Driving and texting is a bad combination. Save a life maybe yours!
On April 18, 2015, I was driving my new ruby red 50th anniversary Mustang with my husband in the passenger seat on a bright sunny day with temperatures in the 40s. we feel a strong jolt in our seats. The SUV behind us had crashed into the back seat of our new Mustang. My husband immediately called the police. I quickly got out of the Mustang and walked behind my mustang before the driver backed up and left the scene of the accident. I looked at the driver, a young woman around 21 years old, and realized that she was texting!
I quickly snapped a photo of the back of my new Mustang that had its license plate embedded in the bumper of my car. His SUV was undamaged, other than the missing license plate that got caught on the back of my previously new, now damaged Mustang. The back looked like a folded accordion. At least no one was hurt.
Police and the fire department were there within 10 minutes of the accident. We show the cop his license embedded in our Mustang.
The young lady, a few minutes later, told me how sorry she was for damaging my new Mustang. She said, “I was on my way to college to take my final exam because I’ve been sick. My final exam was postponed until today!”
The young woman’s mother appeared and did not want her daughter to sign the police report admitting her guilt.
My new damaged Mustang was taken to the dealership and then to the local repair shop.
Meanwhile, the young lady who ran over my new Mustang with her SUV while texting had her insurance company representative call me. She said, “It was her fault and the police don’t count as a witness. Our insurance company won’t pay the claim!”
I told your insurance agent that I had a passenger in my car who witnessed what your client had done to my new 50th anniversary Mustang and that your client’s license was embedded in the back of my car. I had taken a picture to prove it!”
After her call I called my insurance agent and told her what she had said and asked her to handle it!
It took 6 months and over $12,000 to fix my 50th Anniversary Mustang to like new! The fire department sent me a bill for $200 and the repair shop billed me for $200 after the insurance was paid.
My insurance company paid the claim and ultimately forced their insurance company to reimburse them for their client’s damage to my Mustang.
Most people are conditioned to respond immediately to other people’s needs, alerts, and messages. Like a drug-addicted lab rat, our brains have been rewired to respond.
In the United States, distracted drivers cause 1 in 4 traffic accidentss. That is 1.6 million accidents every year causing 330,000 wounded and killed every year.
Is your life worth not being able to wait a few minutes to respond to the ping or alert you just received?
One thing I have found helpful is turning my cell phone to the “off” position and placing it out of reach.
If you need your phone for navigation, disable alerts from all apps other than your maps app. They will be there when you arrive at your destination. More importantly… you will reach your destination in one piece!