First ever accident...in my new Tacoma. Ugh.

True, you never know what someone is going through, but that doesn't give them the right to be a threat to other drivers on the road.

 

Post the video!

 

Yep, 2 lane road (1 lane each direction), and a school zone no less (thought it was after school hours, so speed limit was 30mph at the time). I was going the speed limit...guy turned right on red in front of me, as I was 1/4 to 1/3 of the way thru the intersection. I had nowhere to go, and I probably would have hit him anyway, but the brake-check sealed the deal.

 

x2

 

Bummer.

 

I didn't even tell the officer my side of the story. When he asked what happened I just said, "It's probably easier if I just show you." and showed him the footage.

 

Don't post the vid despite others wishes, let the process play out and only share with people who need to see it. Don't get rid of it either, even if you were guilty of some minor infractions. Deleting the footage alone can throw them an Ace.

+1 for dash cams.

 

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I took my first defensive driving class, our instructor had a saying: "What's the one thing you never have but can always give? The right of way." His point was that while there may be situations where the law gives you the right of way, it's better to yield it and avoid the accident in the first place. The OP may not have had that option in this circumstance.

 

Just a general statement with all the rage/honking.

 

I guess I don’t know the definition of brake check. It would be nice to see the video to see what happened.

 

Back in the day, it meant keeping your right foot on the gas and lightly touching the brake pedal with your left foot...

 

I think the brake check is the most messed up thing one driver can do to another. I don't care what the "offensive" driver is doing. I had someone brake check me ( I was tailgating because they wouldn't get over to the right to let faster traffic pass, in NJ it's a law) and they brake checked me THEN stopped in the left lane which caused me to come to an almost complete stop and the person behind me went off into the grassy median, just missing rear ending me and then just missed a tree by inches.

 

Stories like this are why I decided to get:

1) A dashcam. I'm tired of the my word against yours bs that insurance companies go through.
2) Un-insured & Under insured motorist coverage for my truck. Just because I have a dash cam, or that the other driver was cited won't mean dick if he doesn't have insurance.

OP: Glad you're okay and that your truck will be repaired. Accidents happen. Mistakes are made. Remember, it's just a pile of metal and glass. It can be replaced.

 

But in this case the perceived brake check could have been indecision and unintentional. Hard to judge this from the couch.

 

In this case, and in this guy's state the officer decided after viewing footage that the driver of the car that was rear ended was at fault.

The truth of the matter is brake checking is a form of road rage, which is illegal in the OP's state of Illinois.

 

.

 

i totally agree. Weird that someone would turn out in front of someone and immediately brake check. From my “couch” i think it’s more plausible that the person pulled out and the OP laid on the horn and the person panicked and braked. Still that person’s fault for not yielding.

 

Out of curiosity, did collision avoidance activate on your Tacoma? Mine has chirped and activated on more than one occasion and I was not that close to contact with the vehicle in front of me. Lots of road rage out there and its certainly symptomatic of our society.

As for the damage...its hard to swallow. Your truck will never be quite the same, but a good body shop should get it so close its hard to tell. Glad no one was seriously injured.

 

That's not a rule from your state, that's a copy and paste from the first Google result, a law firms website - aka, an advertisement for their legal services.

 

Does NJ allow tailgating?