Wreck

[CrashNBurn]

The unthinkable happened yesterday morning. Sadly, I was involved in a collision involving Lucy (my 240Z) and some POS Ford Taurus. It occured in bumper to bumper traffic, just before eight A.M. and on wet streets. So here's the story...

The driver in front of me, a teenager younger than myself, moved forward and began to accelerate. I did the same and glance at my gauges to ensure that everything is going ok with my engine and the electrical system, since I installed a new alternator and battery the previous day. As soon as I like back up, the Taurus slams on its brakes and skids to a stop, for some reason unknown to me. With cars to my side, front, rear, and a median on my left; I have no escape route so I braked, hard...on a wet road. Needless to say, the Z did not stop, well, not before coming into contact with that blasted Ford, which by the way received zero damage. My wonderful fiberglass airdam, headlight buckets, and hood absoarbed all the energy from the low speed (10 mph max) impact. Personally, I don't think the trashed front end style blends with the rest of the car.

To add salt to my wounds, yesterday was the day I forgot to drive with my license and insurance. (That was pure stupidity on my part, and complete absent mindedness.) Yes, as the cop put it, I was in deep....well, you know.

The result of the wreck? Three tickets, one for driving without a license, one for driving without proof of insurance, and one for "following too closely". Not to mention the damage to my beloved car; a snubnose hood sans Datsun emblem, busted front air dam, bent grill, and broken headlight buckets. Oh, and the passenger side bumper mount...the center-facing piece bent about thirty degrees. If you want a better understanding of the aftermath, look at the pics in my gallery. As far as I can tell, the damage is cosmetic. I highly doubt it, but does anyone think the hood can be repaired?

Jason

[mdbrandy]

Major bummer. I did the exact same thing in about 1989, but luckily I was driving a POS Dodge Station Wagon. Did a similar amount of damage to my hood and grill though. No guages to look at - I had glanced down at my radio. Good luck bringing it back. That kind of damage is not something I know much about...

"We feel your pain"

[Corganx33]

Thats b.s. ... sorry for the language. But just b/c you happenned to leave your license at home and your insurance card with it doesn't mean you are driving without a license and driving without insurance. It means you left it at home. I've been in accidents before ( funny thing is... I rear ended someone too )where I've forgotten this and the cop said "Thats fine as long as you have them" The cop can look up your license on their nifty little laptop or call it in for that matter.

As for following to closely.... well, thats kinda where traffic police wizz me off. Obviously you were to close... you hit the car.. contact is too close right? Its already costing you $$ to fix your car, $$ to fix the other persons car should a mechanic find something wrong with it, and if you need to report it to insurance... your insurance goes up...

I will never understand the reason why the state feels the need to make $$ off your mistake as well. Its not like you did it on purpose and deserve to penalized for it.

I feel your pain man.. good luck and hopefully the court will drop a few of those tickets....

[Bambikiller240]

Sorry to hear about your accident, CrashNBurn

Contrary to ICorganx33's opinion, and as you know, it is fairly standard for a driver to be required to have "physical" proof of drivers license AND similar "physical" proof of insurance in your posession at all times while driving. It has nothing to do with if a person is a victum or a perpitrator of an accident. Like it or not.

The good news is that in many cases, all you have to do is to go to court with your "proof" documents and the citations will be dropped. Here in CA they will still charge a small fine to cover their paperwork expenses but they will not mess up your driving record.

As for the damage to your car, hoods damaged like this are virtually impossible to repair. I had very similar damage to my car and the body shop spent several hours attempting to straighten the hood before the realized that in addition to the actual bend, the entire hood was bowed front to back. Considering the cost of body shop labor they later admitted that they should have just ordered a new one from the beginning.

Good Luck with your repairs

[CrashNBurn]

Thanks for your positive feedback so far.

Corganx33, you are absolutely right. It is complete BS and the pigs are trying to ream me a "new one". It's not like I planned on rearending the guy. And following too closely? Maybe if the bloody cop hadn't been playing solitaire on his little laptop (he called me over to his car to hear my side of the story and I peeked inside the car, being a naturally curious car person), he would have noticed that the guy in front of me was following the person in front of him too closely, as well. It was, afterall, bumper to bumper traffic.

And yes, I gave him my name, plate number, and VIN; allowing him to do search in his system for me. What did his search return? It proved that I have a valid license and insurance. I even called my dad and he brought my license and insurance card. Despite physical proof in my hands, the cop still gave me the tickets. He was also whining about having to do all the paperwork. Bite me! He shouldn't write the tickets if he isn't willing to do the paperwork. At least I wasn't wearing my "Bad cop, no donut" t-shirt.

Has the license and insurance predicament ever happened to anyone else? Particularly in Georgia? Carl, what you said about the proof of the documents and taking them to court, is what I figured.

My court date is the fifth of August. Maybe the cop will forget; being "aged" and all. Wishful thinking, but anyone know if any traffic court judges are Z owners? Maybe, he/she would understand, since I am only seventeen, pay for insurance (which is not cheap), gas, regular maintenance on a thirty-one year old car, and the additional repairs.

Jason

[Z-point]

Originally posted by CrashNBurn

The result of the wreck? Three tickets, one for driving without a license, one for driving without proof of insurance, and one for "following too closely".

Jason

As if you were not punished enough!!! Looks bad....

[Corganx33]

I can understand that it makes it easier for the polive if you have it on you. But everyone every so often forgets there wallet when they run out of there house. It happens. Do you deserve a ticket for it? When the polica can take 5 seconds, look you up and get all that information anyway? I don't think so. Your right, it is only my opinion, and I'm sure other peoples differ. Thats fine. But I think the important point is that you DO have the license and you DO have the insurance to cover you, not whether you have physical proof at that specific moment in time.

I just feel that the point of a ticket is that its supposed to teach you a lesson, "Don't do that again" ....etc. When its as minor an accident as a 5-10mph bump ... you already know what you did wrong.... you got distracted, it happens, in this case, what does the ticket teach you? Nothing that paying for the damages wouldn't do... just lets them make $$ off your mistake, which I don't think is right.

Good luck fixing your car... I hope the tickets get dropped. I got one once for "deliberately failing to stop so as to collide with another car". Why would anyone deliberately rear end someone? I had to prove that I paid for all damages and they dropped it... hopefully they'll do the same for you.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by Corganx33

I can understand that it makes it easier for the polive if you have it on you. But everyone every so often forgets there wallet when they run out of there house. It happens. Do you deserve a ticket for it? When the polica can take 5 seconds, look you up and get all that information anyway? I don't think so. Your right, it is only my opinion, and I'm sure other peoples differ. Thats fine. But I think the important point is that you DO have the license and you DO have the insurance to cover you, not whether you have physical proof at that specific moment in time.

I just feel that the point of a ticket is that its supposed to teach you a lesson, "Don't do that again" ....etc. When its as minor an accident as a 5-10mph bump ... you already know what you did wrong.... you got distracted, it happens, in this case, what does the ticket teach you? Nothing that paying for the damages wouldn't do... just lets them make $$ off your mistake, which I don't think is right.

When you sign for your license you are acknowledging that you understand the laws and that you agree to abide by them. If you don't do so, you pay. Having a license physicaly in your possession is a requirement whether you are involved in a accident or not. Period simple as that. Obey or Pay is the way the system is set up, and no amount of whining is going to change it. If getting the ticket and having to pay the fine doesn't teach you anything, you have serious issues.

It doesn't matter if the accident is minor or a fatal accident. The drivers have little if any control over it.

[Alfadog]

Unfortunately the world doesn't work the way it should.

Sorry to see your beloved car all smashed up, but look on the bright side, it could have been worse...

[Corganx33]

Originally posted by Bambikiller240

When you sign for your license you are acknowledging that you understand the laws and that you agree to abide by them. If you don't do so, you pay. Having a license physicaly in your possession is a requirement whether you are involved in a accident or not. Period simple as that. Obey or Pay is the way the system is set up, and no amount of whining is going to change it. If getting the ticket and having to pay the fine doesn't teach you anything, you have serious issues.

It doesn't matter if the accident is minor or a fatal accident. The drivers have little if any control over it.

No issues.. the accident itself should teach you something is what I'm saying, you shouldn't need the ticket.

Been taught the whole 'obey or pay' long ago

Its still wrong.

EDIT:

.....this whole thread got sidetracked.... my apologies

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by Corganx33

No issues.. the accident itself should teach you something is what I'm saying, you shouldn't need the ticket.

Been taught the whole 'obey or pay' long ago

Its still wrong.

The accident is completely separate from the ticket(s). The ticket are not obeying the law(s). Welcome to the real world. Not wrong according to the law. If you want to play Don Quixote and tilt after windmills you'll get really tired long before anything changes.

Originally posted by Corganx33

EDIT:

.....this whole thread got sidetracked.... my apologies

Exactly. The real issue should be the wrecked Z and the best way to fix it. Nothng can be done about the other crap except to live and learn (or not).

[Walter Moore]

First, I am not an attorney, and do not claim to know the laws in your state.

Second, Everything that I am about to tell you is true in Indiana, but may or may not be true in Georgia. Consult a real attorney before you go to court.

HERE (in Indiana...) the charge of driving without a license does NOT mean that you were driving without that little plastic laminated certificate issued by your state of residence on your person. It means that you were operating a motor vehicle without first having been issued a license at all (having an expired license is a separate offense...)

If in point of fact you WERE issued a license, before the accident and bring it with you to court, in this state they would either dismiss the charge, or change it to some lesser offense.

(a conviction for driving without a license will send your insurance rates out of sight.)

The same is true (at least here in Indiana...) for the driving without insurance charge. If you actually did have insurance in force at the time of the accident, and can prove that, the court will dismiss the charge.

Actually here you would not have recieved a ticket for failure to show proof of insurance. The officer would have handed you a form that has to be filled out by your insurance agent <and notorized> which form has to be recieved by the bureau of motor vehicles within 10 business days of the accident, or your license is automatically suspended. My wife has had to go through that little dance for accidents where she was in no way at fault. (we don't even get to plead with a judge about it.)

As for the following too close charge... you already proved the man's point.

Just my opinon.