Friday, December 09, 2011

Yes, I was hit by a car last week

If you follow me on Twitter, you will already know that I was hit by a car last Saturday. I tweeted the accompanying pic of the offending vehicle immediately after the accident. I was coming home from the supermarket rolling down Royal York Rd. I always use the bike lane on Royal York because I don't like the curbs. And there was construction blocking the sidewalk anyway. I was crossing at an intersection when a car making a left turn didn't stop and rammed the right side of my chair. She says she didn't see me. I don't think I'm very hard to spot. I guess I need to start shooting flares so that clueless self absorbed idiots can see me coming. Fortunately, she was going very slowly so other than shock, I was unharmed. The EMTs checked me out and there was no problem. But my powerchair was damaged. It worked but it would need repairs. A cop came and gave me her insurance info and I went home like nothing happened. I could not believe that someone could be that dumb. I called H.M.E. to let them know that I would call ODSP on Monday and I would need a loaner for a few days. I have said many times the ODSP may be the worst bureaucracy in the history of bureaucracies. I guess my worker is off so I got a call from someone else on Tuesday. So the first thing she asks me to do is call the driver's insurance company. I told her to issue the work order to H.M.E. as usual and fix the chair first and deal with the insurance company afterwards. We don't need to delay the repair. So Eugene of H.M.E. came on Tuesday and brought me a loaner. It was terrible. I could barely drive it. And I got a call from Aviva Insurance on Wednesday. They wanted an estimate so they could approve payment. I told her that H.M.E. normally sends the estimate to ODSP and they have to approve it. It turned out to be a minor repair. The left front caster was replaced. It had a flat spot. And they had to adjust the fork and the footplates. Total cost $170. I thought it could have been a lot worse. But the idiot from ODSP sat on a small repair concerned about the insurance company. This is the kind of small minded nonsense that is typical of the ODSP. I have informed H.M.E. that if there delays with future repairs, call me and I will leave a pissed off voicemail to smarten them up. I also called Aviva. I actually spoke to a supervisor because the woman I spoke to on Wednesday was off. The supervisor took care of it. Thanks to Elena of H.M.E. for sending my chair today. I may have to call them back for an adjustment to the footplates. But other than that, the chair is as good as new. The problem is the ODSP uses voicemail to avoid talking to anyone. The main beef is you can never get through to a live person. And that's part of the reason we all hate dealing with them.

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