How Insurance Through AAA Can Help After a Car Crash

After serving 28 years as an emergency responder, I appreciate the importance of quick and effective action. AAA demonstrated these same qualities when it mattered most to me.

Last February, I was driving home after my 24-hour shift as a paramedic and firefighter. My commute is 45 miles, and I’ve driven the same four-lane highway home for 14 years. I began to feel drowsy—and at about 7:45 a.m., I drifted off. My car veered off the road near an exit ramp, ramming into the base of a steel pole. Thank goodness, I was wearing my seat belt and was not injured.

After calling the state police, I dialed the 800 number for my car insurance through AAA. The representative was calm and quick with his questions: Did I need medical help? Did I need a tow? In less than an hour, AAA had my car in a nearby body shop. Two days later, an adjuster from AAA called to say the car was considered totaled—but, he added, “Don’t worry; we got this.”

Those were more than simply words of reassurance: I received a settlement for the actual cash value of my car, and it was enough for me to pay off my loan. I was really impressed by the way my insurance claim was resolved, and it reminded me why I chose AAA in the first place: its reputation and quality of service.

I know the results of my crash could have been far worse. As a father of eight, I’m now quick to advise: Don’t drive unless you’re rested. And never forget that driving while drowsy means you’re a threat to yourself and to others on the road.

My car, though totaled, was used weeks later in a Jaws of Life rescue class to help train emergency responders. And thanks to AAA, my harrowing experience had a positive ending.