Lightning strikes twice.......

[Headshot zod]

I got rear-ended today. Well in NJ we now call this "Getting McGreevied". I was sitting motionless waiting to turn on Route 17 and feel a jolt. I thought I slipped the off the clutch and went into gear. Anyway I look in my mirror and I see the car backing up. We get out and his BMW 525 grill was a bit schmushed. Nothing happened to me of course Oo. Senior citizen and his wife. He goes to me "Don't worry about it". He was more afraid of his insurance going up. How fricking magnanimous of him, he hits me and I shouldn't worry about it. What a guy... for those of you new to the story, I've been Mcgreevied quite a few times. The last one was a Benz, who had to be towed when she ran into my '73.

 

[RACE427]

Politics

Too funny !!!! :-laf

 

[Philip]

A 6" drop for your class three gives you the ability to hook and tow then at the same time. :-laf



Glad to hear you and the truck are doing fine.

 

[Andy Perreault]

If that happened to me, I wouldn't trust the guy to "not worry about it. " I've been in a situation like that before. Once a Korean lady who was in the lane to my right turned left in front of me (I was in my Honda Civic) and the right front corner of my car hit the plastic wrap around bumper just behind her left rear tire. It broke the parking light lens on my car and did some other minor damage. Her car suffered a scratch on the plastic. We pulled into a parking lot and exchanged information. She was all apologetic and she said she would pay to have my car fixed. She said she didn't want her insurance company to find out. I said that was fine with me. The Honda was my beater commuter car anyway, I just wanted to replace the broken lens.

Well, when I got home, she called me and boy, did she change her tune! "This accident your fault! You rear end me! I see you in court!" etc. I tried to explain to her that I did NOT rear end her, but she kept interrupting me. Get this, she said, "I live here FOUR years, I know how to drive, you don't!" I said, "Okay, I'll call my insurance company," and she hung up. I called the insurance company and got an estimate of a couple of hundred dollars damage. They told me that they found out she was an "assigned risk" and that she will probably lose her license after this latest accident of hers. Her insurance company asked me to write a letter explaining what happened. I mentioned her statement that she had lived here four years and compared to my being born and raised and living near that intersection for 30-odd years. I went on explaining that for the last 15 years I have made my living as a professional driver, from delivery vans to tractor-trailer rigs, and before that I was an assistant manager at the fast food restaurant that was at the very corner where the accident happened. I then explained how she offered to pay for the damage and that she didn't want to involve the insurance companies. Then I pointed out that if she says I rear ended her, how is it that the right front corner of my car could hit the left side of her car? I got a check from her insurance company a few days later, and I never heard another word about it. That lady screwed herself!

Ever since then, I will not trust any stranger who wants to make a "gentleman's agreement" with a handshake. Sorry, not in this day and age. Too many lawyers circling around like vultures looking for someone to dig their talons into.

So, if someone does rear end my truck, even though there's no damage to my truck, I'd still document everything, take pictures, tell my insurance agent, etc. , just to CMA.

Andy



BTW, about a week after I sold that Honda to some teenage kid, he totaled it!

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

I got rearended when I was a kid. I pulled out and I got hit. Lady was driving at night without her headlights on. I didnt see her. Anyways. I offered to pay cash for her damage. I felt responsible. I prolly coulda beat it in court but I was young. I gave her all my information and requested she call me before the ins. company and we could work out a deal. She said cool. I got woke up at 8 the next morning by my insurance company. I worked nights at the time. She called em. 800 bucks. it was a 5 mph collision. Her fender was bent it a tiny bit. I coulda bent it back out with my fingers. No crease. SSOOO. With my age. My insurance doubled. I wouilda paid her. But she wanted the big bucks and knew I wouldnt want to pay 800 bucks for a 5mph collision. I woulda but I wouldnt have liked it.

Funny thing is. It was winter and it was icey. I pulled out ultra slow. If she had her lights on I woulda never pulled out in front of her. Or I woulda seen her and got moving a bit quicker. I drove like a grandma when I was a kid. Very slow. My cummins cured me of that.

 

[Headshot zod]

After I got back in the truck I was like "man I wish I had my phone so I could have taken a pic of his bumper just in case"... ...

 

[CChase]

It's unfortunate that you can't trust anyone... I had a 62 year old guy turn left right in front of me and there was no where for me to go. He was in an Escort, I had my 90 1/2 ton Ford. He seemed like a good guy, well dressed and mannered, and he offered to pay out of pocket, but still gave me his insurance info, which appeared to be valid... well, after numerous unreturned phone calls, I called his insurance to find out that the insurance card he had given me wasn't effective until 4 days after the accident. I then filed an accident report and called a few more times and finally just gave up on collecting.



Ultimately, I had a slightly bent bumper, a slightly wrinkled piece of sheet metal between the bumper and the headlight and a broken parking lamp. $10 at a junkyard and the broken light was fixed, but you should have seen the mess I made out of that SOB's little Escort :-laf At least I got a little justice.....

 

[JLEONARD]

I got McCreevied :-laf two weeks ago. I was stopped in traffic (luckily with my foot on the brake) and some 20 year old chick in an 89 olds hit me. I got out and looked and in the rain I didn't see any damamge but her front end e=was pretty much gone. . hood all crinckled and folded back, 3 of 4 headlights toast, grill, bumper, etc pretty crunched.

Stayed right there in the middle of the road till a cop showed up and wrote it all up.

Next day in the better weather I could see where my bumper was tweaked slightly, and the lower edge came up and touched the sheet metal before it flexed back.

I got an estimate of $1106. New bumper, pads, etc and some body work and paint.

Just got the OK from HER insurance company to get the work done.

Stopping on my way home tonight to schedule it.

I'd rather just get the $$ but that's not how they want to do it, so I'll get it fixed on her dime.

 

[Hohn]

I got mcgreevied in slow motion in a parking lot. I was starting to back out, and noticed that a Taurus immediately behind me was also backing out towards me (she had just pulled in and was straightening up). So I stopped and waited for her to finish or let me go. She showed no hesitation, so I decided just to wait.



I sat there and watched her back into me. Her son in the back seat watched the same thing happen from the rear seat of the Taurus.



Naturally, she gets out and is all huffy that I "backed into her". I told her,"Look Lady, I wasn't even moving-- ask your son because he saw the whole thing. "



She then proceeded to tell me how she had worked for a car insurance company and how her husband was a Lt Col (I was a mere Lt). Yada Yada.



Her Taurus had a hole punctured in the rear valance from my hitch.



The damage to my truck was repaired with some Windex on the hitch ball



I, too would NEVER trust a stranger. They will come back and sue you and screw you. Don't say a word to them more than you need to. Get their info, and DEMAND A POLICE REPORT.



It's sad but true that you have to CYA so badly because there are so many greedy, lazy people aided and abetted by sleazly lawyers looking to make a buck the new-fashioned way-- they steal it.



jlh

 

[Cummins Pilot]

A few winters ago a lady ran into the back of my Dad's S-10 Blazer. The hitch reciever pretty much ruined the front of her little car. Nothing damaged on his. She claimed he stopped to fast for the stop sign (icy road) and threatened to call the police. He then reached into his coat and handed her his cell phone.



She called, police came, issued her a ticket, my Dad just smiled.

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

I rearened my self once. I was backing down my very steep driveway in the winter. Misjudged the traction. I had sanded the day before. It rained the next morning nullifying any traction. About halfway down I lost traction. I wasnt going more than a mile or two an hour when it let loose. I had enough time to decide what to hit.



Funny thing was I had another car. A legacy. I had instructed my wife to never park in this one certain spot in case I ever slid down the steep driveway. This was the one time she parked right where I said not to. Dumb luck. Directly behind the subaru was my backup plan. A large snow bank. There was a honest 35 foot drop off on the one side. A 5 ft drop off behind the snow pile and nowhere to go if you got into trouble. I had to choose between trying to hang an axle on the 35ft ledge. Didnt sound wise to me either. Hitting a 7 foot circumference cotton wood or bumping the subaru. I chose the subaru as I figured it would push it back and cause less damage to the truck. I was right. It tweaked my bumper a bit and it contacted the paint like the other poster. I straightened the bumper out by loosening it and using a handyman to bend it. Worked well enough you couldnt tell it was bent.

The subaru was another story. 3800 dollars damage. I wish you coulda seen it. It was perfect. I got the headlight, bumpercover, grill, fender, and hood. All in one fail swoop. Aint you proud. Thats almost a whole front clip.

 

[JLEONARD]

I had instructed my wife to never park in this one certain spot

:-laf :-laf



We keep hoping that someday they will actually listen?

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

I Mcgreevied my wife once... hey it's not what you think I had an old Jeep Commando yard vehicle with no body on it. It was my log skidder/plow truck, 4 inch stainless steel stack, 225 Buick V-6, welded into 4 wheel drive because it would pop out otherwise, a sheet metal floor pan and fire wall, the only gauge was for oil pressure, it wasn't very pretty but it sounded nice. Anyways I was out plowing the driveway and the wife was inside, it was quite common for me to not look around when I was plowing because I knew my own yard and where things were. Well my wife had snuck out of the house to go somewhere and then I was backing down the driveway and she was backing up the driveway... whhaaammm, oooo, that's gonna leave a mark, did I mention I had made a back bumper for the beast out of 8 inch schedule 40 pipe. Luckily my friend owns a body shop and fixed her car for me for something like $400 instead of the normal $800-1000. She learned to let me know if she's around when I'm plowing and I learned to watch out for her because she may not let me know she's around when I'm plowing. :-laf

 

[GO 4LO]

Senior year of college, I was heading down to school for an exam in my Jeep. Driving in the slow lane at about 60 mph (Jeep didn't go much faster ), and this lady comes flying down an onramp in a minivan and merges right into the side of me. Not sure what she was thinking, or if she just wasn't looking AT ALL. Now, at that time, my Jeep had about 5" of lift and 36" tires that stuck out about 6" from the body on both sides, so the tires were all her van contacted when she hit me. She made the mistake of then hitting the brakes while still contacting my tires, which just dragged them down the side of her van!

I pulled over and got out, went over and looked at my tires on the pass side, and they seemed okay, just reddish now from the paint off her van. I stood there waiting, and she just sat in her car for like 15 seconds, then finally got out, apologizing and half-crying and everything. I had an exam that I was already in danger of being late for, so I told her if she didn't want to file, we didn't have to. She was real thankful, and we left. As I pulled out, I looked at the side of her van. It looked like someone had taken a BIG rotating sander right down the side, her door was dented pretty bad, and the lugs of my tire must have caught the door lip, as it was bent out, too. I had to go buy a spraycan of paint remover to get that paint off my tires!

Chris

 

[willyslover]

My cattle catcher aka 6"drop trailer hitch stays on 24/7. . just something for the one about to hit me to think about only burried it once so far



I always keep a camera in the glove box for anything like this so I have some record of the incident. . as I don't trust many and a stranger NEVER !

 

[rbattelle]

I was at my dealership earlier this summer to have them listen to an engine knock. I parked in front of the service bays (a no parking zone) and went inside. While I was in there, a gentleman in a 2004 Sebring convertible parked behind me. Me and the tech jumped in my truck, fired it up, and I began to back up slowly. I hit the guy at <5 mph. No damage to my truck, but my trailer hitch tore up his front grille to the tune of $450. One of those moments you feel like such a complete doofus.

 

[SEmerson]

A freind of mine had this happen... .



He is cleaning out his ford crew duelly. It is backed up his driveway. Doors open. His brother in law drives up the driveway with my freinds 1/2 ton. He jumps out without putting it in gear. It rolls down the driveway hitting the rear fender then folding both doors over backways. Still rolling it finaly stops at the bottom of the hill T boning my freinds wifes car at the bottom of the driveway.



So in just a few secounds he has all 3 of his rides smashed.

 

[KBennett]

I was at my dealership earlier this summer to have them listen to an engine knock. I parked in front of the service bays (a no parking zone) and went inside. While I was in there, a gentleman in a 2004 Sebring convertible parked behind me. Me and the tech jumped in my truck, fired it up, and I began to back up slowly. I hit the guy at <5 mph. No damage to my truck, but my trailer hitch tore up his front grille to the tune of $450. One of those moments you feel like such a complete doofus.

I did that once about 10 years ago in my 4X4 Nissan at some event. I pulled in a spot at night and the guy directing traffic told me to back up and move to a different spot. While we were talking a little Pulsar pulled in behind me and must have been right up against me because I started backing up and 2 feet later I heard a scraping sound. I could not even see the guy and reached for the emergency brake because I thought I had left it on. That's when the traffic guy started yelling. I had to pay for a new hood.

I almost did the same thing at my son's school to a Saturn. She was honking when I was backing and I still couldn't see her. I stopped and when she finally started to back up I saw her.

 

[Cummins Pilot]

My dad and I were at his buddies place of work and he drives truck for a living and told us he now counts cars in front of him at a stop light. One time he took off and could not figure out where the honking was coming from, then a moment later this car zooms out from under the hood of the truck he was driving. Turns out she stalled her car and he went and was pushing her along.



Personally I think if you pull up behind a truck so far that they can't see you and you get backed over its your own darn fault.

 

[pwerwagn]

One time I parked in a parking lot next to an SUV in my 74 power wagon. I pulled up to far on the curb shut it off. A guy walking by told me that the security officer gives tickets to people parking on the parking bumper. So I got in the truck, and tried to start it. Dead! The cables corrode sometimes. Well, I was late, so I just put it in nuetral, wouldnt roll! So I got out, and pushed on the front of the truck (the drivers side door still open) and it popped off the curb, the lower corner of the door caught the fender of the suv, and ripped it off along with the door. Scratched my paint a little. I called security and waited, eventually the cops showed up. Low and behold, the vehicle i ripped to pieces was stolen!!! Cops told me to leave and never mention anything. Aint that luck???

My fiance, on the other hand, did a good one. Her dad had just bought a new truck. It was like 2 weeks old. They had an old 60-ish ford truck in the circle driveway that didnt run. Her dad told her to move the new truck. All their guns were laying in the driveway because they had just unloaded the truck after a hunt. Well, she was careful not to hit the guns. She instead hit the new truck on the old ford starting at the passenger front fender. She didnt stop though, she kept going. all the way to the rear tail light. something like 7,000$ damage. Its never been fixed, by the way and the truck is like 4 years old now!