Car Accidents: I hate them

[Kratos]

I caused a couple of minor accidents when I was young (and REALLY stupid). Fortunately no one was hurt, and today I drive extremely safely compared to my youthful habits. Looking back on it, it is astounding that anyone is allowed to get behind the wheel of a car at age 16, let alone me.

I say this about a dozen times a month: It is waaay too easy to get(and keep) a license in this country.


This is a sucky deal, but the guys have good advice here. You always have to watch out for the other guy. As someone who runs lots of stop signs, I am very, very well-versed in making sure I have a clear lane.

As an observation, not related tho this, the only thing people lie about more than what they did in an accident is how many beers they have had when they get stopped driving drunk. With rare exceptions, one of the parties always twists something around.

 

[Mr. Clean]

... Parking lots are some of the worst accident havens, especially when they're crowded.

I don't have the specifc percentages that Kratos may have, but I agree with the idea. Nowhere do I feel more vulnerable to another driver's actions than in a parking lot, crowded or not. People operating a motor vehicle, while clueless is a pet peeve. And don't get me started on door dings.

Good luck on getting your vehicle repaired properly. Hopefully in another month or so this will be nothing more than a distant memory.

 

[OldSaw]

Sounds unusual to me that a ticket can be issued for a parking lot accident. If it was off a public road, I would definitely fight it.

In Wisconsin, parking lot accidents are usually treated as "no fault" even though we are not a "no fault" state on the roads. Plus, anything that occurs on private property is not subject to moving violation laws.

 

[Mr. Clean]

Sounds unusual to me that a ticket can be issued for a parking lot accident. If it was off a public road, I would definitely fight it.

In Wisconsin, parking lot accidents are usually treated as "no fault" even though we are not a "no fault" state on the roads. Plus, anything that occurs on private property is not subject to moving violation laws.

I don't have first hand knowledge, but I believe that is true in Texas.

 

[Mycon]

So in Maryland they can write tickets for accidents they didn't see? That's a messed-up deal you got there. Yielding doesn't matter when the other driver is a moron. Too bad there weren't any witnesses. Parking lots are some of the worst accident havens, especially when they're crowded.

It's the same for Utah, even though we're supposed to be no-fault. In my first accident, I got ticketed despite the officer not being there and the vehicles being moved from the impact point.
For reference, this was the one where I was making a left turn on a green arrow and got hit by the guy in the oncoming lane. I found out later that the law here basically states that if you are making a left turn and get hit, then you are guilty until proven innocent.

To the OP- Uggg I H-A-T-E car accidents! I'm up to 5 now, and not A SINGLE ONE was my fault. I'll bet you're with me about that horrible sound of crunching metal following you into your nightmares.

 

[TinFish]

Anyone who doesn't hate car accidents shouldn't be on the road. But they still happen even to the most cautious drivers. I'm sure it varies from state to state, but according to what my insurance guy tells me, you shouldn't have too much to worry about - insurance wise.
If you don't have DWI's, personal injury accidents, or more than a couple moving violations in a calendar year, you will not have raised too many red flags by your insurance company. Your insurance rates are based on generalizations and statistics (risk categories) Your parents will pay through the nose to have a young driver in the household, regardless of how good a driver you may be. When you turn 25, your premiums will go down because it's assumed you're more responsible being in that age group. When you get married, it's assumed you're more resposible yet etc...
My rates went down when I turned 50, just because 50+ year old drivers are perceived to be safer drivers. Never mind that I'm going blind and deaf, and my reflexes are shot, I'm 50, and that means I'm a better driver! I guess what I'm trying to say is, If you stay clean of the really serious stuff, you'll be ok.
As long as your parents are responsible for you, take their lectures like the responsible man you are, and know how relieved they are that nobody was hurt, especially you. You have survived to enjoy a life time of great shaves. Enjoy. Now, help me off my soap box and I'll be on my way...

 

[Unknownsoldier]

This is just plain dumb, you "yielded"????, edged out and to you it was clear (how can you help it if she comes out of nowhere?), how can a motorist exceeding the limit (Yes, I do it, not gonna get into the whole speed thing....), in the UK, that would be their fault as you would technically only have had an infraction (US term, but it's not like you went speeding straight through the sign), in the UK, the Porsche driver would have got charged with Dangerous driving, I would have thought.... that's like 6 points, a hefty fine and the possibility of losing their license. You guys seem to be able to get as many tickets as you want without fear of losing your licenses....... we get 3 points per speeding violation (thats the average thing people get pulled for, but it runs between 1-9 points dependant upon law broken), and we only get 12 points on our license overall..... thats like 4 speeding fines! I keep watching "speeders - US" with people getting caught doing like 140mph (I believe Arizona you can only get a fine for speeding no matter the speed as a Bugatti was recently clocked at 210mph and he got like a $400 fine thats the way to do it ;-) ) and they just shrug it off, over here anything over 100mph is generally a ban.... Odd... never gonna get this Yield thing, they seem to place the signs wherever they like...

But the US do seem to enforce the stop sign rules, unlike over here......

Bad luck mate, find her and shave it's tyres bald ;-)

Tom

 

[Unknownsoldier]

Never mind that I'm giong blind and deaf, and my reflexes are shot, I'm 50, and that means I'm a better driver!

This is the same as happened with my nan, 70+++ blind (cataracts), deaf and absolutely no idea of how to drive on a modern road........ she took ten minutes of hand shuffling to turn the wheel for a corner...... she even moaned at me when we were on the motorway that at 65mph, I was going too fast, she would no doubt be happy doing 40mph in the inside lane ;-) God rest her, she was a nightmare ;-) LOL, but she got insurance about one tenth of my insurance...... how is that fair?

 

[Jethro1984]

As an observation, not related tho this, the only thing people lie about more than what they did in an accident is how many beers they have had when they get stopped driving drunk. With rare exceptions, one of the parties always twists something around.

Ocifer I promise ewwww.....I olny had twwwwooo BEERS! THAT's it!

It was always fun to see how they did on FST's.

 

[Kratos]

It's the same for Utah, even though we're supposed to be no-fault. In my first accident, I got ticketed despite the officer not being there and the vehicles being moved from the impact point.
For reference, this was the one where I was making a left turn on a green arrow and got hit by the guy in the oncoming lane. I found out later that the law here basically states that if you are making a left turn and get hit, then you are guilty until proven innocent.

To the OP- Uggg I H-A-T-E car accidents! I'm up to 5 now, and not A SINGLE ONE was my fault. I'll bet you're with me about that horrible sound of crunching metal following you into your nightmares.

That's bull. If you have a green arrow that means oncoming traffic has a red. I don't see how they can say you are at fault for being hit in an intersection where the other driver disregarded a red light. If that's how the law is written the legislature needs to have a little revision session. Witnesses are golden at accidents. Especially if they have no stake in it. This girl cut through an intersection and got broadsided, then tried to say it was the guy who hit her's fault. The guy next to him had to swerve to avoid her. She actually called the PD to talk to me and get me to alter the report somehow. Poor knucklehead.

Wrecks aren't so bad. But I looove driving, and I am used to crazy situations. When I was younger, if my car was sideways it was on purpose.

 

[KarthVader]

My Mom called the insurance company to let them know there had been an accident. Apparently, a lady from the insurance company is supposed to call me and ask me about the accident. No one has called so far, so we'll see what happens. I'm going to the collision shop today; hopefully that won't be too brutal as far as repair costs go. I started reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt today and got a lot a of exercise this morning, so I feel much better about the accident and I'm not so depressed about it. Anyway, cheers to you all and here's to no more accidents and defensive driving!

 

[TimMechEngr]

That's unfortunate. I'd be upset too. I'm still in Physical Therapy from my accident on 3/31/09 where I was directly rear ended by a Jeep while I was stopped waiting to make a left hand turn. My Isuzu was totalled, which sucked, because the vehicle had great sentimental value to me. Meh.

Anyway, I don't think you will get dinged too badly on the insurance. Most insurance companies will give you a freebie on the first one but they will take away your "accident-free" status for several years. Check your policy and see if you have this option. I know both State Farm and Allstate offer it.

I too was once rear-ended while stopped waiting to make a left hand turn. The first thing the driver said to me was, "Did you not see me in your rear view mirror?! If you had just moved up a little bit, I would not have hit you!" The guy reported to his insurance company (Allstate) that I had suddenly slammed on my brakes. There were no witnesses, and North Carolina is a No Fault state, and that meant that if I, even as little as 0.5 percent, contributed in any way to the accident occurrence, the insurance company doesn't have to pay a single dime to me. And, they didn't. No one was physically hurt from this, but the next time you think the guy behind you is always responsible for rear ending you, think again. Anyway, I am sorry to hear about your injuries.

 

[Mycon]

That's bull. If you have a green arrow that means oncoming traffic has a red. I don't see how they can say you are at fault for being hit in an intersection where the other driver disregarded a red light. If that's how the law is written the legislature needs to have a little revision session..

The problem was, there were no witnesses and he claimed that he also had a green light. Yeah, the law says that in a situation like this then it's the left-turner who is at fault for not watching traffic.
The physics of the impact screamed that he had only started moving after I was already making the turn (he hit my passenger-side wheel with the dead center of his grill.)

There was something wrong with this entire incident, and I suspect that he hit me on purpose to get rid of an old junker. His mother was an insurance agent who would know these things, and the car was so old and beat up that even her company wouldn't give it anything other than liability. After the accident they tried to claim it as a "classic" car and demanded a bunch of money from my insurance. Fortunately, my company sided with me and since I decided to pay $100 and do 1 night in traffic school, the ticket isn't on my record and he didn't get a dime.

The sad part is, after the traffic class (which I actually enjoyed since it was very informative) I talked to the officer who taught it. I explained the incident and even he didn't know why I got the blame for it.

I'd ask the legislature to revise the law, but I don't have any money so they wouldn't listen to me anyway

 

[Mr. Clean]

I too was once rear-ended while stopped waiting to make a left hand turn. The first thing the driver said to me was, "Did you not see me in your rear view mirror?! If you had just moved up a little bit, I would not have hit you!" The guy reported to his insurance company (Allstate) that I had suddenly slammed on my brakes. There were no witnesses, and North Carolina is a No Fault state, and that meant that if I, even as little as 0.5 percent, contributed in any way to the accident occurrence, the insurance company doesn't have to pay a single dime to me. And, they didn't. No one was physically hurt from this, but the next time you think the guy behind you is always responsible for rear ending you, think again. Anyway, I am sorry to hear about your injuries.

In Texas (I am pretty certain that this is still the case) if you are rear-ended it is the other driver's fault unless you are in reverse. As for slamming on the brakes excuse, they would be cited for following too close.

 

[OldSaw]

This is just plain dumb, you "yielded"????, edged out and to you it was clear (how can you help it if she comes out of nowhere?), how can a motorist exceeding the limit (Yes, I do it, not gonna get into the whole speed thing....), in the UK, that would be their fault as you would technically only have had an infraction (US term, but it's not like you went speeding straight through the sign), in the UK, the Porsche driver would have got charged with Dangerous driving, I would have thought.... that's like 6 points, a hefty fine and the possibility of losing their license. You guys seem to be able to get as many tickets as you want without fear of losing your licenses....... we get 3 points per speeding violation (thats the average thing people get pulled for, but it runs between 1-9 points dependant upon law broken), and we only get 12 points on our license overall..... thats like 4 speeding fines! I keep watching "speeders - US" with people getting caught doing like 140mph (I believe Arizona you can only get a fine for speeding no matter the speed as a Bugatti was recently clocked at 210mph and he got like a $400 fine thats the way to do it ;-) ) and they just shrug it off, over here anything over 100mph is generally a ban.... Odd... never gonna get this Yield thing, they seem to place the signs wherever they like...

But the US do seem to enforce the stop sign rules, unlike over here......

Bad luck mate, find her and shave it's tyres bald ;-)

Tom

FYI, here in the U.S., each state has their own laws, which are fairly similar. Here in Wisconsin, we have the same as you, a 12 point system. Some of the states out west, where there is less traffic and a lot of space, laws may be more lax. The instances of speeding beyond 100 MPH are not common around where I live. The stuff you see in the news is the extreme. Most people speed 5-10 MPH. Since I hold a commercial drivers license, I drive the speed limit or a little under, as a ticket in my car is the same as one in a commercial vehicle.

 

[blackfoot]

So in Maryland they can write tickets for accidents they didn't see? That's a messed-up deal you got there. Yielding doesn't matter when the other driver is a moron. Too bad there weren't any witnesses. Parking lots are some of the worst accident havens, especially when they're crowded.

Several states are like that. I was involved in an accident down in Florida. They have to ticket the person at fault. The officer was apologizing to me because she knew there was nothing I could do and felt really bad.

In Indiana, they do not have to, but can.

Some stop signs do not allow you to see oncoming traffic unless you "nose out" a little bit. This could be from bushes, parked cars, the person next to you in the Suburban.

This is something people do not seem to remember. I know of an intersection that has a stop sign, then a railroad track, and then a road immediately on the other side. Of course the tracks are built up high enough that from a pick up truck, you can't see across. Two incidents that happened at the same track, to the same guy. He got ticketed for running a stop sign because he stopped where he could see the intersection. Several months later, he stopped at the sign, then pulled forward to stop where he could see the intersection. This time he was struck by a train. It should be noted that there is a curve and he couldn't see the train coming. Also, neighbors had complained about the train whistles in the wee hours, so they quit blaring the horn like they are supposed to. The first thing he saw was the headlight coming around the curve. He almost made it off the tracks.

Extra info to a great story: He wasn't wearing a seat belt and was ejected through the rear window of his pick up. The engineer could see the body bounce off the side of the train. My friend Wayne woke up along side the stopped train. He got up and looked around and saw a farmer hurrying over. About that time a aggressive dog almost attacked him. The farmer called it back, however Wayne stated the first thing he thought was, "Oh great. I survive getting hit by a train to be killed by a dog."

The conductor came walking up to Wayne and the farmer asking where the body was. He didn't believe Wayne at first and he had already radioed in that he had killed someone. Wayne wanted to go on to work but the hospital wouldn't let him. They said he would feel it soon enough. Wayne said by night time, he couldn't hardly move.

From that day forward, he was known as Freight Train Wayne.

I'm not sure that's uncommon. I once got a ticket after a (thankfully minor) accident in Ohio that the cop didn't see.

Ohio is the worse!

Sounds unusual to me that a ticket can be issued for a parking lot accident. If it was off a public road, I would definitely fight it.

In Wisconsin, parking lot accidents are usually treated as "no fault" even though we are not a "no fault" state on the roads. Plus, anything that occurs on private property is not subject to moving violation laws.

I was under the impression it was a lane between two lots. In Indiana, police won't even write a report on most accidents in parking lots. It's just an info exchange.

Ocifer I promise ewwww.....I olny had twwwwooo BEERS! THAT's it!

It was always fun to see how they did on FST's.

Amazing, no one ever drinks more than two.

My Mom called the insurance company to let them know there had been an accident. Apparently, a lady from the insurance company is supposed to call me and ask me about the accident. No one has called so far, so we'll see what happens. I'm going to the collision shop today; hopefully that won't be too brutal as far as repair costs go. I started reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt today and got a lot a of exercise this morning, so I feel much better about the accident and I'm not so depressed about it. Anyway, cheers to you all and here's to no more accidents and defensive driving!

Word of caution. The other driver's insurance may call you and try to get information out of you or to tell your side of the story. Be very careful and don't ell them anything you don't have to. They always tell you not to tell the police it was your fault, even when it was. The same principle here.

The problem was, there were no witnesses and he claimed that he also had a green light.

As Kratos stated, people will always lie about this and eye-witness testimonies are the most unreliable thing in the world.

 

[Oden_Flagship]

My brother got into a car accident a few years ago and when the cop asked him how fast he was going my brother said that he was traveling at about 66 miles per hour and then was written a ticket for exceeding the speed limit by 1 mph.

A few months ago I got rear ended by a girl who did not have insurance at all. The damage was minor but frustrating because I pay 1500 dollars a year for two cars to be insured and other people obviously have little regard for anybody else on the road.

I would say that you did have to nose out and I've seen a lot of parking lots that the road is very close to the driveway to exit the parking lot and while you had disadvantages - she did have the right of way no matter how sucky that is. Hope you're feelin better by now.

 

[Mycon]

Well, I witnessed ANOTHER rear-ender today. It happened mere inches/centimeters from my back bumper.

Traffic had slowed down quickly, and as I braked to a stop I looked in my mirror to make sure the lady behind me was doing the same. I saw her stop, then cry out as she looked in her own mirror. At that moment I almost instinctively hit the gas and jolted away just as I watched her get hit HARD. For once I was unharmed, but my legs were so wobbly I had to sit in my car for a moment before going to trade info and call the police. Yeesh it's bad here!

 

[toucanlamp]

The one car accident I had was not much of a big deal for me but it's just such a pain. I was waiting to turn left at a red light, traffic flowing the other way, and then the light changes and the kind of thing happens where the guy turning left hesitates so long and then someone tries to beat the red and boom T-boned and he comes flying right into the front of me.

It just takes forever, you are standing around for absolutely ever. I think my accident happened at 2:30 in the afternoon, by the time the cops did all their stuff, the tow truck drivers came and hooked us all up, I got to the autobody shop, I called the insurance company and etc. it is 7:00.

Then, the morons at the autobody shop try to make you pay for something even though the insurance company clearly states that I was not at fault and don't owe a cent. Then, they fix everything and I come to pick it up and oh guess what, the rear bumper from when I flew back into the car behind me is smashed and they didn't fix it even though I wrote and the police traffic report confirmed that that occured during the accident.

I'm afraid that by far the worst thing is having to deal with car shops. I don't like to generalize, but it seems invariably these guys are con artists, same goes for oil change places. I do all my own stuff usually but a few times I've been away from equipment like jacks and such and in a hurry so I went, and even though I replaced my air filter literally two weeks earlier, he says I need a new one, and I need all these engine and fluid flushes etc.

It's an industry where so much of the money is based upon preying on the fact that the average person knows nothing about their car and will just take their advice automatically.

I was surprised though at one thing, people always talk about how awful insurance companies are to deal with, but they were just amazing and efficient for me. This lady on the phone started asking me all these questions about if I was hurt or anything and kind of relating her own story and how much of a pain it must be having to deal with all the crap that follows, and she sounded genuine at least, and she just went straight to it assuring me based on my story, that they'd get the police report and the rental car and everything is taken care of no problem.

But car accidents are bad news and the stats say very clearly that well over 90% of them are purely based on lack of attention or illegal driving and could easily be avoided.

 

[Kratos]

But car accidents are bad news and the stats say very clearly that well over 90% of them are purely based on lack of attention or illegal driving and could easily be avoided.

All driving consists of is basically paying attention and making small adjustments. Inattention to the most dangerous activity the average person takes part in every day is not very wise. Trying to beat red lights is one of the leading causes of wrecks in intersections. You are 100% on the fact that many people just don't care about anyone else. Look at the piece of trash who ran that old man over a few months ago, and drove away. I saw a video of someone run over a kid on a bike at a gas station and drive off. It's pathetic.