Freak accident pushes car into homeowners’ garage

By CARESSE JACKMAN

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    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — A freak accident during a delivery run sent an SUV plowing into Susan Rowe’s garage in Franklin.

“We had to call the wonderful Franklin Fire, Police to secure the car before getting into it,” Rowe said. “They actually had to hammer out all the dents in order to get the garage to come back down.”

Rowe told News4 the driver called her insurance company thinking it would be a quick claim but was denied because the driver didn’t have rental car insurance, leaving Rowe’s home repairs in limbo as she waits to hear if DoorDash or her homeowner’s insurance will help cover the repairs.

“I’m thinking it’s around $1,600 to $2,000,” Rowe said.

News4 contacted the Department of Commerce and Insurance about the claim. Most personal auto policies do not offer coverage in their standard policies for drivers when they’re driving for transportation network companies. However, they do often make coverage available for an additional premium.

As for Rowe, she said she is not mad at the drive.

“We’ve been very fortunate. The young lady wasn’t hurt and it’s a garage door. It can always be fixed,” Rowe said.

Rowe wants to use this situation as a teaching moment, especially for young drivers and for people who aren’t aware of what insurance does not cover.

“If you’re a parent and your child does one of these things, make sure you call your insurance agent and make sure you let them know, ‘Hey, my child is on my policy and is working a new job delivering food. What do I need to do to be protected?’ That’s the most important message I have to everybody out there,” Rowe said.

So that a freak accident doesn’t happen in your driveway.

DoorDash released a statement to News4 about the accident:

“We take the safety of our community extremely seriously. We have been in touch with the property owner to offer our support and immediately after becoming aware of the incident we connected them with our insurance carrier to address any damage caused.”

DoorDash said it requires all Dashers to maintain an up-to-date auto insurance policy.

Whenever it is made aware of an incident involving a Dasher or any other member of the community, DoorDash has a 24/7 Trust & Safety team that investigates the situation and takes all appropriate actions including reaching out, providing support and engaging with law enforcement as needed.

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