Basically near Boston in MA there is a lot of work being done on 95. I was merging onto 95 South yesterday by my house, and there is a hill on the on ramp so you cannot see what is coming up. There is also a half mile long merge lane that goes until the next exit. Construction Workers (without any warning but a "work ahead" sign) blocked off the merge lane maybe 30 feet after it was possible to begin merging. I'm doing around 50 - 60 mph like I do every time I merge on this highway, and now I see the cones but there are cars in the lane over. So I have to plow through a cone and I have an 85 bumperpad nose, meaning my radiator is really exposed and the cone destroyed my radiator. A cop who was around a half mile in front of me came to make sure everything was ok, but no information was exchanged and I left quickly to make it home before I lost all my coolant (coolant was all gone in around 2 minutes of driving). So I had to buy a new radiator for $129.99.
I called the police after it happened to tell them it was a problem, and I called my insurance company and left a message (this is like 10pm, accident happened around 930pm)
Is there any chance I can have insurance pay for this? I do not have collision on my insurance plan, but I do not feel that this was my fault. Let me know if there is any angle you think I should play or anything else I can do. Thanks guys,
If you don't have collision, then I doubt insurance will pay.... you don't have coverage for it (but it is best to ask them). You could take the city/county/feds to court and ask them to pay, but that is a really, really long shot (they will say you were driving too fast... etc).
[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 08-07-2013).]
If you don't have collision, then I doubt insurance will pay.... you don't have coverage for it (but it is best to ask them). You could take the city/county/feds to court and ask them to pay, but that is a really, really long shot (they will say you were driving too fast... etc).
Yea that is what I am thinking too I am hoping there is another way...
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I have a friend here in MN that discovered a pothole big enough to swallow his 19" wheel one evening... it egged his wheel, twisted the lower control arm, and deformed the sub-frame (engine cradle) on his 2008 VW GTI.
He contacted MnDOT to report the hole and asked if there was any opportunity for recourse. They paid for his insurance deductible after verifying the pot hole location.
The fact that you don't have full coverage rules out any real consideration by your insurance, unfortunately. The state may have a program like MN for roadworks, but honestly, the "Work Ahead" sign along with cones tapering the lane early really puts the onus on you to be on the look out for changes in traffic. I am assuming the 'work ahead' sign was well before the lane closure and I have a hard time believing that you couldn't see the cones coming on a freeway... not trying to be a jerk, but that's probably how the DOT is going to see it...
All you can do is ask... If you have the cop's info, you could try to get him to back you up... sorry man!
[This message has been edited by carbon (edited 08-07-2013).]
There is a slight hill on the on ramp so you cannot see the road coming up. There is a work ahead sign at the beginning of the hill, but it is there on and off. The tips of the cones were visible by the time I was coming over the hill, and once I could see them fully they were maybe 40 feet in front of me pretty much immediately tapering into the first lane effectively creating 0 merge lane. There is no "yield ahead" sign or "merge lane ends early" or anything like that. By the time it is possible to see the cones, if at regular merging speeds it is too late to do anything if cars are in the other lane. I take this on ramp more than any other on ramp in the world. It is right by my house and two lanes down 95 hooks up with 93, effectively taking you anywhere you want to go. The lane was cut way too early and with nowhere near enough notice. They had just set the cones up and they had not done a good job, less than a half hour later and they closed the on ramp all together. There were no flashing lights, no cop next to the cones to alert people, it was just very poorly placed. I broke no laws, I was not speeding, I was paying full attention as I was testing out my new coilovers in the rear, it was not just a casual drive I was on full alert. There were no gaps in the cones big enough to swerve through. I was pretty much screwed from the start, the only way that could have gone differently was if there were no cars in that other lane. I actually drove on 95 earlier taking that exit around 2 hours prior and none of the construction was there so I was not expecting it at all.
Like I said that merge lane is a half mile long going right into the next exit, without a yield sign or any other signage or flashing lights or anything at all warning me that the merge lane was closed, and being unable to see the road ahead for the first 90% of the on ramp which is a hill where you can' t see the highway yet, I was completely unprepared to have to merge.
"..(without any warning but a "work ahead" sign) blocked off the merge lane maybe 30 feet after it was possible to begin merging. I'm doing around 50 - 60 mph like I do every time I merge on this highway, "
That stinks. Depends on laws of the area, you said you were not speeding. However if a Work Ahead sign means the actual limit is reduced by a certain amount, such as a construction sign, the city/county may use that as a reason not to cover your damage, or to blame you. Your insurance I wouldnt think wouldnt do anything except maybe pay out to the city on the road cone if it was damaged, since you dont have coverage for your car.
It doesnt sound like the workers planned very well.
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 08-07-2013).]
I guess I look at it as no different than a chunk of tire on the road, or something similar. It was unexpected and things like that happen. At least it didn't total the car.
Originally posted by 2.5: However if a Work Ahead sign means the actual limit is reduced by a certain amount, such as a construction sign, the city/county may use that as a reason not to cover your damage, or to blame you.
Matter of fact, I was tagged for 60MPH in a 55MPH zone in the Chicago-land area on my way back to the airport, but because there were construction signs in the area, even with no workers present, no blocked lanes, there was an apparent automatic 10MPH reduction in the speed limit, which made it an unmarked 45MPH zone. I was in a rental car moving with traffic and suddenly I was all alone as every one stomped on their brakes due to a local cop on the freeway, who tagged me for 15MPH over. In the fine state of Illinois, this is a $375 minimum fine no matter the speed, plus $50 in court fees. The cop took my license card, and made me follow him back to the precinct building. They tried to make me attend traffic school and tried to scare me with the number of points they were going to put against my license. Minnesota has no point system. I informed them that I was not going to be attending traffic school and asked how to plead guilty and pay the fine so I could get to the airport and leave their fine community and they just looked at me dumbfounded. They gave me a number for the Cook county court house and I took my ticket and left... idiots.
Anyway. I don't think you'll get very far trying to make a claim for poor cone placement.
[This message has been edited by carbon (edited 08-07-2013).]
I guess I look at it as no different than a chunk of tire on the road, or something similar. It was unexpected and things like that happen. At least it didn't total the car.
Yea I guess I am mainly upset because they are paid to do construction on the roads with our money, they can at least set up the cones properly or put up the proper signage to stop this kind of thing from happening. I essentially paid to have my own radiator get wrecked. I am really glad my car is fine and nothing worse happened, but it is their job to set up the construction site correctly and I guess that is how it is different from a chunk of tire or other debris in the road.
This would fall under comprehensive, not collision....regardless, I assume you don't have that either. Now...even assuming your insurance WAS going to cover it, do you think you could walk away from the situation for less than $130 after you add up deductibles and future rate increases? I don't see the benefit of claiming it on insurance.
Should you go after the construction company for compensation? Well....that is up to you...but look at it this way. How much money do you make per hour? So, how long would it take you to earn $130? Will it take you less time/effort to get that $130 from fighting with the city/county/state/construction company....or are you better off taking the stress free route and just earn that $130 your normal way?
Actually, I believe that would be under collision, not comp. But you dont have it so your insurance isnt paying a thing. They put the warning signs up for a reason. Here on freeways it means 45mph. You were going to fast for conditions, and here you would be lucky you didnt get a ticket for either failure to control, or too fast for conditions. Add to that, any fine in a construction zone in Ohio is automaticly doubled. You could plead your case to the highway dept, but I doubt you would win. They were doing some hiway construction here and a state dump truck was carrying gravel uncovered and sprayed the front of my car with rocks. I tried to collect saying they were negligent for not covering their load but didnt get anywhere. There way out was saying i didnt have a truck number and drivers name.
This would fall under comprehensive, not collision....regardless, I assume you don't have that either. Now...even assuming your insurance WAS going to cover it, do you think you could walk away from the situation for less than $130 after you add up deductibles and future rate increases? I don't see the benefit of claiming it on insurance.
Should you go after the construction company for compensation? Well....that is up to you...but look at it this way. How much money do you make per hour? So, how long would it take you to earn $130? Will it take you less time/effort to get that $130 from fighting with the city/county/state/construction company....or are you better off taking the stress free route and just earn that $130 your normal way?
I have comprehensive. I have everything but collision because it saves me a lot of money compared to how much they would pay me for trashing my car. At an extra 400 per year and I have been driving this car for 4 years, and I assume they value my car somewhere around 1500 dollars, I have already saved more than the 1500 I would get if I crashed it.
1 You dont want something like that on your insurance for $130, 2 roadwork ahead sign is sufficient enough to warn you that you must slow down id say cut your losses and go on with it
1 You dont want something like that on your insurance for $130, 2 roadwork ahead sign is sufficient enough to warn you that you must slow down id say cut your losses and go on with it
*sigh* There are pretty much always roadwork ahead signs when it comes to 95 for the past 3ish years it was just poor cone placement. If you still think it is my fault then cool, I hope the same thing does not happen to you some day. I have been driving for 6 years ( since I turned 16) with no accidents, no speeding ticket, no moving violations of any kind. I wouldn't b**** about this if it was my fault, I am not the kind of person that thinks the world is out to get me, I have never had parents that blame all my problems on everyone else.
Also I hate people who merge slower than the speed limit because I think THAT is dangerous. I was merging at the speed of the traffic I could see moving on the bridge above/ next to me, I was not "speeding" in the sense that a cop would pull me over. I honestly do not know what speed I was going, I never checked my speedometer, I was just going the same speed as the car next to me and behind me. I could have been going 45 for all I know.
Massachusetts drivers are called Massholes for a reason, maybe in your states cops will pull you over in roadwork zones that have unmarked speed limits, but not here. I drive through a construction zone every morning on the way to work on 93. There are people working on the side of the road, state troopers everywhere, and we all roll through at 65mph. Every day.
If you can't take my word for it that I was not speeding (seriously going the speed of all the other cars) then oh well. I understand that as far as the actual law goes that the speed limit is reduced, but I am not going to merge slower than everyone else, it is just natural when you drive to merge at the same speed as traffic. Unfortunately I could not see the cones until too late due to their placement, and I did not slow down due to the lack of a yield sign or warning that merge lane is closed. I will take a picture to explain, a picture tells 1000 words.
I never thought insurance would be able to do anything for me, but I wanted to check here on the forum. There have been complaints from everyone I know who lives near me about how poorly they have set up this section of 95 recently, it is not just me. Also I have paid thousands and thousands of dollars to my insurance company over the years. Without collision my insurance payment was close to $2000 per year for the first 4 years. I am not on my parents insurance, I pay for it myself, and I like to think that when something like this happens which was not my fault that some of that money can maybe come back to me. Otherwise, as long as I continue to have no accidents, I am literally dumping money down the drain. A lot of money. In high school insurance took close to 50% of my yearly income from work. And for what?
Also I bought a radiator from weloveour86se yesterday for 50 bucks so I can return the autozone one.
Just to wrap up my rebuttal to this post, I agree with you on #1, but I am sorry, the roadwork sign really was not a good enough warning for what was coming up ahead, it was poorly planned and poorly placed and if you were in my position I promise you would agree. Even at 30 mph it would have been difficult to stop in time once the cone placement came into sight.
Sorry for being frustrated, I guess the internet is not the best place to ask questions when people don't actually know you.
[This message has been edited by zkhennings (edited 08-08-2013).]
Sorry for being frustrated, I guess the internet is not the best place to ask questions when people don't actually know you you just want people to agree with you.
Fixed that for you. It's not that we enjoy seeing bad things happen to people, it's just that nobody here appears to think you have much of an option for recourse. A couple of people have offered ideas as to possible channels to make inquires, from experience in their own states... I don't know what else we can do.
Sorry for your trouble!
[This message has been edited by carbon (edited 08-08-2013).]
This would fall under comprehensive, not collision....regardless, I assume you don't have that either. Now...even assuming your insurance WAS going to cover it, do you think you could walk away from the situation for less than $130 after you add up deductibles and future rate increases? I don't see the benefit of claiming it on insurance.
Should you go after the construction company for compensation? Well....that is up to you...but look at it this way. How much money do you make per hour? So, how long would it take you to earn $130? Will it take you less time/effort to get that $130 from fighting with the city/county/state/construction company....or are you better off taking the stress free route and just earn that $130 your normal way?
I was thinking the same. Sometimes the increased rates just isn't worth the claim, just pay it out.
------------------ 86 SE Convertible 3800sc 4t65e HD.
Fixed that for you. It's not that we enjoy seeing bad things happen to people, it's just that nobody here appears to think you have much of an option for recourse. A couple of people have offered ideas as to possible channels to make inquires, from experience in their own states... I don't know what else we can do.
Sorry for your trouble!
Yea I understand, and thanks for the options seriously, my only argument was that the "work ahead" sign was not a good enough representation of the upcoming road conditions (ie. "yield ahead" or "merge lane closed"), and therefore I would not be at fault, it would instead be the construction company, and their insurance would cover it (they have insurance for that type of thing) not my insurance, and because it was not my fault my rates would also not increase. I mean they always warn you when a lane ends when closed for construction, why wouldn't they do the same here?
Seriously imagine a closed lane at night on the highway with no signs or flashing lights, just cones, and imagine this closed lane is around a tight bend or something where you can't see it. Imagine it is the left lane that pushes you into the right lane while you are in the left lane, and other cars are in the right lane. Even at 45mph good luck not having an accident. I compare my situation to something similar to that.
My frustration and claim that people do not actually know me was targeted towards the comments saying that the roadwork ahead sign was enough to prevent this accident from happening, while I am explaining that it was indeed NOT enough to prevent what happened to my car, and if they knew me and the careful driver I am/ were there then they would also agree with me on that claim.
I totally understand and agree with people that nobody is going to see it my way from an insurance point of view, and that I should suck it up and spend the money. I bought a new radiator already. I would never try and get insurance to pay for this if it was my fault, why would I want my rates to go up?
The information I was looking for and which was supplied was is there any course of action I can take to prove it was not my fault and have the construction companies insurance pay for it. And now that people have answered me I agree that it will never happen because even though I was going the same speed as the other cars on the highway, I probably was technically going faster than the speed legally allowed in a construction zone.
[This message has been edited by zkhennings (edited 08-08-2013).]
Well I put the radiator in yesterday and there is no leaks. Car is just full of water, no antifreeze, I'll pick up a gallon today. I will probably dump all the water out just to clean out the system and then refill with half antifreeze, the inside of the radiator was clouding up the water, probably because it had been sitting outside for a while. Unfortunately my lip is cracked in half now (bumperpad nose). It is ruined but I can fix it temporarily until I get another.
If total repair costs will be less than your deductible, it doesn't matter if insurance would cover it or not, as they won't cover anything under the deductible.
If costs are over deductible, then you either need to have comprehensive coverage, or convince your insurance to chase down getting city/state/whoever was responsible for the cone placement and poor engineering, to cover it.
Outside those options, you're screwed, regardless of whose fault it was that you hit a cone and damaged the car.
Well I put the radiator in yesterday and there is no leaks. Car is just full of water, no antifreeze, I'll pick up a gallon today. I will probably dump all the water out just to clean out the system and then refill with half antifreeze, the inside of the radiator was clouding up the water, probably because it had been sitting outside for a while. Unfortunately my lip is cracked in half now (bumperpad nose). It is ruined but I can fix it temporarily until I get another.
Sounds good! I have had luck fixing those with a piece of plastic (or metal) on back, and plastic epoxy and a few rivets/screws (painted black) to hold it all together. You might want to stop into a junkyard some time, or put an ad in The Mall.
Being that I am a TCS (Traffic Control Supervisor), I may be able to help a bit. There are minimums that are set by the MUTCD (Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices) that if are not followed could be an issue for the construction company. PM me for more information if interested.
I had a State Hwy truck dump sand on a intersection in front of me causing my car to loose traction and slam into the side of a guardrail . fender ,door,lower quarter and rear bumper toast on a 300ZX not fiero.. called a few lawyers and was told i couldnt sue the state. in fact if they had witnesses i could be held responsible for the guardrail. Thats how our great Gov works.
I had a State Hwy truck dump sand on a intersection in front of me causing my car to loose traction and slam into the side of a guardrail . fender ,door,lower quarter and rear bumper toast on a 300ZX not fiero.. called a few lawyers and was told i couldnt sue the state. in fact if they had witnesses i could be held responsible for the guardrail. Thats how our great Gov works.
Yep, seen that myself. I know you didnt used to be able to, but think you can now. Buses were the biggest headache. Ive heard of people having to pay for guardrails and poles before even when it wasnt their fault.
It's not that we enjoy seeing bad things happen to people, it's just that nobody here appears to think you have much of an option for recourse. A couple of people have offered ideas as to possible channels to make inquires, from experience in their own states... I don't know what else we can do. 
