Crunch
Traffic was not flowing smoothly Wednesday night. I turned my gaze for a bit, and when I looked back, the vehicle in front of me was at a dead stop. I hit my brakes hard and squealed the tires in an attempt to avoid contact, but it was inevitable--crunch.
The location was Highway 12 in Maple Plain, heading eastbound toward the stoplight at County Road 83. Perhaps I saw the light turn green in the distance, but I was a block or two away and traffic was still slowing. No matter the excuse, I ran into the back end of a small SUV. When we pulled off to the shoulder to exchange information and examine our vehicles, it appeared that his damage was limited to a little plastic on the lower part of his bumper. My bumper slid under his, and thus my grill took the brunt of the impact. It also buckled the hood (raised about 3 or 4 inches) and messed up the headlamp brackets. All in all, my car was (and is) still drivable, and I made it all the way to the farm without issue.
Following community band and church choir practices, Dad and I looked at the damage more carefully to determine what repairs might be needed. Since my car has 261,000 miles, I'm not going to spend a huge amount of money on it. (The other guy had his car for just a month.) We bent the hood back to a mostly flat position and taped the headlamps into position.
After the hail damage in 2010, my car was considered a total loss. Since that damage was purely cosmetic, I continued to drive the vehicle and benefit from lower insurance premiums by reducing coverage to liability only. This level of insurance serves to cover his repairs but means any repairs I want would be paid out of pocket. When my insurance agency called to get details--the other guy called it in--she explained that the vehicle at the back end of a rear-ending accident is always at fault. If I had been in front, his insurance would cover the cost of my repairs.
Here's my plan: fix the noticeable aesthetic issues and continue driving my car. Wrinkles show age, right? My car is 14 years old. I knew I needed to shop for a "new" vehicle soon anyway. This just might advance the deal by a few months.
The location was Highway 12 in Maple Plain, heading eastbound toward the stoplight at County Road 83. Perhaps I saw the light turn green in the distance, but I was a block or two away and traffic was still slowing. No matter the excuse, I ran into the back end of a small SUV. When we pulled off to the shoulder to exchange information and examine our vehicles, it appeared that his damage was limited to a little plastic on the lower part of his bumper. My bumper slid under his, and thus my grill took the brunt of the impact. It also buckled the hood (raised about 3 or 4 inches) and messed up the headlamp brackets. All in all, my car was (and is) still drivable, and I made it all the way to the farm without issue.
Following community band and church choir practices, Dad and I looked at the damage more carefully to determine what repairs might be needed. Since my car has 261,000 miles, I'm not going to spend a huge amount of money on it. (The other guy had his car for just a month.) We bent the hood back to a mostly flat position and taped the headlamps into position.
After the hail damage in 2010, my car was considered a total loss. Since that damage was purely cosmetic, I continued to drive the vehicle and benefit from lower insurance premiums by reducing coverage to liability only. This level of insurance serves to cover his repairs but means any repairs I want would be paid out of pocket. When my insurance agency called to get details--the other guy called it in--she explained that the vehicle at the back end of a rear-ending accident is always at fault. If I had been in front, his insurance would cover the cost of my repairs.
Here's my plan: fix the noticeable aesthetic issues and continue driving my car. Wrinkles show age, right? My car is 14 years old. I knew I needed to shop for a "new" vehicle soon anyway. This just might advance the deal by a few months.