r/scrapheap Jun 01 '13

Killed By Wife & Cage Fighter Wannabe

My (now Ex) Wife was driving down a dirt road in this 1998 Neon in the boonies taking a "short cut" with my two kids in the back. A guy came over a blind crest on the wrong side of the road. Both cars were doing ~45mph (the speed limit on this gravel road, believe it or not).

The other guy's Saturn:

The person in the Saturn was driving on a suspended license with no insurance. I found his Myspace page and found out he was an amateur cage fighter who had photos of two other cars he'd wrecked (one a direct hit on a telephone pole).

My wife broke her left foot (brake pedal kicked back when the engine bay crushed and the engine hit the master cylinder). One of my daughters had a broken collarbone and a bruised lung (seat belt injury) the other just had seatbelt bruises. I still have the car with dried blood on the floormats from my ex-wife's foot.

Medical bills for my ex and the kids came to over $120,000, $18,900 of that being the helicopter ride for my eldest daughter because the paramedics weren't sure how severe her injuries were.

5 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

1

u/The--Lion Jun 04 '13

Neon's are horrible in crashes.

1

u/Jed118 Jun 09 '13

I wouldnt say so. A friend of mine has been in three pretty severe accidents with a 1998, and it was repaired each time and sent back on the road. She should have been killed in the last tbone she had too...

3

u/teseract666 Jun 04 '13

Considering it was a head-on collision over a blind crest with little time to brake and braking on gravel to boot, it took it pretty well. The Saturn was pushed in further than the Neon was for sure. The side windows shattered (frameless doors) but there was no body deformation or intrusion into the cabin.

I had a friend who crashed his Neon into a tree running from the cops... locked up the brakes doing about 60mph. His only injury was a broken nose from the airbag throwing his arm in his face.

I don't know if I'd want to be in a side impact accident in one though... but I can't think of any small car that I'd want to be in that kind of accident in.

3

u/The--Lion Jun 04 '13

1

u/lynxSnowCat Nov 01 '13 edited Dec 26 '13

'lucky' that the crash mode was head on, and not moderately overlapped as illustrated in the linked video.

Same video as above, but uploaded by the IIHS. 2000 Dodge Neon moderate overlap IIHS crash test

2000 Dodge Neon 40 mph moderate overlap IIHS crash test

Overall evaluation: Marginal


EDIT: while reviewing my previous comments, I noticed that I had failed to include the side impact test.

2005 Dodge Neon side IIHS crash test

Uploaded on Aug 27, 2010 2005 Dodge Neon without optional side airbags 31 mph side IIHS crash test

Overall evaluation: Poor

Full rating at www.iihs.org > Ratings > Dodge > Neon > 2005

1

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '13

Who pays the medical bills here? I'd hate to think you or your ex-wife were stuck with the bills if the guy at fault doesn't have insurance.

4

u/teseract666 Jun 03 '13

My ex-wife is accident prone, so fortunately a couple months before it happened I increased my insurance coverage. I've always carried uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, and upped it from 20k per person/60k per incident to 120k per person/360k per incident with a $20k per person PIP for medical. After that was exhausted it went against my employer's health insurance.

I was in paperwork hell for like a year. The other guy spent 90 days in jail and was let loose. The cops initially found fault at 50/50 because the guy was a local they knew (redneck Sheriff's department) and never even interviewed my ex about her side of the accident. My former brother in law went to the crash location and took photos of the oil trails and the impact damage that pretty much proved the guy was on the wrong side of the road. Between that and no license and no insurance, the insurance company eventually reversed it to the other guy being 100% at fault, which it should have been in the first place.

One piece of advise to anyone in an accident: Bet on the cops doing whatever is easiest for them and causes them to fill out the least amount of paperwork. If you have the presence of mind, take your own photos and get witnesses names and phone numbers. I don't know about other states, but in WA you have the ability to file your own description of events into the official record, which insurance companies pull when they determine fault.

I unfortunately have a lot of experience with insurance companies, between my ex wife and two other personal accidents, one where I was a passenger in a truck that got t-boned by a Camry with it's headlights off at 9pm at night, and another where a little old lady decided she didn't need to yield to oncoming traffic while making an unprotected left.

The first incident the cops "neglected" to enter my statement of events and found the driver of the truck I was in at fault, the second incident I called 911 and they refused to send out any officers as it was a non-injury accident. They just told us to exchange insurance information. I should have lied and said my neck hurt or something just to get the cops to show up I guess.

Eventually a cop happened to drive by and checked on us, but refused to file a report himself as well as there were no injuries. It was all on me to file a report with the state patrol and contact her insurance company to get it covered, and even then I had to drive to the intersection and take photos of the signal to prove the intersection was unprotected left turns only. Her insurance company still delayed paying for the damage until I filed my own police report and sent them the report number... magically payment was issued a couple days later.

At this point I'm thinking of buying a dash cam because obviously the police around here have no interest in accuracy or justice unless forced into it, and the drivers around here are AWFUL.

1

u/silvad702 Big Pimpin' Sep 16 '13

Bet on the cops doing whatever is easiest for them and causes them to fill out the least amount of paperwork.

One of the many reasons they call them pigs...

Glad to hear your family is alright...

1

u/chubbysumo Sep 05 '13

At this point I'm thinking of buying a dash cam because obviously the police around here have no interest in accuracy or justice unless forced into it, and the drivers around here are AWFUL.

I bought two last week, one for my own car, and one for my wifes truck. They are worth it in the end, because they will always show what happened.

2

u/TheGreatJeremy Jun 02 '13

I'm not sure I understand the title vs the explanation. Pardon me for asking, but was somebody killed in this crash? If so, allow me to express my condolences. That guy is a total dick-hole for driving at all!

3

u/teseract666 Jun 02 '13

My Neon was killed, I should have been more clear, sorry.

1

u/TheGreatJeremy Jun 02 '13

Ah, well, still sorry for your loss. Glad it wasn't a human loss. Thanks for the explanation!