I got into my first car accident (that I caused) today...doh

[beer]

I was coming out of my high school, heading on a 6 lane (3 each way) road. I drive a 98 ford contour. Anyways, I'm in traffic, and we're stopping and going...the Maxima in front of me slams on his brakes, I slam on mine...and rear end him at about 15 mph. Thankfully, the car in front of him didn't get hit...

So, being that the road is busy, we pull to the right and get to the intersection. There is already an accident there, go figure. So we pull into the right lane behind the current accident and use it to cover us while we exchange information.

The guy was very cool about it. What happened was it looked like I had slid under his bumper, because I slammed on my brakes. There was no visible damage done to his bumper at all. My front bumper was really banged up on top, in addition, my grille was smashed and my hood slightly bent. But, there were no broken light fixtures, etc.

The guy agreed to not file a police report, and we exchanged information. Ironically, a cop from the other accident came over and asked if everyone was OK, which we were. The cop says, "Alright, I'm going to walk the other way now...you kids can sort this out." I'm very thankful the cop didn't insist on filing a report or giving me a ticket. He was a cool cop, at least.

My dad is gonna have my car taken in tomrorow and look at some repairs. He says it might be possible to sand down and repain the bumper, and because the hood is only slightly bent, it might work to just have it heated and bent back into place - it's really just a 2 inch crease. The grill will probabyl need to be replaced though. I don't know if the other guy is going to file a claim or not.

Damn..

 

[visgf]

Now aren't you glad that you own the Contour as opposed to the Audi's and BMW's and other expensive cars like a lot of your classmates own

 

[prodigy]

Nobody likes an accident, hope you're ok.

 

[beer]

Nah, more like BMWs and Lexuses, Audi's are a little too exotic

 

[Aquaman]

Sorry too hear about it. At least it was not serious A good rule of thumb is to leave enough space between you and the car infront of you so that you can see the bottom of the guys tires.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Bryan]

Did you hit this guy???

 

[SuperGroove]

Is this one of your schemes to get a new car? Believe you me, you ain't gonna get it this way

Why did you even hit him at 15MPH anyway? Were you tailgating? Hope you're okay though, accidents is suck.

Paul

 

[beer]

We were going 30. I slammed on my breaks, the impact I am guessing was at 15 mph.

Maybe if I had a BMW or non Ford crap then I wouldn't have had half my front end demolished. I'm hoping there's no internal damage..

 

[Farbio]

elemental, i doubt there's internal damage...i did the same type thing a few months ago, only i hydroplaned on wet roads, no damage to the other car at all, but i needed a new grille and hood....as long as the radiator isn't touching the grill or bent hood, everything should be more than ok. hope it all works out well

 

[MC]

hope you are ok!

 

[beer]

Farbio -

What kinda car were you driving? MOST cars wouldn't take damage but then again, Fords seem to be the exception. I can't believe what crap is in my contour. Argh.

 

[SuperGroove]

omfg...you're saying had you been in most any car, the front of your car wouldn't be so bad?

Hmm....I don't think so. Your car is travelling at 15mph. Your gross weight is about 3,300lbs. That's a lotta mass moving at a pretty decent speed(yes, I forgot physics, f=m*v?). Had that been in my Mazda Protege....even my Volvo 264 GLE, it would've turned out the same way.

Paul

 

[Farbio]

i was in a 90 accord....and like paul said, any car would have had some damage....you sound like you got off pretty easy, mine was needing a new hood and grill as well as bumper repaint....so if all u need is a grill and some bending of the hood, feel good about it, but don't blame it on the car, any car would have done the same...chances are a more expensive one would have had more damage..or at least more expensive damage

 

[Unsickle]

<< yes, I forgot physics, f=m*v?). >>



No. P=m*v, F=m*a

Duh!

 

[Sluggo]

Glad nobody was injured. Be glad you were driving the contour, the damage you describe is probably 500-600 bux. The same damage on a newer import would probably be $900-1200 on a BMW proably over $2000. Doesnt take much front end damage to start racking up the bucks on any car much less imports.

Be careful of what the other guy claims. He could wake up tomorrow and decide his neck and back hurts. He could also claim to have major unvisible damage to his car (this is entirely possible with todays rubber bumpers, the underside can be destroyed and not show much visible damage)and decide to sue the crap out of you and your insurance company. Probably not, but still be aware of what could happen.