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Never owned a car of my own until two years ago. Our car has been hit three times in the last two years. Once totaled on the high way (another drivers fault) an

Never owned a car of my own until two years ago. Our car has been hit three times in the last two years. Once totaled on the high way (another drivers fault) and twice while parked. Roughly 50K in damages across the two cars and 3 months in the shop doing repairs. We spent 20K on a new car after the old one was totaled and insurance paid out a fraction of what a similar car would cost. We've paid close to 2K in deductibles, way too much for car insurance from a company that doesnt give a shit about us, and close to 1k on car cameras and backup batteries. Thankfully we havnt been hurt but we got lucky. When the car was totaled it was in heavy traffic going 40+ mph and caused a 4 car pile up. I know people who have died in accidents or had their kids die. My immediate family was incredible lucky to not be killed by a drunk driver in a very bad accident early on in my life. Driving sucks.

thecatwentup 4y ago
Another anecdote on the other side of this: I've been driving since I was 15 for many thousands of miles and have only been involved in two incidents. Both my fault involving icy roads, but both where so minor that only paint damage occurred (no insurance involved). I live in the north-eastern United States for reference. Edit: I wouldn't say that my driving style is cautious either, I do drive attentively though.
- franciscop 4y ago
  Same here, I drove for 7-8 years (not that much though) and my major "accident" was with a thin and curvy tree that was on a dead spot of the rear mirrors while backing up. Was in 3 close calls where the results would have been much worse. In motorbike in contrast, you touch a wet patch or a gravel bit and it slides right away, 2 minor accidents like that for a total of ~8 weeks driving motorbikes (minor since I knew there was gravel/water and was going really slow).
  - saiya-jin 4y ago
    > In motorbike in contrast, you touch a wet patch or a gravel bit and it slides right away Not a motobiker, but I find this part strange - I see people who commute daily on scooters, sports bikes and choppers too and they don't mind mild rain and wet roads much. They do drive slightly slower through city (and on highways too), but not more than 10kmh less. If its anything similar to bicycle then you just take care on bends/intersections but thats just about it.
    - franciscop 4y ago
      Ah sorry, yes ofc you can drive daily on scooters and deal with the rain and wet roads. With rain/gravel on a motorbike you def need to go more than 10kmh slower. I've had my car slide a couple of times under rain, and a few more under gravel/sand on the floor, and on the car it just moves a meter or two and that's it, normally no issue at all. However on the motorbike that same sliding means you are going down. That's all I mean, that the car is a lot safer than the motorbike for small incidents. Probably also for major accidents, but luckily I haven't been in those.
- dazc 4y ago
  Kind of similar for me but my cars tend to get hit now and again a lot whilst parked. One time almost written off because it was hit at high speed and the offender kept on going despite leaving several piece of his own car at the scene. The police couldn't do anything because, well, I was insured so 'they can deal with it'.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
whimsicalism 4y ago
Where do you live? West coast or South?
- drc500free 4y ago
  My money's on mid-west, honestly.
  - AlwaysRock 4y ago
    Nailed it.
- yreg 4y ago
  Is there no mandatory insurance to cover damages to others in the US? In my country if I want to drive a car it has to have this insurance so if I crash into someone all of the damage I do to them is covered.
  - PebblesRox 4y ago
    It is mandatory but not everyone follows the rules. Our car has been hit three times in the past 4-5 years and only one of the drivers was insured. (One didn’t even have a license!)
    - yreg 4y ago
      Interesting, I wouldn't expect it to be reasonably possible to avoid that rule. More difficult than driving without a license anyway. I believe over here the traffic inspectorate would want the plates back if you stop paying the insurance and then if you drive without the plates that's an instant hefty fee from the first cop that sees you. (The insurance is tied to the car, not to the driver.)
      - jackson1442 4y ago
        We have a weird hybrid model in the US (texas, at least) where some aspects of insurance are tied to the driver and some to the car. So I personally have liability insurance that pays out to other people (the legally required part) but also have insurance that covers my car in the event of a wreck.
meowtimemania 4y ago
Where do you live? Driving should be safer, but being involved in that many accidents in only 2 years seems really unlucky
gjs278 4y ago
oliwarner 4y ago
Driving sucks, in some places. I've been driving for 21 years in the UK. I've been dinked in a car park while I was shopping, 20 years ago. That's it. Your description sounds like a solid reason to up and move to somewhere with better road safety.
alar44 4y ago
I've been driving for 23 years, in the north, where we have icy roads and blizzards 6 months out of the year. Been in one accident in my entire life. I like driving.
12ian34 4y ago
Move to Europe - we have good buses, trains and cycle lanes :)
- AlwaysRock 4y ago
  Id love to. Getting work visas for 2 is not easy.

thecatwentup 4y ago

Another anecdote on the other side of this: I've been driving since I was 15 for many thousands of miles and have only been involved in two incidents. Both my fault involving icy roads, but both where so minor that only paint damage occurred (no insurance involved). I live in the north-eastern United States for reference. Edit: I wouldn't say that my driving style is cautious either, I do drive attentively though.

franciscop 4y ago
Same here, I drove for 7-8 years (not that much though) and my major "accident" was with a thin and curvy tree that was on a dead spot of the rear mirrors while backing up. Was in 3 close calls where the results would have been much worse. In motorbike in contrast, you touch a wet patch or a gravel bit and it slides right away, 2 minor accidents like that for a total of ~8 weeks driving motorbikes (minor since I knew there was gravel/water and was going really slow).
- saiya-jin 4y ago
  > In motorbike in contrast, you touch a wet patch or a gravel bit and it slides right away Not a motobiker, but I find this part strange - I see people who commute daily on scooters, sports bikes and choppers too and they don't mind mild rain and wet roads much. They do drive slightly slower through city (and on highways too), but not more than 10kmh less. If its anything similar to bicycle then you just take care on bends/intersections but thats just about it.
  - franciscop 4y ago
    Ah sorry, yes ofc you can drive daily on scooters and deal with the rain and wet roads. With rain/gravel on a motorbike you def need to go more than 10kmh slower. I've had my car slide a couple of times under rain, and a few more under gravel/sand on the floor, and on the car it just moves a meter or two and that's it, normally no issue at all. However on the motorbike that same sliding means you are going down. That's all I mean, that the car is a lot safer than the motorbike for small incidents. Probably also for major accidents, but luckily I haven't been in those.
dazc 4y ago
Kind of similar for me but my cars tend to get hit now and again a lot whilst parked. One time almost written off because it was hit at high speed and the offender kept on going despite leaving several piece of his own car at the scene. The police couldn't do anything because, well, I was insured so 'they can deal with it'.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

whimsicalism 4y ago

Where do you live? West coast or South?

drc500free 4y ago
My money's on mid-west, honestly.
- AlwaysRock 4y ago
  Nailed it.
yreg 4y ago
Is there no mandatory insurance to cover damages to others in the US? In my country if I want to drive a car it has to have this insurance so if I crash into someone all of the damage I do to them is covered.
- PebblesRox 4y ago
  It is mandatory but not everyone follows the rules. Our car has been hit three times in the past 4-5 years and only one of the drivers was insured. (One didn’t even have a license!)
  - yreg 4y ago
    Interesting, I wouldn't expect it to be reasonably possible to avoid that rule. More difficult than driving without a license anyway. I believe over here the traffic inspectorate would want the plates back if you stop paying the insurance and then if you drive without the plates that's an instant hefty fee from the first cop that sees you. (The insurance is tied to the car, not to the driver.)
    - jackson1442 4y ago
      We have a weird hybrid model in the US (texas, at least) where some aspects of insurance are tied to the driver and some to the car. So I personally have liability insurance that pays out to other people (the legally required part) but also have insurance that covers my car in the event of a wreck.

meowtimemania 4y ago

Where do you live? Driving should be safer, but being involved in that many accidents in only 2 years seems really unlucky

gjs278 4y ago

oliwarner 4y ago

Driving sucks, in some places. I've been driving for 21 years in the UK. I've been dinked in a car park while I was shopping, 20 years ago. That's it. Your description sounds like a solid reason to up and move to somewhere with better road safety.

alar44 4y ago

I've been driving for 23 years, in the north, where we have icy roads and blizzards 6 months out of the year. Been in one accident in my entire life. I like driving.

12ian34 4y ago

Move to Europe - we have good buses, trains and cycle lanes :)

AlwaysRock 4y ago
Id love to. Getting work visas for 2 is not easy.