First Crash (3 Viewers)

[Jiga]

Well I was just in my first crash 10 minutes ago!!! Heres a diagram (Im the green car, hes the maroon, and the black ones are just other people... dat makes it look better than it was to, he cut across earlier!):

The damage is luckily minor, I got his details still and $20 to fix the paint up ( I had to ask which might seem shallow, but realistically it will cost more and he should have offered considering it WAS his fault). It re-affirms the idea that some old people are so much worse drivers than younger people. He cuts across two lanes, claims he had his blinker on, and then says I am at fault depite me being parrallel to him when he started moving across the first lane and then contact being made at the back corner of my car and front corner of his!! He says 'I had my blinker on'..... he gave me the distinct impression, and it can be the only explanation for how it occured because even peripherial vision could have seen me, that he didnt even look, just put his blinker on and went, he defintely didnt check his blind spot. He even tried to play the 'your a p-plater card' but I think I put him straight! The thing was to, I saw him early jus thinking he was dumb and moved across to the middle lane wen turning instead of the right lane (which u must wen u hav those borken lines and arrow at lights), so i went to the outside lane to avoid him even though I am allowed to go to the middle one but he kept goin on!! thats wat really pisses me off, i avoided him and he still hit me!

On top of all this, he stops after its occured on the main road when a side street is 5m ahead so I have to scream out to go around!, and when we have finished exchanging details moves forward, puts his right blinker on and then moves to the left because he wants to do a u-turn only 10m away from a corner with cars travelling at speed around it! So I stop because hes indicating to the right, he should have indicated to the left, waited, then indicated to the right when its clear, and he then signals for me to go past with his hands.... I always thought confusing traffic, which is wat he did, was bad... they give licenses to anyone these days!! He also tells me he has had similar damage to his car before, so Im thinkin hes a serial offender!

So what are your experiences?

And btw, what details are you meant to get? I got his name, address, license number, phone number (although now I look its missing a number, but he was prity shook up so I dont think its sus), card number etc. I dont think I will pursue it cos it is only minor, but would be good to know for future incidents!

 

[petar13]

Sorry to hear that, man. It really sucks when something like that happens. According to the situation you explained, he really does seem to be in the wrong. The details you got down are correct, I don't think you need anymore, except maybe his insurance company details.
Unfortunately paint will probably cost more than $20. Maybe $100? Maybe more? Usually the tinting service is around $20-$30. Any insurance on your side?
Is there any denting, or is it just a paint scrape? Hope this situation works out for you without too many headaches.

 

[Jiga]

The damage is really minor, which is suprising because the car did move when he hit me, but I think first contact was with my mag (which is unscaved luckily apart from some of his paint on it) and then onto the bumper section next to the wheel well, its mainly just his paint on top of mine which I think I can even wash off, theirs alittle section of my paint thats gone, very small. The worst part is a really small crack, but its nothing major so I dont really care. Just pisses me off though, I avoided him initally by going out to the far lane, and he still went right across into me, I even used my horn jus before the crash becaus I could tell he was going to hit but couldnt do anything about it! (If I braked, he would have hit me further up causing more damage, making me look like Im in the wrong and getting a 4WD which was behind me hit me up the arse, so I continued on slightly faster in the hope he would see me or I will get just passed him but he did it so quicly around the corner that time wasnt on my side!)

Never mind, brings into question though how some of these people are on the road, this guy was REALLY clueless.

 

[Jiga]

im pretty sure thata since you've already accepted money off him, thats considered settlement and you wont be able to get anything further.


screwed

I dont intend to follow it up, the damage is very minor... if it was worse I wouldnt have asked for $20, I would have called the cops seeings as though he tried to dispute who was at fault. I believe a woman waiting at a bus station saw it all as well, she had quite a blank look at him when he stopped in front of me on the mainroad before proceeding on around the corner! But like I said, its minor, there is no need to get insurance involved or witnesses etc.

Funny how he tried to pull the p-plater card though, I was just like "That means nothing, you've cut across 3 lanes of traffic during and slightly after a turn, and you've hit me on the back corner which straight away indicates that changing lanes wasnt possible... you cant just turn your blinker on while someone is next to or close to you and expect them to let you in when they cant see your blinker!"

 

[veterandoggy]

wow, thats a crazy lane manouver! if you were going to pursue it you should have also gotten his car type and colour along with the number plate.

i was in a crash a few weeks ago (my fault unfortunately) where i was doing a U-turn in front of my house and my right mirror even shows behind my car too, so when i saw the car coming up i musta thought it was parked, and so i rolled (literally) my car as i did the turn. according to her she thought i saw her and so kept on driving at the same speed, no horn sounding or nothing. i made contact with her when i reached the middle line like it takes that long for someone to realise that they weren't seen. but anyway she took my license details, plate number, even the VIN number! i was like lol wtf? it was like i had put on a phony number plate or something, she wanted to make sure she got EVERYTHING!

 

[Jiga]

Yeah Im sure it would cost alot, the tiny crack would need the whole bumper to be replaced realistically, but Im not a prick, the guy said he was a pensioner (I saw his card as well so he was), Im gonna be reasonable, apart from the markings from his car which can be cleaned off, the damage is barely noticable.

 

[Jiga]

wow, thats a crazy lane manouver! if you were going to pursue it you should have also gotten his car type and colour along with the number plate.

Yeah, on a three lane road... its worrying that he has a license to drive. As for details, I know it was a Ford Falcon 200X model, I could go around his house and find his license number... but yeah its not major, good to know that though for when something bigger eventually occurs

was in a crash a few weeks ago (my fault unfortunately) where i was doing a U-turn in front of my house and my right mirror even shows behind my car too, so when i saw the car coming up i musta thought it was parked, and so i rolled (literally) my car as i did the turn. according to her she thought i saw her and so kept on driving at the same speed, no horn sounding or nothing. i made contact with her when i reached the middle line like it takes that long for someone to realise that they weren't seen. but anyway she took my license details, plate number, even the VIN number! i was like lol wtf? it was like i had put on a phony number plate or something, she wanted to make sure she got EVERYTHING!

Lol, VIN number, why the hell would you get that for! If she thought you were dodgy, the car could have been stolen so the VIN number would be useless!

 

[Jiga]

Here are some pics of it, the close up ones make it look worse than it is, and most if not all of that red stuff will come off:

If I had a new car, I think I would pursue this, but my car is prity old, still didnt have any dings on it.

A question : Where would I go to get some touch up paint, just for that black sections and some other areas to make em look less noticable? Doesnt have to be exact same colour, close to would be good though.

 

[CieL]

Ouch.. I'd be really cut if that was on the side of my car..

Get it from Toyota? But I haven't really seen that colour around.. or maybe it's lighting..

But I still don't understand how he could of merged into your car like that.. clearly you were... there =S

I had my first crash a few weeks ago too (mid March).. I wasn't at fault, the friggin Indian of a tailgater was.. But my car ended up much much worse.. whole rear bumper was torn and had to be replaced, exhaust was bent, boot was compressed (a tad, not visible on the exterior), and I got whiplash... car was in the garage for agessssssssssssssss, plus they did a dodgy job so I made them do it again =]

Only thing was I went through insurance and you didnt.. but since you're not going to chase up on it, details shouldnt matter as long as you got their name and address..

 

[Jiga]

Get it from Toyota? But I haven't really seen that colour around.. or maybe it's lighting..

Yeah Im thinking that, I dont care if its not an exact match, I just want to touch up the black part where the paint is totally off the bumper. All of his red paint I cleaned off so that wasnt to bad.

But I still don't understand how he could of merged into your car like that.. clearly you were... there =S

I have no idea how he didnt see me early enough to swerve and avoid the crash, I was aware early on that we might hit, I tried everything possible to avoid it (hugging the gutter, beeping him etc) and he still hit me. And the thing is, he hit me right in the front corner of his car, so even by the time his corner was half way in line with my car he should have seen me!!! Yet he continued on until like 9/10 of my car was in front of him and still couldnt avoid it

He looked about 60 years old, he might be blind?

I had my first crash a few weeks ago too (mid March).. I wasn't at fault, the friggin Indian of a tailgater was.. But my car ended up much much worse.. whole rear bumper was torn and had to be replaced, exhaust was bent, boot was compressed (a tad, not visible on the exterior), and I got whiplash... car was in the garage for agessssssssssssssss, plus they did a dodgy job so I made them do it again =]

Hmmmm not good, despite the lack of damage on my car, the crunching noise when he hit I would rather forget! Needless to say, I drove slowly for the rest of the day! You got whiplash to? Sue em for damages haha, I remember giving a friend whiplash when we hit his golf cart in the rear at speed, they go prity fast those things!

Brings into question though how some of these older people have their licenses, I remember a coupla weeks back an older guy behind me nearly changed lanes into a truck. Is it because they become complacent and dont check their blind spots? Or do they lack peripherial vision at that age? Its worrying that some of these people are on the road.

 

[Shell]

eeek. ive never had a crash. i hope to god i never will.

 

[Jiga]

Chances are your going to

I would have never expected to be hit by someone, with all the 'hype' about p-platers being bad drivers I expected that I would be the one to hit someone (thats why i got third party damage inusrance!), not a guy with at least 20 years experience doing something completely stupid like he did. Felt abit bad for him though, he was prity shook up, shaking abit... was only a minor crash but thats the effect it can have!

 

[seremify007]

I don't know much about car accidents but I'd say you shouldn't have taken the $20- you should wait until it's all settled with your insurance companies and/or the repair work is complete so you know how much.

 

[Jiga]

If it was a bigger accident, I would agree, but Im not taking this any further, no insurance companies, nothing, its only some very minor damage that is barely noticable now and will be less noticable with alittle touch up of paint

 

[shortygb]

i had my first crash last week, i was gogin into a parking spot and turned late, and scraped (and a bit of a dent) in the car next to it. i would of seen it if it wasnt for my small driving postion and driving in a massive car with the worst visibility ever. i was lucky that on my car all the damage was some paint gone and a broken headlight cover.

i was lucky that the owner wasnt some massive anrgy guy out to kill anyone who touches his car. the lady who owned it was really nice and considerate, which was good because i was stressing so much, it may be minor but at the time i thoguht it was the worst thing in the world. we swapped details and im awaiting the cost.

 

[veterandoggy]

Here are some pics of it, the close up ones make it look worse than it is, and most if not all of that red stuff will come off:

If I had a new car, I think I would pursue this, but my car is prity old, still didnt have any dings on it.

A question : Where would I go to get some touch up paint, just for that black sections and some other areas to make em look less noticable? Doesnt have to be exact same colour, close to would be good though.

lol my mum hit our other car after i hit my dad's one, but it wasnt her fault. some lady opened the door just before my mum reached her, and now the side above the front left wheel needs major change, but along the left side it is full of those markings. wouldnt have been too bad if our car wasnt blue, or if the other car wasnt red. estimated costs are >$6000, but then again, a couple of parts are needed and basically half the car is going in for a respray... going to try negotiating with the panel beater to do a full spray and add a little detailing under the quote.

does anyone know if they spray the parts seperately then put them on the car, or if it is put onto the car then sprayed together?

 

[veterandoggy]

i had my first crash last week, i was gogin into a parking spot and turned late, and scraped (and a bit of a dent) in the car next to it. i would of seen it if it wasnt for my small driving postion and driving in a massive car with the worst visibility ever. i was lucky that on my car all the damage was some paint gone and a broken headlight cover.

i was lucky that the owner wasnt some massive anrgy guy out to kill anyone who touches his car. the lady who owned it was really nice and considerate, which was good because i was stressing so much, it may be minor but at the time i thoguht it was the worst thing in the world. we swapped details and im awaiting the cost.

if youre insured then all you have to pay is the excess...

the ford i hit (i remember my crash being the week before uni started, cos i had to catch a train for the first three weeks >.<) didnt look like it had much damage. two busted tyres and a scrape along the side of the car. it didnt look like anything was wrong inside, but the claim they had made was over $10K.

i'll never say it will cost little to repair something again...

 

[mr_brightside]

does anyone know if they spray the parts seperately then put them on the car, or if it is put onto the car then sprayed together?

As far as I know, if it has to be put on (or removed) they do it off the car.

 

[petar13]

It's hard to say veterandoggy. For cheap to midprice jobs things are left on the car and everything is sprayed on the spot. Panels are not taken off in any case. Trim pieces are usually taken off. More expensive jobs may remove spoilers, skirts and airdams. For the cheapies, they wipe it with a chemical solvent, straighten out the body and spray the paint on directly (might be wise to sell the car before it flakes off).
Some cars have removable panels, which don't require jig-welding and those are simply screw ons. Some may remove those. Jig-welding may really add onto the price, though. As a general rule though, if the whole car paint job is less then $2-$3k, they aren't removing anything.

 

[seremify007]

I was lucky when I scraped my car against a pole in Westfield Parramatta car park... I got home, my Dad got a moist sponge, and we wiped off all the paint from the pole- it turns out the paint on my car (even though it was new) was stronger than the paint on the pole. After a bit of wax, the car looks as good as new- except at the moment, my whole car got covered in dust.