Poll - Do I feed the beast or do I do whats right ?

[stealthycat]

Ya'll know about my care wreck ? Today I talkd to Geiko several times and tommorrow I have an appointment with a Doctor. My neck is really damn sore, the muscles in it. They said they'd take care of the med bills and pay me for pain and suffering and then I'd sign a release.

Okay. The guy who picked me up for my rental car said he had a very minor fender bender and Progressive insurance gave him $500 for his "pain". I was rocked from the rear, knocked from the front and 2 of the 3 vehicles in the accident were totaled and I got hand burns and an aching neck

I can A) get a lawyer and smack them with a lawsuit and get some good cash or
B) see the doctor, confirm sore muscles that'll heal in the next week or two and take a small settlement and be done with it.

A) would = more money and feed the Beast of the system of screwing anyone anyway you can. I'd benefit greatly from this

B) is what I consider the "right" thing to do. Take some cash to release them from liability, help me get into a new auto and yeah, its not easy with a bit of neck pain, hand burns and trying to find a new automobile.


Tell me what ya'll would do ?

[Whitehorse]

I'm sorry that you have this to deal with. I will tell you what I did in a similar situation.

I was in an accident when I was 19, 18 years ago. While no bones were broken, I did suffer some injury to my back & especially my neck, from which I will not fully recover - I'll never be 100% again. Because of this, I lost an opportunity @ an ROTC scholarship.

I sued because the insurance company was not negotiating in good faith. They were offering less than my medical bills. We had to take them to court & had a jury trial, where my wife & I were awarded some money - not enough to make up for not being whole but more than they offered.

First, the problem with lawsuits are the frivilous kind, not the incidents that deserve a lawsuit. There are real & proper instances where a lawsuit is warranted. Mine was one, yours may be. Someone spilling hot coffee on their lap or suing firearms manufacturers to put them out of business are not.

I'm not sure what the circumstances are concerning your accident. It's possible that (I certainly hope this isn't the case) your injuries may be worse than you thing or may take time to really show themselves. In Tennessee, one has 1 year to claim injury in an auto accident.

The ability to sue to redress injury or grievance is not a bad thing, not a good thing. It's there for a purpose, the problem that feeds the beast are these frivilous lawsuits.

[Strut&Rut]

Stealthy,

My oldest brother was in your predicament about 5 years ago...

Was hit headon in the early am, in the winter on icy roads, by a woman that was driving a car too fast for conditions.

He did the "honorable thing", but he was seen by a doctor immediately. The woman of the other car was left a parapalegic, and has since died.

IF he could do it over again, he says he would have filed suit...

The thing about this, is twofold.

1. You have no idea how your body is going to respond to this accident, in the coming days, weeks, months and years. It took my brother 3 years of chiropractors and muscle specialists to fix his lower back. He still gets chest pains if he runs hard & long enough, especially on the basketball court.

2. Because of the conditions listed in (1), you need to take all precautions to safeguard yourself and your FAMILY. If something happens down the road in 5 years, related to his accident, and you and your family endure hardship, I'm not sure how anyone handles that psychologically.

The minimum is to go see a general practioner and then get a series of X-rays. My brother was in great shape for his age, 41, and it still knocked the hell out of him...

Good luck, and drink lots of fluids. Your muscles will need the extra hydration...stick with juice and sports drinks, and stay away from the caffeine, which will tend to vasoconstrict areas that need the blood flow...

S&R

[frizzellr]

can A) get a lawyer and smack them with a lawsuit and get some good cash

You mean pay the lawyer good cash off the top of any judgement you might get if you win. Just do the right thing. We have enough fraud going on as it is. As long as your bills are payed and you get the cost of your truck then you have received what you deserve. Take it and be happy you are alive.

[Strut&Rut]

There is another side of "the beast"...

There are over 45,000 automobile fatalities on American highways every year, more than the entire number of servicemen who sacrificed for Old Glory during the Vietnam War.

You can feel lucky knowing you survived, and everyone that drives knows of the risks of both accidents and death.

That's the big reason my brother didn't sue, he knew of the consequences and risks associated with driving on the roads. But if he could have foreseen the chronic pain...well, you get the picture.

[Dave590]

Your recent topic "perspective" could really have some lagitimacy in this situation.

In my mind it's really a simple matter...Be truthfull and up front. Explain to those folks that you are in communication with that you suspect that you may be O.K....but it's a little early to tell for sure.

A couple of weeks should shake out all of the bugs that are associated with getting smacked by another automobile. It's a pretty common thing to be O.K. right after an accident...It's also pretty common to be very sore for a week or two right after an accident. It's the two or three weeks later that tells the tale about lasting effects.

It's also pretty common for a person to wonder if they just won the insurance lottery in the first few days after an accident.

The true test will come in about twenty or thirty days.

Did it really effect you physically...Or,,,are you gonna feed that beast you are talking about.

If you are physically O.K., then chances are good that the insurance company will make things right in regards to your transportation, and whatever medical bills that you have made as a result of the accident, plus throw in a little cash for your inconvienience.,, Thats what insurance companies do.

Your other option is to attempt to "stick it" to the insurance company. In which case, you're ranking as a MAN would be reduced to a level that is lower than that of whale poop.

Of course, there is always the chance that you may actually have some longer lasting physical effects that are related to this accident...But hopefully, that is not the case, and hopefully we will never have the oportunity to have that discussion here on the board.

With that said: I firmly believe that the truth is the best response.

My answer would be simple and straight foward.

""Yes. I'm sore as heck, and I suspect that I will be allright, but give me a few weeks to make sure"

I have occasionally been criticized by some on this board, and by some folks in person, for taking such a simplistic approach to matters such as this. But I firmly believe that being truthfull is the best course of action. Not only in THIS situation, but in ALL situations.

[Whitehorse]

If you find you're really hurt, that's not fraud & I addressed that in my earlier post. I know in my case, the money we received certainly did not make up for the loss. Just don't settle on the injury too quickly!

[Annie Oakley]

My dad was hit by a gal going 65 +mph and was hit when he was stopped at a light. He was pushed into the car ahead of him. The impact was so hard it broke his seat in his Explorer. The gal he hit didn't have anywhere near his aches/pains or damage to her or her car. She went right to the hospital, my dad waited until the next day. She walked away quickly with 25k.

Dad had a lot of soft tissue damage which is hard to prove and can take it's time to show fully. Also at the time he was an unstable diabetic and healed slower than most. The insurance company dragged their feet to pay for his bills and to settle. They even asked him if he had talked to anyone in regards to settleing and when he told them he had talked to his daughter in Seattle they all but stopped talking to him. They would call every so often to see if he would sign off. I encouraged him to wait 6 months to ensure all was healed and that nothing was lurking underneath. Push came to shove as they didn't want to pay a fair sum. It took almost another 6 months to get the insurance company to make payment and for him to sign off. He was told later that if he had gone to the hospital right away like the other gal it would have gone much smoother and they would have settled easier.

There was no ryme or reason why they settled one and not the other in a timley fashion. By the way he didn't make money on this. Got replacement vaule which he had to fight for and coverage for lost wages.

[Briman]

When I was in an acident many years ago, the insurance company settled roughly 4x the medical bills for everything, though I was racked up pretty bad. I was a minor at the time and my parents got a lawyer to represent me, I'm not sure if this was a standard settlement, but the settlement was over pretty fast, the lawyer just did the paperwork between me and the insurance co. Even though I spent 7 weeks in the hospital and was in a huge amount of pain at times, I never felt quite right about gaining the money for something I didn't earn- the money wasn't much- enough to pay for my college, and put a bit more away into investments. I do save the money carefully, as my doctors told me I'll probably need back surgery by the time I'm 50 or if I injure it again in any way.

Make sure your injuries heal up correctly, so that youdon't have problems down the line that will cost you more than you can afford. You are not looking for a frivilous handout or feeding the beast as you put it, as you were injured and aren't faking it to make a quick buck. You might want to talk to a lawyer just to cover your own behind and get some advice instead of being rushed into taking a settlement.

[Coastie]

I have not read all of the "Advice" from others before responding to you so I have no idea what they have suggested. My advice is, see your doctor first and get an idea of just how badly you are injured. Although the pain you feel today is no doubt related to bruised, strained and sprained muscles, there may very well be other injuries as well. I have a crushed disc that I didn't know about for years simply because I didn't follow up with medical treatment after the muscle pain went away, the continuous pain I experienced afterward I discounted as a minor annoyance until it became so bad I had to do something about it.
Feeding the Beast, as you put it, is an option if you so choose but don't base it upon your pain and injuries, base it rather on whether the person that hit you was being negligent in following too close and in using excessive speed. You may also wish to examine your own actions leading up to the accident to insure you didn't do anything that contributed to the incident. Beyond that, it is up to you and your conscience but before you do anything in that regard, get all of the facts.