Yaris Accident: How Much To Fix?

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by CTScott

The cocked steering wheel is probably just a bent tie rod end. Measure the distance between the tip of the A arm and the rear of the fender well on both sides to see if the A arm is bent as well.

Seems like compared to bodywork, the mechanical dammage the car might have will be cheap in comparrison to fix?

I had a thought. The shop isnt stupid. If they make a bill high enough to total the car, they dont get to fix it and therefore lose business/money. So its in their interest to overlook things or whatever to keep the price below the ins company totaling the car.

What keeps them honest?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Seems like compared to bodywork, the mechanical dammage the car might have will be cheap in comparrison to fix?

I had a thought. The shop isnt stupid. If they make a bill high enough to total the car, they dont get to fix it and therefore lose business/money. So its in their interest to overlook things or whatever to keep the price below the ins company totaling the car.

What keeps them honest?

The insurance adjustor makes an assessment to keep the repair shop honest.

[harda toenail]

In my wreck, progressive took care of all the who's at fault stuff. We had a cop come out. You should always call for a cop to come write a police report!

But since both parties had progressive, progressive pays either way so they won't work as hard to make sure you don't pay.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by harda toenail

In my wreck, progressive took care of all the who's at fault stuff. We had a cop come out. You should always call for a cop to come write a police report!

But since both parties had progressive, progressive pays either way so they won't work as hard to make sure you don't pay.

There was a cop there after the accident and after we pulled over to exchange information. He said

"I didnt see the accident. Im not writing out an accident report. If you want that you have to go to city hall. Im not even here officially"

You are probably right about P not working to protect the person who wasnt at fault.

We will see...whatever happens happens...

But I can use all the information and advise I can get...thanks!

[harda toenail]

I can't believe the cop was that lazy. For him to say "Im not even here" would piss me off. They should always write a report. How often does the officer writing the report actually see the incident?

But sorry for the bad luck. Looks like it was a super clean yaris.

[fnkngrv]

Did you happen to get the officer's name? If so and it were me I would try to make an anonymous complaint. This type of thing gives law enforcers a real bad name

[MadMax]

Well, in defense of the officer if he didn't witness the accident and the evidence doesn't clearly show who was at fault; he cannot make a determination nor can he issue a citation. Given the nature of this accident, it is entirely possible that either party involved could have caused it. Normally, unless it is blatantly apparent (i.e. rear-end or 90° collision with impartial witnesses), no one will be ticketed. If it is, and there is evidence to prove it, an investigating officer will file charges against the offending driver.

Hopefully your insurance company, which has a lower standard for burden of proof, will be able to resolve this in your favor based on the information they have.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

Did you happen to get the officer's name? If so and it were me I would try to make an anonymous complaint. This type of thing gives law enforcers a real bad name

Yes I have his name. Having never had an accident before like this I have no idea whats involved. If I had nothing better to do, it might be interesting to pursue it. But I have other things going on.

Maybe I will wish I HAD done that before this is over...

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by MadMax

Well, in defense of the officer if he didn't witness the accident and the evidence doesn't clearly show who was at fault; he cannot make a determination nor can he issue a citation. Given the nature of this accident, it is entirely possible that either party involved could have caused it. Normally, unless it is blatantly apparent (i.e. rear-end or 90° collision with impartial witnesses), no one will be ticketed. If it is, and there is evidence to prove it, an investigating officer will file charges against the offending driver.

Hopefully your insurance company, which has a lower standard for burden of proof, will be able to resolve this in your favor based on the information they have.

Although I dont know anything about this, thats about how I felt about it when it happened.

Any comments furthering my education appreciated!

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by Hershey

Wow , another one ! Sorry to see that . Take it that you're fine . Seems like the bigger vehicles are out to get the Yaris . Shame , black is a great color for the 3 door . Hope all goes well .

Yes I am Ok. No one was injured.

[bronsin]

Just for gins and giggles, here is what happened.

I was driving down Cooper St. Coming in the opposit direction, was a driver unfamiliar with the area. He was looking for an address on Cooper. He realized he went by it. He had to turn around.

He made a left turn right in front of me. At the time I thought he was making a left into a driveway. I thought he had time to complete the turn safely.

Then he stopped.

I swerved to the left violently to go around him. I ALMOST missed him! I just caught the rear bumper of his car down the right side of my car.

We were on railroad tracks for a commuter rail line. The train blasted his horn at us so we moved.

When we got to a safe location, a cop on a bicycle showed up. He said he didnt see the accident, wasnt involved, wasnt writing a report, we had to go to city hall if we wanted that.

We exchanged info and parted amicably. I assumed theres no fault and it didnt matter who caused the accident. Although he did.

I returned to the accident scene the next day. There was NO driveway where he turned! Just a solid curb! THAT is why he stopped. That or he was making a U or K turn.

The only dammage to his car was a smal tear in his rear bumper cover. And a black swipe mark across it.

I have a $2000 deductable. The repairs will be more than that. I hope the insurance company protects me. I dont see the sense of getting a lawyer and pursueing it. It would cost more to do that than its worth. I wasnt hurt, he wasnt hurt.

Am I wrong? Coments welcome!

[otterhere]

Believe it or not, I've had to have FOUR panels replaced in four years (on one side, a snowplow scraped two; on the other, I "Titaniced" a telephone pole while backing down a curved road); $2500 each go-around, with me paying $500 in deductibles each time.

Just now noticed a dent in my newest panel; someone must've breathed on it...

It really doesn't take much to damage the body of this car; one wonders what it's made of and how safe it would be a in crash...

: (

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by otterhere

Believe it or not, I've had to have FOUR panels replaced in four years (on one side, a snowplow scraped two; on the other, I "Titaniced" a telephone pole while backing down a curved road); $2500 each go-around, with me paying $500 in deductibles each time.

Just now noticed a dent in my newest panel; someone must've breathed on it...

It really doesn't take much to damage the body of this car; one wonders what it's made of and how safe it would be a in crash...

: (

There have been many pictures of accidents here of our cars that were in pretty bad accidents. The people werent seriously hurt...

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by harda toenail

I can't believe the cop was that lazy. For him to say "Im not even here" would piss me off. They should always write a report. How often does the officer writing the report actually see the incident?

But sorry for the bad luck. Looks like it was a super clean yaris.

It would piss me off too. The cop, though, knows that he won't pay any consequence for acting like that. If the situation ever got to the point where he felt his job was threatened and his union had public meetings with Gov. Christie like the teachers union did I'll bet he'd act as childishly as some of the teachers did.

[edmscan]

Originally Posted by bronsin

There have been many pictures of accidents here of our cars that were in pretty bad accidents. The people werent seriously hurt...

Maybe that is cause the Yaris has some pretty good safety features ? AirBags, ABS and the rest of the things we take for granted, until we actually need them. Just imagine if they weren't there .. I don't think that we would be walking away from these crashes quite so fast.

[edmscan]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Am I wrong? Coments welcome!

Maybe you were too busy pumping the brakes ?

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by MadMax

Well, in defense of the officer if he didn't witness the accident and the evidence doesn't clearly show who was at fault; he cannot make a determination nor can he issue a citation. Given the nature of this accident, it is entirely possible that either party involved could have caused it. Normally, unless it is blatantly apparent (i.e. rear-end or 90° collision with impartial witnesses), no one will be ticketed. If it is, and there is evidence to prove it, an investigating officer will file charges against the offending driver.

Hopefully your insurance company, which has a lower standard for burden of proof, will be able to resolve this in your favor based on the information they have.

Well.....now that I just read your post.....you're right, HOWEVER he could have handled the situation better, He could have been more diplomatic re his choice of words.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by edmscan

Maybe you were too busy pumping the brakes ?