glad to c u ok. also nice to have cop there i suppose. just had a fender bender myself. old 12 yr old car. still hurts (non-physically) just as bad, and expensive.

 

To the guys point about me not paying attention to cross traffic during my green light. I said the same thing to my wife last night. I said, "If that cop wouldn't have been there it's very possible I would have never been in this accident. I wouldn't have been looking down at my speed, or worrying about if the light was going yellow or not cuz at the point I was at I would have kept going anyway, it was too late to stop. I probably would have seen the old codger running the light and may have been able to stop".

Bottom line, he got the ticket and was totally at fault. I'm normally a very defensive driver and that's why I have avoided a few of these things already. I guess this time I was to worried I was within the law and got smoked because of it lol.

 

Well, I never said he should have slowed down, but a defensive driver is always scanning the situation even if he has the right of way. I live in Houston which is just as busy as Miami with the same amount of people driving that don't have insurance and aren't paying attention. If I'm driving down Westheimer with the green lights I'm keeping up with traffic but I'm also scanning the cross traffic, looking in my review mirror, just keeping an eye out for someone that is going to do dumb things. It's called Defensive driving. I wasn't giving the OP crap or saying he was at fault. The driver who ran the light is at fault, but that is a hollow victory when your car is broken. If at all possible it would have been preferable if some evasive action could have been taken to avoid the wreck. It sounds like he almost had time to turn away from the accident. If he had had a split second extra advance knowledge of impending danger he may have been able to avoid contact. Only the OP was there so only he knows the dynamics and layout of the situation, I was just making an observation that never take your Right of Way for granted, it only exists in your mind.

 

Glad to hear everyone is ok. Hope you get it back before storing it for winter.

 

Glad to see you are ok ub2slow. The car can be fixed. No worries..

Looks like Evitzee got some crap for suggesting defensive driving. I do not think he was giving crap to OP. I agree with him that we should all be driving defensively. The most unexpected thing happens at most inopportune time. There are dumb people out there who will pull infront of you at last second, change lanes without looking, take turns without looking, run red light etc... We need to drive defensively to protect ourselves and family.

 

With so many cars on the road these days, I'm suprised that there aren't more accidents. I have seen, and been involved in so many near misses that I've lost count. Everyone be careful, there are a lot of idiot drivers out there, and there is no way to avoid ALL of them ALL the time, it's just the law of averages.
Years ago I bought a new car, had it for 4 hours, and hit a buck deer on a rural highway, completely smashed my then new car, and killed the deer
I was injured slightly as well. It just goes to show you never know what can happen, once you get behind the wheel.

 

Ouch...at least you got some free meat

 

Defensive driving is a must I agree and normally I'm very aware of every angle and drive defensively while agressive as well lol.

Good news is, the body shop ordered the parts today, no damage to the engine or radiator as thought originally. Fluid was from the windshield washer and that was the only thing internally damaged well and the fuse box needs replaced. So this means I need to drive my style for the 1st 1,000 miles to get it set to me right?? Body shop is slow right now so they will do my car as soon as the parts are in. Probably end of next week I'll be back in it.

Thanks for the well wishes.

 

That's good news. If they can stitch it all back together by next week that would be good turnaround. At least you'll have it for a few months before you put it away for the winter. Assume the other driver's insurance is picking up the costs and it won't impact your record. Keep us posted on how the repairs go.

 

Will keep ya posted. The other drivers insurance company called me today and ok'd the repairs and the body shop I insisted on using.