Old man hit my new truck..smh!

I'm not talking about legal issues, or what standards the insurance companies use. People do stupid stuff, and your job as the pilot of a large deadly object is to manage all the risks around you. The example you cite is perfect. It's not impossible to monitor both the car ahead of you and the traffic you're merging into. If your mirrors are adjusted correctly it's not even hard. To say that the guy who rear ended the other car isn't really at fault is ludicrous. They are both at fault, but the guy behind more so.
The root problem is that people don't pay enough attention, or the right kind of attention, to what's going on around them. I think of it as shells of awareness. It's not enough to just see the people around you, you need to look beyond them. First to the layer directly past them, and then another layer beyond that. The idea is that you see what the people immediately around you are going to have to react to, so that you know what they are going to do be they do.
I've been a street motorcycle rider for 35 years, and have had virtually zero problems with traffic, and no accidents. You can call me an extremist if you want, but if people drove like I do we wouldn't have 30,000+ people dead on the highways each year.

 

There are varying degrees of fault. In my example, the only one that is legally at fault is the guy who hit the idiot on the merge ramp. But in reality, both share some fault. I would place most on the car that stopped, if the laws let me.

But until you admit that your statements about all drivers, at fault or not, should go to driving school is ridiculous, there's no getting anything thru to you. That is an extremist point of view.

And I hate to tell you, but no amount of driving school is going to solve the problem of fatalities on the roadways. Idiots will be idiots. And shit will happen.

 

Gotta be positive about these 'events' in life.
By example, this is an excellent justification to pick up an aftermarket bumper that can withstand a 5 mph mall bump!
Watch out for tall curbs----it'll lead to a set of TRD/FN/SCS wheels. See how this works?
Seriously, bummer about your accident.

 

I tend to park as far back in a lot as possible. You get some exercise on the way in and odds are most people are too lazy to park near you.

This doesn't work against people who think like you though.

 

OP, Didn't you say you traded in your MGM truck for a super white?

 

Toyota Camry 1, Tacoma 0.

 

They said I have the option to be paid directly or to have them cut a check to the body shop. This is my first accident believe it or not so I'm not too familiar with the process.

 

Okay. Sounds like just what I said. Use a shop in their program and they will pay the shop directly. Or use an outside shop and they will have one of their estimators write up an estimate and pay you.

 

I sure did! I pick up my white taco on the 25th. I called my sales person about the bumper and he said it wouldn't be an issue as long as insurance pays for it. I signed the contract a few days ago so if I'm not mistaken...technically this is the dealerships truck.

 

He is 80. If an 80 y/o hit me I'd let em walk. Not like he hasn't seen his share of troubles. Sucks about the truck. Should be easily fixed by a body shop. New cover, clips and paint.

 

Depends on the shop you use. Your insurance company won't report it but some body shops do. When it happened to me a couple months ago I chose a shop that DOES NOT report.

 

I was able to pop out the dent with some hot water and some elbow grease. Looks a ton better but still scratched up to shit.

 

Holy crap, apparently Magnetic Gray Sports are targets for USAA insured drivers:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...uy-helped-me-get-over-that-real-quick.407929/

 

I believe you are correct. An appraiser will come and check out the truck and write up an estimate...once usaa approves, they will direct deposit it to my account

 

Nice! how many miles did you have on it before trading it in? I saw that you only lost 2,000? Not bad

 

It currently has about 1,200 miles. The dealership really took care of me

 

I just got my truck back from the bodyshop this afternoon..... $5,770.00 in damages.

I was rear ended last month by a drunk driver. I was stopped at a stop light at an intersection. Damage to my Taco was the bumper, fairing, RH bedside, receiver hitch and other parts....... all got replaced, not repaired.

My 'punishment' for all that was the fkg hassle of claims, rental truck, lost time at work.. etc. I paid nothing out of pocket, but it sucked.

I'd like you to explain to me how a defensive driving class could have helped me avoid that situation.

EDIT** My truck is an MGM too

 

That's a good deal in my opinion, just because I thought you would take a bigger hit just driving off the lot.
Was the 2k loss on the out the door price? or on the vehicle price not including what you lost on tax and title?

 

The 2k was strictly off the truck and not the OTD price. I actually expected to take a much bigger hit but the sales manager took care of me since I've purchased 4 vehicles in the past and gave me great trade-in credit towards the 39k fully loaded sport.

 

That's nonsense