Got rear ended today just short of the main toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road going West today. Traffic stopped (including me) but the person behind me didn't. I now am the happy owner of a bumper with someone else's license plate indented into it. Looks to be all bumper surface damage. Everyone was ok, no air bag explosions. Everyone drove their cars home. Now to see how long it takes to get a new rear bumper. Can anyone recommend a Toyota body shop?
FYI, rear impacts will _not_ deploy airbags, only front (and side if so equipped) impacts will deploy airbags.
Sorry, should have mentioned that the person that hit me did not have their airbags deploy and mine didn't deploy when I was pushed into the car in front of me.
The skins and the foam under pad are normal stock in the warehouse for your region. I'd check with the Toyota dealer and see if they can recommend a good shop, might even have a body shop of their own, or one that several dealer use.
Interestingly enough, most of the Prius accidents that I've heard about have been people getting rear-ended in the car. Maybe they're just getting so distracted trying to read the Hybrid Synergy Drive emblem that they're forgetting to hit the brakes... Dave.
That makes me worry. I don't want my baby getting hit. A lot of the peope around here get rear ended all the time. No i have higher chance of it
I heartily recommend Precision Collision. I had a close encounter with a concrete pole in my parking garage that left deep gouges in the rear bumper of my three-week old Salsa Red. They patched (and painted) it very nicely. Precision Collision 7901 Kincannon Place Hilltop Industrial Park Lorton, VA (703) 550-9777 1 (866) PCI-REPR Fax (703) 550-1770 E-mail: [email protected]
So you exchanged insurance info and everything, right? I've always wondered what you're suppose to do after you get rear-ended. I've heard that its actually better to release your brakes, so that they don't absorb all of the energy of the collision. Release your brakes for a split second, and then stop hard the moment right after impact. Anyone know if that's just hot air?
You won't have much time to think about it during a collision unless you practice. Also, it would seem safer to hold the brakes to prevent your car from rolling into other cars or oncoming traffic. Rear-ending collisions would be much less common if people would actually look a few feet ahead of their dashboard. Watch two or three cars ahead of you and you will be a much safer driver. End of mini-rant. Of course, if bumpers were actually bumpers like they were in the 1970s, these minor collisions would not cause any damage! BTW, sorry about your car jkaplan.
Thanks. As I said, I did end up slightly tapping the car in front of me due to being push forward a bit by the collision. I don't recall if I released my brakes or not. I have to agree, there isn't too much time to think about it. Traffic stopped abruptly. I was worried about stopping my own car, let alone worry about getting hit. I think the person behind me wasn't looking too far ahead, instead she was focused on the (formerly) lovely rear end of my prius. For those that want details, we immediately pulled our vehicles to the side of the road, as that stretch of the toll road is pretty heavily traveled. After making sure everyone was ok, we all exchanged driver licenses and insurance cards. I copied down names, address, phone numbers, driver license numbers, car makes and models, license plate info, insurance companies and policy numbers. What I didn't get was year of the vehicles involved and whether they were two or four doors. For some reason, all the insurance companies cared about that. I wasn't about to go walking in traffic to see whether the car that hit me had four doors or two. Anyway, the person I was pushed into was smart enough to get VINs for all the cars involved, which helped a great deal once I called her to get that info. Next time, I will copy EVERYTHING from the license and insurance card, then walk over to the other vehicle and copy the VIN from the car itself. As of now, I have an appointment on Friday at a Toyota Certified Body shop to get the damage inspected. This body shop also happens to be on the list that the insurance (state farm) company likes, so the repair should be straight forward. They messed up my fine " Rear bumper applique", so I'll be getting a new one of those as well. Didn't seem to protect the bumper at all. :lol:
I read a great article some years back. The husband set up all the information for his wife's car and put it all in an envelope in the glove box. In the case of an accident, all she needed to do was open the envelope. Contents: A list of things to do when in an accident Insurance papers Vehicle information Disposable camera for documentation One note reading: "It's only a car and totally replaceable. if you're reading this note, you're okay and that's all that matters. I love you." I made a similar kit for my and my wife's cars.
I've been rear-ended twice (not in my Prius!) and both times I saw it coming and instinctively pushed my brake down hard and pressed my head back into the headrest before the impact. I highly recommend this course of action. In the first accident it prevented me from rolling into cross traffic at an intersection, and in the second it kept me from slamming into the car in front of me -- which would have added a third car to the accident and another chance to get whiplash. I also feel that, in general, if someone is going to slam into you their neck deserves to take more of the acceleration than yours. In both cases I hardly moved.
I know how you feel. My baby is only 8 months old. Driving home to Chesapeake from DC this week, I hit/straddled what looked like a CV joint on the highway. There was no avoiding it. Now I have a grinding, rattleing sound from under the car. No sound when in electric motor mode, only engine. Looks like a cross brace was bent upward into the muffler. Today we're going to jack up the car, get under it and see if we can do a fix yourself job. I guess I can look at this as another true bondng experience with my little rocket car.
04 tideland bc Port Townsend, Wa TonyPSchaefer, thanks for the tip on making an accident packet. I'll do it for my wife and myself - great tip! Harry
Yup, it's a good idea - when you get hit, you're often too POed/shook-up to make good decisions, so having a simple list of things to do is a very good idea. I already keep a disposable camera in the car though, I learned that when I saw someone else who hit me (thankfully a few weeks pre-prius) snapped photos of my Corolla to document that the fender popped-back without any damage. Dave.
Update Just a small update. My baby is back from Koons collision repair center, good as new. As I suspected, it was just the rear bumper. They did a great job with her and she's good as new.
