Hey fellas. Tonight, my roommate dropped me off after picking up my car (wheels being de-graveled after my trip into the pit at turn 3), he left, went a different way than me, and hit a 6" square piece of concrete in the middle of the road.

The concrete block went down the center of his car, and he said it hit HARD, and then the car started to vibrate pretty bad. He pulled over, called me, and I came and met him. We couldn't see shit, and it was pouring, so we went home nad got my harbor freight jack.

We came back, jacked the car up, and noticed a GIANT dent on the underside of the car. I THINK it's a splashshield, but its metal, so I am not sure. There's a hole in it, where I think the oil drain is. The car is a E46 330cia, so I don't know those cars well. There also looked to be some scrapes on the auto tranny pan.

So, he called roadside service, and is getting it towed to bmw of sterling. We also found the piece of concrete, and we saved it. Is there anyway to file a claim with VDOT for this? I mean, this is a giant chunk of concrete, and it was dark and raining heavily when it happened.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Larry

you should try to contact VDOT...but good luck, you're probably the millionth person in line and I don't know for sure they'ed cover it...that concrete could have fallen from a truck and ended up sitting on the road...I'd file a claim for comprehensive under insurance, it's not going to increase your premium if it's comprehensive...

I'm filing a claim with MD right now. Just call the VDOT and they will point you in the right direction. It took a few calls but I finally got through to the MD Insurance Claims Division of the State Treasurer's Office and they emailed me a Notice of Claim Letter/Tort that I can send in. I doubt VA would be very different but, like Sunir said it's going to be difficult for them to accept responsibility without proof the concrete piece came from them. MD bounced me around from dept. to dept. since depending on what road the damage was on, a different division is responsible. They also said they would have to find out if they were doing the construction themselves or if it was a sub-contract that I would have to contact. Ugh. :(

Good Luck,

---Eric

Wouldn't comprehensive insurance cover that? No deductable and no penality.

That depends. Usually it's only penalty free if something strikes you. IE: A muffler flies off the car in front of you and hits your car instead of "I drove over a muffler that was in the road".

Insurance may claim that you should have seen the concrete, so be careful with your wording.

Hey fellas. This is Larry's roommate. I appreciate all the feedback. I did indeed make a claim with my insurance company and they are going to cover all damage caused. Just have to pay the deductible and nothing else. No penalties, etc. Turns out it was a bent engine shield and that it was pressing on another shield to cause the vibrations. No suspension damage. or anything else.

Based on the feedback here and from others, i dont think it will be worth my time to to file a claim and complain to VDOT about the concrete in the road.

If anyone has any more suggestions, i gladly welcome them. Thanks again for the info!

Tony