Add me to the wrecked 3rd Gen club

When I traded my 08 in they made me sign a paper saying it had never been involved in an accident.

 

How did you get a ticket for hitting someone?

 

Because he was following too close !!!!!!

 

Many do that. Had a friend that nearly totaled his F-250. He went to one of the busiest Ford dealers in the area late on a summer Friday and the appraiser never asked him and he didn't sign anything other than the title transfer. Crazy to think they wouldn't ask.

 

Cop has no proof he was following too close I'd fight the ticket not the accident. He shouldn't have been that close and should have been aware of the guy in front of him on his brakes so yes the accident is his fault but the ticket is rediculous must be in california

 

That looks a like a movie scene from terminator with those Po-po blue lights.

 

I just got my truck back from accident repair. I was sandwiched between two vehicles - hit from behind and then pushed into the car in front of me. Over $8500 in damage that included a small wrinkle in the right rear of the frame in the section of C channel. No body panels except for the tailgate and front/rear bumpers, crashbar and 1Up bicycle rack were damaged. My cab was touching he bed on the right side due to the frame wrinkle.

It was not totaled - wish it had been, but even with 8 hours on the frame machine, it wasn't totaled. I'm fighting the diminution of value now and have found that the trade-in value has declined by 22% due to the "frame damage" moniker. Toyota didn't want it in trade, only CarMax and, they lowballed me at $26,500 for a loaded TRD DCSB 4x4 with 20k miles versus avg trade in of $32,500 between KBB and NADA.

My point is, your truck will be fixed and, if your frame is damaged, you are stuck with it. The good news is that my truck drives great and I'm glad to keep it - I hope you feel the same.

Some pics of $8500 in damage and 30 days in the body shop:

 

Airbags are designed to go off about 40mph or when g forces are over whatever they set the parameters at. They raised the limit due to cost of repair if they were to go off. I'm ok with them not deploying at only 30mph or less

 

I was gonna say the same thing...now you got a legit reason to do all the fancy upgrades!

Coot

 

That sucks

 

Same thing here...guy in front of me locked em up..err, uh...it was my fault I was too close.

Anyway, I ended up using the opportunity to put on a new aftermarket bumper...lemons to lemonade OP! Hope frame is all good.

 

I've got a four-cylinder. I haven't been able to tailgate anybody in seven years

 

The proof is in the first post.

 

This is bad advice IMHO. Waste of time and money, since they'll likely add court costs to the ticket price.

It would be amusing to watch the prosecutor tear apart a claim of maintaining a "reasonable and prudent" following distance. The vehicle damage and statements on scene are pretty clear proof that an accident occurred.

About the only defense for that ticket would be to show the other car did a swerve&squat. Probably need dash cam evidence for that sort of defense to have legs though.

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_20/GS_20-152.pdf

 

Other than a swerve&squat scam attempt, I think the only way you'd defend smashing into the guy ahead of you is if you could show that his brake lights never came on. (or you got hit from behind, sending you into the guy ahead)

In that case you might have a chance at claiming you could have stopped in time had the other vehicle been properly maintained. The nonfunctioning brake lights delayed your realization they were stopping quickly and prevented you fully utilizing the proper following distance you'd maintained. I still feel that'd be a difficult one to make fly though. Traffic courts really hate letting folks walk out the door without paying.

Anyway, the "get a good dashcam" is increasingly sage advice.

 

I was rear ended last Friday. My damage was not bad though. The young lady finally let off her brakes and was able to steer the car at the last second.

 

lol... seriously why are people trying to argue if it will be totaled based on a couple pictures. Until they rip into that thing and see what is going on no ones knows anything. I have seen cars that look like nothing get totaled and others that look like there is not way anyone survived the crash get fixed.

I think we can all agree on the following... it is good that you are ok and the situation sucks.

 

I would hate to be in your shoes.
God forbid anything like this should happen to me, but if it did, I'd lawyer up and fight for a totaled truck, or diminished value reimbursement.
This is complete and utter bs, especially through no fault of your own

 

really surprising they didn't deploy.
Get it check, might be lawsuit worthy.

 

how is there no proof? he hit him, if he wasn't following too close he wouldn't have hit him, unless the conditions were shit and he slipped. Which then still his fault as he wasn't keeping safe distance according to conditions.