PLEASE listen to me. You HAVE to go to the hospital and get checked out today. You have to document EVERYTHING when it comes to an accident like this. You may have a very serious injury, but if you wait to get it diagnosed, you will be giving up your rights to get your medical bills and future pain paid for by her insurance. And then, after you've been checked over, you need to do 2 more things--be very vigilant of your health/aches over the next weeks. Go immediately to the dr. if you notice anything (some injuries from accidents like this take a little time to show up). And--this morning--call your lawyer, and turn this whole thing over to him. You don't need the hassle of trying to deal with her (and your) insurance companies, AND you'll get far more if a pro does the negociating for you. My dd was rear-ended a few years ago. Went to the hospital that night, had X-rays, checked out okay. Within a few weeks, she developed a herniated disk from the accident. She has a permanent injury now--which will give her problems and pain the rest of her life (she was only 22 at the time). Luckily, we didn't wait to take her to the dr. The best thing we did, though, was to let our lawyer handle everything. He got her car replaced, a rental for her as long as she needed it, her current and future medical bills paid and an award for pain and suffering. You really don't want to have to handle the long and difficult process of getting through those negociations on your own, trust me--it takes years, and if you attempt to do it yourself, you'll almost surely 'give up' and take far less than you deserve.

I'm sorry to hear that--it's devastating for them when they have that car they love and it gets banged up. Please have her be very aware of her health for the next few weeks. When DD was in an accident some years back, she went to the hospital, was checked out and X-rayed, was fine that night. But within 2 weeks, she developed a back problem that's going to give her pain and problems the rest of her life. My second suggestion is to do what we did. Turn the whole thing over to your attorney. Don't talk to your insurance (other than to alert them that there WAS an accident), don't negociate with the other fellow's insurance, don't deal with the medical bills--just let your lawyer do all that. If your lawyer is any good at all, your daughter will come out way ahead, even after his fee--I know my dd did quite well (although, no amount of money can ever compensate one for a lifetime--well, 50-70 years--of pain). But the last headache your daughter needs right now, is having to deal with insurance companies--encourage her to let a professional handle it for her.

The insurance company compares the repair cost to the value of an un-crashed vehicle of the same vintage and pays the lesser of the two amounts. In my opinion, if this were a collector and show car, he would entitled to getting it back to the same condition as before the crash, however, it is not. Is very unfortuante: I see two options: Total the car and take the appraised value, or keep the car and accept the cash settlement and have it repaired on his own. However, he should first get an estimate of the repair. I see $4000 to $6000 or more repair cost. There is something more wrong under the hood since it will not start. You did not say what that damage was. Was the engine damaged, say a cracked block? Maybe a bunch of busted accessories and brackets on the front of the engine? Cracked manifold? The visible damage is front bumper, bumper cover, probably 2 radiators (engine and air conditioner), left fron fender, hood, grill, front headlamp assembly, running lamp in bumper, possible frame and steering links, 2 shock absorbers (if there is any age on these, these are replaced in pairs to keep the front suspension action balanced), possible front suspension spring and spring brackets, There could be distortion of the sheet metal under the windshield, Possible wiring harness damage, battery and battery pan depending on where the battery is located, possible battery acid damage if the battery was cracked, The right front door may have scratches that will have to be fixed and included in the paint job, and front end alignment after everything is put back together. The paint job will be over $1000 for color matching and fairing the paint into the old paint. The front wheel should be checked for damage and replaced if there is any dents or distortion. The front brake may need rebuilding and any damaged brake lines replaced. As you can see, the repair is extensive, and that's unfortunate because your vehicle appears rust free, rare for an Explorer that age. There will be no settlement until the police report is available. You did have the police survey the scene, didn't you? Expect about 1 week before the report is available from the police station. The police report and witness statements are used to determine fault or percentage of fault of each party.

Note: My long post is a response to a similarly long post by a member here who then deleted her post. Rather than delete mine also, I have decided to leave it because I hope some of my thoughts are relevant to the whole series of conversations here. However angry we may feel at the tragic consequences, it's clear that however long and how severe the punishment, it won't reverse what happened or bring back the poor lady who was killed, heal the gentleman's injuries any faster, or take the ache from the hearts of all concerned. Surely we have to ask ourselves what purpose is served here, that would not be equally well served by a 'short sharp shock' of jail time (not inconsiderable, if the tales we hear of what happens to 'pretty' young lads like that in jail are to be believed), a sizeable fine in relation to his potential earning power, and a long period of license cancellation along with some kind of rehabilitative programme and/or community service enabling the perpetrator to learn, grow and give back something to society. There are a number of philosophy of law books that may help understand why societies have various consequences to prohibited criminal activity and the purpose of various sentences in relation to that criminal activity. Certainly I believe it is just to hold people accountable for their actions, and while many systems of law have different rules for small children, at 19 those who are licensed drivers must be accountable for their driving. Age brings better judgment, but at 19 many have jobs, families, and are able to understand the consequences of their actions, and are able to perpetrate the sort of crimes that rules and law have been set up to handle that protect society. While diminished capacity has long been a defense to some crimes, the legal response to those who voluntarily drink or take drugs that lead to diminished capacity has been overwhelmingly on the side of holding that person accountable, and they are held accountable in a similar manner to others, not merely given a slap on the wrist which is not an adequate response if protecting society is one of the goals of law. In addition, there are a number of factors, some statutory, others that leave a judge with some leeway on sentence length. And in addition to that, there are other practical factors such as the economy which come into play, in a downturn there may be less or no funding for rehab programs as you describe. A particular sentence for a particular crime is always met with differing opinions, (the parties involved, their friends and family, readers) and it is exactly those differences that make the framework of law set up prior to the crime valuable. I believe that the anger many felt here was directed, in addition to this heinous crime (you can argue youth and lack of judgment and mitigating circumstances all day long, but backing up over someone just run over is not an 'oops' action), at the way the OP presented the situation and at his professed feeling that some lives are worthier than others. I don't believe a young person's years are worthier than an older person's years, as an older person myself, I object to and resent any thoughts that consequences for crimes against me should be discounted because of my age.