Accidents Stink

[MJN2]

Sorry for the long-winded rant, but I need to vent lol.Two weeks ago, I was sitting stopped in traffic, minding my own business, and a teen talking on her cellphone rear-ends me while doing 30 mph, hard enough to shove my car into the Ford Expedition sitting in front of me. Back bumper isn't bad , but the front end didn't get along with the Ford's hitch and step-bumper very well. I was nice to the girl, in that when the police officer asked if I wanted him to write her a ticket, I declined. Mainly due to the fact I'm a sap when a female is crying her eyes out, plus I'm just a nice guy. I get a call a couple of days later from her insurance company, in which I was told that the girl told them that *I* hit the Expedition and THEN she ran into me. Needless to say I'm a little upset over this, so I call my insurance company (both co's are State Farm...different states..I'm in IL, the girl lives in WI) and my agent starts investigating things, getting a copy of the police report, trying to get in touch with the driver of the SUV, etc. The entire time, the girl sticks to her story. Claims adjuster comes to my house to take pictures of the damage to my car, and finds some hidden damage under the hood. the crossmember the hood latch is attached to is bent a little. And he thinks the exhaust might be damage since the front of the gir's car hit it, plus he suggested that the front suspension get inspected because the front of the car went under the SUV a bit.Finally my claims agent talks to the SUV owner and asks if he felt one impact or if he felt two. He answers "one," which takes care of debunking the girl's story, since if it went the way she explained it, he would have felt me hitting him and then her hitting me. Only took 2 weeks to straighten that mess out.So, I finally get to the bodyshop for the estimate...$1750...goes in June 2nd for repairs. Bodyshop says new front and rear bumper covers, repair or replace the front nose piece above the gray and repair the hood (front edge is bent down so it's almost touching the Pontiac emblem).Remind me never to be nice to anyone again when something like this happens I hope State Farm drops her coverage for lying to them grr.

[meathead333]

yeah dude, that sucks. next time i bet you wont fall for the "poor innocent girl" routine. as tom lyekis says, "they are all the enemy." he he he. glad you got it fixed.

[Herb]

Did your airbags go off?Glad to hear thngs worked out. And yeah, I probably would have reacted the same way.

[cds22]

That's a bummer, especially when you gave the girl a break. Sometimes it's hard to keep a positive attitude about human beings in general when you hear stories like that. Hope it won't stop you from being a nice guy again should the situation warrant. In this case, had it been me that was hit I would DEFINITELY have asked she be charged. I think people talking on cell phones while they drive are extremely dangerous and it's just lucky no one got physically hurt in this situation. Since the law makers seem unwilling to ban their use totally while driving we need to find other ways to discourage the practice. I say hit 'em where it hurts by charging them or applying demerits for dangerous driving! In my opinion, anyone who thinks they can drive with their usual competancy while talking on the phone (hand held or not) are living in a dream world.

[Vibe Rater]

Wow! What a little B I T C H !

[PBFlash]

In NY you can only talk on the phone using hands free headsets. Unfortunately the police wouldn't give someone a ticket based on your word. They would have had to see her on the phone to give her a ticket. Otherwise it's your word vs. hers. At least the SUV owner backed up your story.

[MJN2]

No Herb, the airbags didn't deploy. I found that odd myself. But, the girl's car (1990 Pontiac Sunbird) hit really low on the back bumper, so maybe it didn't trip the sensors.

[Sub-Vibe-R]

quote:No Herb, the airbags didn't deploy. I found that odd myself. But, the girl's car (1990 Pontiac Sunbird) hit really low on the back bumper, so maybe it didn't trip the sensors.Correct me if I'm wrong, but doubt air bags will deploy in a rear accident. Sensors are located in the front and the accident need to be at more then 30 km/h (18 mph)

[MJN2]

Well, she hit me doing around 25-30MPH, but I doubt I hit the SUV in front of me that hard, since I had the brake pedal kissing the floorboard

[KSNeptune]

In kansas (or at least in my county) a police officer would NEVER have given someone involved in an accident the choice of who got tickets for violations. I'd LOVE it if the next cop that decides to pull me over asks "Should I give you a ticket or not?", cause my answer will be "not", no matter whether I deserve one or not. KSNeptune

[Cidderiforous]

so did she have a cute (_!_) ...jkso since your car is going in for repairs, are you gonna spring for some ground effects or a wing

[FCser]

girls ARE evilproven factyour experience supports this thesis

[MJN2]

so since your car is going in for repairs, are you gonna spring for some ground effects or a wing I'm not into exterior mods, never have been. If it doesn't make it go faster, turn better, or brake shorter..I don't do it

[ragingfish]

quote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but doubt air bags will deploy in a rear accident. Sensors are located in the front and the accident need to be at more then 30 km/h (18 mph)Airbags DO NOT deploy in a rear end only collision.However, depending on what parts of the front end hit the truck in front, and how fast they actually hit, would determine whether they went off or not...Be glad they did -- I hear airbags are wicked expesnive to replace when they go off...In my sunfire, they were on the fence about whether to total it out or fix it...I found out the airbags were almost $2000 each, adn that decided for them to total it.

[jake75]

"girls ARE evilproven fact"That's probably why we like them SO much!

[Triton]

I have never heard of an officer asking if a ticket should be given. That really surprises that he did that. And I can't believe that the girl thought she could get away with something from the insurance company. You are much better off just to tell them exactly what happened. If you get caught in a lie, the outcome is much worse.

[ragingfish]

Glad you shared your story with us, I know what to do if ever in a similar situation.Depending on the girl, if I even considered letting her off the hook, I would at least tell the officer to make it clear in the report she was at fault, and the entire sequence of events, in the event I have to prove my innocence down the line...But then again, if someone rear-ended me while talking on a cell phone, I would have no sympathy, tears or not, and say penalize their a$$!My tolerance for people on cell phones, hands-free device or not, is minimal, if not non-existent. NOTHING is that important that you can't pull over for 2 minutes and resolve it, if not just deal with it when you reach a safe stopping point. I find people using HF devices are still not even close to as alert as they would be if not on the phone...Thankfully, I think NJ is working on legislation that would make using a cell phone illegal while driving. You can still legally use a HF device, but I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too, eh?

[Shadow Realm]

Sorry to hear about your run-in with a deceptive young girl. They can have that effect on us men from time to time. I guess the best thing that I could say in this case would be that you ahve to think of #1 first before anything else. If the situation had been reversed, she probably would have told the officer to give you one.Hope everything goes smoothly for you!Shadow Realm

[cds22]

quote:Unfortunately the police wouldn't give someone a ticket based on your word. They would have had to see her on the phone to give her a ticket. Otherwise it's your word vs. hers. I suppose if you really wanted to push the issue you could have her phone records checked?What she did was inexcusable but please, let's not blame it on the fact that she's female! I would hope that most women (and most men as well) would be more honest given the chance. But perhaps I'm a bit nieve? I'm pretty sure I'm not 'evil' though!

[slinkston]

Damn. That would (removed) me off. Glad to hear it is going your way though.-Slink

[ShaneV]

I had a guy pull out in front of me on the highway and stop. He got a ticket for it. The car wouldnt shut off and the radiator cracked and drained so it really hurt the engine. Even with him getting a ticket his insurance tried not to pay for it. It took about 9 months to get it all straightened out, but my insurance won in court

[MJN2]

Wow, that's some serious damage, Shane.Mine isn't near that bad (thankfully).