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Gold rush: Nasty weather a boon for some

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

This car at City Cab Carstar Collision Center in Janesville was damaged in a snow-related crash. The bad weather is as good as gold for some businesses.

JANESVILLE — They call it white gold.

Auto body shop owners make money from snow this time of year.

The crushed fenders and dented doors trickle in several days after people dig themselves out.

Throw in the holidays—people out and about with their minds elsewhere—and the body shops get a gold rush.

Al Utzig, owner of Utzig CARSTAR, 1715 W. Court St., said he doesn't want to sound ghoulish.

Accidents cause misery.

But accidents also are his bread and butter.

Utzig, 54, has been in the body shop business his whole life.

"My dad has always called this stuff 'white gold'," he said, referring to the snow predicted for Tuesday night.

"I don't mean it disrespectfully. You feel for people without their cars, and you certainly don't want anybody to be hurt.

"It's the way we make our living," he said.

"This time of year is almost a no-brainer for us. People are out shopping and active. When people are out driving, that increases the chances they might bump into something else.

"Sometimes, we see it immediately, but usually it's not for a few days," he said. "We don't really know it was an event until a week or two goes by."

Utzig said his business in a typical year picks up in the fall when the deer start to run.

Then the first good snowstorm of the season typically results in a number of accidents.

"When the snow starts to drop and the holidays come, that's usually good for us," he said.

Surprisingly, whopper storms aren't the most lucrative for auto body shops. The 2- to 3-inch snowfalls are most fruitful, he said.

"The other one that gets them is the one in the spring," Utzig said. "Roads have been good, and then we get a 2- to 3-incher. Usually, in the winter, we get one right after another. (Drivers have) really figured it out by then.

"We need 3 to 4 inches every three or four days."

"People don't go out and drive in 12 inches of snow. People stay home."

There's an "unbelievable difference between an open winter, when there's no snow," Utzig said. "I've experienced that, and if we don't have snow or bad roads, it will be the quietest building in town."

That's because people don't plan to drive much in January through March. They really don't start driving again until June, he said.

Mike Buggs, owner of City CARSTAR, agreed.

"This time of year, it depends how big the storm is. We probably see more work out of ice or a light snowstorm than a big storm," he said.

"But if we get a rush hour with 2 inches or 3 inches and it gets icy and slick, especially before Christmas when people are out shopping, we'll have all kinds of stuff.

"You very seldom see the immediate effects with weather-related things," Buggs said.

"After a couple of days, all of a sudden we get a lot of traffic coming in the door."

"I call this stuff white gold," Buggs said.

"That's kind of nasty.

"We try to tell our customers, 'Slow down,' " Buggs said, especially those who have vehicles with four-wheel drives. They think they can go fast, but their vehicles are not impervious to ice. It's just the opposite because they are bigger and heavier and take a while to slow down.

"If a lot of the driving public spent some time in a body shop, they'd think, 'I'm going to be driving a little more carefully.'"

Know the rules for reporting accidents

The snow is falling. The wind is howling. It's cold.

You're stopped at a traffic light just trying to get home.

And someone slides into you from behind.

Do you call police?

The threshold for reporting an accident is $1,000 in damage to property, an injury or damage to government property, Deputy Chief Steve Kopp said.

If any of those occur, a driver is required to contact the local law enforcement agency to report the crash.

The investigating officer estimates the damage, and the police department files a report with the Department of Motor Vehicles if the damage exceeds one of the thresholds.

Insurance companies rely on police reports when settling accidents.

In what instance might you not need to call police?

You would not need to report an accident if it happens in a parking lot and both vehicles have minor damage, for instance, Kopp said.

There's no need to report an accident if both drivers talk to each other and agree that the damage is insignificant. They either choose to do nothing or make some agreement on how the damage is settled.

Not sure whether to report the accident? Be on the safe side and report it, Kopp said.

"You never know what the other party might claim," he said. "There are a variety of circumstances where it's always better to notify law enforcement and let the officer make that determination rather than just the drivers decide."

Drivers should always exchange information such as names, addresses, phone numbers and insurance companies, no matter what the circumstances, Kopp said.

Motorists should call 911 if an accident causes an injury or blocks traffic, which are both emergency situations. Otherwise, if the vehicles are off the road, and no one is injured, drivers can call the non-emergency number at 757-2244.

Drivers should be patient when involved in an accident, Kopp said.

Officers will be busy with a variety of issues during the type of weather predicted in the next couple of days, he said.

Officers themselves will also have trouble negotiating their way through hazardous conditions.

"If the weather gets too bad, there may be circumstances where we're simply unable to respond to property damage only," Kopp said.

Police always respond to an injury accident.

And last—but definitely not least—here is the timeless warning:

Don't get on the road and put yourselves and emergency workers at risk unless you absolutely have to.