Sheesh! Last night I stopped behind someone turning left and a little old man rammed into me. I've only had the car 5 months and been rear ended twice! Neither of us was hurt but the bumper was a ratty mess. The bumper protects you but it's not very good at protecting itself. Ah well. Back to the old repair shop again.
Sure you don’t have a big bull’s eye on the back of your car? :roll: That sucks! :x:x:x I wish/wonder if Toyota has a program that will allow for Prius owners who have their new Prius totaled to go back to the head of the waiting list. It would be a nice gesture from Toyota that would cost little to implement, and a nice insurance for Prius owner that we would not have to revert back to a inferior product. Being #1 on the wait list now, I would be glad to allow someone who had their car totaled to cut in front of me, knowing that someday I may receive the same benefit.
man sorry to hear about your wreck.... maybe you should get it painted... YELLOW... was the guy who hit you wanting to know about hybrid cars? Bob
True of most modern cars. All built to protect the integrity of the passenger compartment by adsorbing the energy (through destruction) in the surrounding parts of the car rather than transmitting that energy into the passenger compartment and its occupants.
avoiding a rear-ender I'm sorry about your wrecks. I have been worried about the same thing happening to me and would like to augment the existing brake lights by either adding an LED strip or two that would come on and maybe flash in a pattern, or adding a flasher module to the existing center brake light. I saw a Jimmy's light flashing today. It goes steady after a certain length of time I believe. Any knowlidge of the legality of messing with brake lights? Tia, Jon
oh right... lets face it, nothing will stop people from ramming you. you could have a flashing neon sign mounted to the hatchback and that wouldnt stop a thing. considering that you have had two already, you dont think your driving style is contributing to your being hit?
I've been hit twice in my BMW. The first time I was merging on a freeway and someone came up behind me too fast and couldn't slow down. Only damaged the bumper but that was 2100 to fix. plus 3 weeks in a body shop... no idea why it took so long. The second time I was completely stopped on the freeway because of traffic. Someone came up behind, for some reason didn't want to stop so they merged into the carpool lane and hit another driver. Who then hit me and finally the original driver hit me as well. 7500 to fix that. plus 4 weeks in a body shop. I hope I don't get hit in the Prius. But I know at least it won't cost nearly as much.
i did see a special on one of the newsmagazine shows that detailed people in LA doing insurance scams by luring people to rear end them. but most of those scams involved two people. but the insurance companies always side with the hittee and not the hitter. in their mind, if you rear end someone you are either not paying attention or are following too close. in the insurance scam, the lead car would suddenly slam on their brakes for no reason and would nearly always get the car behind them to connect. i laughed when they chronicled on scam artist who was paralyzed when the trailing car was an old lady who never even hit her brakes. i did feel guilty (only a little~!!~) afterwards... but what comes around, goes around. i do get somewhat nervous when people follow real close when im coasting in town.
I'm sorry to hear about your accident. Fortunately, you were able to walk away and have your Prius too! My first car was a Subaru Outback; one evening I was stopped waiting for a left turn when a Silverado barreled into the back of me and shoved me into the Sienna in front of me. The impact was so hard, that the front airbags deployed. It was a good opportunity for a 16 year old guy to not have to drive a purple station wagon anymore ... I got a Prius! Unfortunately now us Prius owners is that Prius is our first choice car, and there is a huge waiting list. Any accident that totals our car would leave us in the wind for a while. I hope that happens to no one here. On a slightly different topic, my neck hurt quite a bit from the accident. I went to the IIHS website and found out that the 2000 Outback only earned a Marginal rating for head restraint geometry. The more I think about it, the head restraint didn't come up high enough or close enough to my head. About 1 year later my stepdad was waiting at a stop light when a new F-250 rear ended him going 40 mph. My stepfather didn't even have a sore neck! It turns out, his 2003 Saab 9-5 has an advanced active head restraint system that pushes forward and upward on your head as it tilts back in an accident. That headrest design got a Good rating from the IIHS. The Prius 2001-3 and 2004 got a Good rating as well from the IIHS. What interests me is that the NHTSA says that the 2001-3 and 2004 Prius has a dynamic head restraint. (Similar to the Saab and Volvo)... I have heard about Toyota's WILS (Whiplash Injury Lessening System), but how does it work? The Saab and Nissan/Infinity system pushes forward and upward on your head. Volvo tilts the seat back, but what does Toyota's system do? Do we actually have an active whiplash reduction system?
i think what they are referring to and something that not all know is that your headrest is adjustable. there are buttons where the post goes into the seat you can push to move the headrest up or down.
Only if you think stopping behind a stopped vehicle is a bad driving style I was hit the same way a few years ago, fairly slow impact and I saw him coming. I was waiting to turn left with no one in front of me so I took my foot off the brake. No damage to my car, but his front bumper and headlight were messed up. My daughter's skating coach was hit at speed while stopped on the interstate. Totaled her mother's 2 week old leased Explorer. Some people just don't pay attention.
Wouldn't it be great if the engine block and trunk were to the left and right of the passenger compartment, instead of in front and behind it? Without that battering ram in front of the car, the driver at fault in most accidents (rear ending, running a red light and hitting another car in the side) would be the one most seriously injured. Maybe people would drive a little slower and more carefully then.
Thanks for all the comments. It's annoying having to drive a rental Camry that smells like a cheap hotel room but in a week or so I'll have the Prius back so it's not that bad. It did get me thinking about the guy who's Prius was totalled. Boy that would be tough. Us Prius owners are really spoiled. After having one I wouldn't want anything else but having to wait for another 6 months to get one, that'd be hard. Maybe I'd buy a cheap clunker to carry me around until the Prius was ready. Or maybe get a Vespa for the time being. do not know. While driving the Camry I keep looking at the radio to see where I'm at. I didn't realize how much I rely on the GPS map until I started driving this car. Like I said, Us Prius owners are really spoiled. By the way, anyone know someone who got a Prius but was unhappy with the purchase? I haven't heard of anyone yet.
There was a on the board called boa8 from Switzerland who wasn't happy. I think he decided to sell up and get a BMW 1-series. I forget what the main source of his dissatisfaction was.
I too was rear ended in my new Prius. My husband was driving and I was the passenger. We were stopped at a red light. A guy in a new Chevy truck pulled up behind us and stopped. He reached down to fiddle with his radio when his foot slipped off the brake and BOOM, he hit us. The Prius started to make all sorts of beeps and alarms went off. There was a dent in the rear hatch and at the bumper too. $1500 to fix. He had no insurance!!! The dealership checked all codes and said there was no damage to any part of the electrical system. The alarms sure scared me though. Did your car set off alarms when hit?
Has anyone had the front or side-curtain airbags deploy in an accident? Are they strong enough to break an arm if it's in the way, like the warnings say?
That's not nice. What would making a turn have to do with driving style. It's the other cars fault for not paying attention, or not allowing safe space. Too bad everyone is in such a hurry. He/she just happened to get whacked twice by a dumb drivers that's all. People drive like idiots. In CA you are supposed to be one car length per each 10 mphs you are going behind the car in front of you. That gives you enough safe space to stop safely. But people just have to take it away from you because they are in such a hurry to get someplace one minute faster than you. Morons
I had someone back into me while I was parked, with me still in the car. It took a week to fix, and his insurance paid to rent me a Chevy Cobalt. Talk about a stripped down car - not even so much as power locks. I am sooooo happy to have my Prius back!
Probably simple bad luck, but we have to ask: do you tend to hit the brakes hard? Do you drive in "B"?
My bumper got hit twice, both times while my car was parked and I wasn't around. The first time there was a good gash from bumper and the cost would be right around my deductible, so I decided to buy a custom (5" square) bumper-sticker to cover the gash. Two days after I put it on, I got hit the second time. Arrrggghhh! The only thing I'm glad is that I didn't replace the bumper the first time. Gary
