Young kid (probably texting) merged into my lane and scraped down the driver side of my car tonight. He was extremely apologetic and so nervous he was shaking. We exchanged info (officers don't respond to non-injury accidents in our area). Man, I'm sick about it! It could have been worse, though.

 

That sucks. ......but VERY fixable.
Insurance? ??

 

Yes he has insurance... So hopefully he'll admit fault (and based on how he acted with me I think he'll do the right thing) and we can get this thing fixed!

 

Well, crap... Didn't I just see your first post on the forum a day or so ago; and now this as your second or so post? Bad luck, but hopefully insurance will be sorted soon, and she'll be back on the road with no one the wiser.

 

Texting

And they wonder why their insurance premiums are sky high.

I hate diddle devices



You were lucky the damage was very minor.

 

They should get ten years for texting while driving. That way they will be old enough to know better by the time that they get out .

 

Yes! I just got her Texas road ready (inspected and tagged) and now this! I'm hoping to get the insurance sorted today. We'll see. He didn't have his insurance card but he thinks it's State Farm... It's his mom's insurance. I sure hope it's SF... They'll be easy to work with. Someone hit me a couple of years ago in my SUV who had Geico and it was a nightmare.

 

The damage doesn't look too severe. As always the situation could be much worse. Do you have a "Corvette capable" body shop? If so let them handle the dealing with the insurance adjuster. There is a possibility they already have established a relationship with the insurance company. The process with be less stressful on you and your car will be repaired properly and completely.
Good luck going forward.

 

Thanks. I'm in the Dallas / Ft Worth metroplex, I feel pretty confident I can find a place to do. There's a Corvette only place over in Dallas... I might check them out today. I don't know if they do body work.

 

Check out their reputation. If it's good even it they don't do their own body work they should have a reputable shop they use and can recommend.
If not post another thread on the forum for recommendations in and around your area.

 

This is a big part of the problem regarding attitudes towards young people today!

The OP said the guy was 'probably' texting, for which I assume there's no evidence, and two people immediately jump on the bandwagon and start stating he should get 10 years?

Sounds to me like the kid made a mistake, was incredibly shocked and apologetic, and has full insurance cover to resolve the mistake.

 

I said "probably" to be nice... And because I don't know if it was texting or web surfing. Phone was definitely in his hands... Was still in his hands when he jumped out of the car. THAT SAID... I didn't give him a hard time. In fact, I told him, "we all make mistakes... I've done it too." Assured him that insurance would take care of it, and we were cool. He was definitely apologetic and maintained a very respectful attitude, though he was extremely nervous. At 31, I'm not far removed from those early years of learning to drive and remember what it was like when I make a similar mistake myself at 16.

 

And to be clear... I don't know for SURE. Should have said "possibly" instead of "probably."

 

I didn't NEED cell phone to diddle when I was 17 .....if I was on a social mission ..to see about a date ...I simply got in my car and went over to their house and knocked on the door .

Imagine that ? Actual human contact


Well.....I guess it's possible to check his device and see if he was texting, talking , what ever ....there will be a record . See if he was using it while he was driving during the accident .

If ...so...his license should be revoked.

 

are we talking about texting or deflated footballs here?

 

Wait until someone texting kills a member of your family and watch how fast your opinion changes . It sounds like all you worry about is your car. People die because of texting but I shouldn't have to tell you unless you are one of the texters.

 

Sucks that you just got the car road-legal and then got hit.
At least the kid seemed honest, though he probably wouldn't admit to playing with his phone unless asked by cop (why self-incriminate?). Hopefully insurance will go smoothly and you'll be taken care of quickly.

I try not to make blanket statements because there's always an exception. However, odds are the kid was texting. Simple probability and statistics point that direction. It doesn't have to be texting though. I blocked texting on my phone (I find it useless, but that's not the discussion here) but I'm guilty of occasionally surfing the web at a long red light, or a train crossing... one time I didn't realize the light was green until the guy behind me honked. On the other hand, I've been the guy honking at people paying more attention to their phones than the light. I try not to do it, but it still happens once in a while.

I think all cars should have some kind of EM/RF shielding throughout the body that essentially makes phones unusable inside the cabin. That way no one can text, websurf, etc. while driving. To offset the need for emergency communication (in the event of an accident), all cars also ought to come with something like OnStar, with free access to the emergency-call feature. That may be just a pipe dream (I'm not sure if it can even be done) but it'd be one solution to this plague of distracted driving.

 

The new Corvettes have so much electronics built into the car that they can be extremely distracting. I don't think the problem of distracted driving is going to get better.

 

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

 

Glad no one was hurt, everything else can be taken care of.
Good luck