Speedbump damages

[spix14]

What is the name of your state? Texas

Hello all.

We own a townhome. The complex recently had new speedbumps put in by a fly by night company (who have mysteriously dissapeared) and they are absolutely awful. We have a 2001 hyundai tiburon and our car bottoms out every time we go over one of these speedbumps. We now how dents all underneath the car, frame damage, our alignment has been knocked out of place, and our shocks are so bad that a mechanic friend said they were about to burst out through our hood. We have spoken to the manager of the complex, who is the president of the homeowners association and the person responsible for hiring the people that put these things in. She says they are not going to pay for any damages to cars from these things. They are currently working on repairing them (2 months after they were put in). We also pay a maintenance fee every month that is suppossed to go for upkeep of the complex.

So, are they responsible for this? I asked her who was, then, if they were not, and she just stared at me blankly. Do i have a case here?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state? Texas

Hello all.

We own a townhome. The complex recently had new speedbumps put in by a fly by night company (who have mysteriously dissapeared) and they are absolutely awful. We have a 2001 hyundai tiburon and our car bottoms out every time we go over one of these speedbumps. We now how dents all underneath the car, frame damage, our alignment has been knocked out of place, and our shocks are so bad that a mechanic friend said they were about to burst out through our hood. We have spoken to the manager of the complex, who is the president of the homeowners association and the person responsible for hiring the people that put these things in. She says they are not going to pay for any damages to cars from these things. They are currently working on repairing them (2 months after they were put in). We also pay a maintenance fee every month that is suppossed to go for upkeep of the complex.

So, are they responsible for this? I asked her who was, then, if they were not, and she just stared at me blankly. Do i have a case here?

So, you have been KNOWINGLY driving over obstacles that damage your car for how long now? And, in order to damage shocks and alignment, you had to be driving at an excessive speed over the speed bumps.

Had you received all of this damage the very first time you drove over them, you might have a case...but, c'mon...

 

[ecmst12]

I agree, you're going to have a very hard time proving that you are NOT at fault for going over the bumps too fast.

 

[spix14]

I think you are underestimating these speedbumps. These are not regular speedbumps. These are ridiculously high speedbumps. If we went over these things any faster then about 2 miles per hour our car would probably disentegrate. I have pics but apparently you can't post them here. Here is a link.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj35/dragon1488/100_1579.jpg

That is my car sitting directly on top of one of these things.

 

[spix14]

Also, yes we have been knowingly driving over them, but what else are we supposed to do? There is only one way on and out of our complex. What am I supposed to do, park in the grocery store parking lot a block down the street and walk home?

 

[Zigner]

Also, yes we have been knowingly driving over them, but what else are we supposed to do? There is only one way on and out of our complex. What am I supposed to do, park in the grocery store parking lot a block down the street and walk home?

If my driveway suddenly had a HUGE obstacle placed in it, I wouldn't drive over it over and over and over again.
And, looking at your picture, those speedbumps don't seem all that unreasonable to me...

 

[spix14]

Well, thanks for your advice anyway. To me, a speedbump that comes within a quarter inch of actually touching the bottom of your car when you are sitting still on top of it seems borderline ridiculous, but perhaps that is just my opinion. Also, I suppose I could be parking down the street and walking home. After all, everyone needs exercise, right?

 

[ecmst12]

Or drive slower as you go over them. Seriously, you should have figured that out after the FIRST time you bottomed out on the bump.

 

[spix14]

We do drive slowly over them So slowly, in fact, that the speedbumps stop our car and we have to press the gas a bit to actually make it over these things. We still bottom out. I really wish I could take one of you for a drive over these things so you could experience them for yourselves.

At any rate, we're not looking to cash in here. The only thing we want is for the complex to pay our insurance deductable. We don't want them to pay for everything and we will suck it up and deal with the rate increase that we will incur from this. We just don't want to pay $500 out of our pocket for something that seems to us to be negligence on the part of the complex.

 

[Zigner]

We do drive slowly over them So slowly, in fact, that the speedbumps stop our car and we have to press the gas a bit to actually make it over these things. We still bottom out. I really wish I could take one of you for a drive over these things so you could experience them for yourselves.

At any rate, we're not looking to cash in here. The only thing we want is for the complex to pay our insurance deductable. We don't want them to pay for everything and we will suck it up and deal with the rate increase that we will incur from this. We just don't want to pay $500 out of our pocket for something that seems to us to be negligence on the part of the complex.

I would be really surprised if your insurance pays for this.

Furthermore, we DO have speedbumps in my area that WILL bottom out my car if I go over at anything more than a slow crawl. However, after the first time over them, *I* learned to drive over at a slow crawl -1

 

[ecmst12]

Oh of course his insurance will pay for it. It's a legitimate collision claim and an at fault accident.

 

[Zigner]

Oh of course his insurance will pay for it. It's a legitimate collision claim and an at fault accident.

WHICH collision will they pay for?

 

[spix14]

The insurance company didn't seem to much care. I told them it wasn't one specific incident, but an ongoing problem and they just told me to pick a date and that's what they filed it under.

Also, perhaps you missed the part where I said we still bottom out even after going over them at the slowest speed possible.

Incidentally, I am female. Please no woman driver jokes.

 

[Zigner]

The insurance company didn't seem to much care. I told them it wasn't one specific incident, but an ongoing problem and they just told me to pick a date and that's what they filed it under.

Also, perhaps you missed the part where I said we still bottom out even after going over them at the slowest speed possible.

Incidentally, I am female. Please no woman driver jokes.

Well...as I like to say, communication is key. You have no case to have the money for your deductible reimbursed...maybe you can work out a deal if you're real nice though.

Glad we could help - sorry we couldn't give you the warm and fuzzies you are looking for.

 

[spix14]

No worries, I lurked around a bit before I posted and was not looking for warm and fuzzies in any case.

You have been helpful, though.

So basically, this is how it stands- no grounds to get reimbursed, even though they were negligent in hiring a shady company to do the speedbumps. It basically boils down to the fact of us having to park elsewhere/do car acrobatics/learn to somehow levitate the damn car/whatever to not incur damages from their shoddy work.

That's life, I guess. Meh.