The other day a painter's van struck my 99 M3 from behind while I was sitting at a red signal.
The impact pushed my car a foot or so, but upon getting out to inspect, saw no damage...and neither myself nor my passenger suffered any whiplash, etc..
We shook hands after he apologized and thought nothing of it.
Minutes later I started to notice the sound of a faulty spring or shock coming from the right rear...especially on left turns over uneven pavement or going over a speed hump.
Of course, I now have no recourse, since I don't know the other party's information.
A not too expensive lesson.....I hope. Will take it in to get checked.
Not long after I first purchased the car, I replaced the top bushings on the rear shocks because of a "thump" experienced when going over rough pavement, etc..
In fact, I think it was you that suggested that might be the cause...as it was a common problem for the stiff M3 suspension on this particular model.
This sound however is nothing like a thump...rather a spring creaking.
But good advice....always exchange information just to CYA.
My favo(u)rite recollection is a few years ago when a kid in a 3 series wasn't paying attention in traffic, and rear-ended an old 1970 wreck of a Chevy C10 pickup I was driving. My truck had a "custom" welded 3 inch galvanized steel pipe rear bumper that, as it turns out, was exactly the correct height to punch into the poor sod's 3 at the centerline of the headlights.
We looked at the damage. It had smashed his lights and grille, and as a bonus it had folded the leading edge of both fenders/wings sharply inwards.
Of course, you know that I'm going to tell you that the only damage to me was a bent license plate.
He said to me something like, "you stopped very quickly." I told him that we could call the police and exchange insurance if he liked. He changed his mind and we didn't. Maybe I saved myself a possible "whiplash" lawsuit? The point is, if you assume a little possible damage on you side, you completely can avoid a raft of possibilities further on. Sometimes it's just worth it to forget it.
The law here basically states that in a rear end collision, the trailing car is damn near always at fault. As for the result of a rear end collision with my beloved E30, someone is going to wish they never met me....
That's an odd story from my perspective. The hitter is always at fault in a rear end accident, the hittee is never at fault. The only exception to that one is when the hittee swerves into a space he barely fits into, then slams on the brakes and causes the accident with the car behind. Normally, the hitter in this instance needs the good will of those in the cars around him to support the claim.
i once knocked into a guy who had just left a junction in front of me, because he stalled his engine. actually, that should read 'because i wasn't expecting him to stall his engine ...' - anyways, the poor guy thought it was his fault, as he had stalled ... until (ever the gentleman) i pointed out to him that it was my responsibility to allow for the behaviour of the driver in front in all circumstances. we exchanged details, and my insurance co paid ... but i've often wondered what my insurance co would have said if i'd told them he stalled. only academically, mind - there is nothing more tedious than combative litigation, in my experience.
That is indeed a gentlemanly and fair thing to do... however, certainly in the UK, you are told that you must NEVER admit liability, simply exchange the required details and let the ins cos sort it out.
This happened to a friend of mine except they hit the brake pedal rather than the clutch (due to a un-diagnosed medical condition I might add). The police arrived as the accident was holding up traffic. The other driver (the one who rear-ended my friend) had said that "they were expecting her to be out of the way by the time they made their exit (from the roundabout) so they were actually accelerating at the time" but then went on to complain to the police that my friend should be cautioned for bad driving etc etc. The policeman quietly took her (the other driver) aside and said "I think you should keep quiet because you'll probably find that you'll be held responsible and we might actually bring a care and attention case against you".
The insurance company wrote to my friend to say that they (her own insurance) wanted to accept a 50-50 liability. Despite having legal cover etc they weren't going to pursue a full claim against the other driver. My friend and I then wrote back quoting references from the highway code etc and in the end after about a year the insurance people finally sorted it out.
This is where I add insurance companies to my "cowboy" list as they were clearly more interested in simply closing the case rather than fighting it.
That is sensible advice. Some years ago somebody drove gently into my rear. We were in a slow-moving queue and the chap behind me had seen the car in front of me move off but hadn't noticed I was still stationery...
A quick inspection showed nothing.
A few hundred yards later I thought I would have another look and, indeed, found my rear bumper to be bent. As it happened I guessed which way the other fellow had gone and, by an amazing miracle, caught up with him and showed him the damage. We then exchanged details and the matter was sorted out after we both got back from our respective holidays. (The collision had taken place in a French dock after we had both driven off the ferry from Britain and were queuing for passport control.)
DAS
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
His stalling is something you're supposed to anticipate, especially since in theory, you aren't even moving at the time. I do not think yoiur insurance carrier would have changed their position on paying the claim.
The best example of this I read was a police report, where having pursued a vehicle the driver decamped and absconded on foot. Did the police car run into the back of the stolen car when it stopped very suddenly - well no the escaping driver didn't engage the handbrake so the car rolled back up hill into the police car...
Other examples include the train driver dazzled by the sun in his eyes as he was making an evening run into Paddington, etc. etc.
sure, but sometimes it's best to disregard the rules (so to speak).
the guy came round to my house to pick up some relevant details not long after the incident, and remarked - somewhat bemused - that i was being unusually chivalrous about the whole thing. (he was a prison officer, so i guess he didn't see too much of the light side of the moon.)
i know what you're saying, i said to him; but in my experience, a good night's sleep scores way better than a hundred quid on the insurance premium.
life's too short to engage in unnecessary combat with strangers. or maybe, too long; either applies.
Same story, but this time the guy tried to blame the hittee. I don't even think "the you stopped quickly argument" is an excuse especially if you weren't moving at speed or nothing pulling out of a junction. I recall during my driving tuition, my instructor explained that most people at a junction/intersection only see the other car in front jerk before taking their eyes of it to see if there is any on coming traffic so they can join the traffic and that if they were looking at the guy in front they wouldn't rearend them, which I'm almost sure is the case for you. A stalled car, a kid jumping in front of you, a fast oncoming vehicle its all the same, thats the reason for the emergency stop manuever, and if you hit that guy in front then you certainly were not paying attention especially at that speed. The hitter even tried to blame the hittee, claiming he stopped too quickly, at which point he pointed out that he looked saw no oncoming vehicle, started to move, looked again and saw an oncoming vehicle so braked. Getting hit was actually driving without paying attention to the traffic in front.
As for insurance details, get it even if its a scratch, the excitement of an accident means you don't notice anything, in my friends case, only upon opening the boot and looking inside did the damage become apparent, at which point the boot wouldn't close. If you feel the car was hit, then the car is alot worse than even you think, get the insurance details.
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