I can't believe I've been hit.

Sorry to hear about your beautiful car, Godiva! Good luck getting it all handled!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jan 8 2007, 11:02 AM) [snapback]372461[/snapback]</div>

I have a small business in N. Indiana. There is a small parking lot. A semi driver pulls in with a really, really long trailer during the late evening hours. Low and behold, he doesn't know how to back it out. So he tries turning it around on the pavement for a good fifteen minutes or so, cracking the cement. Finding that it won't make it, He looks to his right and sees my neighbors drive way. Of course the neighbors drive is 400 feet across the yard. Deciding that he could make it he drives down over the curb, catching the legs of the trailer in the yard. - "Golly, I wonder if it won't go as fast dragging that fellows irrigation system." - So what do you do when you are dragging 300 feet of poly pipe, 15 sprinkler heads and a driveway reflector? Do you stop, get out, ask for help? nope, you gun it, dig the drive wheels down through the sod and get totally stuck, requiring that a really really big wrecker come pull you out. (side note, he was gonna come inside and tell someone about the damage just as soon as he got it on the road again).

So what is the bright side? The next morning in the middle of all the carnage, a fresh mole hole and tunnel.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Jan 8 2007, 02:01 PM) [snapback]372702[/snapback]</div>

Standard safety protocol for police training is that when you are behind another vehicle, you should be able to see the vehicles rear tires. If you cannot clearly see the rear tires, you are too close. This protocol provides a good rule of thumb for distance and safety.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jan 8 2007, 10:24 AM) [snapback]372543[/snapback]</div>

Are you sure about this?

Are you sure you're not now, say, feeling some neck and back pain. Some pain and suffering that you need to be compensated for by the pr*ck that hit you?

 

Godive, back box might work, but don't dicount photosw/ some type of measuring stick inthem. I you were trying to stopquickly, a'la rear ender, your ront would be ay dow and yur damages would not math up while leve. If they are level, ngo, he backed into you OR you coasted into him. Woul depend a lot on hs story.

I solved a lot of "he said/she said' crashes by this type of investigatio.

 

The advertisement on tv for Allstate Insurance has a bunch of tips for those that are in accidents. One of them is to have a camera with you at all times, and take pictures of said accident. Damage to the car, and where all involved vehicles are at the time of accident. You might come out ahead that way. Watch for the commericals. I am sure they will be doing them again soon. It's either Allstate or State Farm can't remember which but I thought it was a darn good commerical

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jan 8 2007, 01:24 PM) [snapback]372543[/snapback]</div>

For cosmetic damage like that you won't have much, if any, depreciated value.

What a drag...

If it makes you feel better I have been front ended twice in my life in very similar situations.

I was also driving one day about a year ago and I see this nice white new Lotus Elise (a VERY small 2 seater sports car) coming out of a gas station and waiting for traffic to clear. At the same time an econoline van pulls into the station. The Lotus was honking and honking, but the guy in the Econoline just ran into him, and up onto his hood head on. I can't imagine what the guy must have been looking at, but to hit a stopped car head first?

Morons are everywhere.

 

Sorry that happened. I would think (after watching a bunch of CSI, so forgive me if this seems stupid), but I would think there would be way to prove that you were standing still whilst they backed into you. Maybe the way the paint scraps...anyway, good luck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TJandGENESIS @ Jan 10 2007, 03:23 AM) [snapback]373516[/snapback]</div>

Or tire marks. If Godiva ran into him, she most likely would have hit the brakes. And since she didn't, there were no brake marks. Hopefully this is a moot point and the other guy did the right thing (see a couple posts up).

Sorry it happened, Godiva.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jan 10 2007, 01:41 AM) [snapback]373498[/snapback]</div>

And those values are not really applicable any way once you go get estimates on the value of your car from dealerships etc. The highest value you"ll get is good or fair even on a car that is absolutely flawless. The actual reality of it is that a dealership looking to resell a car realizes that a car is going to have body work at some point during its usable life. For instance Lexus will not allow a car to be Certified Pre-Owned if it has more than two body panels repainted. If it has two, they sit it right next to a car with none and price it the same way. This is especially a non-issue with bumpers. Dealers don't care how many times you've had bumpers replaced.

You're also getting gaught up in the whole "My Prius is the most advanced car ever made and has to be worked on by demi-Gods" thing, its a crock of BS. Its just a car, and you have very minor damage that anybody who does bodywork can repair. "Toyota certified shops" are a misnomer, they don't really exist. Dealerships make referral arrangements with body shops that pay them for the referrals, has nothing to do with quality. The Prius is no more expensive to repair than any other car, and no more difficult for something like that. As far as the VIN, body work is not logged on the VIN record, only maintenance work done at Toyota dealers is. You probably don't want to use a dealership shop anyways since you almost always get better quality out of a referred independent shop so thats a non-issue.

And yes, the insurance aduster can look at your car and his car and tell that you were standing still by how the damage is laid down.

I've done a lot of research into this subject, I've worked with car dealerships for a long time, and I know someone who is a car appraiser. Believe me, this is not a big deal. Its a shame that it happened, but you're blowing it out of proportion. Its a daily driven car, and these things are going to happen.

 

Godiva... so sorry to hear that there are just as many idiots in your neighborhood as there are in mine.

when you talked to him did he give any indication that he would own up to what he did???

if not, i would post an add in the paper looking for witnesses. the sooner you do this the better, memories fade fast here. its a long shot sure, but the notice cost can be claimed as well.

the black box sounds good, but you may need a court order to get the info and it most likely would not have recorded the incident because the collision was so minor. if you drive it at all, that may cause the info to be overwritten.

i had a driver hit me in the parking lot on my 04. i saw him do it along with a half dozen others, and he ended up writing me a check for $250 to keep from filing a claim. guess he didnt want the fact that he hit a parked car on his record. but i had witnesses and that undoubtedly went a long way in convincing him to pay up.

 

You have my sympathies.

I had one like that. In one of the parking garages at work all the lanes are one way, but some people don't like to go around to a parking space and just go the wrong way, fast.

One day a big pickup truck came around a corner the wrong way head-on into me. I swerved to the right and swiped a column with the right side of the car but he missed me. Of course he didn't stop.

I tried to explain to the insurance company that what I did was better than if I had not swerved and had wedged my little doorstop front-end under his tire, but they didn't really care.

If I had hit him, the car might have been totaled and I might have been injured, but my driving record would have been fine. Instead, it required a little paint and minor body work, but I lost my 5-year without an at-fault accident discount.

Sometimes you can't win.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ Jan 10 2007, 03:47 PM) [snapback]373693[/snapback]</div>

Do you have practical experience here? The damage would be the same if 1) Godiva, w/o braking, coasts into car in front, and 2) Godiva, being stopped, is coasted into from car backing in front. W/O seeing the actual scene for debris, how would looking at both cars sitting days later in a tow yard do this?

You suffer, methinks, from CSI-itus!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jan 11 2007, 01:40 AM) [snapback]374016[/snapback]</div>

Yes but the blue book value has very little to do with the actual value of your car, even to a private party. Its simply a guideline. The KBB simply says a car can only be considered "Excellent" if its had zero paintwork, and extremely few cars would be considered excellent anyways.

And no, it doesn't go on the VIN history that someone pulls from a Toyota dealer. It MIGHT wind up on a Carfax, but I doubt it.

Anyways its a daily driven car, someone was gonna slam into it at some point. Relax, you got it over with.

Yes. As I told you before I have a friend who is an insurance appraiser, and I had a car hit in a parking lot one time that was a hit and run. My insurance company sent an appraiser out and he took measurements and shots of the car from multiple angles to insure that I was telling the truth and that my car was stationary at the time (for a while they tried to tell me I did it while moving). Its not perfect, but they can tell a lot from simply the damage on one car, not even two. For one they can tell that Godiva was not braking heavily due to there being no nose squat.

And I don't watch CSI, its stupid.

 

I have been rear-ended twice in 2 years. Both times as soon as I determined no injuries involved and wehad the cars pulled safely over, I identified the driver and then asked them to write a note about what just happened and sign it to keep my from calling the cops. I gave them the choice, writea note, you just rear-ended my car stoped at signal light, or call the cops right now to report accident. Both times they wrote the note signed and dated it. This, in my opinion, prevented them from cvhanging their story once they talked to their friend, spouse, etc. No issues and their insurance paid in full with rental car coverage. I also of course carry a camera and quickly snap a picture or two before the cars are moved.

 

Hmmm just how much info does the Prius's "black box", which I think they have, record?

I ask because all that needs to be proven is that your car was at 0MPH when it was hit. Which either means you threw your Prius at the car or something hit you.

Hmmm. :huh:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cairo94507 @ Jan 13 2007, 12:27 PM) [snapback]375187[/snapback]</div>

Sorry but you should ALWAYS call the cops even if its a minor kiss to the bumper. Having an official record, and statement is always preferable to a I said they said situation. If nothing else it goes a long way towards verifying that both parties were up and walking. And most cops have enough training to be able to spot who was at fault in a second.