Rear Ended/Bad Drivers

[Foxx]

First time I've been in an accident in over 40 years.

 

The other day, while heading to my accountant to drop off my tax prep, I got rear ended by another vehicle. Sitting at a light in the left hand lane (2 lanes in each direction), fourth vehicle in line. Light turns green, the right lane takes off, the two vehicles ahead of me in my lane, and myself, all take our foot off the brake but the first car inline does not go. Sitting, waiting patiently for the first car to go so the rest of us can proceed, the vehicle behind me apparently does not see that we are not moving and proceeds to drive into the back of my truck.

 

Pull off to the side of the road and make sure the driver of the other car is alright (they are). Look at the front of their vehicle and it is pretty much destroyed. The back of my truck has minor damage to the passengers side truck bed panel below the tail light assembly as well as the light assembly itself sustaining damage being cracked.

 

Call the cops and divert traffic to the righthand lane so they don't drive over all the debris in the road. Some idiots ignore my gestures and drive, seemingly oblivious to my presence, right over the debris in the roadway. About 20 minutes later the police arrive, take the report and send us on our way.

 

Drop off my taxes, head home, call my insurance agency and they instruct me that if I am not at fault,  I should call the other drivers insurance company to file a claim. Do so and after googling a few items on the 'net, discover that I need to file a NYS DMV-104 form because there was more than 1K damage involved. Locate the form on the DMV website and download it.

 

Man, what a convoluted disaster that form is. Now, I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent but after viewing the form, it's instructions and my obligations thereof, I am questioning my belief of my supposed intelligence. I google around to ask questions I have about certain aspects that are required but there are no real answers to be had from my searches. The closest anyone came was a video by the William Matter law firm. However, that did not really answer my question to the very first obligation, question #1.

 

When the cop got done with the "Accident Information Exchange Form", he told the other driver they were 'driver #1', and myself that I was 'driver #2'. Of which this is accurately reflected on the form he gave each of us. However, from watching the W. Mattar video and every other form of information I can find, I am to fill out the form as being the "Driver of Vehicle 1".  Being I have to sign the form after all other pertinent information is entered before sending it off in the mail to file it,  It states that the signature required is that of "Driver of Vehicle 1". Yet the information exchange form says I am 'driver 2'.

 

Being these are used to an extent by the insurance companies to determine guilt and the possibility I could be denied my claim because of filing it out wrongly, I am a little apprehensive as to whether I am #1 or #2 here. I will probably call the NYS DMV tomorrow to try and get some clarification here, but I have no confidence they will give me proper direction. Let's face it, we have all had dealings with DMV at one point or another that would instill this sense of incompetence to some degree.

 

Might anyone here have any insight into exactly how this form needs to be filled out?

 

Lastly, why the hell do I have to fill this thing out? I was minding my own business, did nothing wrong yet my life is being upended to do some bureaucratic bullcrap.

[Taro T]

Don't know how well they can help with this, but the Wayne County DMV out of Lyons are usually very knowledgeable AND helpful when called for info in general.

 

Having been rear ended twice, one of which seemed minor enough to not bother with a police report; 2 items that you should be aware of.

 

1.  Have the repair shop make sure the trailer hitch can still accept a ball hitch & that it can be removed.  The "damageless" accident left the trailer hitch unusable as it was bent enough that there was no way the ball would go back in.  Grrrr.

 

2.  The other time, got hit by the car behind me & that car then got hit by the car behind it.  The woman driving the car that hit me was adamant that she'd been pushed into my car.  I told the cop I was hit once very hard & then again w/ a very soft tap, which he wrote up as her car getting pushed into my car. Turns out that was actually indicative of her hitting me & then getting hit subsequently, but wasn't smart enough to push that at the time.  Took it to a shop that had done some collision work for us in the past and they only found minor damages & didn't bother with them.  Not having the 2nd car listed as causing my accident turned out to be a big deal down the road, because the collision actually caused a bushing in the rear suspension to not sit properly which messed up a couple of joints in the rear drive train.  Didn't notice it at the time, but 2 months later had a nearly $1,000 repair that the other insurance companies refused to cover & fidget go through mine because it supposedly wasn't accident related so no point to it.  Moral of the story, in a multicar crash, unless you know the driver behind you didn't drive into you under their own power, push hard to make sure that's your side of the story.  It'll likely save you money.

[Ann]

I am sorry this happened to you.

 

Hubby was rear ended a few years ago... by an insurance agent. Her vehicle was totaled, his bumper and backup camera on his truck had to be replaced. One call to Geico and her agency, and everything was taken care of.

 

 

[snafu]

3 hours ago, Foxx said:

First time I've been in an accident in over 40 years.

 

The other day, while heading to my accountant to drop off my tax prep, I got rear ended by another vehicle. Sitting at a light in the left hand lane (2 lanes in each direction), fourth vehicle in line. Light turns green, the right lane takes off, the two vehicles ahead of me in my lane, and myself, all take our foot off the brakes but the first car inline does not go. Sitting, waiting patiently for the first car to go so the rest of us can proceed, the vehicle behind me apparently does not see that we are not moving and proceeds to drive into the back of my truck.

 

Pull off to the side of the road and make sure the driver of the other car is alright (they are). Look at the front of their vehicle and it is pretty much destroyed. The back of my truck has minor damage to the passengers side truck bed panel below the tail light assembly as well as the light assembly itself sustaining damage being cracked.

 

Call the cops and divert traffic to the righthand land so they don't drive over all the debris in the road. Some idiots ignore my gestures and drive, seemingly oblivious to my presence, right over the debris in the roadway. About 20 minutes later the police arrive, take the report and send us on our way.

 

Drop off my taxes, head home, call my insurance agency and they instruct me that if I am not at fault,  I should call the other drivers insurance company to file a claim. Do so and after googling a few items on the 'net, discover that I need to file a NYS DMV-104 form because there was more than 1K damage involved. Locate the form on the DMV website and download it.

 

Man, what a convoluted disaster that form is. Now, I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent but after viewing the form, it's instructions and my obligations thereof, I am questioning my belief of my supposed intelligence. I google around to ask questions I have about certain aspects that are required but there are no real answers to be had from my searches. The closest anyone came was a video by the William Matter law firm. However, that did not really answer my question to the very first obligation, question #1.

 

When the cop got done with the "Accident Information Exchange Form", he told the other driver they were 'driver #1 and myself that I was 'driver #2'. Of which this is accurately reflected on the form he gave each of us. However from watching the W. Mattar video and every other form of information I can find, I am to fill out the form as being the "Driver of Vehicle 1".  Being I have to sign the form after all other pertinent information is entered before sending it off in the mail to file it,  It states that the signature required is that of "Driver of Vehicle 1". Yet the information exchange form says I am 'driver 2'.

 

Being these are used to an extent by the insurance companies to determine guilt and the possibility I could be denied my claim because of filing it out wrongly, I am a little apprehensive as to I am #1 or #2 here. I will probably call the NYS DMV tomorrow to trey and get some clarification here, but I have no confidence they will give me proper direction. Let's face it, we have all had dealings with DMV at one point or another that would instill this sense of incompetence to one degree or another.

 

Might anyone here have any insight into exactly how this form needs to be filled out?

 

Lastly, why the hell do I have to fill this thing out? I was minding my own business, did nothing wrong yet my life is being upended to do some bureaucratic bullcrap.

 

You’re driver #1 as long as you’re consistently driver #1 on the form, and in the description of the accident.

If you think something doesn’t apply, use “-“. If you don’t know the answer, use “x”. They want to know who and what vehicles were involved.  Make sure your description is as close to the police repost as possible. You got this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shrader]

Both my wife and I got hit about 6 months apart last year at lights. It sounds like your process is much more annoying up there. We had no special forms to fill out and insurance took care of it quickly. My wife’s car wound up being called totaled, so it was a significant amount. 
 

Your story reminded me of mine a bit, except the light was still red when the car behind me decided to hit the gas. It was a young kid who didn’t speak a word of English so that one was fun to sort out. 

[Foxx]

So after reading the responses here and thinking about what I might do the past couple of days, I decided to stop by my insurance agency and get some guidance from them on how to fill this form out being as they should know. I walk into the office and immediately the receptionist comes over and says you're not supposed to be allowed into the office. I apologize and turn to open the entry door to step out but she then steps forward to see my paper work so I explain to her my dilemma a bit. She allows me in to speak with my agent and she clarifies that I am indeed 'driver #1' for the purposes of that form.

 

I filled out the form, took it to the post office and mailed it off. Hopefully that is the end of my bureaucratic obligation. I now however have to call the other insurance agency because their investigator did not get back to me within the 24 hour time period the lady I spoke with on the phone said they would... 

[Taro T]

55 minutes ago, Foxx said:

So after reading the responses here and thinking about what I might do the past couple of days, I decided to stop by my insurance agency and get some guidance from them on how to fill this form out being as they should know. I walk into the office and immediately the receptionist comes over and says you're not supposed to be allowed into the office. I apologize and turn to open the entry door to step out but she then steps forward to see my paper work so I explain to her my dilemma a bit. She allows me in to speak with my agent and she clarifies that I am indeed 'driver #1' for the purposes of that form.

 

I filled out the form, took it to the post office and mailed it off. Hopefully that is the end of my bureaucratic obligation. I now however have to call the other insurance agency because their investigator did not get back to me within the 24 hour time period the lady I spoke with on the phone said they would... 

 

Good luck w/ it.

 

If you're in the Ra-cha-cha area and don't know a good repair shop, PM me & can let you know who we've used in the past that did a very good job.

[Seasons1992]

I'm sorry to hear this, @Foxx

 

I sit behind people EVERY DAMN DAY who don't move forward for 3-9 seconds. Stupid people, stupid phones.

I feel your pain. I've nearly ran into many cars because of this and I'm sure almost got run into.....

[Foxx]

11 minutes ago, DC Tom said:

I just looked at that form, and holy shit.  That's not just &#%$ed up, that's "Steve Buscemi's teeth" &#%$ed up.

Right? And why the hell is it my responsibility to do the bureaucratic bullcrap for our paid hierarchy?

[Seasons1992]

36 minutes ago, DC Tom said:

I just looked at that form, and holy shit.  That's not just &#%$ed up, that's "Steve Buscemi's teeth" &#%$ed up.

 

I am the walrus.

 

[CarpetCrawler]

The first one in line and the one that hit you were probably both texting at the time. Moe-rons.

[snafu]

On 2/15/2021 at 5:26 PM, Foxx said:

Right? And why the hell is it my responsibility to do the bureaucratic bullcrap for our paid hierarchy?

 

You want the State to hire more people?

 

[mead107]

I’ve gotten it in the rear before. Never very hard. No damage. 
 

[4merper4mer]

On 2/14/2021 at 2:49 PM, Foxx said:

First time I've been in an accident in over 40 years.

 

The other day, while heading to my accountant to drop off my tax prep, I got rear ended by another vehicle. Sitting at a light in the left hand lane (2 lanes in each direction), fourth vehicle in line. Light turns green, the right lane takes off, the two vehicles ahead of me in my lane, and myself, all take our foot off the brake but the first car inline does not go. Sitting, waiting patiently for the first car to go so the rest of us can proceed, the vehicle behind me apparently does not see that we are not moving and proceeds to drive into the back of my truck.

 

Pull off to the side of the road and make sure the driver of the other car is alright (they are). Look at the front of their vehicle and it is pretty much destroyed. The back of my truck has minor damage to the passengers side truck bed panel below the tail light assembly as well as the light assembly itself sustaining damage being cracked.

 

Call the cops and divert traffic to the righthand lane so they don't drive over all the debris in the road. Some idiots ignore my gestures and drive, seemingly oblivious to my presence, right over the debris in the roadway. About 20 minutes later the police arrive, take the report and send us on our way.

 

Drop off my taxes, head home, call my insurance agency and they instruct me that if I am not at fault,  I should call the other drivers insurance company to file a claim. Do so and after googling a few items on the 'net, discover that I need to file a NYS DMV-104 form because there was more than 1K damage involved. Locate the form on the DMV website and download it.

 

Man, what a convoluted disaster that form is. Now, I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent but after viewing the form, it's instructions and my obligations thereof, I am questioning my belief of my supposed intelligence. I google around to ask questions I have about certain aspects that are required but there are no real answers to be had from my searches. The closest anyone came was a video by the William Matter law firm. However, that did not really answer my question to the very first obligation, question #1.

 

When the cop got done with the "Accident Information Exchange Form", he told the other driver they were 'driver #1', and myself that I was 'driver #2'. Of which this is accurately reflected on the form he gave each of us. However, from watching the W. Mattar video and every other form of information I can find, I am to fill out the form as being the "Driver of Vehicle 1".  Being I have to sign the form after all other pertinent information is entered before sending it off in the mail to file it,  It states that the signature required is that of "Driver of Vehicle 1". Yet the information exchange form says I am 'driver 2'.

 

Being these are used to an extent by the insurance companies to determine guilt and the possibility I could be denied my claim because of filing it out wrongly, I am a little apprehensive as to whether I am #1 or #2 here. I will probably call the NYS DMV tomorrow to try and get some clarification here, but I have no confidence they will give me proper direction. Let's face it, we have all had dealings with DMV at one point or another that would instill this sense of incompetence to some degree.

 

Might anyone here have any insight into exactly how this form needs to be filled out?

 

Lastly, why the hell do I have to fill this thing out? I was minding my own business, did nothing wrong yet my life is being upended to do some bureaucratic bullcrap.

This happened when the government diverted the best and brightest away from the DMV so they could respond to FOIL requests about UFOs.

[Seasons1992]

On 2/16/2021 at 6:17 PM, mead107 said:

I’ve gotten it in the rear before. Never very hard. No damage. 
 

 

Y'all are going to let him get away with this?

[Koko]

3 hours ago, Seasons1992 said:

 

Y'all are going to let him get away with this?

 

Well, if you want to give him a tip... just the tip.

[Seasons1992]

1 hour ago, Koko said:

 

Well, if you want to give him a tip... just the tip.

 

Don't encourage him. The "nut" conversation in the Fans Chat area is already out of hand!

[RochesterRob]

I was hit in the rear only once and it was in good driving conditions.  The incident happened at the intersection of Jefferson Rd and West Henrietta Rd near Marketplace Mall.  I think the lady in back of me just was not paying any attention even though initially she tried saying that I stopped suddenly.  Yeah, I stopped at the stop sign at the intersection!  The times I should have been hit such as driving in snowy conditions nothing ever happened.  One time while at Cornell I reluctantly took a fellow to a bus station.  Down Route 13 from the campus and then up Buffalo St back to campus fishtailing back up the hill.

[Wacka]

Was there once and in the winter. is that the hill with 50 gallon drums of road salt at every cross street?

Edited February 19, 2021 by Wacka

[4merper4mer]

12 hours ago, DC Tom said:

 

Last accident I was in, my wife and I were driving separate cars, going in the same direction, and she was behind me.  I stopped at a light, wife stopped behind me, woman behind her floored it to try to run the light.  

 

Yep...she saw the red light, and tried to run it when the vehicles in front of her stopped.

 

Woman totaled her '99 Jeep Cherokee, totaled our Nissan pickup my wife was driving, and pushed our truck into the back end of the Prius and caused $6G damage to it (and sent it flying through the intersection.)  Sent her and my wife to the hospital.  And did it in front of a police station, with plenty of witnesses, so there was never any question of fault or problem with the accident report, or the multiple citations she got for being a &#%$ing idiot.

 

And you know what the city court punished her with, for trying to run a red light and causing a three car accident that totaled two vehicles and sent to people to the hospital?  $90 fine, no points.  

 

 

Did they throw the book at you for driving a Prius?