Alternate transportation issues

One of the things that I recently encountered was the requirement for alternate means of transportation. My vehicle was t-boned the other day and while I argue with the insurance company about whether it should be "totalled" or not, I am presently without transportation.

My choices are
a) Rent a vehicle; but given the uncertainty of whether my vehicle will be totalled or not has an impact on whether the insurance company will pay for this rental.
b) Walking/bycycling
c) Catching a ride with friends
d) Public transport

I am opting for a combination of the above. The bus system introduced a new method of payment last year - it is a chip card that when read by an e-reader in each bus will automatically debit either the daily fare or the monthly pass. I think I will keep one of these cards loaded and ready for interim use (one more in the BOB) if I ever need to use alternate transporation again. It's convenient and never expires and more likely to be used in case I can never find any change in my pocket! It carries no personal information only the fares and the route numbers.

PS: I am really getting sick and tired of people hitting me! This is the 4th time in seven years I've been hit by somebody else (I'm never the cause). I've had one vehicle totalled and one about to be. This just grinds at me and I am beginning to lose my temper with these idiots other drivers. [Rant off!]

On a side note: the cops who attended the accident were highly amused when I emptied my vehicle contents into the awaiting taxi. There was my high-vis hard hat; high-vis vest, car kit, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, shovel, blanket, water bottles and bungee cords. Quite the armfull! They probably never saw anybody so SAFE! I incurred a bit of whiplash that didn't present itself until yesterday so I am nursing that for a while.

What I've done in the past is call the offending motorist's insurance company, inform them calmly that I'm filing a claim, and tell them (not ask) that I'll be billing them for a rental. That has worked very well for me.

I had one threaten to refuse the rental. "No problem," I said. "You can pay for the rental, for my time to fight this, and my attorney's fees. Unless there's anything else, I need to call my lawyer now." They backed down and paid the rental.

Sorry to hear about your accidnet. Glad you're okay. FYI, A lot of public buses have fold out bike racks on the front of the bus. Just flip it down and load the bike. Good luck with the insurance co.

Sorry to hear about the accident. I hope the whiplash heals up completely.

We're such a car-centric society, things like mechanical breakdowns or accidents can really seriously affect your daily living significantly. Actually, you're quite lucky that you can use public transit or pedal-power to get around. So many communities are so spread out, and so many of our jobs are in far away places, that no car = a very tough existence.

That comment about all your safety gear made me chuckle. It's like the cliche in any number of movies where the hero is required to turn in his weapons before going someplace, and then proceeds to pull a ridiculous number of weapons from various pockets and hiding places on their person and lays them on the table one by one.

That will work but you better be dead sure the policy in fact includes such coverage. If it doesn't and you force the issue you may find they simply bill you for being the third-party payer for a rental car they obtained as an amenity, and bill you with a substantial markup. Failure to pay them then goes to a collection agency that adds 'collection fees' to the bill the insurance company already marked up. Those sorts of bills can easily double or triple the original cost. And if they get batted back and forth, bills are assets that can be traded, the sky is the limit for how high they can go.

Walking is good for short distances in fair weather. Biking opens up that short horizon to ten miles or more. Unfortunately some areas, like much of LA co, are not set up for fast, safe or easy transport by bike or shoe leather. You're taking your life in your hands trying to walk or bike. Makes you wonder how the poor people do it. Generally they do it very carefully.

Public transport is a good option but public transport in most of the US is a bad joke. Most of NYC has a good system, LA is getting better, but most cities are miserable failures in this area.

Rides with family/friends are good but this gets old and can wear of both sides. If you have a existing relationship of sharing and trading rides it all gets easier. Paying for gas can help or hurt.

Conventional rentals are good but the cost can add up. Used to be a company caller Rent-a-wreck that rented older cars at much lower prices.

Another option, along the same lines, might be check with local garages. Some garages keep a couple mechanically sound clunkers on hand to loan out to people getting their cars repaired. This might be done as an amenity or for a nominal rental rate. Work your time calling and asking. And even if the place you call doesn't do it they may know someone who might.

In a pinch I also been known to buy a $200 clunker. If it runs it's worth $500. I had one $200 car that lasted for three years. It ran on day one but was rough and smoked something serious. Still good enough to get to work and buy groceries. Took a weekend of spinning a wrench doing minor repairs to make it run right. I installed all new vacuum hoses, installed a half-dozen bolts that were missing, replaced all the filters, and repaired a transmission cooler line that sprayed fluid onto the exhaust manifold when the trany warmed up. New tires and shocks after a bit. Best $200 I've ever spent.

After a few months I got a better car but held onto that clunker. Ugly as sin I never locked it. I loaned it out to anyone who needed a car, a friend's daughter learned to drive in it, I'd drive it like rented mule over dirt roads, and take it to the beach and drive in the surf. Worse for wear, but still chugging along, I gave it to a couple down the street who had lost their jobs and were evicted.

I am a real fan of bike commuting, having done it habitually since the early 70s, at round trip distances ranging form 9 to 21 miles. A lot depends on the availability of reasonable biking routes, which are often present in non bike friendly locales. Even more important is the presence of washing facilities at work.

If you can do it, I recommend it highly. I am more energetic at work, I have the fundamentals of an exercise program accomplished by the time I get to the job, and coming home is just plain fun.

> "I am really getting sick and tired of people hitting me! This is the 4th time in seven years I've been hit by somebody else..."

Here in WA I was hit 11 times in the first 10 yrs, rear-ended 9 times, backed into twice. None my fault.

Read your insurance policy. Just take the time and wade through it.

I don't know if you're in Canada or Alaska. If Alaska, and you don't think the ins. co. is playing fair (they're in the premium-collection business, NOT the claim-paying business), before you contact an expensive attorney, call your state Insurance Commissioner. You will get a receptionist, so just give the bare bones in a couple of sentences. They will usually send you a form where you can put all the details. Remember that the Ins. Comm. works for YOU, and the insurance companies can operate in your state only by their grace. Ins. cos. are very careful when dealing with them, and you may well win if your argument falls into a grey area.

Don't know about Canada.

Sue

I'm in a similar boat. My DH was recently t-boned. Both vehicles were w/o but, other than bumps and bruises, everyone's ok. Because his truck written-off, we're down to one vehicle. (Lesson: taking the cheaper insurance option, so you don't pay more every year than your vehicle is worth, means you're on the hook when things go south.)

He got shipped out of town for work soon after the accident, and his conpany sprang for a rental, so things have been managable so far, because there's only been one driver at home. (Childcare is another issue entirely.). In a few days he'll be home and we'll only have one vehicle. (We bought an old pick-up but, given that I was unemployed for a few months, it'll be a while before she's on the road.)

I've been thinking about a combo of public transit and riding my bike. (No slight on him. Because of our schedules, he'll have to pick-up our son from school, which means I need to be more flexible than him.) I have to admit that I hate the thought. There seems to be an issue with the PT around here at least weekly. On the upside, it would improve my health and save money. (Right now, I spend about the same in gas every week as a transit pass and price seems to go up every week. Not taking transit Means driving him to work, which would bump up our weekly fuel consumption from my solo runs.) It's also good practice for a real" have to hoof it" situation. Me, my office kit and my bike, making the commute to and from work every day is a pretty good test and will, no doubt, offer some good learnings.

I'm undecided. The truth is that I'm just not so committed to the cause that I want to be away from home any longer than I need to be, and my car works best for that.

That doesn't sound anything like how car insurance works anywhere I've lived. If the offending motorist has liability insurance, it's part of his liability to pay for your rental car for a reasonable period between when he wrecked yours and you get it back, or it's totaled and you get the money from it.

Whether his insurance covers his rental car is completely unrelated to what he (and therefore his insurance company) owes you for wrecking your car.

Make sure you have a physician check out the whiplash thing ASAP. It often takes a day or two after an accident to exhibit symptoms. This isn't about cynical lawsuit stuff at all. Insurance companies will pay for physiotherapy and other reasonable treatments given a medical diagnosis.

Doug's got a good point. Far from thinking lawsuit, sometimes a neck injury presents late and can be much worse than it appears, especially after a high impact collision. Don't do anything physical until you get it checked out. A secondary injury could be much worse. It's not something you want to take a chance with.

My DW was a victim of hit and run last year. They caught the guy not long after. Her POV was taken to a shop and within a day or two was marked as totaled. Neither insurance covered a rental at that point. We have great ins. He had Safe Auto (not great).

We end up borrowing an extra car from our extended family. It was a junker that I eventually put about $700 back into it before returning it. So yeah, we lost money on that but when the POV was paid out the former car payment became maintenance payment. But it solved our problem for a few months.

We nowhere came close to recouping our financial, emotional and physical losses in that accident. I hope that things work out well for you.

Word of advice. Do not baby or alibi any potential injury. If you suspect whiplash schedule an appointment now. Then when they give you physical therapy do not miss a single session. They give you 10 sessions. Complete 10 sessions. or whatever. If they diagnose a problem and you decide you're too busy to make the appts or start feeling better sooner so you stop going, you are going to kick yourself when you try to settle this for the most amount of money you can.

My local bus has a similar card. It expires after 2 years, though. I have one for convenience (and a 25% discount), but it's not essential in emergencies because the bus driver will give change.

The main thing I've done is find somewhere to live close (but not too close) to where I work. Nowadays I normally drive, but once a week I take the bus in and walk home.

Great idea to keep a re-loadable transit pass handy. A ride from the train station home costs about $3 here but a comparable cab ride is about $15!

Did that pronto. I didn't feel the pain and numbness until a few hours after and saw the doc the next morning. X-rays were snapped and Advil swallowed. It takes a few days for the doc to review the pictures but already the sensation is feeling more normal. If problems present themselves later on I want evidence that I can go after the insurance. If necessary they can do MRI's. I've also got coverage at work that covers things like chiropractors and therapy.

In Saskatchewan we go this thing called no-fault insurance. It means they pay up sooner and with fewer requirements for documentation but the downside if your injury is one of those ghost injuries that is difficult to figure out and you have lasting effects beyond 2 years, they you are hooped because they eliminated the ability to sue the at-fault party! Ah, the benefits and pitfalls of socialized insurance. The insurance cost is cheap (<$1000 for me last year) but then so are the benefits.

I hope your insurance company and his insurance company are not the same insurance companies. Somehow, whenever that happens, everyone loses except the insurance company (hardly).

Sue

This is Saskatchewan. Everybody is mandated to use SGI for base insurance.

Jackie, I wouldn't recommend it, but the original mode of 'alternate transportation' was the thumb.

Sue

I was thinking that just the other day, Sue, as I passed a hitch hiker. Things sure have changed!

If my mother had known how much my friends and I hitchhiked when we were young, I would have died at an early age. Even then, we were pretty cautious, and mainly rode in the backs of pickups, but doing it today is a whole different ballgame.

Sue

It sounds like maybe you are prepared for the wrong thing.

maybe a defenseive driving course of some sort is in order.

I find it interesting that the perception is that violent crime is high, whereas a lot of US statistics show that these rates have been coming down since early 90s and present rates are closer to what they were during a short downturn in 83 and on the rising slope in the mid-70s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States

Of course if you judge crime rates by media depictions, with two to ten murders a night on crime shows, and an emphasis on twisted crimes like cannibalism and wearing people's skin, you would think the nation was awash in mass murderers, child molesters, and villains so horrid they would turn the stomach of your average brain-eating zombie.

One thing to consider is that the overall crime rates have come down since the 90s but also a good proportion of the crimes, past and present, tended to be in select high-crime areas and focused on select sectors of the society like hookers and drug dealers. The crime rate for the average person not engaged in those activities and in those areas is considerably lower.

It pays to be careful but let's not waste energy being frightened by scary shadows and horror stories told around the campfire.

I don't know whether crime is up or down. A lot of places have deliberately fudged the numbers in various ways to make it appear crime is down. Reportedly Chicago fudged their numbers so much the FBI refuses to use them.

Art, I believe you are correct. I believe I have run across stats showing declining capital crimes.

I don't think most people in America need to worry much about violent crimes or rioting due to natural disasters for the first few days post event. Shock, fear, disruption, hope, stocked resources all lead to a sense that the system will right itself quickly. As the timeline expands I think people will become progressively more protective or aggressive.

This is not to dismiss the emotional reaction to human responses that cause wide spread damage like LA/Watts/Chicago riots, Anarchists, etc., which spark immediate aggressive mentality though usually contained to a specific area, as you mentioned.

A popular meme is that people are so much more evil and corrupt that fraud must be obscuring the lastly increased crime rates people who buy into this meme 'know is there'.

I really think there is a fairly large drop-off in crime rates based on two things:

Demographics, we are an aging nation and crime, particularly violent crime, is a young man's game. Most crime is committed by males who are 15 to 30. Fewer males in that group pretty much defines and explains a lower crime rate.

I also, as a personal bias based on studying history, I really doubt that all other things being equal, people have become more evil and corrupt over time. Yes, it is entirely likely that some cities and localities are obscuring their crime rates. But it is also pretty clear that many places were doing the same thing a decades ago, and pretty much forever.

Until the 60s a certain Florida small town was claiming it essentially had no crime. Sure, the mayor's boys were hellions who got drunk, beat people up, even burnt down a house with people inside but .... that wasn't really crime. Boys will be boys and youthful enthusiasm. And yes, there was that accusation of rape but the girl was not selective with her favors ... And the sailors from the navy base one county over would drive in to party and raise hell but no real crimes. We have a nice, safe town here full of honest, God fearing people. We work hard to keep it that way so the tourists feel safe.

Read the book "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. It relates a true story of the murder of a family in 1959. It sold well in part because the idea of a stranger going into a house and killing a family was relatively new. It caught the public imagination and inspired may other stories.

From:http://www.alternet.org/books/145819/ayn_rand,_hugely_popular_author_and_inspiration_to_right-wing_leaders,_was_a_big_admirer_o%3Cbr%3Ef_serial_killers?page=1

"Back in the late 1920s, as Ayn Rand was working out her philosophy, she became enthralled by a real-life American serial killer, William Edward Hickman, whose gruesome, sadistic dismemberment of 12-year-old girl named Marion Parker in 1927 shocked the nation. Rand filled her early notebooks with worshipful praise of Hickman. According to biographer Jennifer Burns, author of Goddess of the Market, Rand was so smitten with Hickman that she modeled her first literary creation -- Danny Renahan, the protagonist of her unfinished first novel, The Little Street -- on him."

(I never like Rand and this did nothing to make me like her more.)

Then we can go to the Bath School Disaster: In a nutshell

1927 -- US: Bath, Michigan School Disaster. Andrew Kehoe, seeking revenge against the community for taxes imposed on his farm to pay for a new school, set off a TNT bomb in the school, killing 43 people, including 39 grade-school children. After the explosion, Kehoe killed his wife, then drove his truck back, loaded with dynamite & nails, to the school, & set it off, killing himself & the school superintendent.

So we have a family annihilation attack in 1959, a kidnapper and serial killer and a anti-tax bomber in 1027. These were all big news at the time but the popular view, fueled by a steady drumbeat of fictional mass murderers every night on crime shows, the feeling is that murder is much more common now.

So crime rates are down a bit since the 90s -- do the current victims care?

Crime figures don't really mean much. They go down with bad weather and up with the full moon. If your area had a year that went from extremely low temperatures to heavy snow to flooding to an overtaxed power grid going down for a month, someone, somewhere is going to come up with the 'fact' that crime rate of those periods was down, causing an overall annual drop so it must be that things are looking up. In fact, the figures don't mean a thing.

Figures can show whatever a person wants them to show. Since government and business (and many individuals) have apparently lost all sense of right and wrong, they go with what looks good. If business (source of taxes) is down in their city or part of it, just change the unfavorable statistics a bit. Toss out bait and the victim will come.

Sue

Might be a great idea! It's amazing how being in the right can override a good outcome. "I'm right and you're wrong!" doesn't keep the car from getting mangeled and having to hoof it. Learning how to safely avoid the idiots might be a good investment.

A lot of people talk about crash avoidance but when your stopped at a red light and get rear ended you can't really avoid that. Wife was rear ended 4 times in two years all while stopped at red lights each time.
My defense for that is having a trailer hitch and a frame, I've been rear ended a couple times while sitting at lights and drove away each time and sprayed a little rust-o-leum on the hitch.

Nearly all of my accidents here have been rear-enders, mostly after I was already stopped.

The trailer hitch is a great idea. The bigger, the better.

Sue

I agree, especially here where people parallel park using their bumpers. Only problem is, people love to steal them so find a way to lock it. Thats the only reason I don't keep mine attached all the time.

Friend on mine used to drive an F-250 and live out of a camper that rode in the back. To save gas he would put the camper body on jacks and drive out from under it. This left the hefty steel step-bumper, painted a shocking day-glow red, suspended on heavy steel tubes sticking out about four feet. People tended to give him a bit more room.

re: rear end collisions....I drive a scooter (Yamaha FJR), and have ridden some form of cycle off and on since I was 14... In the old days, I got into a bad habit of putting the bike in neutral at a stop light to save wear and tear on the clutch throw out bearing, and reduce stretch of the clutch cable... today I leave it in first, and have my eyes fixed on the rear view mirror, until I'm sure the car behind me is going to stop..

Yep somethings there really is nothing that you can do better to prevent an "accident". One accident was when I was in the far right lane driving through an intersection while some 16-yr old kid decides he can run a stop sign and cross 4 lanes of traffic without hitting anything. I never saw him until he was on me because of a semi parked on the left lane beginning to turn left. My car was totalled after being hit and then pushed into two other vehicles.

2nd was from a fellow backing up and not watching properly. He hit my driver side wheel just enough to require a wheel alignment. I had forgotten about the incident until the other day because it was on the same day my mother passed away.

3rd was when I was in the merge lane and the driver in front of me stopped because she ran out of space to merge so I also had to stop. A self-righteous Joe Blow "with baby onboard" wasn't watching the traffic and ploughed right into me.

4th was when I was driving on a service street and the gal decided to leave a parking lot without stopping at the exit and checking traffic. I hit the gas when I saw her but that only changed the location of the impact to the rear of the vehicle. I strongly suspect she panicked and hit the accelerator instead of the brake. SUV is now in the shop as insurance said I was about $5 short of the value for being totalled... <rolling my eyes>

When I was young, I had a few fender benders but never a serious accident. I took defensive driving a few years ago from the chief driving instructor that used to teach all the RCMP recruits in Canada. While I picked up a few good pointers I never did learn to drive like a cop or a movie stunt driver! Learning how to protect yourself, reading the traffic, watching the traffic lights 2 blocks ahead, keeping 2+ seconds between you and the other vehicle, proper seating position, proper use of the hands, proper use of mirrors and knowing the rules of road are all good techniques. None of those particular things would have changed anything in the incidents above but MAY have kept me from being in other accidents!

Anyway, I wish a safe driving Friday the 13th to all of you!

Roar, I watched an OPP cruiser almost get taken-out yesterday while it was responding lights and sirrens. The instinct to pull over to the right and stop trumped a guy's common sense. He didn't look first and nearly took out the cruiser, which was in the curb lane because of heavy frozen traffic in the left. Thank goodness nobody was at the bus stop as he mounted the curb to avoid the collision.

Even flashing lights and blaring sirens can't help you sometimes!

Ever see a cop take out another cop? Silliest thing I've ever seen was one with the lights spinning and sirens ringing, getting t-boned at a major intersection earlier this year. Then a supervisor had to arrive on the scene and sort things out. The female driver who ignored the other vehicle is currently flying a desk while they sort out her career!

A few times I've been stopped at alight and someone stopped behind me bumps my vehicle. No damage but annoying. Typical explanation when I get in their face is 'my foot slipped'.

At regular intervals there is some writeup of cars that will drive themselves. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand cars driving themselves is kind of scary in a "Christine" and "Terminator" kind of way. On the other hand how much worse could it be when humans can't be trusted to reliably keep their foot on a brake pedal.

Geting back to alternate transportation...

Yesterday, I saw a homemade bicycle ricksaw type of human-powered vehicle.

THIS could be the vehicle of our near future... Transportation and employment bound together.

Sue

I'm prepared with my bike SUV

My son loves that thing, Eugene! Ours is just a one seat though. That looks fun!!

Susan, I saw a man on a three-wheeler the other day and thought the same thing. He had build a wooden extension on his basket and added a wagon. Very well utilized! It made me start thinking of modifications for my mountain bike.

We have a one seater, then I found the double on craigslist, the original owner had it for his kids when they were the age of mine (they were almost 3 and 4 and 1/2 back when that was taken) and his kids are in college now so its sat in the garage for 10 years.

Collision deterent and letting you move anything from trailers to bicycle racks: A trailer hitch is a true multi-purpose item!

Lots on good points on the benefits of defensive driving. But effective risks minimizing strategies won't save you from every single oddball idiot out there.

Hum thats a hard one. Nobody you know has a extra car you can borrow ? Myself I have 4, One for each driver . I go to accidents as part of my job, which is why I don't bike much anymore ( in the past I rode a lot including a centry). I also put 120k on motorcycles in NYS in about 20 years which around here is a lot as well.

After 20 some years of scraping bike riders and motorcylers off bumpers and trees, I learned I want my vehicle AROUND me not the other way around.

I'm also amazed at the number of MVA's some of you have been in, my last one was 1,982

I never tried this since this issue never came up, a cheaper alternative to renting a car may be U-Haul. A single cab pickup is $19.95 plus damage protection of $10 per day. The downside is they charge $0.59 per mile but it still may be cheaper if you don't drive far.

I have no affiliation with U-Haul.

Jeanette Isabelle

As many posters here, I own several vehilces, all of them road worthy and two insured.
No fooling around when it comes to mobility and transportation!