Expert: webfoot - 5/9/2007

Question
I was rear ended last week, i drive a 99 Honda accord, and was hit by a 90 accord. The accident itself happened as follows: I was at a stop sign, waiting to make a right turn, i saw a car coming from behind, she did not make the stop in time and hit my rear bumper. I instantly called 911 so there would be a report on this, the damage itself was not too severe, my Bumper shifted inwards about 1 inch, and there is a 10 inch wide crack, the damage repair quote said i needed a whole new bumper, estimated cost 580$ (done by the other insurance party).

About one hour after the accident, my head and shoulder began to hurt, a lot, so i went to the Emergency room, where they said it looked like i had a muscle sprain in my neck and right thumb due to the whiplash, so they told me not to go to school or work (I am 18 years old, a senior in high school, working 20 hours / week AND taking two college classes at nights) so i did just that.

The problem is that i received a call from the other insurance (ALLSTATE) where they told me they would cover my repair bill, my hospital bill, and give me $200 (two hundred) dollars) for pain and suffering. This amount seemed rather small to me, But how much should i expect to receive for this, my insurance is AAA, should i accept the offer, or how can i request to get more (considering my neck is still hurting, and was not able to go to school for 5 days due to the pain, and the medications i was taking) ?

Answer
Based on the damage that you've described along with you age and appropriate physical condition, I would see no reason to expect much more.   

Funny that you missed as much school over this minor collision than I missed from work after having actual back surgery.

Any round of bumper cars at your local amusement park would have likely given you a much greater jolt than the accident that you described.
I started to reject your question, but sometimes, I accept these questions along with the expected negative feedback just so other readers can see the kind of spineless, selfish, young people that are entering our society. Raised by a single mom who's also been an accident victim by chance?  Hate to be harsh but there are football players at your school that go through 100 times that much physical punishment every day and laugh about it.

Dude, get over it and go back to school.