Tabu Sushi hit by car

​A vehicle crashed into the outdoor dining area of Tabu Sushi in Old Town Temecula late Sunday night. What used to be an outdoor seating area has been re-imagined as a much smaller seating area and modern metal sculpture. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like anyone was injured. And from what I’ve been told the driver backed out and took off. If you see a large SUV or truck with front end damage, maybe a few metal spikes sticking out the front grill please give Temecula PD a call.
Visiting the site today it’s almost hard to imagine how a vehicle got into that area without hitting anything else. First, there was a fire hydrant that was missed. Second, there was some sort of R2D2 piling that was also missed. There were three street signs that also survived and amazingly, the fence absorbed all the impact so that the building itself wasn’t damaged. With no formal accident recreation expertise here's what I propose happened in the auto accident.
A truck or SUV was driving south on front street. At the intersection of Front and 3rd the car went off the street in front of Old Town Pub and Grub. It took out the stop sign there and then skipped over the curb and headed straight towards the entrance of Tabu Sushi. The vehicle then went up the handicap ramp and plowed almost straight into the patio area located on the sidewalk. It sheered off the gate in one section, the gate and fence acted as a braking device and the car came to a stop on the sidewalk where the outside seating was once located.
The front end of the vehicle probably sustained pretty major damage. This person's auto insurance is going to be getting a call soon. There wasn't much paint transfer onto the metal fence. If there was it was dark in color like the fence. That makes me think it was a dark colored vehicle. I’m going to say that it was a truck or large SUV based off the fence getting crushed in not up. 
Now, let’s say you were the one that ran into Tabu Sushi. If you have auto insurance your insurance will pay to fix the fence. Based off the amount of damage it looks like it could have been much worse. The driver managed to avoid hitting any city property minus the stop sign. No street signs, no fire hydrants, no weird pillars. They also didn’t hit the building. I’d say this driver was very lucky because things could have been way worse.
Here are a few of the worst case scenarios that could have happened. If you hit a fire hydrant and it gets knocked off it's base you have a major incident. Not only could the water damage the buildings you also would have to pay to repair the hydrant which is not cheap. You also get tabbed with a water bill for any water that escaped while the water shot into the air and the workers try to turn it off. That water bill can really add up. The driver could have hit the building. Any building damage would be expensive. The owners of the restaurant could also sue the driver for any time they couldn’t open for business. Power lines, electric boxes could also have been hit. Both of those could have caused a fire and been very expensive to repair.
Now, the driver would be at fault in the accident. As long as there were no injuries it is considered just a property damage accident. It doesn't matter if the insurance company pays 500 dollars to fix the property of 50,000 dollars it is still considered property damage. That would mean that the driver would get one point on their driving record. The Property Damage limit on your auto policy pays to fix anything you damaged up to your limits. The collision coverage would pay to fix the drivers vehicle after the deductible. 
This was a good reminder to make sure you keep your PD limits high. You never know what you might hit. Also, don’t forget a hit and run is illegal. You could face serious fines and penalties. Make sure that you stop, give your insurance information to the officer before leaving the scene. Give me a call to get some auto insurance quotes and to review your coverage at 951-395-0754.