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  Oct. 4, 2010 9:03 a.m. neckromacr Reader

  Last night my good old '88 16v did its final job. She saved my life.

  I was traveling down DE 13 in the rain, traffic was medumish and everything seemed normal. I was in the far left lane following another car in front of me. Suddenly he darts to the right lane and I see a Cougar stopped dead in the road. In that split second I saw a person to the left of the disabled vehicle. Only thing to do was hit the brakes.

  Not enough distance or traction. Boom.

  The two cars in front of me were in a were in a more minor fender bender, from the Cougar misjudging stopping distance to the Altima in front stopped for a red light.

  No one was hurt, I'm just sore as hell today, but my passenger front corner is pushed into the LF wheel well. I knew it was totaled as soon as I first looked at it. The other two cars were drivable, but the Cougar was towed away with mine because the accident knocked out her headlights.

  Now for the dirty parts after the big event. Unfortunately sometime back my wife had convinced me to get just liability for the car in an effort to pinch pennies on bills. I never changed it back to full coverage so I'm put of luck for them giving me anything for the car.

  Question for those more well versed in litigation than myself: Seeing as how the Cougar caused the accident in the first place, do I have a foot to stand on to try and get something from her insurance? I'm thinking since she caused it and the cars were mobile enough they could have moved off to the side of the road.

  Also now I haven "inattentive driving" ticket that everyone involved got. But the cops told me to go to court, tell the Judge the situation of what happened and it stands a good chance of being thrown out. Does this sound legit? It's only a $74 ticket, but I'd like to keep it off my record.

  Now to call the tow company and get my poor Scirocco carted off to the local VW boneyard who already said they'd take it and let me strip off a few odds and ends off of her. It's always good to have good contacts with your local make's junkyard.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 9:20 a.m. Datsun1500 Dork

  I would not get rid of the car until it is over. I would think you have a case since they were stopped in the travel lanes. Some places do have laws against that.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 9:43 a.m. Klayfish Reader

  First, I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. Accidents suck.
  

  I hate to be the wet blanket, but actually you wouldn't have any case at all. You're going to be found at fault in the loss. You're insurance is going to wind up paying for damage to the back of the Cougar, and if she makes a claim for injury. Being stopped in a travel lane doesn't necessarily make a person liable. They may be stopped for a prior accident (as was the case here), sudden mechanical failure, a child crossing the street, etc... At the very best, the Cougar driver may have some contributory negligence for creating a hazardous situation. But in simple terms, the negligence law in Delaware states that if you are more at fault than the other driver you are completely barred from any recovery. That would be the case here.

  I see these types of claims every day at work. I've seen people rear end cars that were stopped in the road for various reasons...even saw one where the person was stopped in the road because they were passed out drunk at the wheel...the striking car in a rear end accident is generally going to be the majority liable.
  

  Like I said, hate to be bearer of bad news, but just wanted to give you some perspective on it from someone who handles these things daily.

  EDIT - guess one good thing I can rely is yes, from my experience, you may have a good chance of getting the traffic ticket thrown out. My customers tell us frequently that they are successful in getting the ticket thrown out or reduced...mostly because the judge understands that the accident itself already sucked, no point "adding insult to injury".

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  Oct. 4, 2010 10:03 a.m. RossD Dork

  It sucks to say, but you caused the accident. You were driving to fast for conditions. Even if you were doing less than the posted speed limit, you can still be driving to fast for conditions.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 2:04 p.m. neckromacr Reader

  Thanks for the input guys, preparing for the worst now.

  Anybody think it's fruitless to try and contest the "inattentive driving" charges?

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  Oct. 4, 2010 2:15 p.m. pigeon Dork

  I'd contest the inattentive driving charge, and depending on the value of your car and the dollar limit in DE sue the driver of the Cougar in small claims court. I think you've got a shot, at least here in NY you would have.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 2:24 p.m. Datsun1500 Dork

  Have you asked your insurance company to get involved? I am sure they will try to place some blame on the owner of the car that was stopped. In Maryland the other owner would share some of the fault, Delaware might be different.

  I would contest the charge.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 2:29 p.m. carguy123 SuperDork

  Cougar CAR or Cougar ANIMAL?

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  Oct. 4, 2010 2:48 p.m. tuna55 Dork

  carguy123 wrote:

  Cougar CAR or Cougar ANIMAL?

  or Cougar WOMAN?

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  Oct. 4, 2010 2:55 p.m. Klayfish Reader

  neckromacr wrote:

  Anybody think it's fruitless to try and contest the "inattentive driving" charges?

  No, I don't think it's fruitless, I would definitely try. As I mentioned, the feedback I get from lots of people on this is that the ticket is either reduced or thrown out. The judge already understands having an at fault accident is already bad enough...assuming the judge doesn't think you did something really bad. No gaurantees, but definitely worth a shot.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 3:04 p.m. Wally SuperDork

  Contest the ticket. You just put an accident on your recor, no point in piling on. Like Klayfish said most judges will agree but the cop had to follow procedure to cover their end of the investigation incase any part of this goes to court.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 3:54 p.m. EastCoastMojo SuperDork

  Go to court and ask the DA to reduce the charge to a non-moving offense.

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  Oct. 4, 2010 7:34 p.m. Appleseed SuperDork

  tuna55 wrote:

  carguy123 wrote:

  Cougar CAR or Cougar ANIMAL?

  or Cougar WOMAN?

  Or Cougar fighter aircraft?

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  Oct. 4, 2010 8:34 p.m. Paul_VR6 Reader

  *

  *hotlinked of course

  I would go to court, you have nothing to lose. Assuming you can get a ride there (too soon?) you're only out some time and can benefit quite a bit.

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  Oct. 5, 2010 4:31 a.m. Travis_K Dork

  Yeah, although it was an accident, I agree for insurance reasons it will be considered your fault. Id keep the car until its all settled though, then strip anything good off it.

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  Oct. 5, 2010 5:05 a.m. ddavidv SuperDork

  Datsun1500 wrote:

  Have you asked your insurance company to get involved? I am sure they will try to place some blame on the owner of the car that was stopped.
  

  No, they won't. He has no collision coverage. They have no obligation whatsoever to get involved in this claim.

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  Oct. 5, 2010 7:29 a.m. Datsun1500 Dork

  ddavidv wrote:

  Datsun1500 wrote:

  Have you asked your insurance company to get involved? I am sure they will try to place some blame on the owner of the car that was stopped.
  

  No, they won't. He has no collision coverage. They have no obligation whatsoever to get involved in this claim.

  Won't they get involved when the other owners file a claim for damages to their vehicle? He has liability only on his vehicle, but I figure they will try and blame the other guys so they don't have to fix those cars....

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  Oct. 5, 2010 7:44 a.m. alex Dork

  Lawyer up.

  Sorry about your Scirocco.

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  Oct. 5, 2010 9:58 a.m. 1988RedT2 Reader

  Let's change the facts slightly. Let's say that a child dashes into the street, and the lady in the Cougar is able to just get her car stopped before hitting the child. As she is waiting for the child to get out of the road, racerboy comes flying along and can't stop his vehicle before crashing into her rear bumper. Someone please explain to me how the Cougar driver is in any way responsible for the accident.
  

  As a driver, we all have the responsibility to be in control of our vehicle. If your speed and road conditions prevent you from stopping in time to avoid an accident, you were not in control, and you ARE responsible.

  I understand that accidents happen, and I sympathize with you in your situation. By all means, go to court and try to get the inattentive driving charge reduced or dismissed. But to believe for a minute that the driver of the Cougar was in any way at fault for your accident is ludicrous.

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  Oct. 5, 2010 5:44 p.m. pitbull113 New Reader

  This^ ^ ^

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  Oct. 6, 2010 7:52 a.m. neckromacr Reader

  1988RedT2 wrote:

  Let's change the facts slightly. Let's say that a child dashes into the street, and the lady in the Cougar is able to just get her car stopped before hitting the child. As she is waiting for the child to get out of the road, racerboy comes flying along and can't stop his vehicle before crashing into her rear bumper. Someone please explain to me how the Cougar driver is in any way responsible for the accident.

  I see what you're trying to do things with changing perspectives here, but the change of venue and removal of a few key items changes the situation. Namely the driver in between the two cars

  I understand that accidents happen, and I sympathize with you in your situation. By all means, go to court and try to get the inattentive driving charge reduced or dismissed. But to believe for a minute that the driver of the Cougar was in any way at fault for your accident is ludicrous.

  I've gone over it in my head a thousand times, to have realistically stopped in time I would have needed to be doing something around 20-25 mph. A speed on a 4 lane highway which would have made myself obstruction in anything less than a monsoon. Or if the driver that darted to the right ahead of me had been looking farther forward, or if the driver of the cougar could have turned her hazards on to help make him more aware something amiss lay ahead. Or If I had veered right, I start a chain reaction across 3 other lanes of traffic. Veer to the left, kill the Cougar driver or possibly skip across the wet grass into on coming traffic.

  But when it comes down to my actions I still stand behind them, because they made the best of a poor situation. I realize how the law sees this, and it is what it is, but I'll be damned if I'll be made to feel like I was the one that carelessly rammed into the poor Cougar.

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  Oct. 6, 2010 2:17 p.m. Klayfish Reader

  I've gone over it in my head a thousand times, to have realistically stopped in time I would have needed to be doing something around 20-25 mph. A speed on a 4 lane highway which would have made myself obstruction in anything less than a monsoon. Or if the driver that darted to the right ahead of me had been looking farther forward, or if the driver of the cougar could have turned her hazards on to help make him more aware something amiss lay ahead. Or If I had veered right, I start a chain reaction across 3 other lanes of traffic. Veer to the left, kill the Cougar driver or possibly skip across the wet grass into on coming traffic.

  But when it comes down to my actions I still stand behind them, because they made the best of a poor situation. I realize how the law sees this, and it is what it is, but I'll be damned if I'll be made to feel like I was the one that carelessly rammed into the poor Cougar.

  Not necessarily. I think you're looking at it from a different perspective. Yes, from your description, in that bad situation, you made the best possible decision you could. But...and don't take this personally or the wrong way...you were the one who put yourself in that bad situation.
  

  If that Cougar rear ended someone, that's a whole separate accident, unrelated to yours. That accident happened, it was over and the cars were sitting there. At that point, the Cougar is an object in the roadway. That object can be a vehicle Cougar, an animal Cougar or a human Cougar in a tight skirt. It's still a stationary object in the roadway. You wouldn't have had to be going only 20-25 mph to be able to have realistically stopped in time. That would be true only if you were following 30 or 40 feet from the car in front of you. If you're following the car in front of you at a safe distance, you would be able to stop from highway speeds without hitting it. So when that car in front of you swerved suddenly, how much space was left between you and the Cougar? Not enough to stop. That's where the issue is. The car in front of you was able to leave itself enough space to plot the best course of action to avoid an accident, which was to swerve. You unfortunately didn't leave enough room between yourself and that car in front of you to be able to bring your car to a controlled stop. Think about what would have happened if that car in front of you would have just slammed on it's brakes instead of swerving. Odds are you would have rear ended that car.
  

  Yes, I know, not many people leave that much space in front of them on the highway. But that's not an "excuse" for rear ending someone. It's a risk people take when following that closely.

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  Oct. 7, 2010 6:47 a.m. Hoop SuperDork

  Klayfish wrote:

  So when that car in front of you swerved suddenly, how much space was left between you and the Cougar? Not enough to stop. That's where the issue is. The car in front of you was able to leave itself enough space to plot the best course of action to avoid an accident, which was to swerve. You unfortunately didn't leave enough room between yourself and that car in front of you to be able to bring your car to a controlled stop.
  Yes, I know, not many people leave that much space in front of them on the highway. But that's not an "excuse" for rear ending someone. It's a risk people take when following that closely.

  This. Distance is paramount. Good luck with everything.

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