My rant for the day!

Here's just a repost of my posts here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-post1029.html

Hey guys,


I am SO PISSED right now.

This is way worse than the first ding. In fact I never got any dings. But I was just REAR FREAKING ENDED!!!!!

A mini van in front of me was slowing as people were turning into a strip mall. I in turn slow down. But the mini van behind me, with 4 teenage girls in it(the driver was 17) didn't slow down at all, ramming me and pushing my MINI into the van in front.

I am absolutely speachless right now. I barely had the car for 2 months!!

So it's at the towing yard now, going to the dealership on Monday.

I got some crappy cell pix but honestly my wife is not sure how to get them off the phone


Quote:
Originally Posted by melcmini
I am so sorry..... How bad do you think it is? I really feel for you, wow...


Well the back end is pretty smashed, while the front end looks better, it's still far from untouched. I'm no mechanic, so judging damage visually is not my thing. Who knows, it could be far worse than it looks.

My neck is sore, my back is starting to tighten up. I'll have to make an appt. with my doctor.

I wound't call it a write off but I think it'll cost at least 10,000 cdn to fix all the damage, heck 15,000 might be a possibility. Who knows, I'd prefer a write off and get a whole new car now, but I doubt that's going to happen.

The towing company is dropping it off at the dealership on Monday, so once the insurance adjuster takes a look I'll get some more info. But until then I'm MINI-less and back to driving my wifes Cavalier . The car only had around 3100km on it. Still smelled new.

I've heard some really great things about my dealers body shop, but I know she won't be the same.

Here's some sh!tty cell phone pix. Taken by the wife Jackie, on a crappy cell phone.











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In the above pic that's me in the green shorts and black t-shirt waiting for the Police to finish their report.

So damn pissed off right now

 

Ah, the old three car rear-end accident. I deal with these types of claims a lot. Sometimes every four or five cars.

Any dispute regarding fault ? First car verifying you were pushed into them and didn't hit them first ? Last car not saying you hit that first car initially ?

If no dispute, good... the insurance on the last car will take care of all your property damage and your injury claim. If there is a dispute... it gets complicated.

Good luck. Sorry this happened to you.

 

The lady in the front vehicle noted to the police in her statement that it was the last van that caused the collision. (them hitting me first)

I overheard the mother of the teen driver say something about carless driving but I don't know for sure if she is charged with anything yet. She just cried alot and tried to apologize for it.

It's funny that just a few months ago my 17 year old nephew backed into my wifes car. He just wasn't looking where he was going. I have some bad luck being around teen drivers. Personally I'd like to see an increase in the age one can get a licence with tighter rules for new drivers and stiff penalties that are enforced when broken.

 

Steveski that sucks...I feel for ya! Good Luck with everything...

 

Okay, good. Sounds like no chance of a dispute in liability. Should make things move along much faster.

And I'm in total agreeance with your statement regarding driving age. I deal with an incredible number of claims in which the at-fault driver is under 18. I've already told my own son, who is almost 14, that he can forget about driving until he's 18. If the state governments are smart enough to change the law, I can at least make sure one 16-17 year old isn't driving. It's crazy.

 

I personally didn't even attempt to get my license until I turned 17. Of course getting the license was the easy part. I took my Brother-In-Law to the exam place and he exited my vehicle with a side arm. The trooper looked at him , got into my car and seen the badge he left on the visor. The trooper filled out my drivers test and then asked me if I still wanted to run the course? Needless to say I would have passed the test without the help of my B-I-L but it was still a funny sight to see their expressions.

 

That's why a lot of states have adopted laws about being an under 18 driver and limiting passengers to over 18 y/o's. Waaaay too many distractions.
Sorry this happened.

 

Oh my, that sucks. So sorry.

 

I got real careful about watching the guy behind me after being the middle car in a incident like that. (Not in the MINI, only paint damage.) If someone's tailgating I try to dissuade them and make sure to open up a gap in front of me so there's some room somewhere.

 

Steve-- just got your pm and decided to find the thread so I could read all of the other posts. I am sorry this happened to you but I feel the need to point out the BRIGHT SIDE!

Low speed accident-- awesome-- nobody bleeding. Your MINI will get fixed or else you will get a new one. Your insurance won't be affected, and in a couple of weeks it should all be over. But... I am just like you. I would be fuming mad. Van full of College Pro painters? I hope they paint better than they drive! -- the one girl looks JUST like a girl I went to University with... I think it actually might be her considering I was her Residence Manager and she was a first year student... she is 5 yrs younger than me, so prob 24 or 25. We went to McMaster...

Anyway,... I bet you are feeling kinda sore now! When I was in my accident I didn't start hurting until the next day! I'm happy you are okay, and everyone else.

The girl will driving will probably be charged with careless-- (if an ambulance was called that is the police standard here in Ontario-- was told this BY a police officer when I was in my accident) Other than that, it is at their discretion whether to charge them with Following too close, Failure to turn left to avoid a collision, or Careless Driving.

I'm happy you are okay!!!!!

 

sorry to hear about your accident... that really sucks... Hope you get everything cleared up soon.

I personally think all new drivers (and some currently on the road too) should be required to take performance driving school to learn proper driving techniques... it kills me every time i see a driver riding their brakes the entire way thru a wide radius 360-degree curve-about on the freeway on-ramp/off-ramp... :(

 

thx for the support everyone. Gotta love the net, a place where you can get some genuine sympathy from complete strangers

She wasn't following too close. There was plenty of time to stop. She just wasn't paying attention. When I saw them comming up fast I tried to go over to the left lane but by then it was too late.

I just checked the accident report and it looks like she was born in '90, so I guess 19-20. They all looked young to me. She only has a G2 as well.(that's part of our graduated licencing in Ontario)

*warning political opinion rant* IIRC last fall they were adding some tougher restrictions on a G2. One of which was limiting the number of teenage passengers to help cut down on distractions. But after some bad press our Government caved in and took that out. Our Provincial gov't here in Ontario really is spineless and just does what looks good on camera not what is needed. Carlisle knows what I'm talking about(a couple years ago I lived in Caledonia, I'll leave it at that as what's happening there for just over three years, and is a very touchy subject.)

I'll prolly call the doctors office tomorrow. My neck is getting stiffer and I have good headache which by the way may be unreleated as I did have few last night to mourn the loss and cool my temper.

 

BOO!!! THAT SUCKS!!!

I always try to stay away from Minivans... they're usually the worst drivers I see! The drivers are usually multi-tasking with kids or I especially love when "daddy" is driving by himself... forgetting that he's driving a minivan with car seats... pretending that he's driving a race car.

I hope you'll be able to get this resolved quickly. I freaked when the husband closed the garage door on the back bumper of my '08... can't imagine how I'd feel if I got in an accident with one of my MINIs ( ).


Hey CR&PW&JB- I had always heard that in accidents like this... the MINI would have been considered "at fault" for hitting the car in front of it regardless of whether or not the MINI was hit from behind (something about always being in control of his/her own car ). Never made sense to me and I thought it was pretty stupid. So I guess it's just not true? You're the insurance guy, right? Good info to know.

 

Not sure where you heard that, but if there are any States out there who have that standard regarding liability, I sure don't want to live there. Definitely not the way it works in any of the jurisdictions in which I've handled claims.

If a car hits you in the rear and that's the initial contact in a multi-car accident, the driver that hit you is liable for all the property damage and injuries to all the vehicles and all the drivers.

Also, while I'm always preaching about which deductibles to carry, let me use this as an example of a reason your liability limits should be sufficient to cover you in any type of accident you could possibly be involved in. Imagine being responsible for two or three high-end vehicles in an accident and one in which you seriously injure a few people. Without the proper liability limits on your policy, you stand to lose your bank accounts, investments, even your home. If you have considerable assets, I suggest people purchase a Personal Liability Umbrella Policy (PLUP).

If anyone has any questions about their coverages, feel free to PM me.

Preaching over.

 

I probably heard it from my mom. She's worked in insurance as an underwriter since I was a kid so I never really questioned it.

 

You know... you just might be confusing this with something you heard that is generally true, which is... "if you hit someone in the rear, you are always at fault".

While that statement is generally true, there are exceptions. One of those exceptions is when another car hits you first and pushes you into that car ahead of you.

 

Especially if they get pregnant.

Sorry, had to. In all seriousness though, cars with 4 kids in them, especially teenage girls, is all bad. The driving age really needs to be kicked up to 18, with a minimum of a year of supervised driving.

BTW, I love how the jailbait is having a "love in" on the sidewalk while you're crapping bricks over the Mini.

 

Happy it doesn't work that way in Canada!

 

Yeah, I know the insurance industry works a lot different up their in Canada.

I went to Claim Rep School with some folks from Canada (State Farm has offices up there) and when I heard about some of their rules up there, I was like.... REALLY ??

 

I'm a teen driver (18), but I'm totally in agreement with raising the minimum age to 17 (Learner's permit--only drive with a supervisor) or 18. In British Columbia, anyways, a new driver cannot drive without a supervisor with more than one passenger in the car (though this rule is often broken, I've had some friends get ticketed for it). Which, I think, is a good rule. I feel BC's graduated program is good, but the age requirements should be bumped up at least a year. Even I've felt the "I-have-to-prove-I-don't-drive-like-a-granny" pressure when I have a friend in the car.

You cannot expect a new driver to be as safe as an experienced one. I consider myself a responsible driver--not an experienced driver, but a responsible driver. I've gone as far as I can go in terms of education and (I hope!) responsibility, but lack experience--and the only way to gain experience at this point is to, well, drive.

I'm sorry about your MINI, though! It really sucks that the car is that new. From the looks of it, it should be mostly cosmetic, though, right?

However, I've seen some of my friends drive and it scares me sometime. Some just lack the maturity level to understand how large a responsibility driving is--they don't understand that driving is one of the most dangerous things we do in daily life, or how easy it is to take a life while driving. One of my friends, on the day he got his licence (and his parents had a G35 waiting for him already) pulled out from a sidestreet too fast right into the back of a school bus. I'm willing to put off getting my licence for a couple years if it gets them off the road.

Another way to increase the amount of accountability of young drivers is to make them pay for their cars (well, my parents paid for 1/2 of mine, but it was still a significant sum of money for me). That way they know how much work it takes to earn a car--then perhaps they'll take care of it better. And for Christs' sake, don't buy them an M3 for their first car!

 

I didn't even bother getting my license till I was 18. I know I wasn't ready for a car. Being behind a 2000 + LB hunk of metal is being taken too lightly now a days.

Sorry for your accident. I hate to bear more bad news but if the front of your MINI got hit hard enough for the hood to pop open, your MINI will NEVER drive the same again even after it's fixed. The engine compartment is so small that a accident like that could easily shift everything around. This is gonna suck...

 

Just adding another "Geez that sucks" and I'm sorry it happened.

Best of luck getting it all sorted out!

 

Let's not unnecessarily alarm the OP. This is not the 1970s and car repair technology is pretty remarkable these days. There's an excellent chance the damages are of the type that the OP will not even be able to tell the MINI was ever in an accident once the repairs are done.

 

I dropped by the dealer's body shop yesterday on my way to the doctors(got some T3's and Naproxin).

I do feel slightly(an almost inmeasureable amount) better now after seeing alot more twisted metal on quite a few BMW's that cost alot more than my MINI. In comparison it made my car look "less damaged". I'll know more once they start taking all the broken bits off I guess. The guy who is looking after my file there didn't seem too concerned about not being able to fix it. I asked him what the timeline is for a best case scenario repair job(ie no insurance probs, no suprise damage) he figured 1.5-2 weeks. That seemed really fast to me. As long as it's fixed right, heck take 3-4 weeks.

Well here's the new shots taken at the body shop.

 

You know...the rear bumper actually looks pretty cool without the grill.

I'm not trying to alarm him and I do wish him the best of luck with repairs, but I only say so from experience. My cousins 02 MCS was hit in the front, the damage didn't look severe, but once you drive it, it just didn't felt the same. Hopefully the same can't be said for the R56.