40-year "no accident" streak broken this morning :(
So this morning I was leaving for work and go to the top of my steep, curving driveway, from where I turn left onto my street to go to work. The mailbox is to my left and there are bushes there which have overgrown and block visibility of oncoming traffic. My landlord is supposed to maintain the yard/landscaping--it's in our lease that the only stuff we have to do is mow the lawn--and the wide-angle round mirror mounted on the tree across the street facing the driveway is nearly useless. It's streaked in grime (salt?) and besides that, it was raining so there was water running down it further obscuring it.
I didn't see anything that looked like a car or like it was moving in the mirror, couldn't see anything in the street in either direction (though with the bushes, I wouldn't have anyway) so I pulled out. And there was a big, black SUV right there, coming from the left. He slammed on his brakes and swerved left. I slammed on my brakes, too, but there wasn't enough time or space and I hit him. It was enough of an impact that it turned my car so that it angled right instead of left, but other than that was really quite light.
I backed up back into my driveway so I wasn't blocking traffic, and he stopped his SUV. I got out and saw my license plate and frame in the road; the frame was broken into a few pieces and the plate itself was crumpled on one side. I went over to look at his SUV.
It turns out I hit him in the tire, which was probably the best possible outcome, because I didn't dent or break anything on the body of the vehicle. One 3-4" piece of my license plate frame was wedged between the tire and the rim; we needed to use pliers to get it out. The only actual damage to his vehicle was a little bit of paint scuffed right before and right after the tire. On my car, the damage was pretty much limited to a little scuff mark on the bumper and the license plate being torn off.
We exchanged contact info, insurance & registration info, and both took photos of both cars. He called the police to report it, but they said if it was minor and there were no injuries that we could handle it ourselves and they didn't need to send someone out. I called my insurance company to report the accident.
On my way to work (which I was now running late for) I stopped at this little "Express" RMV office that is at a rest stop off the Mass Pike right on my way to work. I just popped in quickly with my license plate--I was worried that I could get ticketed for not having it on the car. They ordered me a new one (charged me $10 for it) and gave me a paper to put in my glove box to show the cops if I got pulled over, so I wouldn't get a ticket. That whole process took maybe 5 minutes.
I got to work late, but fortunately it isn't a busy day, so it wasn't a big deal. I called my boss and a coworker while I was driving in to let them know I'd been in a minor accident and would be late.
So anyway, the insurance people said they'd call by the end of the day and arrange to have someone come look at my car. I guess they'll want to look at his SUV, too? Don't know how that works because I've never been [the driver] in an accident before. Hopefully my rates won't go up.
Anyway, that's my exciting morning.
I didn't see anything that looked like a car or like it was moving in the mirror, couldn't see anything in the street in either direction (though with the bushes, I wouldn't have anyway) so I pulled out. And there was a big, black SUV right there, coming from the left. He slammed on his brakes and swerved left. I slammed on my brakes, too, but there wasn't enough time or space and I hit him. It was enough of an impact that it turned my car so that it angled right instead of left, but other than that was really quite light.
I backed up back into my driveway so I wasn't blocking traffic, and he stopped his SUV. I got out and saw my license plate and frame in the road; the frame was broken into a few pieces and the plate itself was crumpled on one side. I went over to look at his SUV.
It turns out I hit him in the tire, which was probably the best possible outcome, because I didn't dent or break anything on the body of the vehicle. One 3-4" piece of my license plate frame was wedged between the tire and the rim; we needed to use pliers to get it out. The only actual damage to his vehicle was a little bit of paint scuffed right before and right after the tire. On my car, the damage was pretty much limited to a little scuff mark on the bumper and the license plate being torn off.
We exchanged contact info, insurance & registration info, and both took photos of both cars. He called the police to report it, but they said if it was minor and there were no injuries that we could handle it ourselves and they didn't need to send someone out. I called my insurance company to report the accident.
On my way to work (which I was now running late for) I stopped at this little "Express" RMV office that is at a rest stop off the Mass Pike right on my way to work. I just popped in quickly with my license plate--I was worried that I could get ticketed for not having it on the car. They ordered me a new one (charged me $10 for it) and gave me a paper to put in my glove box to show the cops if I got pulled over, so I wouldn't get a ticket. That whole process took maybe 5 minutes.
I got to work late, but fortunately it isn't a busy day, so it wasn't a big deal. I called my boss and a coworker while I was driving in to let them know I'd been in a minor accident and would be late.
So anyway, the insurance people said they'd call by the end of the day and arrange to have someone come look at my car. I guess they'll want to look at his SUV, too? Don't know how that works because I've never been [the driver] in an accident before. Hopefully my rates won't go up.
Anyway, that's my exciting morning.