Rear ended by a texting teen

[barstowpo]

Well sitting at a stoplight, I noticed the young driver behind me looking down ant to his right as we sat there. I thought, he's texting, I hope he's paying attention. I look back ahead and the light turns green and wham. He apparently caught the green light out of the corner of his eye and accelerated before any of the traffic in front of him or me. My back is a little sore and my bumper a little wrinkled. Wrinkled to the tune of $6180 so far. Well, at least I didn't crash it.

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[USMC0341]

That sucks! Hope you and the car are good to go soon!

 

[firestarter2]

That sucks maybe you can get some upgrades out of it

 

[barstowpo]

Don't think so. Insurance is going to pay directly.

 

[mustangfanatic]

That sucks, hope it is repaired quickly and to your satisfaction

 

[KiLLeR2001]

My friend is currently installing a train horn into his work truck to honk at people that he catches texting and driving. I always steer clear of people if I see them doing it.

Have any pictures of the damage?

 

[MyFirst5.0]

hopefully he loses his license..texting is worse than drunk driving..i drive for a living and the amount of people texting is mind boggling. hopefully everything works out for you

 

[Sharky]

My friend is currently installing a train horn into his work truck to honk at people that he catches texting and driving. I always steer clear of people if I see them doing it.

Have any pictures of the damage?

That might not end well...

 

[MCarsFan]

I was rear ended on my M3 a few years ago by a texting 17 year old who was driving on her own. Not only she didnt have an adult with her, but she was also texting. I was stopped at a red light, she just hit me bad and my bumper had to be replaced.

So, here is what I had to go through:

- I had to call the cops because of her age and texting which meant the accident showed up in carfax even though I went through her insurance who paid everything.
- I had a loss of $10,000 on the car due to carfax hitting and car having damage even though the damage was very small.
- Like that wasn't fucking enough, after so many years, I am shopping for insurance and now the accident is showing up as part of my DMV record. Even though I am not at fault, my insurance rate, across board on all carriers, are 20-25% higher (I actually tried in Geico, allstate, liberty mutual, etc both with and without the accident). Apparently that uber rate you get for having no accidents and no citations whatsoever doesn't care about the accident. The second you have "anything" on your report whether you are at fault or not, you are not longer in this "elite" or "safest" insured bucket. So you dont get those super low rates. I still get good rates which is what probably most of the average people get, but not the best rates.

So not only my practically brand new car (3000 miles at the time) had to have its bumper replaced, but I lost $10,000 while selling it, and on top of that, after so many years, I am still getting screwed by bullshit insurance underwriter policies.

I for one am extremely against teenage driving. I got my driver's license at the age of 20 when I was able to afford a car on my own. I think purely from a brain's ability to make logical decisions perspective a teenager's brain cannot operate at a level high enough to responsibly drive a motor vehicle. It's not just about steering and braking, but your conscious and logical reasoning making the right decisions. I also think the driver's license rules in this country is utter bullshit, we should take some lessons from EU/UK and see how hard it is to obtain a license there (you have to go to the school for 3-6 months, pay a ton of money (around 1000 EUR), not to mention pass multiple tests including engine knowledge, etc). Obtaining a driver's license isnt something everyone does, its a privilege. Whereas in the US, everyone has it whether you are 16 or 85 years old. Oh but wait, the capitalist machine would be very unhappy if we slowed down the rate at which dads and moms buy cars for their kids and insurance and so on. We have a culture around "consumption", we want to "spend" all the time.

Anyways, I think its a terrible idea to hand the keys of a vehicle to a 16 or 17 year old "kid". I look back and at that age you just cannot function as an adult. You cannot make the right decisions all the time.

Oh and on a side note, the "lady" who rear ended me got a massive ticket (or her parents did). The officer was very upset and she actually needed two tickets (each containing enough space for 3 citations) to write her up. I hope she doesnt get to drive for a long time.

I have a young daughter and one day she will be old enough to drive. I will teach her to the best of my abilities on how to drive a car, operate a clutch, and so on. I'll also turn her into a weekend mechanic. But I would never buy a car for her and hand her the keys. I would raise her in such a way that she has the desire to get her own job, save enough, and get her own car. If I see the initiative, yes I may choose to help her financially. But I would never be one of those fathers who just buy a jeep to her 16 year old daughter. It's such a retarded and irresponsible thing to do, I dont understand why people do it.

 

[Chris796]

Damn, welp time for a new rear bumper with the g350 valance and some quad tips!

 

[Steve68]

Damn, welp time for a new rear bumper with the g350 valance and some quad tips!

Since it's a GT350 he has, great idea.

 

[MyFirst5.0]

Anyways, I think its a terrible idea to hand the keys of a vehicle to a 16 or 17 year old "kid". I look back and at that age you just cannot function as an adult. You cannot make the right decisions all the time.

i really couldnt agree more. kids today are terrible drivers, putting them in a 3000lb tank than can kill themselves and others. in my old neighborhood in ny a kid killed 4 people in him maxima, he unfortunately he lived street racing..he was 17 his dead friends were 15-16. tragic. licence age should be 21

and not for nothing, a cell phone or text violation should be a year suspension, i dont think they get how dangerous it is

 

[Chris796]

Since it's a GT350 he has, great idea.

Oh.... well.... time to get a base model gt bumper!

 

[MCarsFan]

i really couldnt agree more. kids today are terrible drivers, putting them in a 3000lb tank than can kill themselves and others. in my old neighborhood in ny a kid killed 4 people in him maxima, he unfortunately he lived street racing..he was 17 his dead friends were 15-16. tragic. licence age should be 21

and not for nothing, a cell phone or text violation should be a year suspension, i dont think they get how dangerous it is

Automobile manufacturers are actually working on legislation requirements (in not so distant future) which will disable certain abilities of a cell phone use in the car. I think eventually they will disable the phone of the driver and enforce something like apple play to make phone calls via the infotainment screen.

A colleague of mine who has teenage boys told me that if and when his sons get their license, just the fact that they get a permit or license will make his car insurance premium to go up by 2-2.5x times. That is just absolutely insane and to me is a reason good enough not to let your kid get a driver's license/permit and let them wait until they go to college and finance their car/insurance on their own. Can you imagine paying $5000/year for car insurance? That is absurd.

 

[krt22]

Oh.... well.... time to get a base model gt bumper!

Sleeper!

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