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.

__________________
stay low... keep moving...

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.

__________________
"The price of progress is trouble." (C. F. "Boss" Kettering)
"50% of the American public has below-average intelligence. 70% of the American public now has regular access to the Internet. Do the math." (unknown)

renovation

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

__________________
You could pick up Lindsay Lohan for less than a intel 990x, and still have money left over to bail her outta jail

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.

__________________
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.

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.

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.

__________________
"I know the pieces fit, cause I watched them fall away."

"Cold silence has
A tendancy to
Atrophy any
Sense of compassion."

MJK

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.

Markel

Just to follow up on this, I just went to my court date today to fight the ticket I was given. I had to wait through a bunch of cases being called before it got to me and I told the judge I wanted to plead not guilty (which, if you do, you wait until they get through all the cases before they start calling the cases for trial). After I told the judge my desire, he called out the name of the guy I was forced in to (to see if he was their as a complainant, which he was not). A little later the prosecuting attorney called my name and told me they were dismissing the charges because there were no witnesses. (The cop was sitting on the side - I was ready to ask him what happens when a stopped 2600 pound car is struck by a 3300 pound car and forced into a 3600 pound car - I was ready to give him a lesson in physics ).

I never received notice that the lady that hit me was going to court, so I assume she did the "guilty by mail" plea, which now means that she is the only one ticketed in the accident. I updated the company that my insurance is using to go after her insurance about that, and they said they would be trying to get the full amount paid by her insurance (which means I'll get my $500 deductible back if they are able to collect).

Napoleon54

What was the ticket for, tailgaiting (following too closely)?

What happened to your car?

Glad you're off the hook!!!

__________________
There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. - Friedrich Hayek

Markel

Failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident (it was the clearly "green" state policeman's "CSI" attempt based on the front end of my car having sustained the major damage). My car (a 2000 Hyundai) was totaled due to front end damage, two airbags deployed, cracked windshield (from passenger airbag deployment), ....

MrGreg

If things happened like you said, the person in front of you should have only felt one "hit". If you hit first, then got hit, the person in front would have felt 2 hits. Did the cop ask the person in front of you how many hits they felt?

I had the exact same thing happen to me (I was stopped and got pushed in the car stopped in front of me). The person in front said they only felt one hit, and the guy in back had to pay for everything (well, his insurance did).

__________________
-The nerd formerly known as vectorcalculus

guiseppewv

Very good point there! Look at you, a regular sherlock holmes! I would not have thought about asking that question.

Markel

I called the guy in front of me. He said he had told the cop that he was concentrating on looking ahead at the time of the accident (because of the sudden stop) so he didn't really know what happened. I asked him if he was aware of ANY further "action" after my car hit his (i.e., if the lady ran into me after I hit him) and he said that he wasn't. I was ready to bring that up in court as well. Like I said, I think this was a very "green" cop who saw the damage to my front end and had his mind made up even before he heard what the other drivers had to say. In a way I'm disappointed that the case didn't come up for trial, because it would have exposed the cop's poor judgment.

Prngr44

I've been involved in two accidents in the past 10 years that weren't my fault and NEVER was able to recover my deductible.

I hope you fare better!

__________________
http://otthouse.blogspot.com

gwilks98

I prolonged my repairs until they caught the running bastard that hit me. It really helped I took a photo of his license plate.

Glad to know that was the right call.

Prngr44

Just 'cause they caught him doesn't mean you'll get your money.

I'm more peeved that the person who lied to the cops a) doesn't get a ticket for having no insurance, and b) apparently skates out of paying for anything because my insurance company claims to have "made every attempt to recover with no success" and I'm free to file suit against them myself. I could go to small claims, get a default judgement (like they're going to show up) and STILL never collect a damn thing.

clutchy

bummer man

__________________
LK was treated unfairly

thanks X

Markel

A while back I got back part of my deductible (something like 70% of it) when whoever decided the fault (probably some arbitrator) found the other party 70% responsible.

Markel

Well, a bit of a happy ending. I got an email from my insurance agent that this case was settled in subrogation, and I'm getting back my $500 deductible. I guess that means that the lady that hit me is (rightfully) being held 100% responsible for the accident.

renovation

good news !

cruelpupet

Congrats!

__________________
Am I alone here? Is that it?
Am I the only one who sees.

Maybe we can learn to be just like him.
Wear a little uniform.
Yes, sir.
No, sir.
Thank you, sir.

mcs328

I been in two accidents that weren't my fault and I never paid a deductible. I sued my own insurance company under the uninsured motorist thing and got 10K - minus laywer fee - minus doctor fee = 3K.

__________________

Prngr44

Interesting. My only 2 accidents have both been with uninsured motorists and I was out my deductible for both.

attgig

I had a stolen vehicle hit my parked car, and i still had to pay 250 deductible for that.

__________________