Crash

This is also true in the UK. Drivers have been known to be fined for eating a chocolate bar while stationary in a traffic jam, but I think some police would turn a blind eye to this. It is also an offence to drink even water while driving "this makes more sense" since you have to tilt your head back to swallow, unless using a straw.

John (Britprius)

 

Most states.........inattentive Driving is a crime. covers just about everything.
Eating
Drinking including coffee-sodas ect.
Cell phones
puting on make-up
I-Pads
Tuning radio

You get the idea. Everything!

They just need to enforce it!

 

A 2 day campaign won't have much of an effect. We need laws like they have in the UK where you get points on your license and gigantic fines on the spot. The problem is, the lawmakers are just as guilty as the rest so this won't be happening anytime soon.

 

If talking on the phone while driving is illegal, so should having any conversation. The conversation itself is the distraction because it shifts focus away from being attentive to the road to being attentive to another person.

Either all conversations should be made illegal, or all conversations should be permitted. There is nothing magical about phone conversations.

 

There has been much research into phone usage in vehicles in the UK, "and probably most other countries" and that research does not come up with that simple answer.
Obviously another person holding a conversation with you in a car must be distracting to some degree, but for some reason no where near as distracting as talking on a hands free phone. Adding the complication of holding a phone increases the risk further.

John (Britprius)

 

That's great! If I want my rear end of the car fixed at no cost, I'll come to Jersey, change lane right in front of another driver, right into his safety distance he had to the car in front of him and break as much as I can. He won't be able to stop, he'll be found guilty and I'll have my rear end of the car fixed for free.
Where I live, you're not automagically guilty. If you explain how it happened, you're not found guilty, because you just didn't have the time to create a new safety distance to the car, who changed lanes right in your existing safety distance and then started braking at full. Dashcam is just another safety net I have in my car in case that the other driver disputes the event.

Or maybe, at the stop light I can reverse my car and hit the car behind me. It will look like it's the fault of the driver behind me.
Maybe that's how it goes in Jersey, but it certainly doesn't go like this where I live. Oh and BTW, insurance is obligatory here.

 

Uh Oh...ignore that Impala. Keep thinking PIP....PIP...

 

From what I understand about no fault insurance (I seem to remember Ca nixing it here years ago) it only applies to physical injuries- not vehicle damage. The party determined to be at fault for the accident is responsible for damages to the victim(s) car(s). Injured parties agree not to sue unless damages exceed a set amount. I can imagine that rule might be set aside in cases involving extreme negligence, but I don't know that for a fact.
There have been scams here in California in which teams of drivers cause accidents by situating a "victims' car" in front of a (usually) high value car, then the other team car suddenly swoops and dives in front of the victim, causing a chain reaction in which the target car hits the victims' car, either causing it to hit the other scammer vehicle, or that vehicle scoots away. The victims' car will always have multiple passengers, and there are doctors, chiropractors, body shops, etc in on the scam. Result: high costs to insurance companies, which pass on the costs to their customers.
With regard to phone use, I'm sure the scammers would take that into account when picking a vehicle to target.
In any case, it is worthwhile to gather info on all passengers in any vehicle involved in an accident, so that more can't be added to the count after the fact. If the police are called out, they can usually be counted on to include identification of all drivers and passengers in their reports. If I were in a situation where I suspected a scam, I would try to get the police to respond, especially if there were complications in getting victims to identify themselves.

 

I was wondering how Chevy was getting such good reviews on the Impala....
Haven't been in one yet.

Condolences about the Pip, and I hope that you're not sore today!
Don't forget to go after the offender's insurance company for diminished value.

I hope everything works out. Looks more like cosmetic than frame damage.

Best of Luck!

 

That back up thing happened to me, he didnt get away with it. i suggest you come to jersey and try your little skeem, see what happens.

 

...sorry to hear El D. Impala? I'm thinking that WAS the car my Gramp used to drive. Is that possible?

 

duck dynasty dude!

Chia Willie

 

Yikes! Sorry to hear about that. I would be royalled pissed...Pissed to the point I'd take out my shotgun and go postal...kiddin.​

​

I spend most of my time on the road with my job. Put about 150,000kms on previous car without any accidents but a few major close calls all of which weren't my fault. I'm looking to get a dashcam in case some screws me over in a parking lot....OR a bigger horn to honk the retards that unknowingly change lanes into mine cutting me off.​

​

Good luck buddy.​

 

I wrote that as an example. And back to the point, just yesterday an Audi A8 overtook a female driver on the highway and then immediately breaked and as a result, she hit the A8 from behind. The driver of Audi drove away and the police are looking for him:
Google Translate

In your case, the female driver would be at fault, in my country's case, the driver of Audi A8 is at fault, he knows it and that's why he drove away.

 

Last night as I went to pick up some take out dinner, I was in the #3 lane, a local officer in the #2 lane beside me. Our light turned green and a woman went thru the red light right in front of us. Did the officer pull her over for obviously missing the green light by like 5 seconds... No.

Accidents happen because the police are just too lazy and not penalizing all the bad behavior.

 

While driving once, my light changed to red and for some reason it didn't even register to me that it had. I thought I was paying just as much attention as ever and was not distracted. I blew through it about 3 seconds after it had changed, and a police cruiser was stopped at the light in the oncoming lane. Somehow, the officer didn't notice and I received no tickets and thankfully didn't even come close to hitting anyone.

Sometimes I get bogus tickets, and sometimes I have dodged situations where I should have been cited. You win some and you loose some.