Always Crashing In A Different Car

Ann and I have a "flash new car"!  Well, it's new to us; as it's a 1994 (Toyota Corolla Liftback), I can't really say it's totally new.  Still, we're pretty happy with it.

Unfortunately, we have this new car because I crashed and totalled our old car, the 1991 Honda Civic.  A little over five weeks ago, I was driving myself and our friends, Andrew and Anna, to the weekly Critical Mass gaming group event.  It was dark and lightly raining and the streets were wet.  There was a car in front of me and a taxi in front of that car.  Apparently, the taxi did a sudden slow-down, stop and/or swerve.  The car in front of me put on its brakes and I did the same - and then slid on the wet bitumen (asphalt, to Americans), crashing into the car in front of me.  That car then hit the taxi in front of it.  When I got out of the car, I noticed that the front was all crumpled inward, the taxi had a big dent in its rear, and it looked like the car in front of me had scratches(!).

The good news is that I'm allowed to complain about the loss of our car without breaking etiquette.  That is, no one was harmed - always the most important thing!

The bad news is that our car was totalled - inoperable, smashed up, and costing more to repair than the value of the car.

And our insurance did not cover damage to our vehicle.  It seemed like a good idea to not pay for that coverage when I bought the insurance; but I concede that this is one of those situations where my choice ended up being not the optimum one.  Fortunately, our insurance did cover the damage to the other vehicle(s) - after I paid the $900 excess, of course.

I also discovered that the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ; it's like AAA in America) does not provide towing service in the case of accidents; only in the case of breakdowns.  "Wow, really?  But you're the towing people..."  That led to the further discovery that it costs almost $300 to get your car towed in Brisbane.  (sigh)

So, anyway, four weeks and $6,000 later, Ann and I and have a "flash new car"!

And it's insured for the amount we paid for it.  (Minus a $1,150 excess, of course.  The cost of having had an accident where I was determined to be at fault...)