Rear-Ended; New Bumper?

Joe wrote:

> On 2009-07-09, Brian Smith > wrote:
>
>>Joe wrote:
>>
>>>Why's that?
>>
>> It's the American way. You must recognize their battle cry, SUE, SUE,
>>SUE! :^)
>>
>
>
> I recognize the battle cry, just never understood the selfish
> reasoning. People never fail to prove to me that my expectations are
> too high. And they're not very high at all...
>


I'll have you know that my expectations are very high... Six figures or
more!!!

JT

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

> In article >,
> Joe > wrote:
>
>
>>> It's the American way. You must recognize their battle cry, SUE, SUE,
>>>SUE! :^)
>>>
>>
>>I recognize the battle cry, just never understood the selfish
>>reasoning. People never fail to prove to me that my expectations are
>>too high. And they're not very high at all...
>
>
> The discussion isn't about people. The discussion is about
> corporations, specifically insurance companies, and their way--"deny,
> deny, deny". Where do you think the "back pain" came from?


Man... You said a mouthfull there.

I have only been in a three accidents in my driving experience. None
were my fault but they all occurred back in the good ol' days - pre 1970.

In every case, settlement was pretty routine and prompt and no lawyer
was ever consulted.

But I fear that today's situation would be drastically different. It
seems that no one is up to facing their responsibility. As a result, the
trial lawyers are enjoying a field day.

BTW, if you are in a physical damage accident only, forget about any of
these guys offering their services. If you're injured, they'll be
banging down your door!

Grrrrr

JT

Thus spake Tegger > :

>Dillon Pyron > wrote in
:
>
>.
>>
>> I have been taught (for at least the last 20 years) to see the bottom
>> of the tires in front of you, and to keep your foot on the brakes
>> until the guy behind you is stopped.
>>
>> The bumper thing went out with 2&10
>
>
>
>
>I think your 20-year thing may be out-of-date as well.
>
>Last I heard, the new "safety" operating procedure is to leave at least one
>car-length between you and the vehicle in front when you first stop, until
>somebody comes to a stop behind you (in order to prevent being pushed into
>the car in front should you be rear-ended). At that point you're supposed
>to creep forward to the "bottom of the tires" viewpoint, leaving just
>enough room to be able to pass the car in front should it happen to stall
>or its driver die of boredom.
>
>The irritating thing about this approach (at least for somebody who has a
>manual transmission and has been driving for 31 years) is that the entire
>time a light remains red, cars are now steadily creeping forwards, taking
>up that slack. If one is undesirous of burning up six months of one's
>clutch life at each red light, one ends up being left six car-lengths
>behind the position of the next car once that car has crept up with all the
>other creepers ahead of him.

Well, since there are about six of us left who can drive a stick, the
clutch life is a non issue :-Q

I have a friend who insists on the car length, but also says one
should use that length so that everyone can start moving at the same
time.
--

- dillon I am not invalid

"Jimmy, I'm sorry your girlfriend turned out
to be a cylon."
-Special Agent Tim McGee, "NCIS"

Tegger > wrote:
> The irritating thing about this approach (at least for somebody who has a
> manual transmission and has been driving for 31 years) is that the entire
> time a light remains red, cars are now steadily creeping forwards, taking

Or, if you have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid, and your engine is in "idle
stop" mode, you don't want to creep forward, because the engine will start
again.

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

Elle wrote:
> 93 Civic DX sedan. It was a collision hard enough that the drawer
> beneath the radio opened and sent the coin change I keep there flying.

Ho hum. Elle, sorry to hear it, but glad it turned out fine. Been a long
time since I've been here--haven't had many problems with my trusty 94
Civic EX sedan since I got so much help here from you and others some
years ago! But I, too, was just rear ended in stop & go traffic on the
highway, by a 2001 Ford Explorer, driven by a numbnut who was probably
tuned into his cell/MP3 player and probably playing with it as he
accelerated from tailgating a tractor-trailer in the center lane (with
the corresponding loss of visibility to either side), right into me,
stopped in the left lane. I didn't have enough time to go anywhere else.
Not sure of the speed, maybe 10 mph? These things happen fast.

You'd think someone in stop & go traffic might be a little more careful,
but the guy was dumb enough to leave his earbuds in while the state cop
was talking to him...

Unfortunately for me and his insurance, I was on my way back from Boston
to NYC with the brand-new custom bike (bicycle) I had literally JUST
picked up from the shop, mounted on a trunk rack! Crank was wrapped
around the chainstay from the impact, bike frame totaled, trunk lid
mashed up. Bumper wasn't bad, but I do have to check the absorber and
beam. I credit the bike, rack, and trunk lid with absorbing most of the
impact and saving my neck.

Luckily, his insurance company didn't quibble over the bike, and wrote
me a check for the full amount, plus repairs to the trunk (well, sort
of). I got the trunk lid and rear shell straightened out until I can get
another lid. Ugh. Bike has been rebuilt with a new frame, but I don't
yet have it! PITA, to drive with schmucks!

Lesson for me on this one is NEVER pass a worrisome tailgater once they
go around you. The schmuck had been glued to my bumper before he decided
he didn't like how much space I was leaving in front of me and zoomed
into the center lane to tailgate the tractor-trailer--remember this is
stop & go traffic! And it is critical to leave sufficient space in front
when stopped that you don't get mashed into the car ahead of you if you
are rear-ended. Luckily, I had done that.

Abe

abeness, quite a story! Glad you're all right. One can only hope that
the driver who hit you got more than the usual citation due to wearing
the headphones. I imagine all the cavalierness about causing an
accident while driving is as much about the darned insurance companies
being so seemingly nice, mostly because they know they get to raise
the rates. It is like credit card companies: Sure pile on the debt!
[It's more gravy for our companies!]

Elle wrote:
> One can only hope that
> the driver who hit you got more than the usual citation due to wearing
> the headphones.

Sadly, I doubt it. No way for the trooper to ascertain whether he had
been wearing the phones at the time of the accident. <sigh> I can only
hope that the perp's insurance rates will go up, and that he at least
gets the message that tailgating isn't cost-effective. Since he didn't
seem like the brightest bulb, well, I doubt he'll get the idea that it
isn't safe!

Happily, I stumbled across Slate Valley Automotive in Granville, NY, in
my search for a trunk lid near where I was vacationing. They had a blue
one, but they also did body work, and could paint it for me (my car is
red). Turned out to be a gem. Rick there straightened out the rear end,
and resealed the floor pan to prevent exhaust coming up through the gap.
Apparently it was pushed in about 2 inches! Not only that, he was able
to do it the same day. Lid closes like new. Of course, my newly painted
lid looks better than the rest of the car... No, I'm not gonna repaint
the rest of it! ;-)