Reunited with my XTerra

Friday July 23 2010

Ken.ForemanEvents Accident, Nissan XTerra
1 Comment

Small mercies… after a week, several thousand in repairs, and a couple inspections, my 2003 Nissan XTerra has been returned to me. Progressive is now going after the other guy who was at fault in the accident and his company, saying “difficulties are sometimes to be expected in accidents involving commercial vehicles.”

In last Friday’s accident, I’m glad I called the police, got a police report, and filed through Progressive. If I filed through the other guy’s company, I’d still be arguing with his company and have a dead XTerra in my driveway. If I didn’t get a police report, I suspect I’d be salvaging my XTerra right now.

No Matter How Careful…

Wednesday July 21 2010

Ken.ForemanEvents
3 Comments

Admittedly, I’m not the best of drivers.  I sometimes go over the posted speed limit, especially when I know I have a long drive ahead of me. I’ve had my share of accidents (driving too fast in the snow, crossing a traffic light during a signal change, backing out of a parking space).  Sometimes I get into accidents which are unavoidable… I am not sure how I could have avoided my accident last Friday short of simply “not being there.”

I was traveling on Nutley Blvd heading towards Microcenter in Vienna, VA, during my lunch break with a co-worker.  I saw an HVAC contractor in a big Ford F-150 carrying two AC units about to turn left onto Court House Rd, so I diminished my speed slightly since I was about to go through an intersection (Nutley Blvd and Court House Rd), but it was a green light and I was going straight.  The HVAC truck was 2 lanes (turning lane and center lane) away from me.

As I approached the intersection, the HVAC contractor abruptly decided that he wanted to turn right onto Court House Rd rather than left.  He proceed to cross three lanes (turning/left lane, center lane, right lane) and I just happened to be in his path.  I was hit on the left, my front end was sheered 3 inches, and on the right as he crossed my path and torqued the front end of my Nissan XTerra with the back end of his fully-loaded F150.

So what became a 45-minute run to Microcenter became a 2-hour accident, report to the police, getting my XTerra towed, and talking to his HR (it was a company vehicle), his insurance company, and mine.

With the amount of damage done, I was afraid that Progressive (my insurance company) might decide to simply salvage the XTerra rather than attempt to repair it. We expected $2,000-$3,500 in damage depending on what else was seen once we got a clearer look at it.  I spoke with my agent and asked at what point does Progressive cut their losses. I was told “75% of the vehicle’s value, which for you is $5,000, and we expect this to be under $3,000 in parts and labor.”

And so here I am… I have a fully-equipped (power windows, sunroof, satellite radio, leather interior) Ford Focus from Enterprise until the XTerra is repaired.  It has a 4-cylinder engine, gets 29mpg, and runs a little rough/tight, but it’s a pretty decent rental while my XTerra is in the shop.  I do miss the Nissan XTerra though, and this also means that Kiyomi is riding only in our Subaru Forester until we get the XTerra back.

I don’t know what else I could have done to avoid that accident.