by Louie B. » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:56 am
OK time for details....
Going west on the 60 between the 101 and the 10, 8:15am, cruising in the lane next to the carpool lane @ about 60mph w/ the rest of traffic. All of a sudden my lane and only my lane screeches to a halt! I couldve gotten stopped in time but I notice in my rear view a white Dodge Intrepid barreling down on me fast. This is one of those everything slows way down moments.
I decide to let off the brakes a little so the intrepid has a little more room, then notice the carpool lane next to me is wide open. I actually start to think "is it legal for me to go in that lane without a passenger if I'm avoiding an accident?" then I decide a ticket would be better then a wreck and swerve over into the carpool lane, but not soon enough. The intrepid, as far as I can tell still going @ full speed, Grazed my right rear with her left front. If I had stayed in my lane Winnie would have been totalled for sure!
We both get over to the center median and get out to exchange insurance information. After looking at the damage I look out in front of us to see the lane is now totally clear. We get out our information and start exchanging it. After a few moments I decide to look behind us and see a massive pileup of cars w/ at least 5 totalled and spun arround! Thats about the time a DPS officer pulls up on the eastbound side. He asks if we're ok, we say yes, he says he has to check the rest of the cars and if we want to file a report we'd have to wait. I (stupidly) Tell him not to worry about us, we're not that bad off.
This is about the time when the Woman starts repeating "You swerved into my lane!" I calmly told her no, I was trying to get out of her lane so she wouldn't hit me. We finnished exchanging info and she said it again, "You swerved into my lane" This time I asked her "Were you in the carpool lane? because if you were in the carpool lane you were there illegaly because I don't see a passenger in your car" She had no responce.
Got to the jobsite and called my ins. agent, Who scolded me for not requesting a police report, then told me it was pretty cut and dry case of her rear-ending me.
Today I get a call from my insurance company to get my official statement. I was in a meeting @ the time and asked If we could do it later. He said sure but before he hung up, "Whos fault was it?" I told him she rear-ended me and it was clearly hers and he said "we need your statement then because that's not what she says!!"
My official call is tomorrow @ 11:00am. Ill keep everyone informed.
"I don't fail, I succeed in finding what doesn't work"