Whose Fault?

It has been a rollercoaster couple of days. The accident happened on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, I taught the Free Range Slacks again at the store to one student who couldn’t attend Saturday’s class because of her schedule. She had bought a new machine in January and been in my mastery class in February, so we wanted to make sure she was able to take the class. I don’t mind teaching to one student. She is a lovely person and we had a great day together.

During our lunch break on Tuesday, I received a call from the other driver’s insurance company. The adjuster asked me questions and took a recorded statement of my version of events. When I finished, she said, “Your statement conflicts with our insured’s statement so we are going to deny your claim.” I did not understand how I could possibly be considered at fault in this situation. Montana law is very clear that the driver in the lane of traffic has the right of way and that the driver who is reversing has an obligation to make sure the way is clear before proceeding. For whatever reason, though, the other driver refused to take any responsibility for the accident.

I talked to the husband about it and he said, “What about the dash cam footage?” Duh. In the midst of everything, I had completely forgotten about the dash cam. When I got home, we downloaded the video from Monday afternoon and looked at it. I have a dash cam with three cameras: front, rear, and inside. The inside camera footage actually gave the best view of what happened, and it’s patently obvious that she backed into me.

Yesterday morning, I filed a claim with our insurance company and by mid-morning, I had received a call from their adjuster. She asked me a series of questions and took a recorded statement. I uploaded the dash cam video to our insurer’s website and she watched it while she was on the phone with me. She asked me to send it to the other driver’s insurance company and said she would call and speak with their adjuster. If they still refused to accept liability, then the two companies would fight it out.

Less than two hours later, I had a call from the other insurance company saying they would accept liability for the accident and pay for the repairs. The body shop was able to move up the appointment so we’ll take the Jeep in to them on Monday. They said the repairs will take about two weeks.

Whew.

That dash cam, by the way, has just paid for itself a thousand times over. The body shop’s estimate currently stands at $10,000 and I was told it could go up once they get in there and see what else is damaged. The camera I have is this one.

I drove DD#1’s Acura to class on Tuesday but I discovered the key fob needed a new battery. Unfortunately, when I got home that afternoon and was unloading the car, I managed to set off the car alarm. The husband had to disconnect the car battery because we had no way to turn off the alarm. I got a new battery for the key fob yesterday, but the alarm still won’t shut off. He monkeyed around with it a bit last night—I apologized to all the neighbors for the annoying honking—but will have to figure out what is going on.

I don’t have to go anywhere again until Sunday (thank goodness), and if I have to, I can get a rental from the insurance company.

******

I would like to work on some projects now that I have a few days at home, but I have to get back into my sewing headspace. I should quilt the collar of the Rosebud Coat so I can finish that project and get it off my to-do list. I may start by tracing some patterns or cutting some spring tops for myself. If it ever dries out, I’ll go out to the greenhouse and start prepping for planting.

A pic of my bee balm to get us all excited for spring. 😊