Classic Rant #1,326 (November 19, 2014): ?

Yes, that is the title of today's Rant.

I know no other way to put this better, so the question mark it is.

I received a call at my home yesterday while I was at work that pretty much startled me, and I need an explanation, which I hope to get today.

My May 10, 2014 car accident--where a young driver went through a stop sign on a rain drenched road at such force that when he hit my car, it tumbled over once, and its occupants are only alive because we were wearing our seat belts--has finally been closed.

We were found to have been 15 percent liable for the accident, which means I will get 85 percent of my deductible back.

That is all fine and good, but my question is the following: based on what happened, how am I 15 percent liable for the accident?

Heck, how am I even a scintilla of a percent liable?

I will call my insurance company today, to find out the actual reason(s), but to say I am perturbed is putting it mildly.

Right now, to me at least, this case proves that all insurance companies are crooks, because let me tell you, if it wasn't for my driving, my wife, my son and I would have been killed.

We had witnesses saying that the kid did not stop at the stop sign when he pulled out of his street. He T-boned my car, and being that this is in a residential area, we are just so lucky that nobody was on the sidewalk where we ended up.

Yes, he hit us with such force that that is where the car stopped, rolled over, after he hit us.

After seeing him for a split second, I did what I could to avoid contact, but it was to no avail. Perhaps doing this actually saved us from greater harm--we will never know, but I do believe that it did.

Let me tell you, the other driver's company has been a horror on this case from the get go.

They have given us nothing but trouble, and for this to take more than six months to resolve ... well, I thought that this was pretty much a cut and dry case.

But you know what? In the back of my mind, I kind of knew that there is no such thing as a cut and dry case when it comes to auto accidents.

The adjuster who worked on my case told me flat out that I would probably get some liability in the case.

He told me that just by being there, I was liable, because if I wasn't where I was at that exact moment, I would not have gotten hit.

Yes, that's right. I was where I was--driving along, minding my own business, with my lights and windshield wipers on--and that constitutes liability in the car insurance area.

If you can explain that to me, you must be a heckuva lot smarter than I am.

The guy was speeding, he never saw me, and BANG!, he hit me.

I did not hit him, he hit me.

I guess I should be happy that we came out of this alive. Lots of people in similar circumstances don't.

We just had some minor scratches, which have healed.

However, the mental scratches haven't healed so quickly, and probably won't for a long time.

I still think of that crash all the time, and while it is in the history books as far as I am concerned, it still lives on in me.

It also forced me to buy another car, which I am reminded of each month when I get the bill.

I had a premonition that this wasn't going to be easy, just a few minutes after what happened happened.

I was put on a gurney, ready to be transported to a nearby hospital.

I was cognizant, awake, and I guess everything hit me at that moment, a few minutes after I physically was hit.

I said to the EMT, "I'm screwed."

You know, I was right.