Markel

So I'm driving home tonight on the highway. The traffic makes a sudden slowdown/stop because of construction a ways ahead. I stop behind the car in front of me. Lady slams into the back of me, pushing me into the car in front. My front end is a mess: hood buckled, my airbags went off (and dash panel broke the windshield when it flew up from the passenger airbag). Cop looks at my car and says it looks like I ran into the guy in front of me, because my car has all the damage. Lady that hit me (and the guy I hit) show little damage - both of their cars were drivable. Lady that hit me and I got tickets, but I'll likely be blamed because of what the cop thinks. I guess he didn't take into consideration that when a full-size Taurus hits a sub-compact Hyundai, the Hyundai goes flying.

I'll probably end up going to court so I can plead "not guilty" even though I'll get hit for extra court costs. I told the cop that I wished they'd take a lie detector test, because I would swear that I was stopped and struck from behind. The lady's story is that things stopped so suddenly ("because I hit the front car") that she couldn't stop in time to avoid running into me.

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mechmike0034

I wonder if there's any deployment data (vehicle speed, brake status at the point of impact, etc...) in the airbag controller's memory that would help your cause. You'd need the Hyundai scan tool to access it if any exists. I would imagine the car's totalled if the bags went off.

The broken windshield is normal - the passenger bag in most vehicles is designed to "bank" off of the windshield due to the distance between the dash and passenger occupant. This is why you don't have just anyone using just any type of sealer\adhesive replace a windshield...

Did you hear the bags go off? Most people don't recall it in the shock and confusion of the impact. I have deployed many bags over the years for demonstrations - they sound like a 12-gauge shotgun when they go off.

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Markel

I'll might ask my insurance adjuster about the possibility of deployment info, but since I was projected forward it will probably show that I was moving at the time of impact (except that my speedometer hasn't been working for the past 3000 miles or so - I've been using my GPS instead. Glad I didn't spend the $300 to get that fixed). I'm 99.9% certain that the car is totaled, with the front end damage, air bags, and windshield.

The whole thing happened so fast it's hard to put it all together. I was stopped, then aware of the impact from behind, then aware of the explosions of the air bags. It's interesting that because I was struck from behind (and thus pushed back in my seat) that the airbag never struck me. I have a slight bruise on my left shoulder (probably from the seat belt when it held me from the stopping impact).

My daughter nannys for a policeman and she called him about what happened. He couldn't believe that I was given a ticket. She says he will send me some information to argue my case when I go to court, which I definitely plan to do. I told the state policeman that I wished he could put me on a lie detector, because I would state with 100% certainty that the fault of the accident was 100% on the woman that struck me - and I plan to say the same thing in court when I appear to fight my ticket.

renovation

that sucks just glad your ok ! cars replaceable and i go to court on it to.

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InfiniteNothing

Another example of why I'm for "no fault" states. Humans are awful witnesses and cops are just guessing half the time.

Unfortunately, your auto insurance will just settle. These things never go to court.

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gwilks98

unfortunately, lie dectector results aren't admissible in court. That sucks man. Hopefully you can get a judge to overturn the ruling that you hit the car in front of you.

Is there any way to prove historically that the back of your car would withstand more of an impact than the front? Maybe an expert testimony or statistical data would help.

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Daedalus

Same thing happened to me years ago. 3 car collision, me in the middle, and the cop made an opinion that I was to blame because there appeared to be more damage to my car's front than the rear. Nevermind that the front grill was made of plastic and the rear bumper was made of rubber-coated steel. Crawling under the car later, I could see how much the rear bumper actually moved inward in the collision before springing back. Luckily for me (I guess) the driver in the back took off, and the driver in front saw him take off and stated this in the report, so there was no one to dispute my account of things. Insurance didn't go up, but my shoulder and back periodically knot up ever since the accident.