Festiva Crash

[ivsito]

My poor Festiva, got all beat up. I was driving to work, coming up to a light that had just turned green, going about 20 mph, and the Explorer that was in front of me suddenly, swerved across the solid white line, and there was a totally stopped 95 4 door accord in the road. Obviously I couldn't see it be cause the big explorer was in front of me to the last second. I rear ended the accord and then a 05 altima rear ended me.
The accord didn't even get messed up at all, it doesn't even look like it got hit, I probably hit it around 5 mph. But the altima did get messed up. And then the police had me write a statement and give it back to them which i did. And the the "nice" officer came to me and handed me a citation for following to closely, and I asked him " why are you giving me a citations?" and then he cut me off and said " fine instead of a citation for following to closely which is one pint off of your license i will change it to Careless driving which will be six points!" I then said nothing more because i could tell what king of person he was... So he scribbled out following to close, and wrote careless, and the he scribbled out my original fine of 89.00 and left it blank." which i guess means i owe nothing?" he also left the description that her wrote about following to close on the citation. and he also said that I was under 16, and the my eyes where brn, only they are blue. and im 24. and anybody can read what he scribbled out "smart officer"
So do you guys thing that I will get this ticket, or is there to many mistakes on the cations and it will be thrown out the window?, Oh and I will probably parting out my car, but not till after the insurance tells me if it is totaled or not.

[eurotiva]

Bummer............could have been worse.......call the dmv and ask about that ticket!

[doylerl]

That sucks.... I would fight that ticket if I were you. Check the dates and times close too. If the date or time was incorrect, I believe that is an automatic dismissal...

[Britstiva]

I'd say, let the insurance total it, then buy it back and get it fixed.

[ivsito]

I got a copy of the accident report, The dates is right and the time of the ticket is is at 14:55. the accident was at 14:20 and tho officers arrived at 14:24... Do you think that that is considered the wrong time?

[angrygocart]

Request a court date and dispute it in court. You have a chance of it being dismissed and the most the judge could do is find you guilty which would be the same if you just pay the citation. If you just pay the citation and don't take it to court then you're admiting your guilt. In Maryland police officers have upto one year to charge a person with a traffic offense.

[qroger]

Insurance has gotten strange. Just for the heck of it, you should get everybody's insurance company info. Then take your car to a body shop for a bid. Sometimes it is worked out between insurance co's and the body shop guy.

Anyway, go see the judge. consider getting a lawyer, esp. if you have a cousin vinny that will give you a discount. Moving violation with damage will screw up your insurance for 3 years at the least. GO SEE THE JUDGE.

Good luck.

Oh, and according to the letter of the law, most everybody is following too close.

[sodikartracer]

what a bummer looked like a nice car. That kind of thing sorta happened to me once before, not exactly the same, but same principle. eventually somebody in the chain ends up with a damaged car because each persons reaction time adds up... Also on i side note i cant tel you how many times i have walked into a short pole or fire hydrant because my friend in front of me (blocking the object) moved out of the way at the last second and i walked into it lol. I agree with the others, go and fight the ticket, i bet you will win.

good luck

[ivsito]

I have a court date for Oct the 8th, Thanks for the info everyone. Especially Eurotiva, I called the DMV and told them what happened to my ticket, they said that it is invalid and will be waived in court.!!!!

[hotfordcat]

Sorry to hear that, but follow up on the court. If the Ins. co. fixes it Great!! If they don't and you get it back, I need a good drivers door.

[qroger]

I was thinking some more about this. You got nearly stopped before you hit the car in front of you. The car behind you then smacked you and pushed you into the front car some more. So probably half the front damage is caused by the back car. Your insurance agent should talk to their insurance, and somebody should mention your sore neck. The Back guy should fix the mess he made, because he had no excuse. If they total it you get maybe $500.00. To fix it is probably a couple thou. You should at least get somewhere in the middle or a fixed car. Forget about the SUV and the Accord. You got smacked by somebody that had you in sight the whole time.
qroger

[batstiva]

Bummer. Unfortunately, that's pretty much the law everywhere. If you rear end a car, even if you are pushed into it by a car rear ending you, you will get a ticket for following too close.

When I was young and we lived in MD, our car was parked on the street in front of our house. A van came down our street, speeding, lost control, and plowed into the car behind ours, which hit ours and drove it into the car in front of ours, which hit the car in front of it. End of the day, everyone except the front car (which hit no one) got a ticket for following too close. Even tho no one was in any of them, and the idiot in the van was the cause of all of the damage. My dad fought it, and ended up getting the ticket tossed, but still the cop said he had to write the ticket, but told my dad to go to court and fight it.

I'm curious if the guy driving the car behind you got a ticket as well? My advice, fight the ticket. Sounds like the cop doesn't even know who the hell he was talking to when he wrote your ticket. Best of Luck!!!

Definitely, if they total it, buy it back. If it's not repairable, you've got a parts car.

[ivsito]

the guy behind me got a ticket also for following to close. my engine still runs good, just my radiator is leaking a little. so that car still runs My uncle and dad are gonna look at it with me and we will see what we can do to fix it

[GenevaDirt]

Sorry to say...they will total the car....they will not pay to fix it. Would not be in their best interest. I had far less damage on mine and just because of prior existing faults in the car it was totaled before they even considered the damage the other person did.

[TominMO]

When they total it, buy it back as a parts car or to fix it back up. You will probably come out ahead in the deal, even if you decide to restore it. I've actually made money from accidents (not my fault) when the ins. co. reimbursed me, by making use of the JYs.