- Nov 28, 2001
- 22,205
- 44
- 91
Bit of an emmbarasement. I'm a learner and have been driving for only about 3 weeks. Was on a highway going about 70 to 80 km per hr. A car 3 cars ahead did a U turn or turned suddenly across trafic which caused the car behind him to plow into him and I hit him. The car behind me tried to swerve to avoid hitting me was hit by the car behind him sending him into oncomming traffic where he hit a car. Those 2 cars were totalled and the drivers taken away in an ambulance, but I think that they were not very seriously hurt.
Unfortunately I and everyone else was still charged with a ticket for "following too closely" which I suppose I was given it was raining but ultimately it was the 1st cars fault 95%. but it's embarassing given that I'm a new driver. Will probably affect my learner status slightly. Oh well
Ticket was $109.
Looks like about 4 to 5000 $ damage. But you can never tell. The car is my fathers and insurance is under him. He was with me at the time. He has a 300 deductable that I will have to pay him back once I get a Job. Luckily he isn't angry at me.
Edit: On thinking about it a little more it wasn't so much that I was following too closely it was more that I did not apply the breaks soon enough. I have yet to develop the automatic muscle memory for applying the breaks right away and am still constantly analysis every situation which cuts back on your reaction time by 1/2 a second or more. This is what my father HAD been warning me about just before the accident lol.
Update:
Well we had a meeting with the ICBC insurance guys. The guy asked us our description of what happened. Said that the 2 cars in front had not reported in yet and exactly what would happen to whose insurance would depend on what they said. Basically if the guy in front say he felt 2 bump (crashes) then that would confirm what we said, that the guy in front hit him first then we hit him causing him to hit the 1st car again. If he says something else then things might change a bit. However on taking a look at my fathers insurance he said that he has been such a good "customer" that no matter what happens it's not likely to cost more than an increase of about 50 or 60 bucks over 3 years. He's a very good driver luckily and has racked up a lot of road star points.
OK good the guys in front have reported in and basically what they said is the same as what we said. The estimate on the cost of repairs is $7500, which is higher than we thought but shouldn't affect things much. All and all not a bad outcome.
Oh and as I was saying the reason I was involved in this accident isn't really because I was following too close but that I failed to stop soon enough. My reaction times are not fast enough yet and I may have been going too fast for the road conditions given that it was raining (though not over the limit).
Unfortunately I and everyone else was still charged with a ticket for "following too closely" which I suppose I was given it was raining but ultimately it was the 1st cars fault 95%. but it's embarassing given that I'm a new driver. Will probably affect my learner status slightly. Oh well
Ticket was $109.
Looks like about 4 to 5000 $ damage. But you can never tell. The car is my fathers and insurance is under him. He was with me at the time. He has a 300 deductable that I will have to pay him back once I get a Job. Luckily he isn't angry at me.
Edit: On thinking about it a little more it wasn't so much that I was following too closely it was more that I did not apply the breaks soon enough. I have yet to develop the automatic muscle memory for applying the breaks right away and am still constantly analysis every situation which cuts back on your reaction time by 1/2 a second or more. This is what my father HAD been warning me about just before the accident lol.
Update:
Well we had a meeting with the ICBC insurance guys. The guy asked us our description of what happened. Said that the 2 cars in front had not reported in yet and exactly what would happen to whose insurance would depend on what they said. Basically if the guy in front say he felt 2 bump (crashes) then that would confirm what we said, that the guy in front hit him first then we hit him causing him to hit the 1st car again. If he says something else then things might change a bit. However on taking a look at my fathers insurance he said that he has been such a good "customer" that no matter what happens it's not likely to cost more than an increase of about 50 or 60 bucks over 3 years. He's a very good driver luckily and has racked up a lot of road star points.
OK good the guys in front have reported in and basically what they said is the same as what we said. The estimate on the cost of repairs is $7500, which is higher than we thought but shouldn't affect things much. All and all not a bad outcome.
Oh and as I was saying the reason I was involved in this accident isn't really because I was following too close but that I failed to stop soon enough. My reaction times are not fast enough yet and I may have been going too fast for the road conditions given that it was raining (though not over the limit).
Last edited:
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