I figgured on taking a couple months off, taking life a bit easier, just playing music and sailing the Chesapeake's upper reaches when the weather gets warm--not a prayer.

The music jobs have been coming in back to back, lots of doubles, and days off were few and far between. Not much time to work on the boat. Today, Wednesday, was the last music job on the schedule for the week and the next five days were supposed to be open. So far--so good!

Looked out the window last night, the moon was full and at midnight it was so bright outside that you could seen herds of deer grazing on my newly planted grass--not a good omen! By 3:00 a.m. my throat felt like someone had dumped battery acid on my vocal chords, and I was down to a painful whisper. Wonderful!

The morning started out OK with bright sunshine, and despite the fact that I sounded like a bullfrog in heat, things were going well--at least until I got on I-95 and headed south toward Baltimore and today's job. Traffic was horendous, which is normal at 11 in the morning, wall to wall 18 wheelers, and crazies trying their damnedest to weave between them as speeds approaching warp 12. Not my cup of tea. I cruised along at a conservative 65 MPH in the right lane until I was about a half mile north of I-695, which at this point the lane becomes an exit lane for 695. I turned on my signal, moved to the next lane to my left, and continued for another quarter mile when an a**hole in a Nisam Sentra decided he wanted to get in the same lane as me. Without signaling or looking, he rapidly swerved into my lane--right into the side of my van rear quarter, shoving me into a sideways skid for the next 200 feet before I lost control and went into a ditch. His car flipped on it's side and ended up in the same ditch about 50 yards north of my van.

Bottom line--the van is totaled, the equipment survived, with minimal damage, his car looked like it went through a shredder, I obviously didn't make it to the job, and the a**hole had the guts to say "Man, I don't know what happened!"

Fortunately, no other vehicles were involved, and a witness who was a couple hundred yards behind stopped and gave the state police a statement that clearly portrayed who was at fault.

The worst part about the deal wasn't loosing the music job and dissapointing 150 people at a spring dance. The worst part is that because my van is a 1989 the guy who hit me insurance company will only pay book value for the van, which is probably about $2,000. This, despite the fact the van was in excellent condition until some indiot on his cell phone slammed into it. Now I'll have to replace the van, which will cost me a bundle. Damned I hate full moons!

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

Gary....Post pics...

Gary

Sorry to hear about your accident and the loss of your van, but so happy that no one was hurt. Just remember, "this too shall pass."

Charles

That's terrible news Gary, but at least you and your gear survived. But I know it's still a drag that you won't get true value of the van you lost.

I keep wishing California would make it illegal to use a handheld cellphone while driving. Barely a day goes by that I don't have a cellphone user do something stupid on the freeway around me. The worst thing is that most of the time they aren't even aware of the problems they are causing until something like Gary's collision happens.

Gary...
Really sorry to hear this happened to you. When you consider all the "what ifs" you can be thankful for a bunch. All the same, it is a tough pill to swallow.
Eddie

WOW Gary
We sure are thankful that you are still with us. That could have been real nasty, or should I say nastier.
As for the other guy, we hope he gets what he deserves. There's no consolation in saying sorry for a mindless act because unless he suffers for his madness, he will probably do it again, next time with dire(direr)consequences.
BTW, in UK driving while using a mobile phone is penalised with a £60 ($100) fine. Trouble is you can see violators all the time and they get away with it (until something happens like you have experienced)

Once again, we thank heaven that you are still here with us.
Have you stopped shaking yet?
cheers
Eddie Johnson

------------------
Eddie from Rotherham
Skype:eddiefromrotherham
www.yamahakeyboards.info

Gary
Sorry to hear about your accident. I would suggest emigrating to Victoria Australia where it is illegal to use a cellphone whilst driving - but that still doesn't save you from the young lady doing her lipstick whilst looking in the rear vision mirror. Not the nicest ways of meeting young ladies when they come through bringing the back end of your car with them!
With all the other responses we all are thankful your gear was OK - suggests our keyboards are closer to us than our vehicles.
Keith

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear about your accident Gary. It sounds like quite a scary ordeal! I'm happy to hear you were not injured and managed to save your equipment too.

It's extremely illegal to drive while talking on those damn things here too. Tons of studies have been done (psychology is my trade) which prove that your attention is extremely inhibited when using cell phones while driving.

Carrie

Gary,

We are all glad you are ok. That's what is important. It doesn't matter where you move, there are idiot drivers everywhere. Did you finish your Logitech PAS while you were off? Please finish your sabbatical and return to the forum all refreshed and full of new ideas.

Tom

Gary:

Sorry to hear about your accident, what a way to come back to the forum. Well, the good news is your not injured and your equipment survived. I understand completely about your van. Similar thing happened to my wife driving a Windstar mini van.

Gary, sorry to read about what happened, but glad that bodily injury wasn't part of it! (Do make sure of that; sometimes in the aftermath of trauma, you can be unaware for a while of certain kinds of injury. If you are injured, I'd suggest seeing a lawyer at this point and ignoring the rest of my comments; and no, I'm not a member of the legal profession.)

Be certain to get a copy of the police report and verify that it acurately reflects what you and the witness reported.

As to compensation for your losses, don't be too quick to accept the insurance company's offer. They have an obligation for you to be "made whole"; that phrase is very important. It means that the insurance company has to, within reason, restore things to what they were before the accident.

If you can document the exceptional condition of your van, it will help in negotiating with the insurers. Pictures, maintenance records, testimonials from others (service people, etc.) all help. Was the van outfitted (modified) in any way for your needs? If so, document that. Anything that will show your van was not a typical 1989 vehicle will help your position.

You also should ask for compensation for the lost gig, and any damage to your equipment. That's part of making you whole.

You may have to "hang tough"; insurers rarely like to part with cash, especially initially.

Here are a couple of Websites that may help with some insight. Use Google for others. http://info.insure.com/auto/collision/totalling.html http://www.pritzkerlaw.com/fair-car-value/

Again, I'm not a lawyer, etc., so please take what I've said with that in mind. Best of luck in resolving the situation.

--Barry



[This message has been edited by quietDIN (edited 04-13-2006).]

Gary,
What a drag! This just happened to me three months ago. The kids insurance offered me $1100 and keep the van or $1300 and they haul the van off.

It was a 1987 Astro. Really only 106,000 miles. It stayed parked in the driveway for years. We used it ocasionally for delivering and picking up window coverings that my wife cleans.

My son has used it for the past 2 or 3 years. It stays in his driveway also because he is gone for weeks at a time driving an 18 wheeler. I bought it years ago with 69,000 miles.

Their letter said they priced one in Texas for that price and one in Kentucky. Both were in excess of 250,000.

It makes one wonder how long before someone goes postal on these insurance companies doing whatever they want to do. I'm sure many times they won't even pay the claims period on people they think they can get a way with it.

Gary......

you have a backup van in your driveway

I have a 96 Aerostar for sale. Only 220,000 miles on it. You can pick it up at the jam.
Glad you weren't injured my friend.
DonM

Why do bad things happen to good people..

Sorry to hear about your calamities. Why don't you turn a negative into a positive and buy yourself a nice new Corvette!!

Al

Bummer! Sorry to hear that, but thank goodness it wasn't worse, but never-the-less, makes for a bad day. Better days are ahead... take care, Gary.

Glenn

Thanks to everyone for you good wishes and concerns, and yes, I do have a backup van that I'm not driving. It's really old, gets lousy gas milage, but it will haul all of my gear to the jobs next week.

Gary

------------------
Travlin' Easy

Glad to hear that you escaped unscathed, Gary.

Yep, you see these cell jockeys all the time here in 'do-what-you-like' Alberta. Something has to be done about it.

Really glad you're ok, bud!

russ

There MUST be a country song in that saga somewhere

Gary ... So glad to hear that you are OK ...
It's really a shame what's happening on the road these days ...
Today I had to drive down to New York City for a medical exam (everything is fine... )
Driving down this morning on I 95, I happened to get into the left lane and there is a lot of traffic in front of me and a 'stream' of cars in the right lane... I look in the rear view mirror and see this car about 3 feet from my rear ... now traffic is moving pretty quick and the next thing I know I am pushing 80 MPH !!! Just going with the FLOW !!! ... I was starting to think the interstate sign (95) was the SPEED LIMIT!!! ... the car stays on my tail for quite a while until I can finally get into the right lane ... as it goes by me I notice there is a young (20s) woman driving ... she gets past me, weaves in and out of a few cars and is GONE ... I had a big smile on my face when I passed her a while later, ... as she was being given a summons by a State Trooper !!! ...

Quote from brickboo:
It makes one wonder how long before someone goes postal on these insurance companies doing whatever they want to do. I'm sure many times they won't even pay the claims period on people they think they can get a way with it.

boo ... you are right when you say the object of insurance is to make you whole ... which means to pay the book value of a vehicle based on its age ... Regardless of how many miles were on your Astro, it is only worth so much ... the vehicles with 250,000 miles may have even been in BETTER shape !!! ... ask yourself this question ... how much would you be willing to pay for a 1987 Astro ?!?!? ... What the public doesn't take into account is the money LOST by insurance companies on auto insurance ... That's right ... I said LOST !!! ... If they are not making $$$ on investments, they ain't making $$$ !!! ... how many times have you heard someone you know say "I had the bill padded, so I didn't have to pay the deductible" ? ... well, the premium they were charged took into account that they (and soooo many others like them) WERE GOING to pay the deductible !!!
And boo, insurance is one of the MOST regulated businesses ...
For all the times that insurance companies pay out when we need it, let's not be so hasty to condemn them ...
t.

PS ... While I do not work for an insurance company, I do work close enough to the industry to know something about it ...
t.

Gary, sorry to hear about your mishap. Driving the roads around here is no picnic. I don't like cell phones period but especially not on the road. Driving requires people's attention. Glad to hear you and your gear are ok.

Joe

------------------
Songman55
Joe Ayala