Great advice, David. I carry a digital camera in my vanagon. I had not
thought of it for that purpose but you have brought it into my
consciousness. Thanks. I hope I never have to use it for an accident
purpose.

William

> I've said it one, I will say it many more times...  EVERYONE should carry
> the following items in their glove box:
>
> -       24 shot disposable camera with flash
> -       Note pad
> -       Pencil / Pen
>
> Put all of this in a zip lock bag with some silicon beads in there to keep
> it all dry.  Why carry this.  In EVERY accident there will be some
> exaggeration on everyone's behalf.  Here in BC the police will NOT come
> unless someone is drinking or hurt.   Where ever the accident is, STOP
STOP
> STOP, to hell with the rest of the traffic.  Take pictures of your
vehicle,
> their vehicle, the road up and down traffic, markers on the road that will
> show EXACTLY where it took place, the sky to show what the weather was,
> marks on the road, ANYTHING that will help YOUR case with the insurance
> company.  Then use the notepad to copy down a statement from the other
> vehicle's owner and have THEM SIGN IT.  It is very funny how stories
change
> after people have time to think about it.  Just before Christmas I got
rear
> ended in my Golf by a Camaro that felt it was unfair that a VW merged in
> front of him.  200m after I merged and after 200m of him tailgating me
with
> less than 1m of clearance I had to put my brakes on and he collided with
me.
> I was doing about 45 to 50km/h when he hit me.  At the time of the
accident,
> I felt OK, more adrenalin in my system that I care for but OK, we stopped
at
> the side of the road and he started yelling and swearing at me.  The
police
> station was 1km away so I suggested that we go there to tell our stories
to
> the police there as I was not in the mood to deal with the verbal abuse.
> Well, I told my side, he told his side.  In the next hour my back was in
> massive pain and I spent most of the night in the hospital with my left
side
> paralysed from a swollen nerve.  The next four weeks I had numbness in my
> arm and hand over this accident.  Now I am perfectly fine and am suffering
> no ill physical effects from the accident.  I am STILL battling it out
with
> the insurance company and the police over what happened.  They are placing
> 50% of the blame on me as HIS side of the story is VERY different from
mine.
> Supposedly DARKNESS is a weather condition, supposedly I just pulled in
> front of him and he had 'no choice but to hit me' square in the back of my
> Golf, according to him the accident took place AT the merge location and
not
> 200m past it.  Hmmmm he's in the wrong, he's going to stretch the truth.
> The fact that I was injured and the fact that I went to the
physiotherapist
> twice a week for six weeks has the insurance company looking for ANY
excuse
> not to pay out on any of this.  Now that I know better, I would have
stopped
> right there, took pictures of everything and I would have had a strong
> 'picture worth 1000 words' evidence of what ACTUALLY happened.  At this
> point, I want my damaged exhaust system fixed - period.  If the insurance
> company keeps on screwing me around (I'm at my limit now), I am going to
> visit www.sleazylawyer.com and sue the crap out of them.
>
> Moral of the story - DON'T get into an accident... plain and simple.
>
> PS  Any good injury lawyers out there???
>
> David Marshall
>
> Fast Forward Automotive Inc.
> 4356 Quesnel Hixon Road
> Quesnel BC Canada  V2J 6Z3
>
> http://www.fastforward.ca    mailto:sales@fastforward.ca
> Phone: (250) 992 7775        FAX: (250) 992 1160
>
> - Vanagon Accessories and Engine Conversions
> - Vanagon, Transporter and Iltis Sales and Importation
> - European Lighting for most Volkswagen models
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
> Of Stan Wilder
> Sent: April 15, 2002 8:31 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Parking lot encounter
>
>
> This past Saturday I was at a grocery store and had a slight encounter
> with a Hispanic lady in a Nissan Sentra.
> When I was backing out she tried to bullet past me and she caught my
> drivers side bumper and end cap with her bumper.
> We stopped up traffic real good while I penciled in all of my information
> and showed her my insurance card and drivers license so she could compare
> them to the information I had given her.
> She then refused to give me any information at all on her insurance,
> drivers license etc.
> The damages were very minor to my Westy and her vehicle showed no signs
> of bumper damage, although it had totally crushed the internal Styrofoam
> or plastic structure below the urethane bumper covering. (I checked by
> pressing the bumper in, while she wasn't looking, and it depressed in and
> popped out looking OK).
> I insisted that she give me her insurance information and I became so
> insistent that she called for the police.
> The officer was mucho put out that he had been called to such a minor
> event.
> He took all of her information down on a tipple accident form and handed
> the whole set of originals and copies to me. He gave her a good scolding
> for refusing to provide the information that is required by law in Texas.
> Since she has three vehicles on her insurance policy this little accident
> will (if she reports it) cost her an extra $500.00 per year in premiums
> for three years.
> As for me, I'm going to hammer out my bumper and install a new end cap.
> No big deal.
> However If she reports it and claims any bodily injury (Flames A Coming)
> as most Hispanics do I can develop the same bodily injury symptoms myself
> in less than twenty four hours. In addition I'll be getting a new $500.00
> bumper and $260.00 labor to have it installed.
> Who was at fault?
> Both of us.
> Me for not watching better and her for trying to bullet past a car
> backing up.
>
> Stan Wilder
> 1983 Westfalia Air Cooled
>
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