Car travails

I sat expectantly at the AAA office in Palm Springs with Mark by my side at the beefy insurance agent across from me.

He didn't look like an insurance agent...more like one of its clients who'd stumbled in the door, with ragtag hair and a frumpy striped shirt. He typed on his computer over and over again.

I'd been in a car accident on October 16. Got t-boned by a car that was virtually invisible behind another car turning until I was in the intersection. His air bags had gone off; mine hadn't. And because I'd driven into a street with no stop signs or traffic lights, I had interfered with the right of way and got slapped with the fault for the accident. I was hoping to have the car totaled so I could use the proceeds to get a bigger car for me and Dennis, but no such luck. Since then, I had gone for 50 days with a rental car covered by my insurance. I rented a car for another week or so without coverage. And my car was waiting in the shop for parts that had been on backorder for months, with no end in sight. In the intervening time, I went to our rental in Palm Springs a few times and leaned on Mark and Dennis to drive me in their Bronco; a few times, I had taken it out myself to go shopping without an issue. But that was about to change.

The agent stopped typing and said, "Yeah, I see your accident here. It was a two-point accident, and we only allow insurance for outside drivers with one point on their record. And this stands for three years."

I gulped. This was not expected. Did this mean I could not drive the Bronco? I hesitated. Mark spoke up.

"What about his insurance? Would that allow coverage?"

"That's possible. Most of the time, someone else's insurance will allow another driver to drive a car. It doesn't have to be covered by AAA. So...yeah. You can check on that."

Inwardly I sighed a breath of relief. But only temporarily. I knew not all was okay until I checked with my insurance.

An hour later, I was busy calling and checking. My agent from the accident was away from the phone, so I had to leave a message. Another call later, and I had my insurance policy emailed to me; this was a situation so mundane that agents just didn't want to cover it in person. But even then, my policy didn't address the situation. Another search in the FAQ section revealed an answer:

"If a car isn't yours but is available to drive regularly, we probably won't cover you when you drive that car."

A disappointment. The answer continued:

"And if you borrow a friend's car with permission, their car policy covers you because they gave permission for you to borrow their car."

I didn't feel great about that part either. The agent had told me that AAA wouldn't cover me for three years after my accident, even if Mark and Dennis would allow me to drive (and of course they would). All I could do at this point was verify with my agent—once I got on the phone with her—the coverage issue.

Suddenly, I figured the situation. In my mind, the thought of not driving in Palm Springs—unless I got my own car—felt a bit like a jail sentence and a change just as huge as starting to set up residence in Palm Springs itself. That is, unless I got my own car myself, whether in Palm Springs or in Denver (then drove it down). I sighed and looked out at the cloudy skies from the quiet couch. A few cars coasted by on the nearby street while a distant, constant drone of cars composed the background noise from a block away.