@zwack, I donât know what your insurance situation is, especially with the driver being uninsured, but any insurance agent trying to settle with you WILL CHEAP OUT at EVERY CHANCE they get.
Be suspicious of Kelley Blue Book, or NADA prices. Theyâre averages over the last several years, and prices have shot through the roof lately. That wonât be reflected well in a multi year average.
Go in prepared. Find some examples of similarily outfitted jeeps that are for sale (currently for sale) and print them out for reference. Make notes on them. Like this one is cheaper but has more miles, or doesnât have xxxx options. Youâre gonna hafta haggle, and youâll need examples for ammunition in that fight.
Basically, be prepared and donât roll over for them.
One of my first cars was a 73 Charger, with staggeringly thick chrome bumpers, lap belts and no headrests.
One day as I was pulling out of a parkng space on a McD parking lot, I put it in reverse instead of drive and pulled away. It backed up a couple feet and slammed into the concrete base of a lamppost. It literally split the concrete in two, and the only damage to the car was a few scratches in the chrome - much to my relief, as my Dad would have kicked my butt if I had busted the car.
I also remember coming out of the car properly jarred. Yet the crash musnât have happened faster than walking speed.
To answer several questions⊠My wife and I were wearing seatbelts. We have airbags, but the passenger airbag is in the dash, while the driverâs air bag is in the middle of the steering wheel. My wife keeps her seat as far back as possible so she has all of the legroom.
I do the same but because I am taller. Most of the space between me and the dash is filled with the steering wheel. My wife has more dead air between her and the dash, and as I said my air bag is a lot closer to me than hers is to her.
In addition the white car (that is it on the left with the roof balanced roughly where it should go after it was cut off) came from our left and clearly hit the left end of the front bumper hard. That bumper is much thicker sheet metal than the body panels on the jeep or indeed the white car.
So, adding to the speculation. The side of the jeep that my wife was in took more of the force. I was held by my seatbelt and stopped from moving too far by the air bag. My wife would have hit her seatbelt at least as hard as I did, but probably didnât hit her air bag quite as quickly. This might mean that she bounced off a hard air bag. She certainly had more room to bounce.
She is also older than I am and osteoporosis might be a factor.
The driver of the other car had to be cut out as she was pinned below the dash, but she was about 3 months shy of 21. She took a lot less damage than my wife too.
I meant speculatory in the case of his accident in particular, since I didnât know all of the details about his wife and the accident itself. Wasnât sure if there was any other cause that would have been a larger reason for her injuries.
In order to buy some more fun things + pay off some debt, I got a part-time job for the summer a few days ago at Meijer (Great Lakes/Midwest supermarket chain), working 3rd shift returns (putting shit back on the shelf, also handling product protection). 6 hours of my 8 hour shift the store is closed (12am-8am shift), so thereâs no issue with me having an earbud in listening to stuff. Iâve got a few podcasts I listen to right now, but with up to 30 hours a week, Iâm going to burn through them very quickly.
Especially into comedy podcasts, the Always Sunny podcast is great. I have a few history podcasts that Iâm going to listen to as well, Iâm a big history buff but never had any time for them. Iâve heard Behind the Bastards is insanely good, thatâs #1 on the list.
Also considering maybe trying some audiobooks, but I havenât been a fan of them before. Iâve never tried speeding up the playback speed though, my main issue was that they felt way too slow.
There are two main styles of audiobook from my experience. Full Cast and not full cast. I personally like both as long as it is done well. It is really hit or miss if Iâm going to like a narrator at all. I mostly stick to scifi but occasionally listen to Fantasy. Let me know if you want some suggestions.
Oh and have you considered listening to old radio shows? A good one you would probably like is⊠The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
