'10 Prius III died in the line of duty

My 2010 Prius III is no more. On Monday, I was rear-ended by an Acura SUV going about 35-40 while I was stopped at a light. Coffee sprayed all over the front windshield, airbags deployed, and my car was sandwiched between the SUV and the Jeep in front of me. All I can say is that the Toyota airbags rock. I don't think this would have been a fatal crash, but without the knee airbags to keep my knees from hitting the underside of the dash, I don't think I would be walking today. I don't think I would have fared as well in most small passenger cars the Prius's size and weight.

Hopefully, I will never have to test out the newer safety features in my new 2012 Plug-in that I bought last night to replace the '10.

 

I am a bit banged up and having some trouble with my knees, but for the amount of energy involved in the crash, I am very happy with how I came through.

 

I am doing pretty good, now 6 days after the accident. The headrests did their job, and although my neck has been muscle-sore, it think it is going to be OK. My wife always nagged me to make sure the headrests were adjusted correctly, but I always hated how much they blocked my view. The backup camera really made it easy to keep the headrests adjusted to the right height, and I am thankful now I listened to her. During the collision, I actually felt the headrest come smack me in the back of the head, like it is supposed to. I also never saw it coming, as she never touched her brakes or made any other sound prior to the collision. I think being relaxed because I didn't see it coming also helped.

My knees are sore mostly from the shock wave that propagated up through the brake pedal and floorboard. There isn't really any bruising on the kneecaps, but my knees have bone bruising and swelling, which is making it painful to walk. The imaging says that it is just soft tissue damage, so I should recover.

As for a lawyer, I am covered on that front. The other side admitted liability for the entire accident to me and the insurance companies, so the only question is damages. So far, they have covered a rental car, and they said they will cover a new child car seat, but I haven't seen the amount they are going to allow on that. And they have agreed on a payout for the car.

Looking back on it, I should have made the claim through her insurance company rather than claiming through mine who. That would have given me more leverage, I think, but so far I don't really need more leverage. All that said, after four years of driving the 2010 Prius and 43k miles, I ended up getting 95% of what I paid for it back. Another testament to the Prius holding its value.


Funny comment about the coffee, Chris. That was also my first reaction. I saw the coffee all sprayed everywhere and I was angry that my coffee was gone and my shirt was ruined. Probably that thought popped up because it was a familiar one given how many times I have spilled coffee on myself on that stretch of road. That place is generally where my coffee is cool enough to start drinking, although this time I hadn't even started on it. After the accident and I was waiting for the tow truck, I inspected the coffee carefully for any signs that broken glass made it into the small opening in the cup. When I saw none, I drank what was left, cause wreck or no wreck, a guy has to have his coffee.

I was able to drive my car off to the side of the road to get out of the traffic. I wasn't able to open the driver's door, but I was able to crawl out the driver's side rear door.

Now the big question is whether I can re-use my GT Cover's custom seat covers from my 2010 III to my 2012 Plug-in. I don't really feel like crawling around in the 2012 to try the install yet, but maybe next weekend I can give it a try.

 

I have done everything I think I can, including getting checked out by chiropractor and doctor, so I think I have done everything I can to document my currents state. I am not sure what else can be done but wait and see. I can foresee the difficulty of linking the injury back to the accident, but I think I have done everything I can. I don't plan on settling the claim until I know the extent of my damages, even if that takes it out to the three year mark (our SOL in WA).

I never found out why she hit me, but I will say that I have driven by a number of wrecks in this exact place that were rear-end collisions like mine. The road goes up to 45 mph after a few stop lights, and just about the time you are getting up to speed, there is another stop light that sometimes gets a bit back up, like it was when I was hit. Obviously if you are looking where you are going, there shouldn't be an accident, but I think in this particular spot, it makes distracted drivers more likely to hit someone. It is also interesting that about a month ago the police were have emphasis patrols on distracted driving right along this corridor.