Our car went off a mountain road and I still can't process what happened

Oh my god, first — I'm so relieved you're alive. Second, I was a passenger in a bad accident involving a rental about two years ago and the multi-policy situation is genuinely confusing but it does get sorted out. The most important thing right now is that you document EVERYTHING about your injuries. Every doctor visit, every prescription, every time you can't sleep because of pain. I wish someone had told me that in the first week because I was so foggy I let a lot slip.

Please please please don't let anyone downplay that neck soft tissue finding. 'Still evaluating' can mean a lot of things and those injuries have a way of becoming very serious problems weeks later when the adrenaline and initial inflammation settle down. Make sure you're following up with a specialist, not just your ER team. And cracked ribs are no joke — breathing exercises matter even when they hurt. Wishing you a real recovery, not just a 'technically discharged' one.

Okay so from the inside — rental accidents with multiple injured parties are actually a known headache for claims departments because of exactly the coverage stack you described. There's the rental company's liability policy, your cousin's personal auto policy (which may or may not extend to rentals depending on her carrier), and the credit card benefit if she has one. As a passenger you are generally in the best position legally because you're clearly not at fault. But the carriers will absolutely try to coordinate in ways that slow everything down. Don't be surprised if it feels like they're stalling — they kind of are, waiting to see how your medical situation develops.

A few practical things that will matter later: get the state patrol incident report number as soon as it's available — you can usually request the full report within a week or two. Ask your doctors to note in your records that your injuries are accident-related (sounds obvious but sometimes it's not explicitly written and that creates headaches). Also, if the blowout investigation points to a tire defect rather than road conditions, there could be a product liability angle on top of everything else. I'm not saying that's what happened, just that it's worth preserving all physical evidence — the wrecked car, the tire if possible. Don't let the rental company quietly crush the vehicle before anything is documented.

Not legal advice, but as a passenger injured in a multi-vehicle or single-vehicle rental accident, you typically have access to multiple potential sources of recovery — and that's actually a stronger position than most people realize. The complexity you're describing (rental coverage, personal auto, credit card, possible product liability) is exactly why consultations exist. Most PI attorneys won't charge for an initial conversation. Don't rush it, but don't wait so long that you're negotiating alone while still in pain. Just something to think about when your head clears a little.

Three things: 1) Don't sign anything from any insurance company right now. 2) Get a personal injury consultation before you do. 3) Your injuries sound serious enough that a quick settlement offer — if one comes — will almost certainly be way less than your actual costs once you see how the neck thing shakes out. Fractured collarbone and cracked ribs alone can mean months of limited work. Price that in before you agree to anything.