Re: Real Life Bumper Test

[Tom Harais <tjhemh@domain.elided>]

Fleck:

Glad to hear that everyone was O.K., incuding your dog as well as your
bumper.

California requires that all dogs be leashed in the back of a vehicle
and I highly recommend it as would my vet. There are few things as bad
as seeing some macho fool driving along with his dog loose in the back
of a truck and seeing that dog, dead by the side of the road a few miles
later because the dog jumped, fell or rolled out of the back of the
truck. I've seen some real stupid incidents in my live. The CA law
requires that they be cross tied in the bed such that they can't get
over the side. This avoids them jumping out and being dragged as well as
them falling out as yours did. By the way, having taken labs along for
the ride on hunting trips in the back of my Terra for years, I found
that one of those dog kennels was the best way for the dog and myself.
The dog can't jump out or bark at bicyclists next to the road or reach
over and bite someone walking between the truck and the car in a parking
lot. Plus, people don't pay so much attention to the dog that they rear
end me. I did find that I had to tie the kennel in to keep it from
tipping over when my dog sat up and I went around corners and to keep it
from sliding around.

As to settling at roadside, I think that's great too. But I've known
some bad things to happen ultimately to people who do this. Someone hits
them. They say they don't want it on their insurance and agree to pay or
have the vehicle fixed. Payment is never received, the "fix" is never
done or worse, they go off and make a big claim for injuries against
your insurance. I've seen all three happne to people I know. Plus, you
are violating the terms of your own insurance policy by being involved
in an accident and not reporting it. I know, in the case of a freind,
that did this, when he had a serious claim to make later, it came up
that he had done this in the past and the insurance company was let off
the hook for his current claim because he had violated the terms of his
policy by not reporting the first accident. In California, if there is
more than $500 in damages or if there are bodily injuries, you are also
violating state law. This can all come back to haunt you later beleive
me.

Not too long ago I was rear ended and tried to be a nice guy to the
poor, upset kid that hit me. He provided a false insurance policy along
with a false address and said he'd pay. Turned out he was driving on a
suspended license (suspended three times in as many years) with no
insurance on top of that.

I did locate him and I did get a court judgement against him. But I am
unable to collect and guess what - his car is fixed, mine is not. He
continues to drive on a suspended license, but because it is "after the
fact" there is nothing I can get in the way of justice.

Had I called the police (CHP in this case) and had I answered their
first question., "Are there any injuries" with a "I'm not sure" I would
have had an officer present within 15 minutes. As a minimum I would have
found out he was driving on a suspended license and not carrying
insurance and been given a correct address of his residence so I
wouldn't have had to spend six months hunting him down. And, my CHP
freind has assured me that in most cases, his car would have been
impounded and he would have been arrested on the spot. No, I wouldn't
have gotten money to cover my $1,000 deductible, but the scum would have
had to sit in a county jail cell for six months without my doing
anything.

So, be carefull about being nice and "settling" an accident out at the
roadside. It seems so nice but there are a whole bunch of potential pit
falls. My advice is insist on a cop who can check the licenses and
records of all concerned and at least make sure you know who you are
dealing with first.

Tom H.