was crapping his pants. Fortunately for my buddy, he realized that his employer was insured and would cover his accident because he was driving on business for the company.

Now maybe since we live in Southern California we are surrounded by a bunch of A-holes who are opportunists. And they wonder why there needs to be tort reform in the health care package???
I guarantee you that living in Southern California has nothing to do with it.
Bogus soft tissue injury claims got so out of control here in Alberta that the government had to put a cap on the amount of recovery available. Insurance premiums dropped 20%. The cap was challenged in court and was deemed to be unconstitutional. Cap lifted. Up go the premiums. The "total bogus gravy train blood sucking pieces of garbage" are right back in business.
I was in the car when a good friend rear ended someone. Minor damage. This guy was yelling and screaming and jumping around the accident scene like a kangaroo on steroids. 10 months later this clown was awarded $85,000 for a back injury.
Doug M
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