good news, bad news, and worse news

[coffiend]

well... the good news is my new wheels came today

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/yaris88/bf3cdfa7.jpg

bad news is this is what the weather looks like right now

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/yaris88/c70f1bb2.jpg

AND THE WORSE NEWS IS THIS....

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/yaris88/e7407e73.jpg
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/yaris88/f2b8e2ed.jpg

driving home tonight in 10 inches of snow and 35-40mph wind made visibility next to zero... I was driving down a main road in my town where the speed limit is 45 at about 30 MPH because the roads were so bad... when all of a sudden there is a giant wall of snow about 3 ft tall stretching all the way ACROSS the main road from where a snow plow pushed it, i tried to hit the breaks but it was obviously too late and i slammed into it and straight through it, it totally busted out my grill and the little screen behind it....

now heres my question, do you think I have grounds to try to make the city pay for this, being that there was no way for me to avoid this mound of snow? Or do you think that im just screwed? Unfortunately at the moment I feel like I'm probably going to get screwed on this one... but am hoping that its just the sour feeling in my stomach from my baby getting hurt thats making my cynical......
:cry:

[YarisSedan]

One time the city decided to pave my entire street. Didnt block it off. I wake up late pull out of my driveway and go to work. When i get home i see tar stuck and glued all over my fenders doors and jammed into the rain channels in my tires. Finally got the city to pay for professional detailing. Sent me a check for 100 something.

I think what you would have to do is go back to the scene and take pictures otherwise you dont really have any evidence.

[coffiend]

by the time I got back around to where the mound was, another plow had come by and removed it. I do have a photo of me picking up the pieces of my car, though...

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/yaris88/f6ce9864.jpg
http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/yaris88/99de7025.jpg

unfortunately those are all I have, if you can see in the second photo on the far right where that mound is lit up, thats how high it was all the way across the street.

[ddongbap]

Theres a canyon road around where I live. My friend was zipping around through there, and hit a tree that was on the road. Car was totaled. City paid for the car in a heart beat.

[yaris-me]

Nice wheels.:smile:

[specialeducator]

under inflated tires I see

[coffiend]

yes, and it was just way too damn cold to inflate them today, windchills got down down negative 25.

and I just sent an email to the city, im gonna follow up with a cal tomorrow, hopefully all goes well :D

[EleKid]

Good luck!

[specialeducator]

Good luck getting the city to admit responsibility. What a place to leave a wall of snow!

[YAR1S]

be sure to take lots of pics of those wheels, I think I might be getting these when I finally do get the money for rims! :)

[coffiend]

we'll see what happens!

and obviously I did have proper control of the vehicle, i drove straight through the mound without going off the street and I was driving at 10-15 MPH UNDER the speed limit, i dont know how they can claim that I was going too fast for the conditions.

anyways, the city clerk is emailing me all the proper claim forms and whatnot today... hopefully all goes well and Ill get a new bumper.

[nemelek]

we'll see what happens!

and obviously I did have proper control of the vehicle, i drove straight through the mound without going off the street and I was driving at 10-15 MPH UNDER the speed limit, i dont know how they can claim that I was going too fast for the conditions.

anyways, the city clerk is emailing me all the proper claim forms and whatnot today... hopefully all goes well and Ill get a new bumper.

Good luck. Fill out the forms and see what happens. Maybe your insurance agent can give you some advice on how to proceed.

[AlexNet0]

its funny that you posted this, because i came across the SAME exact thing today, a state plow truck (big) had plowed out of a smaller road, right across the main road, leaving a ~2 foot wall across the road, and I happen to be the one that has to go through it. no damage to my car though, I just picked the thinnest part I could see, lol

[advocate]

Wow yaris vs. snow not good. And here I am getting mad that there's slush on my windshield every morning.

[DandiDani]

similar thing happend to my husband last year. he was driving home from work about a day after a major wind storm we had and it was dark outside. There was a 3ft high wall of tree limbs and branches across the highway. He braked as soon as he seen it but it was pretty much to late...knocked the bumper loose and we got some major scratches on the bumper and hood. contacted the city about this but they said there was no way of proving if it came off a city truck so that we were pretty much screwed. cost $300 to fix the damages:frown:

[toad]

the only time i got stuck last year was when we got a HUGE snowstorm and i drove 4 hours thru it with hardly any problems until in the morning when the plows finally started to do something about it they created a two-foot deep mound of snow right at the entrance to my work. i didn't see it until it was too late and i went right into it! luckily i didn't have any front-end damage because i drove up on top of it, but that put all four wheels in the air and i was resting the chassis on top of it. just kind of ironic that i had issues only once they started 'clearing' the roads!

[DandiDani]

lol

[ryota]

the town i work for fixes quite a bit of things... there was a person that was driving a motorized scooter (like a razor scooter) on the sidewalk (which is illegal mind you) and ran into a metal snow stake... we've been in courts ever since then and will probably end up losing. and this is all after i painted about 400 or our green metal snowstakes yellow with an orange tip. i guess one persons illegal misfortune is my paycheck.

moral of the story, try. i'm sure as long as you're not a complete dick they'll help you out how they can. dpw's do have mechanics and everything so worse comes to worse you can see fo they will fix it for you at their shop.

[coffiend]

I hear that, im definitely trying to be as respectful as possible to everyone I talk to just so that they dont think im some young asshole trying to take advantage of the city (im 21)

Essentially what they're doing is making me get an estimate of the damages and "file" an insurance claim from my insurer... but my agent is writing to the company saying that all we really need is a policy number (for proof to the city) and that Im not filing a claim with the actual insurance agency. Then I have to submit all of this to the city and they make a decision based on.... I guess however they feel about it. The agent explained to me that he thought it would end up much like cases where people file claims against the city for pot holes damaging their cars. He said normally, they initially refuse to pay for damages but end up folding and just going ahead and doing it...

...im really hoping thats the case right now.

I WANT MY POOR CAR FIXED!

[Forrest]

You were probably not the only person that had hit this snow mound ! If the city denies your claim, of course you can go through your own ins. to get fixed, but....I would call the local paper, ask them to do a story on the city streets and mounds of snow in roadways. Write letters to the editor, ask if others have had the same problem and city not paying.
I bet they do not want the bad PR and will end up paying.

[coffiend]

Lol well unfortunately the city that I live in was rated te 3rd best place to live in the country... So... Idk how much teyre really worried about some snow mounds an one random yaris getting beat up...

Or maybe the fact is advantageous since they have a great reputation to defend... Who knows?

Either way I really hope the city officials gave sone compassion for a student w\out a lot of money to fix a car :(