If your car or bicycle is damaged and you are without wheels, the adverse insurer can pay loss of use money to you. Loss of use money in a car accident is money paid to you when your car or bike is getting fixed.

Loss of use money can range from $30 to $60 per day. My car recently was struck by an American Family driver and I received $148 for six days of loss of use.

Loss of use money is more likely to be paid when you don’t go out and rent a car so if you have another car then you may get loss of use or if you borrow a friend’s car or even if you bus or bike in stead of getting a rental.

As the year progresses, Oregon begins to see more and more road and highway work. Motorists will start to see orange cones not only on the roads, but on billboards, radio and TV advertisements and in papers.

From April 7 - 11, 2008 Oregon runs its 2008 National Work Zone Awareness Week. The slogan this year is “Slow Down For The Cone Zone”. There has been an increase in fatalities from five to eleven. Those fatalities were not construction workers, but actually motorists.

That might come to a surprise, but it is the motorists that speed through those zones which then cause accidents. The reason orange is the color of these cones is to alert drivers of a
caution area ahead. Every time you see a orange cone it means you must slow down and be alert for construction workers, other automobiles and equipment.

“Tips for staying safe in the “Cone Zone”

Pay complete attention to driving. The most important thing drivers can do is focus on the driving task, especially in the transition zone before the work area.

Orange is your clue. Slow down when you see orange signs, barrels and barricades. Speeding is the second most common factor in work zone crashes.

Don’t tailgate. Instead, double your following distance.

Move over to the correct lane well in advance of the work zone.

Leave early to reach your destination on time.You may experience delays in work zones — plan for them!

Be patient. Be courteous to other drivers so you all arrive safely.

Avoid work zones when you can by using an alternate route.”

http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/NEWSRL/news/04_03_2008_cone_zone.shtml

I arbitrated a case involving Farmers denial of paying for a full paint job on a partially damaged truck which had a specialized paint job making the rig appear to change colors. It changed from purple to orange and kind of a mixture and this is even without one being high at the time. Our expert (the owner of a body and paint shop) testified that a full repaint was required since the special purple hough was no longer in stock. Its called a chameleon paint job. At the arbitration we all saw the rig in the arbitrator’s parking lot.

The rig was actually in a few shows but as usual was also in another crash which complicated things. Farmers brought in their paint guy too. I saw the car and it would change colors when it moved. We arbitrated the case and Farmers ended up paying like 10K toward a new paint job which runs like 15K.