Insurance is a bitch

I bought my car in June of this year, from my girlfriend's brother. It's an automatic (yuck!) 1997 Acura Integra LS. Not exactly my dream car, but it gets the job done. I hadn't had insurance since August '03, due to a HORRIBLE streak of bad luck. Basically, I was living in Southern California, up in the mountains near Big Bear. I drove up to Oregon in July to visit my parents, and had mailed a check to the insurance company before I left. A week later, I return. I'm weary from all the driving, but wired from all the uppers I've been taking to stay awake. Bad combination. I'm at a red light in Lakewood (right next to Long Beach) at 2am, and I see a car coming up behind me, perhaps 50 feet back and moving FAST. I don't know where in the hell it came from, but I had no time to act. I frantically revved the engine and simultaneously dumped the cluth. I actually managed to move about a quarter inch before the car rear-ended me doing 40 MPH (Keep in mind, I had a Bronco at the time). The result? 1 Honda accord, pancaked. 1 Bronco with a severely bent bumper and muffler. 1 puppy, who briefly became Superman and flew directly into my stereo deck (She was not seriously hurt). And 1 irate 16 year old female driver (otherwise known as bitch), yelling at me about checking my blind spot. Yes, that's right. I'm at a red light, and she's screaming about blind spots.

As luck would have it, my check never reached the insurance company. My insurance had lapsed at midnight (2nd of August), and the accident occurred exactly 2 hours later. Not being aware of this at the time, I traded insurance information with the girl's mom, and spent the next 4 hours jumping up and down on my exhaust pipe trying to bend it back into shape.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I racked up $800 in cellphone charges consulting with lawyers and the insurance companies. It was looking pretty bad for me. I had a fucked up Bronco, a disconnected cell-phone, and an insurance company breathing down my neck, saying that the girl had hurt her neck. Apparantly, their story was that I changed lanes without signaling as she was attempting to pass me.

I received a court summons in the mail. The family was now suing me because of the $18k Honda that had been totaled. I was still in shock about the whole thing, wondering how there could even be any debate over what happened. I mean, it was pretty obvious. There were rubber marks ALL over the road where she hit me, and the investigation had revealed things that put the case heavily in my favor. Even with that, the fact was that I had no insurance. The most I was entitled to was payment from their insurance company to cover the damage to my car. No medical treatment (if it had been needed), and no pain and suffering. At this point, I wasn't even trying to get money out of it, I was just trying to escape unscathed by the devilwoman.

I show up in court. The judge comes in, reads the file for a few minutes, then frowns at a part of the paperwork, and takes out his reading glasses. He stares at something for a few minutes (I'm sweating buckets by now), then looks up and stares at the girl After a moment, his gaze slides over to me.

Judge: "You're 21?"
Me: "Yes, sir."
Judge: "How long have you been driving?"
Me: "2 months shy of 7 years, if you count when I had my permit."
Judge: "Any other traffic infractions?"
Me: "No sir."

The judge looks over at the girl.

Judge: "And you. You're 16?"
Girl: "Almost 17."
Judge: "And you've had your license for how long?"
Girl: "8 days."
Judge: "8 days??!?"
Girl: "Yes."
Judge: "I assume you've had no other infractions."
Girl: "Um... (gulps) I got a speeding ticket yesterday."

Judge stares at her for a solid minute. Once again, he looks over at me. And.... he smiles. His eyes dart back to her.

Judge: "You are clearly unfit to drive. You have been involved in two completely separate incidents, both of which could have killed somebody. Not to mention that you were driving past midnight by yourself, which is strictly forbidden for the first 6 months you retain a license. I am going to revoke your license until the age of 18. Case is dismissed."

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