Check out what I got today!!!

[Trevor Ash]

REAR-ENDED!!!!! And a citation for obstructing traffic (which I intend to fight in court) HOORAY!!!. The other driver obviously got a ticket too.

Here's how it happened:
Residential area, 30mph speed limit driving behind a cop car. The cop car signaled that it was turning right into the driveway that you see pcitured. There were also two boys on bikes waiting to cross the road (at the crosswalk but not in the crosswalk yet). Since I already had to slow down to wait for the cop car to turn in, I went ahead and stopped fully and signaled to the boys that they could cross. A few seconds later I was rear ended.

This was the one time I wish I had an automatic because I had enough time to hit the gas and move forward to potentially avoid damage. But I wasn't in gear and I couldn't get in gear quick enough. I knew I was going to get hit unless the driver was able to steer somehow....which she did a little bit. Not enough.

I think the thing that gets my goat about this more than anything is in getting the citation. Seems stupid to me. The officer even said, "You're not going to agree with me, ......but". I was pretty dumbfounded. I'll be fighting it. I didn't just stop to let the kids pass. I stopped because I was already slowed to 5MPH and it's hard to tell what kids are going to do so I stopped completely. Oh well, I can see the officers point of view but I sure hope not to be at fault here. If I am, that's just stupid. The officer basicaly said we were both at fault. I'll let the judge decide. I'm glad I keep a camera with me

[Trevor Ash]

There is some good news though. The car is driveable and I was able to get the bumper back on fairly well (it mostly just snaps on these days). I'm going to eat some food and go out to bend some metal a bit so the clips fit better. It doesn't look anything close to as bad as the photos above do. But the steel bumper underneath all of that is definetely worked good.

I'm very happy with how this car performed for such a hard hit!

What's wrong with me? I'm becoming an optimist.

Forgo to mention, we're both alright. She was a younger gal and was very worried about it all and scared. I definetely felt for her. I noticed a crack in her windshield and she did apparently hit her head on it so I truly hope she's okay.

My back is sore but I've always had back problems. I think it's just sore from tensing up for the impact and the stress it just caused me.

[mjs1973]

That sucks Trev, but it's good to know that everyone is OK. Hey look on the bright side, maybe the auto body place can do something about that spoiler so you can get bike rack for you car.

[ken1953]

I hope you don't get hit with todays mentality of "everyone" has a bit of fault in an accident. Used to be...the one in back was always 100% at fault...but it is also my understanding that the pedestrians had the right of way which means you were required to stop, which is what you did. that should be another point in your favor. Good luck...hope you win...
Ken

[Trevor Ash]

Took things apart to better assess the damage. Plastic bumper is toast, steel bumper is toast, need driver side taillight (because the housing cracked), a little metal work. No serious damage that my untrained eye can see but I'm also assuming they can somehow weld a new bumper on. It's bent to all hell under there so I'm really not sure what they do when they fix it.

Here's a picture with the plastic bumper off. You can see the styrofoam and the "wrong" angle of the steel bumper. Obviously, it should be pointing straight out, not down! Using red, I drew where the bumper is supposed to be.

Using some new hardware and a little elbow grease, I reattached the bumper well. It'll keep me safe on the tollway even though it's not perfect.

[Asylum Steve]

Being neither a lawyer nor cop nor judge, just a guy with a ton of driving experience, IMHO you were BOTH wrong.

If you are in the flow of traffic (and that would be moving with cars behind you, no matter how slow), it's pretty much a no-no to come to a full stop in the middle of the street and let pedestrians or cyclists or motorists cross in front of you just to be courteous.

Thing is, there are many traffic accident situations where multiple drivers are ticketed. Sure the driver behind you obviously wasn't paying attention, but as I said, you probably shouldn't have stopped in the first place. Alas, two tickets...

That being said, I'd think you have a pretty decent chance of beating the "rap". Especially since you were going so slow to begin with. I mean, it's not like you screeched to a halt, right?

I was once in a big three car wreck on I-95 in Miami. I was driving behind a panel van (no side or back windows), and someone pulled in front of him from the next lane to the right, cutting him off. He slammed on his brakes, but because it was a dadgum panel van, I wasn't able to see it happening in front of me.

I braked and swerved wildly to avoid hitting the guy, but couldn't quite make it out of the way. The impact tore my right front wheel completely away from the car. Thankfully, my trusty lap and shoulder belt kept me from getting hurt.

Anyway, when the cop was done evaluating the scene and writing up his paperwork, he gave the first woman (who cut the van guy off), and ME moving violations. Both for wreckless driving...

ME?!? What the heck did I do but try to avoid the whole thing???

The guy in the middle didn't get a ticket. I was dumbfounded. The cop said it was standard procedure when there were no witnesses in a three car pile-up. I guess the logic is it was the first woman's fault, the second guy was a victim, and I should have been able to avoid them both if I had been driving a safe speed and distance behind him...

BTW, I DID go to court over that one, and the cop failed to show up, so the judge threw the case out. Yeah, maybe a technicality, but I know I was right! ;)

[opus]

OMG Trevor I was just rearended on Friday!!! (see my "storm" post.) It was "rush hour" in my small town, and I was stopped at a red light behind a long line of cars. The light turned green and we all started going. Then for some reason the cars in front of the huge Suburban in front of me slowed down, causing a chain reaction of everyone hitting their brakes. I of course hit mine too, but the young girl behind me (who was on her cellphone) wasn't paying attention and just kept going, and hit me.

She was "at fault" although she wasn't cited for anything (that I know of). I felt so bad for her, she was bawling while we were waiting for the cop to show up. None of us were hurt though. I guess she learned a lesson (I hope) about being attentive and expecting the unexpected. I got the idea she was somewhat mad at me for stopping though. But what could I do? I'd have hit the guy in front of me if I hadn't!!

I haven't gotten an estimate yet, but I think being in a CR-V saved me from a lot of damage. The spare tire mounted on the back took the brunt of it. I think it's mostly rear door and door frame damage. You can barely see the damage but it's pretty dented behind the tire. And inside the rear door the "threshold" thingy is pushed in, and the tailgating table that is stored under the floor is wedged in there unless I really yank on it.

Her late model Buick was crumpled a little like the car pictured above, but not as bad. She got it more in the hood and the grate is broken.

[Axle]

I know the feeling! I too have been rear-ended, however in my case it wasn't my fault. In your case I would still fight it! At least there are two good things in this
:: The car is still driveable
:: no one got hurt. People are so much harder to fix.

[Janie]

I was rearended two years ago while stopped for a stopping guard in front of a grade school. I was first rear ended by a chevy suburban who wacked my lil volkswagon hard, then that truck was hit by a large van - that was when I broke my neck - when the guy in the suburban hit me, he backed up a little bit, but when he was hit again, i got horrible impact and it threw my glasses across the car. I also had a concussion and short term memory loss! So beware of other drivers. The girl really should have been paying attention - you never know what is going on in front of the car before you, but in the days of cell phone use, people are too busy to pay attention!

[Trevor Ash]

Thanks for the feeback everyone.

Steve, especially you. I need to hear it honest like. I will be fighting this because I thini the circumstances are unique. I was already almost stopped because I had to wait for the car in front of me to turn in......rolling 5-10 miles per hour....and just decided to stop completely.

Hell, one could argue that I could have been sitting there with my left turn signal on and she may have still hit me. In which case I wouldn't have received a citation at all.

[mjs1973]

Hey Trev,

You said the kids were "at" the crosswalk, but not "in" the crosswalk. I'm assuming that
you mean they were standing on the sidewalk, getting ready to cross the road... I don't
know what the law is in IL, but in WI, it is a state law that we are REQUIRED to stop for
pedestrians in the crosswalk. It's not strictly enforced, but it is on the books, and there was a discussion about it on public radio a week or two ago. In the town I work in, they have even put up
sings at some of the busier intersections stating that it’s a state law to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.

That goes for people standing on the corner AT the cross walk, and not just people already IN
the crosswalk.

So if IL law is anything like WI law, I would say you have a pretty good chance of beating
that citation.

Good luck Buddy.

[Trevor Ash]

Hey Trev,

You said the kids were "at" the crosswalk, but not "in" the crosswalk. I'm assuming that
you mean they were standing on the sidewalk, getting ready to cross the road... I don't
know what the law is in IL, but in WI, it is a state law that we are REQUIRED to stop for
pedestrians in the crosswalk. It's not strictly enforced, but it is on the books, and there was a discussion about it on public radio a week or two ago. In the town I work in, they have even put up
sings at some of the busier intersections stating that it�s a state law to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.

That goes for people standing on the corner AT the cross walk, and not just people already IN
the crosswalk.

So if IL law is anything like WI law, I would say you have a pretty good chance of beating
that citation.

Good luck Buddy.

Yeah, cop mentioned that if they were IN the crosswalk it would have been my responsibility to stop. But he basically said since they weren't I shouldn't have stopped. I don't know what the law is but I iamgine he'd know better than me. Let's just hope the judge has some compassion and can visualize the scene well (or hope the cop doesn't show)

I think the citation would only be about $75. It's the potential it could have on my insurance that I'm concerned about.

[another view]

First off, glad everybody's OK - that's the main thing. On the technical side, I think Steve's right. The kids weren't in the crosswalk and the cop did what he had to do.

But sometimes common sense is more important than taking traffic laws to the letter. Who knows what the kids were thinking? They saw a car slow down and it's pretty safe to assume that they thought you were stopping for them. Kids don't know traffic laws (heck, a lot of adults don't either!) so they see you slow down and might assume you're stopping for them. At least that's something that could more than reasonably be argued, I'd say.

I think you did the right thing by stopping and I probably would have done the same thing. About ten or so years ago, I had a little girl run out in front of my car in a downtown area, and I didn't see her run between two cars that were parallel parked on the street just ahead of me. I slammed on my brakes and stopped less than 2' from her. She looked at me like "did I do something wrong?" Very scary.

[adina]

When I was pregnant with my first, we were sitting at a stop light, long line of cars, waiting to get onto the beltline in Madison. All of a sudden we here this screeching noise, this huge bang. Were are looking around like hmmm, what was that. All of a sudden the car behind us slams into us. Turns out the girl (just got her license, driving mom and dad's big old suv) hit the couple behind us (these guys had to be in there 70s) hard enough that it pushed them forward enough to hit us. Only bent our license plate. Car in the middle needed some work, the suv was fine.

Imagine, your first time out with your shiney new license, you nail gramma and grampa, and a big pregnant lady.

[cjjash]

Hi Mr T
I'm just glad you weren't hurt and so is Bimsy

Anonymous allies

[masdog]

Hey Trev,

You said the kids were "at" the crosswalk, but not "in" the crosswalk. I'm assuming that
you mean they were standing on the sidewalk, getting ready to cross the road... I don't
know what the law is in IL, but in WI, it is a state law that we are REQUIRED to stop for
pedestrians in the crosswalk. It's not strictly enforced, but it is on the books, and there was a discussion about it on public radio a week or two ago. In the town I work in, they have even put up
sings at some of the busier intersections stating that it�s a state law to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.

That goes for people standing on the corner AT the cross walk, and not just people already IN
the crosswalk.

So if IL law is anything like WI law, I would say you have a pretty good chance of beating
that citation.

Good luck Buddy.

With kids, you never know. I've seen kids on bikes speed up and enter crosswalks just as people were turning. I've seen them jump curbs just in front of traffic and do hordes of other dangerous stuff.

Sometimes, it is just better to stop and not risk hitting a kid (and get rear-ended) than it is to risk it.

[Liz]

Wow! I thought I was going to see a new piece of equipment........and was surprised to say the least.

I'm just glad no one got hurt. I don't see how they could possibly say you're at all to blame. It seems obvious to me - and I thought the car that gets hit in the back is never at fault. I'm glad you had your camera.

Liz

REAR-ENDED!!!!! And a citation for obstructing traffic (which I intend to fight in court) HOORAY!!!. The other driver obviously got a ticket too.

Here's how it happened:
Residential area, 30mph speed limit driving behind a cop car. The cop car signaled that it was turning right into the driveway that you see pcitured. There were also two boys on bikes waiting to cross the road (at the crosswalk but not in the crosswalk yet). Since I already had to slow down to wait for the cop car to turn in, I went ahead and stopped fully and signaled to the boys that they could cross. A few seconds later I was rear ended.

This was the one time I wish I had an automatic because I had enough time to hit the gas and move forward to potentially avoid damage. But I wasn't in gear and I couldn't get in gear quick enough. I knew I was going to get hit unless the driver was able to steer somehow....which she did a little bit. Not enough.

I think the thing that gets my goat about this more than anything is in getting the citation. Seems stupid to me. The officer even said, "You're not going to agree with me, ......but". I was pretty dumbfounded. I'll be fighting it. I didn't just stop to let the kids pass. I stopped because I was already slowed to 5MPH and it's hard to tell what kids are going to do so I stopped completely. Oh well, I can see the officers point of view but I sure hope not to be at fault here. If I am, that's just stupid. The officer basicaly said we were both at fault. I'll let the judge decide. I'm glad I keep a camera with me

[masdog]

REAR-ENDED!!!!! And a citation for obstructing traffic (which I intend to fight in court) HOORAY!!!. The other driver obviously got a ticket too.

Here's how it happened:
Residential area, 30mph speed limit driving behind a cop car. The cop car signaled that it was turning right into the driveway that you see pcitured. There were also two boys on bikes waiting to cross the road (at the crosswalk but not in the crosswalk yet). Since I already had to slow down to wait for the cop car to turn in, I went ahead and stopped fully and signaled to the boys that they could cross. A few seconds later I was rear ended.

This was the one time I wish I had an automatic because I had enough time to hit the gas and move forward to potentially avoid damage. But I wasn't in gear and I couldn't get in gear quick enough. I knew I was going to get hit unless the driver was able to steer somehow....which she did a little bit. Not enough.

I think the thing that gets my goat about this more than anything is in getting the citation. Seems stupid to me. The officer even said, "You're not going to agree with me, ......but". I was pretty dumbfounded. I'll be fighting it. I didn't just stop to let the kids pass. I stopped because I was already slowed to 5MPH and it's hard to tell what kids are going to do so I stopped completely. Oh well, I can see the officers point of view but I sure hope not to be at fault here. If I am, that's just stupid. The officer basicaly said we were both at fault. I'll let the judge decide. I'm glad I keep a camera with me

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I think you did the right thing by stopping for the kids.

I was just rear-ended the other night as well coming home from the bar. Before anyone asks, I was completely sober and hadn't been drinking, I was just hanging out with some friends.

What led to my accident was a driver decided to turn left out of Taco Bell, and he must not have been paying too much attention. He pulled completely into my lanes, blocking both directions while he waited for an oncoming car to pass. I stopped for him, and once he turned and I was starting to move, I got rear-ended.

The ironic thing about it was that the girl who hit me was a Community Service Officer who just got off of an 8-hour shift. She said she wasn't paying attention to the road and didn't see me stop. There was no visible damage to either of our cars, so no one got a ticket.

[masdog]

Yeah, cop mentioned that if they were IN the crosswalk it would have been my responsibility to stop. But he basically said since they weren't I shouldn't have stopped. I don't know what the law is but I iamgine he'd know better than me. Let's just hope the judge has some compassion and can visualize the scene well (or hope the cop doesn't show)

I think the citation would only be about $75. It's the potential it could have on my insurance that I'm concerned about.

Don't worry too much about what it would do to your insurance, because if you had hit a kid that ran out in front of your car, it would push your insurance through the roof. If you have a good insurance agent, you can probably explain the whole thing to them and they might not even raise your rates.

[Trevor Ash]

Hi Mr T
I'm just glad you weren't hurt and so is Bimsy

Anonymous allies

Thanks Mom.