Hey guys, wanted to know what you would do and how you guys would feel?
Heres the story.


On saturday night I was driving on Irving Park road around 9:45 pm to pick up my g/f. I was following these 2 cars in the left lane. They were going around 25-30 mph bc I was at 25-28 mph. The speed limit is 45 mph. So I decided to shift to the right lane. Well before I knew it there was a huge pile of salt in front of me. Like a salt truck accidently dropped a whole pile. Not just some small one, but a pile that was HUGE. Well I had to make a choice, swerve left and most likely hit 2 cars, swerve right and hop the curb into trees, or plow through salt hoping the best. I chose to plow through the salt pile. I caught a tiny bit of air and heard a huge "BOOM". Picked up my g/f to realize that my whole front bumper was gone, the bottom part. I didnt do anything till I got to work at my dealer on Monday. There was so much salt when you shook the hood huge chucks of salt came out. They had to pick all the salt from my bent radiator and they had to blast my engine bay. I filed a police report and tried to have them pay my 500 deductible for 1200 worth of damage. The police say its my fault . I am so angry, people that know me know I was sending my car out to fix my dent and get my car all repainted. Now I CANT. Before you guys agree with the cop ,remember this. The 2 cars in front of me were going that slow for about 2 miles. I figured they were lost and following each other. Figures when I do decide to change lanes it was too late to see the 3/4 of a foot pile. What do I do>?

 

yup ur fault... u didnt stop? u were going super slow anyways...

but ive never driven in snow so i dunno how hard that would have been...
its like hitting a deer or something its ur fault. nothing else to do about it.

 

yea true. I mean when i changed lanes it was right there already and i hit the brakes,but yea. I mean just bad luck I guess

 

The cop was like oh sh*it. when he was shaking the hood and taking pictures. Right now my insurance is fighting to get reimbursed. i doubt my insurance company will win though

 

sorry dude...its your fault. when you hit something, it is your fault.

 

^^ yea i figured.im more upset with myself. if i either waited like 20 seconds to merge or if i merged atleast a minute before i actually did, i would of seen it and went back into the left lane. on a funny note there was so much salt in my engine bay that was coming down i could of been a salt truck

 

Or you coulda, y'know... hit your brakes.

 

no. too easy

sorry about the car tho man

 

thanks man^.like i said im not denying the fact i did it and stuff u know. i was just thinkin like " thats my damn luck!" and i broke but it was too late. right when i changed lanes. the next 2 seconds thats when i saw it

 

thanks man^.like i said im not denying the fact i did it and stuff u know. i was just thinkin like " thats my damn luck!" and i broke but it was too late. right when i changed lanes. the next 2 seconds thats when i saw it

 

woops sorry for double post.never did that b4. it sucks here in chicago.have to look out for so many damn pot holes already and now i have to watch out for piles of salt turned into a hard piece of rock

 

I don't think you did anything wrong man. This kind of stuff just happens. I've blown at least four struts in my life with potholes in NY, top ended on a bike once because of bad roads. Only thing I'm not sure of is reporting it to insurance. If the car was driveable I'd have drove it without the bumper for awhile until I could fix it. The exception being if their share was more than your deductible.

 

^^thanks edge.yea im glad u understand. the only reason i reported to insurance was the estimate of damages was about $1200. my deductible is $500. so to me it was worth it. i was smart when i called my insurance i only reported and they said until i actually filed a claim that it COULD effect my insurance. but im lucky i work at this dealer. we just put a new bumper on about an hour ago. nothing was majorly damaged just abunch of cosmetics. the main thng was the front bumper. so i called my insurance to erase basically my report.

 

im just glad like usually with reflexes i think i would of swerved away from it.thank god i didnt or i would of hit 2 cars

 

I don't see how it isn't the states fault. The salt trucks are state operated, they aren't allowed to dump in the middle of the road, and if they drop a big pile they are responsible. I'd demand some sort of reimbursement, and tell them to go after the driver of the truck on that route/road.

Thats like falling into a sink hole created by a watermain break due to some operators dumbassness. So because you didn't avoid the 5ft deep 10ft around hole, it's your own fault? BS.

Someone dropped the ball, and it wasn't you. Be forceful. I'd be up someones ace so far they would be commenting on how good my hair smelt.

 

^i really appreciate it rcz. ive tried to be forceful.when i showed up to the station, the cop didnt even want to file a report.i said "go outside and look at my car, u really think i broke my front bumper and put salt ino my hood and every possible crevice and plastered on my radiator?"he finally took a look and was like" damn u need to blow the engine bay theres so much salt". i told them 'yes i hit the pile. but was it really my fault that there was a huge pile in the first place where it shouldnt of been? it was snowing and i couldnt see very well. plus would u of me rather swerve to my left and endanger the lives in the two cars?"he agreed i did the right move but he said he highly doubts the state and idot(who is in charge of salting al main roads here) would admit to fault.

 

like i said i cant see my tc like that so i had them put the new bumper already.all the other parts have been ordered. but everyone is telling me the same thing,they see my point and that they doubt the state would admit to fault and take any sort of responsiblity.

 

Not always the driver's fault - that's why city, county, and state governments have contingency funds to pay for damage cause by their error (creating a hazardous condition).

'Round here, you break something by hitting a pothole or something like that, you dociument the damage, document the reason (Pictures!!!) and bill the city. They usually don't even fight it if the charge is reasonable and supported by decent documentation.

Good luck, but without airtight documentation you probably won't get anything. Let your insurance work on it.

(Example of how it works in Seattle... http://www.seattle.gov/riskmanagemen...ProcessFAQ.htm )

 

Basically the key mistake you made, and i'm not blaming you at all, is hitting that pile and limping your car around town since then.

If it were me, the first thing i'd do after the accident is pull off the road and call the police. Then when they showed up they could file my police report, recording the damage and what not, then you could've just sent that into the city and collect.

Now that you've left the scene, you leave your story wide open for critics. Basically it's far fetched but to someone not wanting to dish out a grand, they could just say you hit another car and threw salt in the bay to make your story more credible.


In any accident, always always call the police and get it reported. Shoot, I would've pulled off into the woods and tapped a tree and called 911 to say i've been in an accident. I'd be getting my lifes state taxes back and then some.

 

I agree completely. If you had stopped that night and made a police report and taken pics of the damage and the salt pile that caus,ed it then you would have definately had a good chance of getting the state to pay for it. Sorry for the damages and hope you work everything out.