On Transportation (part one)

Danielle, Bella, and Me

I got a text from a friend last week letting me know that there is currently a class action lawsuit against Dunkin’ Donuts for discriminating against people with disabilities. Unbeknownst to me, lactose intolerance now qualifies as a disability under the ADA, and as such lactose intolerant customers do not feel they should be charged an extra $0.50 for oat milk.(see more here!) This lawsuit, if it ends up going to court, seems like a dangerously slippery slope for companies that manufacture things such as vehicles to people with disabilities. For example, a moderately priced, middle-of-the-road 2024 Honda Odyssey costs $46,895. Modify that same exact van and the average wheelchair user looking for the relative freedom that a car provides will pay $83,929.

 

At the end of September, on the way home from my "sister's" wedding in Chevy Chase, Maryland, my friend Danielle (also one of my two “dates” to the family only wedding who is both a cherished friend and newly retired caregiver) got into a car accident on 270 N. right outside of Frederick Maryland. It was the scariest accident I’ve ever been involved in, but miraculously the three of us escaped unscathed. Bella, my other “date” was holding a Green Machine smoothie, turning around to give me occasional sips out of a straw. When – with no warning – Danielle slammed on the brakes at 65 miles an hour to avoid the Dodge Charger who abruptly came to a halt in the fast lane of the highway, the contents of the juice ended up all over her face, neck and bosoms as the front driver side of my vehicle decimated the rear end of the Dodge. Still though, we were incredibly lucky: no one was injured in either car and the only noticeable internal damage to my Pilot was the contents of green smoothie all over Bella and the passenger seat. Moments after I processed what had happened and Danielle had pulled the car over to the left shoulder, my relief was exchanged for panic. We still had five hours left of our drive back home to Ithaca on a Sunday afternoon. What were we going to do if my handicap accessible vehicle was no longer safe to drive? Bella, still in her sixth year of PT school at Ithaca College had class on Monday, Danielle needed to get back home to Rochester that night and I had school the next day. Knowing it would take a dad of some sort to help problem solve, I called Sonya (my sister who is not actually my sister) and told her what happened. She told her dad (who is not actually my dad) and he went in to fix-it mode. >Thankfully we didn’t need any immediate fix, because finding potential solutions proved impossible – both in the moment and – as it turned out – once we returned to Ithaca, even for a pretty awesome dad. So despite the immense hassle that I'm about to document, I must first acknowledge a freakish number of providential things that happened immediately after the accident. First, the guy in front of us was not injured (although we couldn’t say as much for his Dodge Charger), second, the cop and volunteer firefighter at the scene determined that our Pilot seemed safe to drive. Especially after the various pieces of it were retrieved from the road and safely placed in the back of the vehicle. The firefighter responsibly suggested that we take the next exit off of 270 and purchase zip ties from Home Depot in order to hold my bumper together, but other than that, nobody seemed concerned about sending three non-mechanics back onto the highway for a five hour drive home.

My car upon safe(ish) arrival in Ithaca

Providential occurrence number three occurred in a handicapped accessible parking spot at Home Depot in Frederick. While Bella ran in to get the zip ties, Danielle got out of the driver’s seat to attempt to open the passenger side back door – the only door of the vehicle that I am able to exit because of the ramp under the floor. Unfortunately, the door did not open. At this point, the car parked next to us was just about to pull out and the driver – noticing there was a problem – put his own car back into park and got out. He asked Danielle if she needed help because he noticed we had just been in an accident. Relieved, she explained what happened and he helped her get the door open (this door becomes a prominent feature in my next blog). The helpful man, whose name I don’t remember of course, just happened to be a mechanic for Volkswagen, so by the time that Bella returned with the zip ties, he also offered to help temporarily fix the bumper. The mechanic was soon joined by yet another volunteer firefighter who stumbled upon the scene and he helped us check a few things before we drove again – that the blinkers worked, the hazards worked, the steering wheel turned properly, and that nothing was stuck underneath the front end of the car. He also was the one that listened when I said “something smells like it’s burning”, and fortuitously looked under the car and removed the dragging splash guard under the vehicle. After getting what seemed like a basic 10 point inspection from two benevolent strangers outside of Home Depot, we felt immensely more confident about the remaining five hour journey ahead of us.    

Unfortunately, though we did make it home safely, the end of our journey also marked the end of benevolent strangers coming to my rescue. Back in Ithaca, the reality of the accident-related hassle started to set in by Monday morning. As I often do, I slowly lost my grasp on gratitude and replaced it with irritation. First source of irritation: my insurance company, USAA. I have had USAA insurance for my entire driving life thanks to my dad “serving “ in the Air Force. Not only did USAA insure all the vehicles I’ve driven in my lifetime, they also insured my parents' vehicles, their home, and even my own rental insurance throughout 12 years of apartment living in Baltimore. Even my myriad investment accounts that I started in my early 30s were entrusted to USAA. To date, I was always pleasantly surprised by USAA’s customer service and commitment to its members. After this accident, I no longer feel that way. They made every part of the claims process a complete nightmare. Starting with – and I know this the case for every accident where you hit someone from behind – immediately assuming the accident was our fault. The driver in front of us came to a dead stop in the middle of a highway where the traffic was moving at a steady 63-65 mph. Danielle – unlike many drivers I know – was not following too closely behind, was not otherwise distracted, was not driving irresponsibly. She was, however, driving a shockingly heavy converted Honda pilot that had no chance to stop on a dime the way the Dodge Charger did. And when Danielle got out of the car and immediately checked on the other driver, his first response was “I thought the car in the median was pulling out” – an admission that he stopped in the middle of the highway. Naturally, that detail did not appear in his retelling of the accident to either insurance company, so we were assigned blame. There were no other witnesses to interview (the people who hit us from behind fled the scene). 

More obnoxiously, rather than send an insurance adjuster to our house to appraise the damage of my vehicle, we were asked to send photographs to the insurance company so they could assess the damage and assign a monetary value they’d be willing to cover – a mere $3400. We ended up taking the car to a mom-and-pop shop that has – to our knowledge – never tried to nickel and dime us in the past, and even though they had it fixed within less than a week, the cost was still $6600. If you’re thinking to yourself, Kate, this sounds like every other accident story I’ve ever heard about and you should just count your blessings that you were okay and your vehicle was drivable, I completely agree. But here is where the wheels come off the track. While my car was being fixed – the duration of which we didn’t even know – I could either stay home and do nothing or I could rent an accessible vehicle. USAA determined they would help defray the cost of the rental vehicle by $30 a day. The only problem that remained was a) there were no accessible vehicles to rent in Ithaca New York and b) accessible vehicles cost $150 a day to rent. Plus mileage. And naturally, that would include the cost of the mileage between the distant rental company and Ithaca, despite the fact that there were no other options (I personally find this more egregious than having to pay an extra $0.50 for oat milk in my coffee).  

My Honda Pilot was fixed by Mullins garage in four days for a mere $6600. USAA covered everything except the deductible. We weren't so lucky with a rental van. Because accessible vans are in short supply, you needed to pay upfront and you could not add on extra days once you'd reserved your dates. Just to be safe, we planned for a full 10 days with the rental. In addition, my mom and caregiver (who also charges me by the hour) needed to make two trips back-and-forth to Rochester; a grand total of eight hours worth of driving. The grand total for the rental, at a discounted rate of $120 a day, was $1200. USAA reimbursed us $300. 

Oh, and the icing on the cake? They raised our rates.

My sister (Sonya), Kirby and me pre-wedding