Let me tell you about the time (tonight) when my Corolla was sideswiped by a beer truck and probably totaled.

Yeah, I was on my way back from the gym w. my gf. And a beer truck blind merged into my lane, basically on top of me, at slow speeds (10-20 mph). It ripped off my mirror, front tire, front bumper, side moulding, dented the frame and (likely) bent in the front axle. We were both fine, but when I pulled over, the asshole in the truck got out and blamed me for being in his lane, and then complained he'd be making deliveries late.

I called the cops, who showed up after twenty minutes and said "nothing bad, get going" and "go on, you're holding up traffic" and rushed me away and refused to take a report. I drove 100 feet before the car crapped out and I had to call AAA. I don't have collision insurance, so I can't get the repairs done until the beer truck company agrees to pay for it. Then we had to walk home a couple of miles in the rain.

Consequentially, I can not go to work tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day unless I can somehow walk. B/c I can't afford a rental. Mostly I am upset because I have put 180,000 miles on my Corolla and I love it and I've driven it all over the country for 16 years now, and I feel like my dog just got run over.

:(

sucks

Why are cops the worst? Seriously, I want to think that cops are okay guys but shit like this – like "nothing bad, you're holding up traffic, I don't care that your life is seriously fucked up by an asshole negligent driver in a beer truck, and no, I won't write a report to help you out because it's raining, and I don't give a crap" make me think they are basically the worst scum on earth.

they're not as bad as beer truck drivers

dude that's horrible

were these Watertown cops, because from what I understand they can bite it

Yup, Watertown Police. Ugh. If I was gonna get hit by a vehicle carrying large quantities of beer, I wish it had been a sleigh drawn by goddamn Clydesdales rather than a sketchy ex-con looking dude from Medford.

Car totaled even in less assholey circumstances is hard and awful and like losing a pet. I feel for you, remy! Hope it gets sorted out as quickly/easily as it can.

Yech! :-( Hoping something good comes out of all that.

Why are cops the worst? Seriously, I want to think that cops are okay guys but shit like this – like "nothing bad, you're holding up traffic, I don't care that your life is seriously fucked up by an asshole negligent driver in a beer truck, and no, I won't write a report to help you out because it's raining, and I don't give a crap" make me think they are basically the worst scum on earth.

I basically had the same experience when my car got totaled in high school, except the cop basically called me fat too.

Sorry Remy, that's awful.

Oh man that's terrible remy. I'm sorry to hear that, I hope things wind up for the best. Hopefully it was a giant beer company's truck and they'll do the right thing.

http://www.rezinmarketing.com/images/clients/anheuser-busch.png and so far the corporate people have been really nice about i.

That's good to hear, hopefully they'll continue. Tbh, this incident gives me even more compelling reason to have zero respect for cops (not that I really needed more, but still).

What can you do now? Can you call and complain about the incident to higher-ups at the police station, and also will this fuck up trying to get money from them?

As I learned when I was rear-ended and the cop wouldn't write a ticket or report (because the girl that hit me started crying about how her parents were going to kill her if she got a ticket), it makes it very difficult to get money out of the insurance companies because there is not a clear trail of guilt. In my end it all worked out fine, but took a lot of phone calls and paper-chasing that wouldn't have been needed with a police report. I'm hoping it works out similarly for remy.

I could write a thread titled: Let me tell you about the time (a year and a half ago) when my Corolla was hit by a pickup truck, run off the road, rolled down a hill, and definitely totaled.

In my case, the driver that hit me was drunk, I was lucky to survive with only scrapes and bruises, and the cops DID file a report. However they filled it out completely half-assedly, failing to note that the other driver had 1. no insurance and 2. the expired plates of the truck's previous owner on the truck, and therefore my insurance half-assed tracking the guy down and finally gave up and I got nothing at all for my destroyed car that I loved and only had about 20k miles less than remy's.

Basically I can't offer anything other than commiseration. Corollas are cheap, be happy to be alive and find another one, as shitty as it is to think you lost something because people figured it was junk anyway and no one would mind.

Whelp,

Insurance denied the claim because the beer truck driver flat out lied about what lane he was in. I have no car, no recourse, and I've missed 4 days of work. I'd like to go to court, but I don't know how to hire an attorney and the amount of work will probably be well over $2000, the max claim for MA small claims court.

I can't afford a new car (or even the title transfer fees...), or to fix the old one, and I'm really sad about this whole thing. I'm really glad we weren't hurt, but I'm nearly paralytic abt. what to do next.

to hire an attorney: go to them and tell them your story. if they think there is merit they will offer you courses of action. it may not even take going to court but they will take at least 1/3 of whatever you win. as far as I know.

Mostly I am upset because I have put 180,000 miles on my Corolla and I love it and I've driven it all over the country for 16 years now, and I feel like my dog just got run over.

Really feel you here. A jackass totaled my first Volvo when he ran a red light. It was an '88 240 wagon and had gotten me everywhere and I could almost fix anything on it myself with the help of my trusty Chilton's. It had more than 340K miles on it. I say more than because that's where the odometer crapped out the year previous. It could've gone at least another 100K.

The jackass initially tried to blame me, but that didn't jibe with the police report and his insurance paid up. I got $800, which was useless to me and didn't even approach covering my true loss. What the fuck was I supposed to buy with $800?

At least I had a police report to back me up. Could've been quite a bit worse.

remy if you're looking for a lawyer, google around and call someone up. more often than not even if the place you call won't take your case, they may refer you to someone who does.

like for instance... this firm definitely will NOT take your case, since you weren't injured, but they'll definitely know a few lower level attorneys that handle claims and they can kick you over there

maybe he was injured....