who knew a chipmunk could have done that...

[ryota]

well ok, not so much the chipmunk but the lady who decides to SLAM on her brakes at the bottom of a small valley to try to not run over the chipmunk :thumbdown:. no person was hurt but the Yaris has 3500 worth of damages so i guess i'm borrowing a car from dad for a week or two. from what the adjuster says, no engine damage was done (except the windshield washer fluid bottle) so it's mostly cosmetic. i'm hoping it runs like new again when they're done.

the best part of the whole thing was listening to the cop say to the lady "for future reference, next time, just run it over" and how amazed he was that she tried to stop for the poor little chipmunk (by the way, we live out in the country (yes the lady lives about 17 seconds away from me) where most people only brake for big deer and family pets... everything else is fair game)

no tickets were written or anything because i wasn't speeding and the cop felt too bad to give me anything else. apparently he felt that damage to my car was more than enough punishment for a pointless accident... but that's exactly what it was, an accident! and everyone walked away without a scratch (except the yaris) which is the important part.

p.s. to my surprise, after i picked the bumper up off the ground and wedged it back into place, i was able to actually drive my car off to the side of the road... and who says these aren't strong little cars

[RETRO]

was you riding her A$$?

[ryota]

nope, actually i wasn't. it was just tough to see her where she stopped coming over the hill. it looked like she was about to turn into a driveway, otherwise i would have swerved sooner than i did

[YarisSedan]

In california if you rear end someone its automatically 100 percent your fault no matter what the circumstance. One time I was going down hill over a overpass and the lady infront of me decided to switch lanes infront of me same time the light went red so she had to hit the brakes. Same time it was pooring rain so braking hard on a downhill slope on rain my brakes locked up. I still had distance and tried to honk to see if she could move out of the way and i tried turning my wheel left to crash into the medium but i was stuck in a skid. At first I thought i was gona make it but i ended up hitting her rear bumper lightly. There wasnt even a noticble scratch to her car but minor damage to my car.

Ended up geting sued for thosuands of dollars by her but my insurance took care of it.

Not sure what the laws are in your state but just be careful. Sometimes people are looking for a free ride. Usually animals running across the street is the excuse people always use. Then they can always sue you later on for back injury and pain and suffering.

[ryota]

that's quite unfortunate. in NY the law is pretty similar if not the same. even though it was a dumb reason for her to be stopped there, i'm still at fault for rear ending her. and i though i was going to make it around her too... but didn't. although i guess it could have been worse if i did make it around her and lose control and end up in the woods with the chipmunk or something along those lines. my little yaris will be back in no time and i'll be scooting around again... i'm sure it's in good hands right now :-)

[GeneralDon7]

In california if you rear end someone its automatically 100 percent your fault no matter what the circumstance. One time I was going down hill over a overpass and the lady infront of me decided to switch lanes infront of me same time the light went red so she had to hit the brakes. Same time it was pooring rain so braking hard on a downhill slope on rain my brakes locked up. I still had distance and tried to honk to see if she could move out of the way and i tried turning my wheel left to crash into the medium but i was stuck in a skid. At first I thought i was gona make it but i ended up hitting her rear bumper lightly. There wasnt even a noticble scratch to her car but minor damage to my car.

Ended up geting sued for thosuands of dollars by her but my insurance took care of it.

Not sure what the laws are in your state but just be careful. Sometimes people are looking for a free ride. Usually animals running across the street is the excuse people always use. Then they can always sue you later on for back injury and pain and suffering.

That really sucks for your yaris :thumbdown:, The law is the same in ours, no matter what a person was braking for, the law will always say you should have left enough room to brake(though hardly anyone ever does).

[Altitude]

1 car length for every 10mph.

[Hershey]

sorry to see of your situation :thumbdown: . Been down that road too many times . Had 2 cars totaled when rear ended :frown: . One was just payed off and the other was few months from being paid off . Good Luck :thumbsup: .

[sex]

1 car length for every 10mph.

At highway speed (60+ mph), the 3-second rule is easier; you'll need 10 car lengths to go from 60-0.

[eTiMaGo]

shall I be the first to say...

AAAAAALVIIIIIIIN!!!!

hahah sorry, just had to :laugh: Sorry about the car, at least it's fixable!!

[ryota]

shall I be the first to say...

AAAAAALVIIIIIIIN!!!!

hahah sorry, just had to :laugh: Sorry about the car, at least it's fixable!!

hahaha that was pretty close to the real situation. and yes it is fixable, now it's just time to find out how long they'll need the car for.

[centrysis]

I'd sue the chipmunk and have his nuts for this.:smile:

[IllusionX]

In california if you rear end someone its automatically 100 percent your fault no matter what the circumstance. One time I was going down hill over a overpass and the lady infront of me decided to switch lanes infront of me same time the light went red so she had to hit the brakes. Same time it was pooring rain so braking hard on a downhill slope on rain my brakes locked up. I still had distance and tried to honk to see if she could move out of the way and i tried turning my wheel left to crash into the medium but i was stuck in a skid. At first I thought i was gona make it but i ended up hitting her rear bumper lightly. There wasnt even a noticble scratch to her car but minor damage to my car.

Ended up geting sued for thosuands of dollars by her but my insurance took care of it.

Not sure what the laws are in your state but just be careful. Sometimes people are looking for a free ride. Usually animals running across the street is the excuse people always use. Then they can always sue you later on for back injury and pain and suffering.

pretty much everywhere in NA is like this.

[Stove]

Oregon is pretty much the same. If you hit someone from behind, it's your fault.

[Hershey]

I was expecting the chipmunk storing his nuts in your air fillter housing or the blower or both from the title of the topic . Had that issue before . Hope you have a speedie recovery .

[ChilliwackGuy]

I ran over an animal for the first time last Friday. It was a cat - and it just leaped out onto the freeway. I ran over it with my front right tire - going at about 90 KM / HR. The sad part is that - all I felt was a quiet "bump" - and when I looked in my rearview mirror - I could see other cars were swerving to avoid its dead body.

[cali yaris]

maybe she had a good reason

http://www.ttgnet.com/images/armed-squirrel.jpg

[Hershey]

:laughabove: .

[MadMax]

You lucked out not getting cited, as no matter what your excuse if you weren't able to stop in time it is your fault, not the lady in front of you!

[ryota]

talked to the collision shop today, 'll have my car back right after the 4th of july weekend. i'm pretty happy with the speed of the recovery. i've accepted the fact that it's my fault and i'm not trying to fight that in any way... i'm just saying it's a stupid reason to be at fault for an accident.

haha i probably would have slammed on my brakes too for a squirrel with a rocket launcher... that would be waaaay to awesome to run over!

[JBougie]

MN = No fault state

Which is awesome, yet sucks sometimes too. lol

I'm sorry about the Yaris, but glad you're OK!! :)