Author Topic: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck  (Read 5241 times)

Jenny1974

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Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« on: January 08, 2018, 07:03:22 AM »
So I'm on my way home the other night, just minding my own business . . . when traffic stopped abruptly (as it is prone to do in rush hour).  I braked . . and had adequate room to stop.  I guess the teenage girl behind me was in some hurry (or looking at her phone) and decided to just ram my back end .  . . pushing me into the truck in front of me.  She hit me going pretty fast so both the front and rear end of my car are toast.  I expect it will likely be totaled.   The good news is everyone is fine.  I was a little stiff for a couple days but otherwise ok.  However, now I get the joy of dealing with the insurance companies!! Arghh!!

nereo

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2018, 08:03:09 AM »
Sorry to hear about your accident and good to hear that everyone is ok.

If you haven't already, write down a detailed account of what happened - everything from where you were to the speed you were traveling at and the time between when you came to a stop and the driver behind you impacted your vehicle. Include weather, time of day, descriptions of the other cars and drivers, etc.

While dealing with insurance companies isn't fun, at least you have them and per your description you are not at fault. It's a 1st world problem now.
 

inline five

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2018, 08:12:28 AM »
I hit a deer driving into work Friday night. Just liability on the car so it's up to me to fix. Life sucks sometimes.

nereo

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2018, 08:13:33 AM »
I hit a deer driving into work Friday night. Just liability on the car so it's up to me to fix. Life sucks sometimes.
...particularly for the deer.
Hope the car isn't too much to repair.

Cadman

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2018, 08:35:25 AM »
Glad you're okay! Hopefully everything turns out okay with the insurance company. Just to cover my ass, I now run an inexpensive dash cam mounted up behind my mirror, wired to fire up when I start the car. Unobtrusive, and no interaction required on my part. Cheap insurance when there aren't any witnesses around.

SC93

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2018, 10:46:07 AM »
What cam do you have? I've been thinking about one but have never checked them out. I drive much more than the average person and I see some crazy stuff.

Slee_stack

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2018, 10:52:27 AM »
If it makes you feel better, the same thing has happened to me....twice.

Both times ended up a 'total' to my car.

I was really bummed the last time as I really liked that car too.

The last time it happend, I must have been stopped for a full 5 - 7 seconds and got to enjoy it all in slo-mo in my rearview mirror.  (I always look in my rearview after stopping after the first time...)

Nose in phone...nose in phone...nose in phone...lurched car front...panicked facial expression...BAM!!

It is what it is.  People don't pay attention.

big_slacker

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2018, 11:04:11 AM »
It's not always phones, sometimes traffic patterns are just unpredictable. Someone checks their blind spot to merge, turns back and sees brake lights too late. It happens, happened to my wife a month ago. I'm sorry it happened to you Jenny, hopefully no long term issues arise. Cars can be replaced, people can't.

BTDretire

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2018, 11:10:38 AM »
Years ago, I was involved in a 5 car rear end accident.
I was the 4th car in line.
When I got hit my seat went back on it's tracks as far as it could.
I had an electric razor on the shelf below the dash, it fell and hit the floor
and was powered on. I was stunned and there was a buzzing coming
from my car and I didn't know what it was.
 About the time I was getting my wits about me, the girl in front of me
was out of her car looking at where I had hit her car and me.
She gave me a mean look turned around got back in her car and left.
I don't think she had any idea there were 3 more vehicles involved in the accident.
One vehicle was a mail delivery truck, he was the only one injured.
 I always suspected he was the only one trying to collect government disability.

Blonde Lawyer

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2018, 12:36:54 PM »
If any insurance company asks if you are hurt, don't definitively say no yet.  A lot of soft tissue and nerve injuries take a little time to show up.  They love to use the recording of you saying "no injuries" the same day or day after against you later. You can just say "time will tell" or something else that's a truthful answer without locking yourself out.

Cadman

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2018, 01:19:50 PM »
What cam do you have? I've been thinking about one but have never checked them out. I drive much more than the average person and I see some crazy stuff.

SC93, I went with the Rexing V1. Haven't had any issues with it and it has good resolution and a high enough frame rate as to not look like footage from an old security camera. There are still plenty on the market suffering from that issue as to be all but useless. Amazon has it on sale occasionally.

It comes with an adhesive mount but I also bought a suction cup mount for moving from one car to another.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X528FNE

Schaefer Light

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2018, 05:50:57 AM »
The thing that really sucks about traffic accidents (assuming you weren't hurt, which would obviously be worse) is that replacing an older vehicle (that isn't going to be worth much in the eyes of the insurance company) with another one of equal quality is damn near impossible.

nereo

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2018, 06:19:05 AM »
The thing that really sucks about traffic accidents (assuming you weren't hurt, which would obviously be worse) is that replacing an older vehicle (that isn't going to be worth much in the eyes of the insurance company) with another one of equal quality is damn near impossible.
what?  how so?  The market for used cars is HUGE, and currently there's a glut of smaller fuel-efficient cars out there.  Maybe if you live outside a large metro area and/or you aren't willing or able to drive a couple hours to replace your vehicle...
...or did you mean that the insurance company isn't likely to pay out as much as you'd like for your existing car?

Schaefer Light

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #13 on: January 09, 2018, 06:38:18 AM »
The thing that really sucks about traffic accidents (assuming you weren't hurt, which would obviously be worse) is that replacing an older vehicle (that isn't going to be worth much in the eyes of the insurance company) with another one of equal quality is damn near impossible.
what?  how so?  The market for used cars is HUGE, and currently there's a glut of smaller fuel-efficient cars out there.  Maybe if you live outside a large metro area and/or you aren't willing or able to drive a couple hours to replace your vehicle...
...or did you mean that the insurance company isn't likely to pay out as much as you'd like for your existing car?
I mean that if my car is totaled, the $1,000 check I get from the insurance company isn't enough to buy another used card that's as reliable as mine.

nereo

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #14 on: January 09, 2018, 06:45:42 AM »
The thing that really sucks about traffic accidents (assuming you weren't hurt, which would obviously be worse) is that replacing an older vehicle (that isn't going to be worth much in the eyes of the insurance company) with another one of equal quality is damn near impossible.
what?  how so?  The market for used cars is HUGE, and currently there's a glut of smaller fuel-efficient cars out there.  Maybe if you live outside a large metro area and/or you aren't willing or able to drive a couple hours to replace your vehicle...
...or did you mean that the insurance company isn't likely to pay out as much as you'd like for your existing car?
I mean that if my car is totaled, the $1,000 check I get from the insurance company isn't enough to buy another used card that's as reliable as mine.

ok, I understand what you mean - but what you wrote was confusing. 
Yes, insurance is unlikely to pay out as much as you'd like for your older vehicle - given we value (as a society, not as MMMers) new way more than old, the "totaled" payout of reliable old vehicles can be crap.

Yet there are tons of older fuel efficient vehicles out there on the used market, particularly right now.

Jenny1974

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #15 on: January 09, 2018, 08:49:11 AM »
Damage was $11,000 so they are going to repair.  I'm actually surprised the repairs aren't more than that.  Just hope the repair shop works some magic and makes her good as new.  For reference, the car is a totally unmustachian 2016 Cadillac SRX so the damage would have had to be pretty high to get it totaled.

NoStacheOhio

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #16 on: January 09, 2018, 09:55:46 AM »
Damage was $11,000 so they are going to repair.  I'm actually surprised the repairs aren't more than that.  Just hope the repair shop works some magic and makes her good as new.  For reference, the car is a totally unmustachian 2016 Cadillac SRX so the damage would have had to be pretty high to get it totaled.

My mother was in almost the same situation in a very similar vehicle (Chevy Equinox, IIRC estimate was $14k) last year. Took forever to fix, and then the exhaust fell off because there was a bent bracket up by the manifold that nobody found (there were other, smaller problems too). We had to argue with fleet to get her a new car. She was in a rental for months.

Slee_stack

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #17 on: January 09, 2018, 10:09:06 AM »
The thing that really sucks about traffic accidents (assuming you weren't hurt, which would obviously be worse) is that replacing an older vehicle (that isn't going to be worth much in the eyes of the insurance company) with another one of equal quality is damn near impossible.
what?  how so?  The market for used cars is HUGE, and currently there's a glut of smaller fuel-efficient cars out there.  Maybe if you live outside a large metro area and/or you aren't willing or able to drive a couple hours to replace your vehicle...
...or did you mean that the insurance company isn't likely to pay out as much as you'd like for your existing car?
I mean that if my car is totaled, the $1,000 check I get from the insurance company isn't enough to buy another used card that's as reliable as mine.

ok, I understand what you mean - but what you wrote was confusing. 
Yes, insurance is unlikely to pay out as much as you'd like for your older vehicle - given we value (as a society, not as MMMers) new way more than old, the "totaled" payout of reliable old vehicles can be crap.

Yet there are tons of older fuel efficient vehicles out there on the used market, particularly right now.
I agree w/ Schaefer.   My old vehicle is worth X to insurance, but the shape I keep it in is X+Y.   Finding another 'X+Y' that only costs X is often near impossible.

Champion5

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #18 on: January 09, 2018, 10:26:24 AM »
What cam do you have? I've been thinking about one but have never checked them out. I drive much more than the average person and I see some crazy stuff.

SC93, I went with the Rexing V1. Haven't had any issues with it and it has good resolution and a high enough frame rate as to not look like footage from an old security camera. There are still plenty on the market suffering from that issue as to be all but useless. Amazon has it on sale occasionally.

It comes with an adhesive mount but I also bought a suction cup mount for moving from one car to another.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X528FNE

The Rexing is a nice camera with one flaw that I've noticed on two different cams. They have excellent customer service and sent me a new one for no charge at all when my first on was faulty.

You need to test it and make sure your recordings are not corrupted when it powers off in the middle of a clip. I had mine set at 8-min clips and when it would power off half way through, it would corrupt the file. I tried multiple SD cards also. I set it for 2-min clips and when something happened I want to replay, I just let the clip finish and move on to the next one. I've caught a couple accidents and multiple people running lights/stop signs etc... Good insurance also for $100.

Cadman

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #19 on: January 09, 2018, 10:47:54 AM »

Quote
The Rexing is a nice camera with one flaw that I've noticed on two different cams. They have excellent customer service and sent me a new one for no charge at all when my first on was faulty.

You need to test it and make sure your recordings are not corrupted when it powers off in the middle of a clip. I had mine set at 8-min clips and when it would power off half way through, it would corrupt the file. I tried multiple SD cards also. I set it for 2-min clips and when something happened I want to replay, I just let the clip finish and move on to the next one. I've caught a couple accidents and multiple people running lights/stop signs etc... Good insurance also for $100.

Good to know, thanks for the tip.

bacchi

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #20 on: January 09, 2018, 11:03:52 AM »
If any insurance company asks if you are hurt, don't definitively say no yet.  A lot of soft tissue and nerve injuries take a little time to show up.  They love to use the recording of you saying "no injuries" the same day or day after against you later. You can just say "time will tell" or something else that's a truthful answer without locking yourself out.

Yes, definitely. Back pain can show up week after when you, for example, twist on a ladder. "That's never happened before. Maybe I slept on it wrong?" No, it's probably a lingering injury from the accident.

The Fake Cheap

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #21 on: January 09, 2018, 08:07:40 PM »
What cam do you have? I've been thinking about one but have never checked them out. I drive much more than the average person and I see some crazy stuff.

I've gone through 3 dash cams I've ordered from Amazon, all in the $40-$50 range.  2 died after about 3 years, the one I have now is about 4 years old.  They aren't super high quality, but definitely good enough show someone doing something stupid, or you not doing something stupid.  To add to what Champion5 said, I have also found that you need to let the loop finish recording, or the whole loop will corrupt, so I always set mine to record 2 min loops, or the shortest loop setting possible. 

accolay

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Re: Stupid F'ing Car Wreck
« Reply #22 on: January 10, 2018, 02:32:38 AM »
Glad to hear you're alright. I work where we regularly get people freshly broken from car accidents. Legs, pelvis, spine, arms, faces, and life altering brain injuries among other things. We've had a few that have stayed for months.

Remember the good things you have after this car wreck: You have insurance to help pay for the accident, you don't have any medical bills. A car can be replaced.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!